Dell Alienware M14X > Reviews (1)

I recently bought a Dell Alienware laptop as my previous HP Pavilion laptop suddenly stopped working. I found the ordering process on the Dell UK website to be really clear and had some appealing laptop choices. The Dell Alienware range are within the top end price tag of the market and are most suited towards gaming. I paid £1250 in November 2011, which also included added extras of a 'Killer Wireless router connection, surround speakers, a wireless mouse and a power surge protection adaptor. I received the product 3 business day after ordering the laptop and I have to admit that it is a case of so far so good. When I ordered the laptop I customised it slightly to include the Intel i7 2670QM processor.This is a quad-core processor that will impress. At the time of ordering I could have paid an extra £300 for a 3GB graphics card but decided that the 1.5 GB graphics card was sufficient for my needs. The Intel processor also has graphics processing inside that, so therefore I felt no need to have the more expensive graphics card. In short I think this is an excellent laptop as the graphics card is good and I was pleasantly surprised by the 7200rpm fast hard drive. I have seen similar priced laptops with just 5400rpm speed so I knew that I made a good decision. In addition I also decided that 4GB memory would be sufficient.

My Initial Impressions on the Dell Alienware M14X are that this laptop has all you would ever need in terms of performance, design, and the look and feel of a HD laptop. When this machine is powered there are bright blue lights and the power switch also illuminates. The keyboard feels good and it is easy to type using the Dell M14X. I was up and running on the Internet within 5 minutes of my first use. The set up was easy and straightforward.

The operating system is Alienware Microsoft Windows home premium 64 bit version. In my short usage of this laptop I have found the operating system is very tidy and organised. It is definitely possible to multi task and use many applications and I have found that even the fan on the laptop does not overheat and tends not too make much noise.

The weight of the laptop is approximately 3kgs which is not light compared to the Macbook Air but still is reasonably light.

The design of the laptop is nothing short of first class. The monitor is a HD screen, and the keyboard has blue colored back lights. There is also the Alienware logo on the bottom of the monitor which also adds some appeal to my experience in using this laptop. The feel of the keyboard buttons are light which makes typing effortless. The actual keyboard itself I consider as being very good because it has a good range of buttons which makes the navigation and typing very easy.

The laptop has a VGA port, a HDMI a mouse port, and a Micro USB and a USB port. There is also a microphone jack and 2 headphone sockets. There is also a smart disk reader which you can access MMC, SD and MS/PRO. The power supply cord is at the back and there is a vent at the back.

An ethernet cable and 2 additional USB ports and a CD drive which looks nicely designed.

Asides from the operating system the software included includes Roxio Creator. There is also an interesting piece of software that shows how much CPU processing and memory usage is being used by the laptop applications. There is also a good number of basic games that come installed from Windows operating system.

I also like the HD webcam which is 3 megapixels and has customisable controls that enable you to change the brightness, contrast and other viewing settings. You can also record videos from the webcam.

Finally regarding the look of the monitor, there is 2 vents that make the laptop itself look a bit alienlike. The vent areas have blue lights but the lights can be changed color.

Performance

I have tested this laptop and found that the laptop loads the web pages effortlessly and really fast indeed. There is absolutely no time lag or delay when loading pages. I have found the Windows performance benchmarks and the ratings are quite high at 7.5 for the CPU processor, to 5.9 for the primary hard disk transfer rate. The range of the other performance components are in between 6 and 7.5. This makes the Dell M14X a really good laptop. I like the high definition screen and also in the future I shall invest in a 3d television and be able to watch movies and play games in 3D. This for me is what sets the standard in terms of laptop computing.

Value For Money

In terms of value for money in the long run for me personally it will provide me with a good level of enjoyment playing games and watching movies. With all things considered especially the high performance processor CPU and a reasonably good graphics card I feel that this is a good value purchase. It might not suit all peoples wallets as the starting price for an M14X is £999 and I ended up paying £1250 with a few added extras.

Memory/Capacity

The memory I bought was 4gb which I feel is good as this can play most games but not the most demanding. I can upgrade the memory in the future which is not really a problem. I think the memory can be upgraded to around 8gb.

Ease of use

I have found using this laptop effortless, most computerised tasks are breezed through effortlessly and silently. The fan makes no noise when doing basic computer tasks.

Range of Extra Features

The surround speakers are really good quality. The laptop also has a HD webcam and also there is the possibility to change the colours of the keyboard lights.

Instruction Manual

There was no instruction manual that was supplied, but there is a user guide that contains a 222 page document which covers everything from using the laptop to upgrading. There was however a set up guide a software licensing agreement and a safety guide. Also with the package is CD's of the Operating System, webcam and resource disc.

Manufacturer Support

When I bought this laptop I chose a 1 year basic warranty service whereby Dell can repair the laptop free of charge on a Next day service.

This is good considering what can happen.

Pros

Fast web page processing, good graphics and a great keyboard. All in all I think that from an entertainment and gaming perspective this laptop is definitely excellent. This Alienware laptop makes light work of simple web browsing tasks and is silent and quiet.

Also the Killer Wireless router connection speed on my connection is 300mbps which is a faster connection than my brother gets on his Dell Vostro laptop at 100mbps.

Cons

Expensive and it would be even more so if I ordered with higher specifications. Also when I ordered this laptop I could have ordered a 3gb graphics card and paid even more. Secondly there was no alternatives in terms of graphics cards which was something that I did not like. Thirdly I did find any top title games pre-installed and considering the purchase price this is quite bad.

Verdict

Whilst I consider this an expensive purchase, I think that this is a really good laptop. I have tested a few games on the laptop and have been impressed by the results. I think that over time this laptop shall prove its worth. I would without hesitation recommend this to a friend. For this is a high performance and good quality laptop. I rate this laptop highly based on looks, performance, connectivity and ease of use. I would only give a 6/10 for value but for everything else it would be at least 8-9/10. I feel that it is well worth opting for the Killer wireless connection adaptor as this will boost your wireless broadband speed capability. The wireless signal strength I get on this machine is excellent.

I played Call of Duty World at War and the game played as expected with good frame rates and good results. This laptop will definitely suit gamers.

I have looked at the minimum requirement specifications and a lot of games seem to have around 2gb memory required, and with my new laptop at 4gb I will breeze through playing most games.

Dell in all honesty have come up with an excellent laptop product.

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