Alienware Unveils m17x Gaming Notebook

[Prasad]

TBVH.... m17x = fail as I see it.... not being skeptical, but let's get some things straight here... as many people already know and understand..... AW is great for its 8800M GTX 15" laptop, the m15x..... which won't be the only one soon The m17x is probably the costliest of the lot in the 17" range when well specced.... and definitely NOTHING close to the best when it comes to specs and performance as offered by the Clevo D900C/Sager NP9262.... also, as we know Montevina comes soon, and brands like Clevo will immediately update to it.... Therefore, m17x is launched at the wrong time, is uber-expensive when not worth it, and isn't even the best at all!! That's why it's an epic fail as I see it.... it's not like the m15x.... the m17x has nothing worth crowning as great... the market has much better options available.. Simply put, it's not a laptop worth having waited for..... when there were already more powerful and cheaper laptops available before it...

[DevlReD]

I believe in the correct time (part 2 air trans is around June) AW will provide Monteniva with SkullCap as well,so to say its a failure i dont believe is correct,time will tell..

Yes it became bulkier than the photos we saw in Nov 2007 but imo i prefer it 2-3lbrs heavier instead having a $5k lemon with downclocking/heat problems, seems that with this chassis they must have solved several problems m15x was having..

[Prasad]

"i prefer it 2-3lbrs heavier instead having a $5k lemon with downclocking/heat problems" You're talking as if AW is the only company in the world that makes laptops....
Anyway, yes, time will tell! And as the M9750, they didn't update it to the then modern processors and as of right now it's totally obsolete! Already AW has been very late with the m17x release.... at this rate, I doubt they'd update it when Montevina is out.. and even if they do, it'd be by the time the NEXT big thing is out....

[DevlReD]

Well they update m15x with Penryn and as for ''You're talking as if AW is the only company in the world that makes laptops'' comment i dont get it....

[Mippoose]

Too bad alienwares m17x is already not the fastest 17" in the world.

And too bad it's flagship m15x is about to be destroyed too.

[Prasad]

Penryn is a processor update, not a chipset update like Montevina
Anyway, what I meant was.... you seem to like the m17x as the m15x has the downclocking issue.... when there are better laptops in the market (non alienware) that could serve your needs better, cheaper.... If it's just a powerful laptop you want, then you should go for the Clevos.... 5793 is much lighter than m17x for single GPU, while the 9262 is much more powerful..... the only reason to buy an AW now is to have a 8800M GTX in a 15.4" notebook... but even that will be challenged by Clevo's M860TU.....
If you're okay with a 17" in the first place, why go for the m17x ? The m15x however is something worth...

[dtwn]

M15X downclocking issues seem to be largely removed thanks to the new bios update (again). I'm just glad not having to see a ton of threads screaming about "MY M15X IS FRYING!!! OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!"

Fairly certain the 9262 still lags behind the 1730 in 3dmark06 scores. Combination of locked bios, driver issues and quad core (for those using quads) issues. Takes a fair bit to get it going, as dexgo would be glad to tell you. It does have better hardware, but can be difficult to put together properly. But as we all know, 3dmark06 is merely a benchmarking tool, an artificial gauge. The 9262 certainly can do a number of things faster than the mobile duo processors the 1730 and M17X have, but I wouldn't call it MUCH MORE faster. But yea, faster definitely. Oh and with the smart bay, the M17X can have 3 hard drives too. Or a longer battery life. That's a pretty nice addition. Horribly expensive though. I'm rather curious how good it's sound output will be. Anyone else find the "Rear-Exhaust Cooling" hilarious? Reminds me of the Asus C90S.

Why go for the M17X or M1730? Looks, Brandname, fancy lights, fanboyism. M1730 also gets next day on site service + a 4 year warranty if you are willing to pay for it. There are always reasons.

If you look at the AW forums, some guy apparently shelled out 7k for the first M17X order. He just called and told them to load it up fully. That's horribly expensive, but it's not my cash. http://forum.notebookreview.com/show....php?p=3299742

I love how the Clevo fans are drooling over the M860TU when there hasn't been any clue on how good it'll actually be. It might very well face the same overheating issues that plagued the M15X. I think Clevo's great, and I have high hopes for the M860TU, but I'll wait till it's out before making my judgment. As of now, the only clear advantage over the M15X would be price. Well, unless Clevo decides to try something different and make the M860TU horribly expensive.

[hoofhearted]

I was in the market for an 8800 based gaming machine. I originally considered the aw m15x, but a little too pricey. Next I considered size (17 inch vs 15 inch), weight, gaming performance.

                 cheapest
                 8800                3dmark06
                 config              found on
                 price     weight    web

alienware m17x  $3198(sli) 10.5 lbs  ??? (I am guessing 12700 with SLI)
alienware m15x  $1999      7 lbs     9241
dell xps1730    $3399(sli) 10.6 lbs  12717
sager 9262      $3028(sli) 11 lbs    13003
                $2333      11 lbs    10171
sager 5793      $2057      7.7 lbs   10200
gateway fx6860  $1249      9.2 lbs   6882

Maybe when sager comes out with their 15incher, this will cause a pricewar with aw (fingers-crossed).

For now, I got the gateway. Just seemed the best deal for the money.

Some points I considered:
Alienware charges sales tax now. This added $200 to the total. This made the Sagers more attractive.
I got the added benefit of being able to bring the gateway straight back to best buy in case of dead pixels.
Smart bay? eSata is hot-swap. Gateways have eSata. Why would I want something proprietary? Does Alienware have an eSata port?

[Phritz]

Are there batteries for eSata?

SLi was worth it in the m9750, but now that Alienware has delivered us another superbrick, it's just not worth it to sacrifice the portability and cash for an SLi rig. Especially since you're not getting the gains you pay for, and I speak out of experience, not all games benefit from SLi, and definately not the up to 100% nVidia (and ATi with XFire). Speaking from experience, you're looking at around a 60% gain, tops, average gain of 30% most likely.

And with these superbricks, it'd be much better to get a desktop + laptop combo, because realistically speaking, you're not going to be gaming on the go, off battery power.

Get a 15incher like the m15x or the future M860TU, the pricing of the m15x isn't atrocious, and the pricing of the M860TU shouldn't be half-bad either lol

The Gateway has an 8800M GTS, not GTX and you neglected that it has a pitiful processor at that. But still a great deal haha.

One bonus point for Alienware though, is the Roswell support crew. Huge improvement in support service.

[wilsonywx]

Just look back into AW's previous laptops, they are always one generation behind in terms of the chipset, and I doubt AW will bother updating these notebooks to Montevina once it comes out. Also, the clevo uses a desktop processor right? So of course the clevo/sager is gonna be more powerful than the AW laptop.

It's ironic how in the OP the m15x is described as perfect for students...except that most students cannot swallow the price tag.