Alienware M17

Alienware gaming laptops are built to incite envy. Their designs, which resemble a coat of armor with gill-like ridges, topped off by the signature alien head logo, are sleek and otherworldly. Traditionally, these rigs are limited to those with deep pockets, with don't-even-ask price tags. The new Alienware M17 gaming rig takes a slightly different, more affordable approach. At $2,060 (direct), this 17-inch behemoth can be heavy at times, but its sleek Stealth Black case and ATI CrossFireX dual-GPU configuration are well worth the price
The M17's design—almost an exact replica of the Alienware Area-51 m9750—has moved away from the flashy neon paint jobs found on other Alienware laptops in favor of a stealthier look Batman would love. Its "Stealth Black" frame, as Alienware calls it, is reminiscent of Batman's rubbery yet bulletproof ensemble, complete with a rib cage or what Alienware refers to as its "skullcap gills." The texture feels like rubber, but the material is actually a matte-finished plastic that does a nice job of warding off fingerprints and minor scratches. Of course, the lid wouldn't be complete without the signature alien head logo, illuminated and enhanced by blue LEDs.

I'm hopelessly smitten with the 17-inch widescreen and its 1,920-by-1,200 resolution, but a big screen has its drawbacks. The M17's 9.4-pound frame is a burden on mobile LAN gamers, while the huge AC adapter alone tips the scales at almost 3 pounds. Although it's lighter than the 10.4-pound Dell XPS M1730 (Penryn), its weight exceeds those of the Gateway P-171XL FX and the Alienware m9750 by 3.2 ounces. Alternatively, because of its smaller 15-inch screen, the Alienware Area-51 m15x is a lot lighter at 7.8 pounds but can only house a single GPU.

The full-size keyboard is fantastic for maneuvering through shoot-'em-up games like Crysis, and World in Conflict. Instant messaging and typing up long e-mails were a breeze. The keyboard's LED backlights give gamers a huge advantage during nighttime sessions. By pressing the Fn and the F10 keys, the illuminated keyboard can change colors (red, green, or blue) or be turned off completely—a unique feature. The mouse buttons, however, felt a little loose, and the clicking noises can be loud at times, but most gamers will be using an external mouse, anyway.

Features-wise, you're well taken care of despite the value price. The M17 comes with four USB ports, one of which doubles as an eSATA port for storage expansion. You can also find a FireWire, VGA-out, and Gigabit Ethernet ports. Unlike the Dell M1730, the M17 doesn't have DVI-out, but its HDMI-out port is a worthy replacement, since it carries both audio and video streams. (Another option would be to purchase an HDMI-to-DVI conversion cable.) Other valuable features include a TV tuner that receives over-the-air HD signals and an optical-out port for standalone devices that have this feature.

The speedy (7,200-rpm) 160GB hard drive can be upgraded to larger capacities, and the M17 supports a second hard drive that can potentially bring capacity up to a terabyte. At this price point, a Blu-ray reader would be nice, but you'll have to settle for a dual-layer DVD burner.

As with all Alienware laptops, the M17 comes with a "command center"—a software suite made up of three parts: Fusion, Sense, and Touch. With Fusion, you can create a power management scheme for the system. Though the host of settings it manages is available in Vista, Alienware places them in one convenient location. Sense uses the embedded 2-megapixel webcam as a facial recognition device. The webcam and a fingerprint reader are two extra layers of security that back up passwords in Windows and the system's BIOS. Lastly, Touch alters the sensitivity levels of tapping and scrolling with the touchpad. Overall, the command center places all your settings into one convenient location, but there's nothing revolutionary about it.

A gaming system doesn't necessarily require the fastest processor to score well on gaming tests. The 2.26-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 processor is modest at best, reflecting the system's price. It comes up well short of the faster Extreme processors found in the Gateway P-171FX XL, the m15x, and the Dell M1730. The M17's 3GB of DDR3 is enough to run any task, but if you intend to use a 64-bit operating system, upgrading to 4GB is better in the long run. I should also note that it's been a while since I updated the Dell M1730 review, so its benchmark test scores don't reflect the latest parts. Still, the Dell M1730 managed to beat the M17 by 9 percent on the SYSmark 2007 Preview Overall score, thanks in large part to an Extreme processor. By the same token, the Gateway and the Alienware m15x delivered higher scores as well. On Windows Media Encoder tests, the M17 couldn't keep up with the pack, and its CineBench R10 score was no match against those of the Gateway and the Alienware m15x. Even battery life, despite a big (96-Wh) battery, was unimpressive, with a MobileMark 2007 score just shy of 2 hours. But this is a minor nit, considering its amazing performance at this price point.

Gaming tests, on the other hand, were the bright spots in the M17's performance. CrossFireX, a brand well known in desktop circles, is ATI's answer to Nvidia's SLI technology, linking dual graphics cards. The M17 is one of the first laptops to use ATI's CrossFireX technology, housing twin ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs. For the most part, the M17 performed valiantly on my gaming tests. At native resolution (1,920-by-1,200), its 3DMark 2006 score surpassed those of the Gateway and the Alienware m15x. Even at 1,024-by-768, its 3DMark scores beat those of the Gateway and the m15x, since low resolutions generally favor the faster processors. The M17 performed well at native resolution on both Crysis and World in Conflict tests but showed some weakness at low resolutions. The Dell M1730's one-two punch—a 2.8-GHz Core 2 Duo X9000 Extreme processor and Nvidia SLI GPUs—were too much for the M17 on all facets of 3D gaming.

The Alienware M17 may not have the gaming prowess of the Dell XPS M1730, but it fulfills its purpose as a gaming laptop. Keep in mind, too, that you're paying half as much. Despite the use of a midrange processor, the CrossFireX technology delivered terrific gaming scores and is capable of handling some of the more demanding games in the industry. Add to it a proven design and you have yourself a winner.