Not a gamer but love the style of alienware

Hey all,
I'm on a hunt to purchase a new laptop. I shooting for the Studio XPS16 core i5, but the alienware laptops has caught my attention. I love the way it looks and did some research about it and it looks like a high performance machine especially if you are a gamer. But the thing is, I'm not really a gamer. I'm more of a travel person who likes to bring my laptop everywhere. I'm a downloading freak, streaming, multitasking, and internet surfing type of guy. Is this laptop for me for me or should i look elsewhere? Sorry for the stupid question.

Thanks,
groundzero

 

The M15x would suit you well then. Stick to the gtx240 gpu, get a great processor, an SSD and some better RAM and you're all set. If you like image quality, just upgrade the screen.

definitely not a stupid question

 

alienware it's not a friendly for the words "travel" but m15x and m11x might suit you,but if i may suggest,dell,vaio and hp better for what you need since battery will play big roles to in traveling,but i could be wrong,try to go to computer shop for comparison

 

well i dont recommend m15x for "traveling" maybe m11x. I agree with wing x01 unless you are fine with the core 2 duo on the m11x then i think it would suit you well. If you're on a budget i'd get asus UL series check the asus forum for the models . for the best all in one solution would be the new 2010 vaio Z it comes with i5/i7, discrete graphic cards and SSD too as standard for 13.1" notebook it's a very premium laptop also since the body is made out of aluminum and carbon fiber so it's very light. But it's pretty pricey

 

@OP:

Which laptop are you referring to, m15x? If you carry it around a lot, and not play games I would also pay attention to battery life and weight -- neither of which are particular strengths of m15x/m17x. But if you're on AC power often, then it's a different story.

If you're into m11x, I'd say I would buy it again even if I did not play any games. It's simply built way better than any other <= 13.3" laptop that I've touched. Go to Best Buy if they have 1 and try it. And it's really not that expensive. It's slightly cheaper than Asus UL30 and well just don't compare those 2... please just... don't.... AW is light years ahead.

 

the m11x is a phenomenal bit of kit - 11 inches may seem tiny at first, but coming down from a 13 inch screen, it was perfect for me.

it stays relatively cool, compared to every other laptop i've used (i can feel safe putting it on my bare lap) and it isn't very noisy, even when the fan is running at full pelt.

if you can get to use one in person i recommend doing so. and don't be put off by it's meagre processor.

 

If screen size isn't a big factor, go for the M11x.

 

I have just placed an order for an M11X and I don't play games. What sold it for me was the relatively cheap SSD, long battery life and general build quality. I also do a bit of HD encoding so the Nvidia gpu was perfect using cuda.

 

I'm not a gamer in any way, but after returning 2 other laptops - I did end up buying (it's on order) the M17X R2!

My current laptop is a XPS M1710 and has been nothing but great. It's on the larger side, but I love the 17" screen and the 1920 x 1200 resolution.

I ordered the Studio 17 and it was nice enough on the outside, but the screen sucked. It was very washed out in appearance. I called Dell, and had no problem swapping it out with an XPS 16.

I purchased the XPS 16 w/ RGB LED screen.. the screen and resolution was BEAUTIFUL.. but I HATED the 16" screen. I didn't think it would be that much smaller.. but it was. That and the shiny black piano finish which was a fingerprint magnet - would have drove me NUTS!!!

Again, I called Dell.. thinking I'd have a problem with returning this.. and reading about their bad customer service.... made me wonder if I'd be in for a fight.. but no questions, they emailed return labels and I ordered the M17X because of the screen AND the case. I really don't love the look of the AW case.. but the case will be pretty similar to my current M1710 - and not a fingerprint magnet!

 

If you got a lunar silver, fingerprints won't be as huge a problem. If it's black, be prepared for fingerprints lol.

 

Got Silver!

 

I would not recommend alienware for traveling because the battery is very bad.

 

Mine lasts 6-7 hours in power savings mode on Integrated Graphics. I don't know what you're about -- it's not a world record in battery life, but pretty decent.

 

He was referring to an i7 configuration, they don't have separate integrated graphics as far as I know.

 

Well I can't know what he was thinking, he certainly didn't say so... he made a statement about AW in general. Which is wrong.

About the other models, yeah well I wouldn't take any 15+ inch laptop on a travel to be using during the trip, unless I had a personal servant who's going to be carrying it.

 

Based on your needs I would stick with the Dell. I was in the same boat as you. Had my eye on the XPS and then started drifting towards the alienware. But one day it dawned on me. Why did I want an alienware now? I finally realized it was just really good marketing that hit my "cool factor". In the end the money was not worth it for me. Good luck with your decision.