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New Alienware M17x  (Source: PC World)
Alienware is now the Dell gaming arm with its All Powerful M17x

Dell is one of the largest computer makers in the world and long before the computer maker jumped into bed with Alienware, Dell had its own line of gaming machines. Dell spent lots of money and effort to market is XPS gaming line that increasingly became blurred with its Studio multimedia computer line after the Alienware purchase.

In May 2008, rumors began to circulate that Dell was looking to kill off its XPS line. Dell quickly squashed those rumors pointing out that its XPS marquee was an important part of its brand despite owning Alienware. PC World reports that Dell is now finally killing off the XPS line as far as it relates to gaming and is putting Alienware forward as the Dell gaming arm.

Alienware offers more than just notebooks and desktops catering to gamers; the company also offers a line of peripherals including keyboards and headphones. The most recent Alienware notebook for gamers is one that gamers have been teased by for a while now. Several images and teasers of a new Alienware notebook have turned up online over the month correlating with an ad campaign for a notebook dubbed “All Powerful”.

The marketing campaign for All Powerful goes with the Alienware effort to roll its often expensive products out to 35 different countries compared to the nine countries that the marquee serves now. PC World got its first hands-on look at the All Powerful rig that has been taunting the dreams of gamers all month. The machine's official name is the M17x and as you can gather from the name of the machine, it sports a 17-inch screen.

The base machine checks in at an MSRP of $1,799 and includes a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M GPU stock and can be upgraded all the way to dual GTX 280M GPUs. The rig also sports an NVIDIA 9400M G1 GPU supporting Hybrid Power allowing for longer battery life when the big graphics card is not needed.

CPUs for the machine range from an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz P8600 all the way up to the Core 2 Extreme Quad. Memory for the little beast is 4GB stock upgradable to 8GB and storage starts at 250GB. Storage can be upgraded to 1TB or to a 512GB SSD supporting RAID 1/0. The optical drive is a slot loading DVD burner with a Blu-ray option. The screen can be optioned with 1920 x 1200 resolution and power comes from a 9-cell battery.

The beast is huge measuring in at 15.98 x 12.65 x 2.11-inches and weighing a hernia-inducing 11.68 pounds. Connectivity options include FireWire, USB, eSATA, ExpressCard slot, and a memory card reader. A DisplayPort out and VGA and HDMI outputs are included. The notebook also sports all sorts of lights for bling and knowing Alienware, odds are you can control the light color.

Fully loaded rigs are destined to be several times the cost of the base machine.

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What about gamer customers with good taste?
By Barfo on 5/29/2009 11:22:54 AM , Rating: 5
If I was in the market for a gaming computer I'd stay away from Dell now that XPS has dropped the gaming focus, sorry Alienware, I'm not into ridiculous looking cases with lighted alien heads.




RE: What about gamer customers with good taste?
By TomZ on 5/29/2009 12:55:11 PM , Rating: 5
Agreed, same here. I like the idea of a premium, high-performance machine, but I hate the styling. I would get laughed out of a business meeting if I walked in with one of those ugly things.


RE: What about gamer customers with good taste?
By Regs on 5/29/2009 1:19:37 PM , Rating: 3
I wonder how much more we're paying back in costs to manufacture those damn things too. Gamers want reliable hardware, I compatible OS w/Drivers, easy-upgradeable interfacing and compatibility, and a fast network connection. If a company can get together the resources to bring all those into one system, they'd have the gamers market cornered.

Why would I want a lap top for games when I have a DFI LAN party mobo tower at home I can upgrade for just about any game in the likelihood of the next 6-8 years? There's no way I'm buying a 2k lap top every 1-2 years. And even if upgrading every other year part-by-part out weight the costs, a serious gamer knows that upgrading is half the fun.


By mmcdonalataocdotgov on 5/29/2009 2:46:53 PM , Rating: 5
A real gamer builds their own rigs, and they are not usually laptops - those are for hacking. These are for the script kiddie tweens with new corporate gigs who want to have some nerd cred.


RE: What about gamer customers with good taste?
By FaceMaster on 5/30/2009 6:47:18 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
A real gamer builds their own rigs, and they are not usually laptops - those are for hacking.


What's that got to do with hacking? And what does 'real gamer' mean? You mean, 'the one who spends their time building rigs and tweaking their CPU to get the most performance out of it as possible' ? Or the one who enjoys playing games?

I'd consider myself a gamer. Although I overclock a bit, I also have a laptop for gaming when I'm in the caravan. It's not very good, but I'd consider myself more of a gamer than somebody who doesn't have a portable PC for occasions when they aren't able to lug their water-cooled, tacky looking case around.


RE: What about gamer customers with good taste?
By spread on 6/2/2009 1:36:00 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I also have a laptop for gaming when I'm in the caravan.


See the tween comment posted above.

There's a difference between gaming and being obsessed with gaming. For example, World of Warcraft 'gamers' are actually addicts.


By FaceMaster on 6/2/2009 3:58:54 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
See the tween comment posted above. There's a difference between gaming and being obsessed with gaming. For example, World of Warcraft 'gamers' are actually addicts.


I don't understand what you're saying. I'm away in the caravan a good 10-20 times a year at week ends, with out the laptop I would only be able to play on week days for half the year. If you'd rather sit outside smoking a cigarette in the mud and rain than you would play on a laptop, be my guest.


By TMV192 on 5/29/2009 6:04:16 PM , Rating: 1
To be fair this isn't the worse, theyll have some color options so a silver with white LEDs wouldn't be such a joke. But have you seen the toshiba qosmio gaming laptop, holyshit...


RE: What about gamer customers with good taste?
By soldier40 on 5/29/2009 6:10:34 PM , Rating: 1
You wouldnt get laughed out by me. The alienware laptops for those that are in the know offer the highest performance you can get in a laptop, but also the highest price. I think the logo is cool as hell. Business people dont buy these laptops, rich kids/and or rich adults that like to be different than the norm do, that take gaming serious. Personally If I had a few grand to spend on whatever, I would get one. I build and upgrade my own home systems every 2 years, but alienware has always been the poop when it comes to the latest and greatest.


By psyph3r on 5/29/2009 7:52:09 PM , Rating: 5
Are you kidding? Alienware is for people that don't know anything about high performance gaming. I just built a laptop for 2200 in parts, and the same specs from alienware is in the 4-5k range. They are computer rapist in my opinion.


By DeepBlue1975 on 5/30/2009 11:40:47 AM , Rating: 5
Which drives me to the question...

Those ridiculous flamboyant, almost gay-in-denial type of designs, usually appeal to children and teenagers.

I think they are hurting their own market this way, because I am convinced that many gamers, or simply put, people who just like a notebook powerful enough on every kind of application, including gaming, are not even exclusively sub-20 brats with a dad that has money to spare in order to spoil them.

At least they should give people the possibility of choosing design patterns that can accommodate different personal tastes, including those of whom would rather have a "business looking" thing.

Don't they teach basic things like this to the marketing guys out there?

I mean, 1800+ notebooks are targeted to a niche market, and if your product's looks are "too radical", you should realize that you are drastically decreasing the scope of your already tiny target market.

I think not even some sub-20 gamers actually like that kind of design.


By Ozziedogg on 5/31/2009 6:29:07 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I would get laughed out of a business meeting if I walked in with one of those ugly things.


Yep sure, because an Alienware gaming Laptop with a 260M GPU inside is _such_ an appropriate machine for that next boardroom powerpoint presentation.


By Sazar on 5/29/2009 2:05:32 PM , Rating: 3
What if you work at Area-51?

;)


RE: What about gamer customers with good taste?
By omnicronx on 5/29/2009 3:33:49 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I'm not into ridiculous looking cases with lighted alien heads.
Ya really.. whats next? rear spoiler, carbon fiber casing? Intermittent flashing LEDs? Maybe even dual exaust?

I just don't see why any serious PC gamer would buy one of these, especially when you have to put so much money into your system. You can assemble a PC yourself (or even have one assembled for you) with parts bought at your local computer store for a hell of a lot cheaper.


RE: What about gamer customers with good taste?
By Jackattak on 5/29/2009 6:43:46 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, clearly you could build one of these yourself. No problem.


By Totally on 5/30/2009 1:43:03 AM , Rating: 3
yes, we can. Only if they weren't so hesitant and taking baby steps. RAM's standardized, so are discrete graphics recently. The industry only needs to come to an agreement on a mainboard standard, PSU standard, and then we can start buying our laptops a la carte. Instead of the following half-hearted attempts by ASUS and OCZ Tech.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/diy_notebook...
http://www.directron.com/laptopdiy.html


By taber on 5/30/2009 9:32:07 PM , Rating: 2
To be fair, they've made a laptop model option that's only got a small alien head insignia on it now:
http://image.alienware.com/images/product_images/n...

That's still going to make that laptop a tougher sell for anybody who needs to look like a professional while working with it.


Alienware
By Inkjammer on 5/29/2009 11:12:08 AM , Rating: 2
Back when Alienware was a reseller (mostly of Clevo-based ODMs) their quality was good, but flaky at times. As of the introduction of their m9750 line they improved dramatically. I've got an m9750 myself and love it in every possible way. My old Alienware m7700 (a re-badged Clevo D900T) had severe issues, but once Alienware was able to have their own actual line of laptops... they improved. A lot.

Still, their customer support is a violently mixed bag. I've had some of the best support from Alienware and some of the single WORST support in the industry. It's really... uh, weird. And in a bad way.




RE: Alienware
By Sazar on 5/29/2009 11:26:01 AM , Rating: 2
The support and manufacturing and everything else should be in line with Dell's.

Whatever Dell's regular support reputation may be (mine has been very good each time), their XPS line support was always superior and I would guess that the Alienware customer's are being routed through similar call centers.

Many of the high-end XPS line calls were handled in the US if I recall from the news articles, I wonder where the support for this little (joke) beasty will be based out of.


RE: Alienware
By Inkjammer on 5/29/2009 12:05:07 PM , Rating: 2
Alienware's support is mostly based out of Costa Rica -vs- the US and India as per Dell. They can be vary greatly, and I've had mixed results with them (as I said, I've had the best and the worst).

Also, unlike Dell, Alienware tends to do everything it can to get out of providing on-site support, even if you've paid for it. I've found Dell to be VERY good about this usually. Although, Alienware has been trying to improve its support image with the "Roswell Team" of specialized level 2/3 support, which has been better.

I've not had to deal with Alienware's support in about a year, so it may have improved.


RE: Alienware
By emergnsee on 5/29/2009 1:35:32 PM , Rating: 2
XPS support is wonderful and the three times I've used it I've spoken to an accent-less American-English speaker, which makes me at least assume I'm speaking to an American (either that or an Indian with a brilliant American-English teacher lol).

Not sure on Alienware as I've never owned one.


RE: Alienware
By jawqn8 on 6/1/2009 11:29:23 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah XPS support is good, but I never expected I would have to deal with their support 1 month after I got my 730X. I also never expected I would have to replace a motherboard and an entire front panel and still have problems. I also reinstalled my OS to get rid of Dell's crappy software. Also, the technicians that are sent to replace the components don't really have an understanding of the product they are working on, one guy plugged the audio cable into my motheboard after I told him I had a sound card.


Alienware is now the Dell gaming arm...
By Luticus on 5/29/2009 10:45:58 AM , Rating: 4
As it should have been upon acquisition, or at least that's how I feel about it.




By Sazar on 5/29/2009 11:27:13 AM , Rating: 2
Agreed. However sometimes it takes a little time to bear the fruits of a merger. Is there something on the horizon to replace the 7xx XPS desktops? The chassis looks much nicer than the high-end Alienware ones, honestly.


Sad...
By Jackattak on 5/29/2009 12:28:54 PM , Rating: 2
Glad I got my XPS1530 when I could, then. I absolutely love this machine. I was thinking of selling it to upgrade to the 15.4" Area-51 m15x with the slightly better graphics, but I think I will hang on to it since it's the last of its breed for collector's purposes.

Not that there's much market for "collectors" in the computer world, lol!




RE: Sad...
By phazers on 5/29/2009 5:22:51 PM , Rating: 2
Yep - I got a couple of XPS 1710 lappies a few years ago, one for my daughter to take to college and one for me to take on business trips or even into the office to do a bit of gaming evenings after a hard day's work :). They were even more gaudy that the Alienware pictured, although no lighted keyboards. Certainly I wouldn't take one into a business meeting per se, although I have used it during flights and noticed some envious stares from other suits, at least until the battery ran out :).

If you can afford a gaming laptop, might as well flaunt it with some bling & lights :).


RE: Sad...
By Jackattak on 5/29/2009 5:40:32 PM , Rating: 2
HAHA Love the bit about the suits on flights!

The 17" laptops are too big for me. I think the 15.4" form factors are perfect in terms of size/weight ratio. I just want one with a 8800GT or better (mine has the 8600GT 256MB and that is sufficient but could be better).

I'd die for one of the new XPS Studio 16's with a 260M if they ever made one.


Terrible
By eddieroolz on 5/29/2009 11:52:06 AM , Rating: 2
The thing still looks ridiculous though. My $700 HP laptop looks better than that.

I won't touch it with a 1-mile pole.




RE: Terrible
By Tsuwamono on 5/29/2009 12:10:29 PM , Rating: 2
I think it looks bad ass. If i ever came into a large sum of money and at the same time fell down and hit my head and ended up thinking about buying a pre-built PC/laptop I think thats the one I'd get.


alienware
By frozentundra123456 on 5/29/2009 5:37:33 PM , Rating: 2
Sorry to see the XPS line not make gaming computers anymore. However, the lineup had become very confused with all the systems avaialble that were not really that different. However, one can still design a competent gaming system by selecting the correct components.
Most of the botique systems are overpriced, but Alienware seems more overpriced than most, not to mention that the styling is a but much.




A bit late eh?
By FXi on 5/29/2009 9:21:39 PM , Rating: 2
Much as I love the XPS series - building one now, just months before the mobile Clarksdales, seems a bit late to the game. Where have they been for the past 9 months? Any guesses as to how long it will take these machines to come out with I7 mobiles inside? A year? More?

Second, to have hybrid graphics it's probably using a Nvidia chipset. I pray not, because if so, a lot of folks, a LOT of folks won't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

Lastly, and probably the biggest reason to move gaming over to Alienware rather than incorporate Alienware under the Dell umbrella is discounts. Employee purchase plan discounts, coupons for Dell that frequently show up all over the web, are not valid for Alienware. I bet you can't remember the last time you saw an Alienware coupon. Yep this is all about the money and they won't be discounting these babies, you can bet on that. Think you might find one of these in the Dell clearance center in a year or so? Probably not!

It "seems" like a nice machine, but there are a ton of "gotcha's" to this deal that I'm not so sure make this thing look so good afterwards...




By FXi on 5/29/2009 9:27:19 PM , Rating: 2
A lot of power users don't want all that showy grooves and lines and would like all this power in something more akin to the M6400 series which is downright sexy in the looks dept.

Quite often the people with the money to spend on these machines like machines that perform well, might have a few lights here or there, but otherwise don't scream "STEAL ME" from 10 miles away...




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