The new laptop can be called a monster in both good and bad ways, but more on that later.
Today we’re reviewing Alienware’s latest 15-inch laptop , NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics , Intel Kaby Lake i7 processor .
I am not going to compare the slightest performance of generally identical gaming laptops. Therefore, you shouldn’t expect thousands of screenshots from different computers here. The main thing for me is the usability and capabilities of the device.
So Alienware . It is a gaming PC mastodon known for its powerful stationary machines. The characteristics of their technology fully satisfy the requirements of the gaming industry, so if you are looking for something simple, then this company is better to bypass.
And here’s what we all love – numbers:
- Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor four cores / up to 8GB, maximum frequency 3.80 GHz
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card
- 16GB RAM up to 2400MHz
- 256GB PCIe Hard Drive + 1TB SATA 6Gb / s (7200RPM) Hard Drive
- 6 ” monitor (1920 x 1080) @ 120 Hz, TN + WVA matrix
All the necessary inputs and outputs are available, such as Thunderbolt 3 (which is not supported by most competitors), USB 3.1, and an Alienware dedicated graphics amplifier. A 1070 graphics card makes it useless for now, but who knows what will happen next.
15 inches is the middle variant from the same laptop line. The 13-inch device seemed to me not powerful enough, and the 17-inch, although it demonstrates the capabilities of the best video card of the generation, is not practical enough for use outside the home.
I understand that to each his own, but for me it is important to be able to carry my computer everywhere and enjoy games without bringing the screen to my very nose.
The only thing that worried me a little at first was the rather big weight of 3.49kg. In practice, it turned out that this is not so much and does not cause much discomfort.
It does get noticeably hot and noisy when you play on it, but that makes sense when you consider that its graphics card delivers graphics worthy of the best desktop PCs. It is enough to move the laptop from your knees to the table and put on headphones to completely forget about these moments, although you can be patient.
I am confused by its area. And it’s not how huge it is, but the wide plastic frame around the screen makes the elite laptop visually cheap. Removing only two centimeters of plastic on each side will significantly improve its design (but I understand that then the device will no longer fall into its size category).
The same problem with the keyboard – just look at those spaces between the keys. It seems to me that the saved space could well be used by NumLoc or some game keys. Personally, I use both, although I understand that for the majority these are useless things.
I would forgive the absence of these keys on a more compact laptop, but the manufacturers occupied the empty space with meaningless programmable keys under the left hand, which can only be useful for multiplayer mode on some games. Yes, I could program them to do something, but for me they are still numeric keys, like a monument to wasted space.
Still, Alienware doesn’t look stupid. A metallic finish on the lid, a discreet color scheme and a matte soft keyboard finish give it a premium look.
Additional problems for me were caused by the backlighting on the sides, the humanoid head above the keyboard and on the lid, the Alienware badge, iridescent in all the colors of the rainbow. I don’t mind blue shades or a guest orange, but it’s hard to imagine a 37-year-old man sitting in a coffee shop with a laptop shining like Vegas. After going through the settings, I managed to calm down the lights with dubious success.
The constant blue illumination of the power port deserves additional attention. The light is so bright that in a dark room it is better to turn the laptop against the wall or buy a blank cover.
The good news is that the device is hard to blame for the graphics. The NVIDIA GTX 1070 graphics card can handle just about any picture – I mean 60fps or more with 1080p picture quality. The display supports NVIDIA G-SYNC technology and has a frequency of 120 Hz, which means that the display adapts to the needs of different games, and the image quality does not drop. It is hoped that these technologies will not become obsolete soon, given the development of game graphics.
Unfortunately, the 1920 x 1080 screen is not that happy. This is a TN + WVA screen, not an IPS, and it shows. Without going into details, the screens on IPS are more colorful, more contrasting and have a wider viewing angle, while TN is faster. But this is achieved at the expense of the deterioration of other characteristics. Usually TN shows itself from the worst side, but this time I really had problems.
Another issue was the built-in Killer wireless adapter, which had to periodically scan for problems and reboot the adapter every 20 minutes to get internet back. Having rummaged in the settings, I found out that the problem with this Killer arose a long time ago. However, this technology continues to be used in Alienware, but now without the ability to easily reset the chip. When a solution to the problem was found, everything went smoothly, but I don’t think that after spending about 143 thousand for a laptop, the user should do this.
In summary, I want to say that the laptop fully copes with its role as a high-end gaming computer. The video card copes with its tasks at the highest level, although in order to smooth out the problems of the TN display, I sometimes displayed the image on an external monitor.
I believe that the computer fully copes with all the operations required from it. This is not surprising given Dell’s years of trial and error and laptops overshadowed by their desktop counterparts. If you are looking for a gaming PC on a budget of $ 1,500, Alienware is one of the best choices today.
Would I buy this? Well, I’ll think about it at the end of my research, but for now I am confused by its price. Laptops of his class usually cost several tens of thousands less, not much lagging behind in performance. I can assume that now I will often make a start from him in my searches.
The screen is a little let down when working with text and on Google, and although the size and weight were more comfortable than I expected, the too large area of the plastic frame put me off a little. Also, for my taste, shiny designs were often redundant. Decent gaming laptop, but not for me. At least not for this price.
