Alienware M14x Review: The Best or Worst Portable Gaming Laptop? Discussion

[Chuckdaly]

I find the M14x to be a very nice laptop that has tradeoffs like all other products. Its small, but heavy. Its expensive, but has great fit and finish. Personally, the width of a laptop dictates how portable one is, and the 14" went farther for me than the reviewer. I am not opposed to glossy screens. They inherently offer greater contrast and color fidelity than matted screens. I lose some viewability, but its a tradeoff I have always been willing to make. the lack of a good antiglare coating is where I fault Dell for. I think the disparity in sales between the Toshiba/Asus laptops and the M14x has more to do with product accessibility or lack of than their respective merits.

[Kevin]

IThey inherently offer greater contrast and color fidelity than matted screens.

That's not true.

[Convel]

...a thick and heavy 14-inch gaming notebook that costs as much as 15-inch and 17-inch gaming notebooks that have better performance.

That's why I don't really find the M14x all that impressive/attractive. If they were to keep it that thick I would've wanted even better performance. Since space is precious in notebooks of this size I think including an ODD is a bad move as well. Not that there are many manufacturers following that logic...

[HTWingNut]

When I was looking for a portable laptop that could game, I definitely considered the M14x. But there are many other 15" machines out there that weigh the same and aren't much bigger, definitely thinner, 1080p screen, and cost up to $500 less for similar performing equipment. That's how I ended up with the DV6z. With coupons and eBates ended up costing me < $700 with 1080p MATTE, blu-ray (that's the other thing no blu-ray in M14x), 8GB DDR3, A8-3510MX, 6750m, 500GB 7200RPM HDD.

[Gearsguy]

That's why I don't really find the M14x all that impressive/attractive. If they were to keep it that thick I would've wanted even better performance. Since space is precious in notebooks of this size I think including an ODD is a bad move as well. Not that there are many manufacturers following that logic...

Yeah but that's also following the same logic as "If youre going to pay $1200 for a 14 inch laptop, why not get a better 17 inch?" In which I say, because I dont need another desktop. Yeah eventually ODD will be dropped but Dell has to go to what consumers want as Alienware is such a large brand. If it hadn't come with one, people would just be complaining it doesnt have one/doesnt have blu ray (like they do)/it can't hold dual HDD's. Hopefully as the "cloud" gets bigger they'll advertise the need to not have one, but for now I think its staying (Note that I dont WANT the cloud, I just dont need a DVD Drive like you).

Anyways, yeah its thick, but eh. The overall dimensions (LxW) is in the 14 inch zone (actually smaller in length and same in width as my sisters Samsung QX410 or whatever, typical 14 inch notebook), so its mighty portable, while still having that kick like the m11x to play most games at the moment maxed out.

[Ellatan]

Anyways, yeah its thick, but eh. The overall dimensions (LxW) is in the 14 inch zone (actually smaller in length and same in width as my sisters Samsung QX410 or whatever, typical 14 inch notebook), so its mighty portable, while still having that kick like the m11x to play most games at the moment maxed out.

M14x is not only thicker and heavier than its competitors. It also has a larger footprint with greater depth. It is both heavier and larger in terms of depth than a 15 inch Clevo with a similar GPU. So fitting it on a airplane tray table or a college desk could be just as uncomfortable or even worse than fitting a 15 inch laptop. Calling M14x portable is almost the same as calling any 15 inch gaming laptop with GTX 580M portable. They sure are, but to a certain extent.

15.6" Clevo P151HM GTX 580M || 10.08" (d) x 14.80" (w) x 1.38-1.69" (h) 6.83 lbs
15.6" Clevo W150HM_GT 555M || 9.80" (d) x 14.72" (w) x 0.98-1.46" (h) 5.73 lbs
14" Alienware M14x__GT 555M || 10.17" (d) x 13.27" (w) x 1.49" (h) 6.45 lbs
14" Lenovo Y470____GT 550M || 9.41" (d) x 13.58" (w) x 0.78-1.29" (h) 4.85 lbs
14" Asus U46SV_____GT 540M || 9.65" (d) x 13.11" (w) x 0.97-1.06" (h) 4.85 lbs
14" MSI X460DX_____GT 540M || 9.42" (d) x 13.35" (w) x 0.88" (h) 4.65 lbs
13.3" LG P330_______GT 555M || 8.38" (d) x 12.34" (w) x 0.83-1.08" (h) 3.63 lbs

[Gearsguy]

I realise you still wish to argue with me on this, and yes you can compare .1 to .1, but all I know is I did real life testing and got really involved in comparisons and found my previously stated results accurate. I didnt just find numbers on the internet.

[Ellatan]

I realise you still wish to argue with me on this, and yes you can compare .1 to .1, but all I know is I did real life testing and got really involved in comparisons and found my previously stated results accurate. I didnt just find numbers on the internet.

Are the numbers online inaccurate? Your laptop is not 10.17" (d) x 13.27" (w) x 1.49" (h) as listed in the manual? I think you have the right to believe whatever you wish defying laws of physics or logic. I've noticed that a lot of Alienware owners are often overcompensating for their purchases, trying to prove to themselves how amazing it was. I'm providing comparisons for people interested, you don't have to trust all these deceitful manuals posted on the internet. I would never say for instance that 128bit GT 555M on the listed Clevo W150HM or P330 performs quite as good as 192 bit on Alienware. Although according to your line of thinking, one could believe in anything.

QX410 should be wider than M14x, but it is not the same depth. Feel free to post a picture and prove me wrong.

[HTWingNut]

If it were benchmarks we were comparing, yes, it would be somewhat trivial. But dimensions are dimensions. There is no debate unless the dimensions provided are incorrect.

If you like the style of the M14x then that's your prerogative, plus the features like a backlit keyboard, then enjoy it. But from a purely size / performance it's no better than most other laptops of similar size (despite calling it a 14" or 15"), and cost of it is more expensive in general as well. The M14x is volumetrically same size (or larger) just not as wide so keyboard doesn't include a number pad.

I owned an M11x R1 for a while and loved it. Solid build. Alienware's are a solid build, I'll give them that. But like Mac's as a user you have to ask yourself how much of a premium are you willing to pay?

[Gearsguy]

I wasn't trying to defy the laws of physics on anything, maybe you guys should calm down a bit and re-read my post. Its just a conversation. Anyway, the point is I know you can compare 0.1 to 0.1, like I said, but in reality I find its not that much similar to 15.6 inch notebooks (My 2 friends now with a DV6T/DV6Z but same thing), and my sisters 14 inch normal thin-and-light notebook. I was just inputting my own opinion, and if it seemed like I was trying to come off as God and making my own measuring system I wasnt. I was just trying to say I personally think its more like a 14 inch notebook than anything else, fitting perfectly in a bag meant for the 13 inch Macbook Pro.

Ellatan, I again know you find me annoying because I do not advertise Clevos/agree with you that the m14x is the worst laptop ever made and you continually argue with everything you don't agree on me with with each reply (such as you now comparing performance when we were talking about size), so if you wish to finally PM me about it like Ive been saying, then Id be fine with continuing our fantastic Christmas conversation.

Cheers.