Sneak peek on the upcoming M17x and M14x

Unfortunately. Especially since I see a glimpse there of a ODD still.

 

At this performance range, a single MXM higher end card would be far more practical than an SLI setup.

 

I hope to god Alienware improves the cooling on the upcoming M14x R3 or M13x. If Asus G46 with a gtx 660m at 1lb lighter and slimmer can fit in 2 quiet cooling solution, Alienware can do it also. Hell i don't care if it's still thick and heavy as long as we get a quiet single fan or silent dual cooling fan and not that annoying max hairdryer noise when gaming or benchmarking.

 

Well they need to work on the M14X cooling full stop really.

 

Honestly, I really hope the next m14x has a less flashier design to it. The m14x is meant for portability which probably means that I want to be able to walk out of the house with it without getting a bunch of stares. AW can ultra pimp the m17x and m18x for all I care.

I also want better cooling and power out of the m14x too but I'm pretty sure that's a given.

 

Agree. They should make it more ergonomic as well, preferably more wedge shaped. However, from the pictures, they seem to retain the "blocky" shape.

 

BINGO!
Except for the thick and heavy part. That's the one major thing that turned me off, the horrible loud fans. Yeah it's a given gaming laptops are going to be louder than your average laptop but the M14X took it to another level.

 

Thicker fans as well as larger fans can be quieter though and allow for thicker heatsinks.

 

Personally I think AW needs to make a decision on "Power vs. Portability" because right now they have neither. It would be great if they manage a balance between the 2, but it may take a couple more generations of cards to get a cooling solution into place that fits the design goals of the system, which are presumably to maintain a semblance of the power the m15x had while being highly mobile like the m11x.

The m15x was/is the diamond of the entire AW production line because it embodied both of those qualities at its release, nothing else could compare to it. I am eagerly waiting for AW to produce another laptop that beaks traditional standards instead of just "refining" them.

 

The thing is now they have let others in it might be quite hard to "take back" the 15.6" part.

 

It is going to be harder, but AW has always been the forerunner in setting new standards and that is something that we should continue to expect out of them.......otherwise they become just another Falcon NW/Origin. I think the last couple generations of machines exemplifies what happens when a company stops pushing the limits of design, you get a significant regression in terms of innovation and quality. The m14x is barely a shadow of the model it replaced and holds no performance or design weight in its respective category. The m17 (r3/r4) again are "generic" 17-inch gaming laptops, and aside from slightly higher quality materials offer nothing new to the genre. To an extent these models offer even less than other competitors without the option of matte or high-gamut screens, but those are options we'll likely see in the near future.

The m18x is AW's only claim to fame at the moment..............and although it's a fine machine it's difficult to justify losing the claim of highest performance in both the 15 and 17-inch categories in trade for such a niche size category.

 

That could have a lot to do with the parent company, Dell. Financially they are not doing to well and as of today there is more speculation of a hostile takeover by Carl Icahn. So that's why when a company is not bringing the cash flow they begin to look at new offerings and how will it affect their bottom line.

 

Well, the m17x and m18x have a few advantages over Clevo and MSI (manual graphics switching, CPU BIOS overclocking, warranty), but I attribute that more to the backwardness of the competition than to any penchant Alienware has for innovation. In theory, Alienware could offer the screens available in Dell Precisions for a little more money.

Alienware's "25% premium" and lack of customization options are still bizarre, and I wouldn't have bought my m17x over a Clevo, MSI, or Precision/Thinkpad without a substantial discount.

 

Well they have manual graphics switching if they are keeping that *cough*

 

+1 and that is why I went with the my M17x r3 at the time.

 

I don't think it's fair to blame AW's lack of innovation/performance increases on the "backwardness" of other companies, it's simply their own "laziness". Clevo and Asus are not solely focused on gaming rigs, you'll find a very large portion of their sales fall outside the realm of gaming, so it's bit unrealistic to place the expectations of ground-breaking gaming innovations on companies who are largely focused on other areas. Alienware on the other-hand is or at least it used to be a brand built by Gamers FOR Gamers, and that philosophy used to be easily recognized in all of their products.........like i said earlier, that's not so much the case anymore.

MSI is in my opinion the one to watch, if anyone is going to overtake AW as the premium gaming laptop manufacturer my money in on them..........but I think we all hope that it doesn't come to that.

 

I meant that Alienware still has those advantages over Clevo, MSI, etc. because those companies focus on less useful features. Make no mistake: I think Alienware should offer more for the price, and I agree that MSI will be Alienware's closest competitor if it improves its chassis quality.

 

if i had my way i would have chosen msi but they dont have a good support in india and they dont have 3d thats why i went for alienware. Thing is that msi is the only one i have seen that have something to offer to gamers except performance. Alienware keyboard is nothing compared to MSI, and they have a lot of features for maximum cooling and stuff in alienware we have to tweak everything our self

and of course the chassis, thats y i went for alienware . If only there was a lappy that looked like asus, had effects like alienware, and the features of msi with a 780m and 3d and optimus, i dont care how much it would have cost, it would have been mine

whats gonna happen if one day razer manage 2 stuff up a 780m in blade :thumbsup:

 

that thing would burn through your desk in a heart beat lol

 

AFAIK, they don't have good support anywhere... not unique to India.

 

MSI trumps Alienware in innovation, but its implementations are not always sound. If the GT60/GT70 has a higher-quality keyboard, it has missed keystrokes that Alienwares have never had; if it has dual mSATAs in Raid-0, the solution is inferior to some good SSDs in Raid-0; if it has better speakers, it has constant fan noise to muddle them; if MSI has a "max fan button," it has higher GPU temperatures at stock than a similar m17x/m18x; if it is more comfortable to use, its build quality is not as good as the Alienwares; if it has matte screens, the screens are not as vibrant and accurate as the Alienware screens; if MSI resellers in the US have better customer service than Dell, their warranties are not as good. The difference between the retail prices of the MSI and Alienware makes the MSI viable; if Alienware wants to compete with MSI, it should either add more useful features or give more discounts, and I know most of us would prefer the former.

The high-end laptop market could be much better.

 

And that's why I'm always keeping an eye on Clevo / Sager. They're the raw power, MSI is the middle end player trying to be high end, and Alienware is the proven mix.

Everyone has a market, and it's really all about the numbers, not what we want.

 

I'd argue MSI is not in the middle for single card systems.

 

there aint no perfect laptop, is there :}

 

The Clevo/ Sager NP9150 680m edition is the best 15.6" I've seen so far, I ordered one for my friend thru Powernotebooks and he was a pure mac guy... and I had never even seen a Sager yet. It was a big leap of faith and luckily the machine arrived in great shape and was a solid performer with a sweet matte screen. I almost like it more than my M17x R3! If it's keyboard was better I might have made the switch...

I also think Alienware should make a great, completely re-designed 15.6" or they will lose out on a sizable demographic.

 

Tough to agree with some of that, especially the portions in bold. I think that MSI's and Clevo matte screens are widely considered some of the best available, and having seen them in person I can also attest to that sentiment. As for the noise level, unless you have the volume turned down there no way the fan is going to drown out or even "muddle" those speakers.........they're considered a "break-through" in laptop audio for a reason. Again I would question the cooling statement as everything we've seen has shown the GT70 to be on par if not superior to the M17x in cooling so ya........

^ This...........I myself would have gone with the MSI but their hinge/chassis quality was too much of a concern for me, hopefully the last generation saw some improvement in their longevity, if that turns out to be the case I may look towards them for my next purchase if Clevo/AW don't show anything new.

 

Looking to see what each brand brings to the table before I decide on what I want to do. Probably going to stay on the alien side as I have the AAFES discount and the warranty on my current system has been superb, but we shall see.

Edit: Whelp just saw this pop up on Engadget and thought I would share. Bit to flashy for my tastes, but seems like a solid gaming laptop

First Haswell gaming laptop revealed: MSI GT70 Dragon Edition 2 with GTX780M graphics

 

If I have to ever go MSI again, I would simply go back to a desktop and be rather without a laptop. I have had a bad experience in the past with MSI and it still haunts me to this day

 

I remember the days when Alienware M11x R1 hinges haunted me but luckily AW/Dell had good warranty.

 

I have a funny feeling the next AWs will have advantages over the new GT70 Dragon II.

 

GT70 Dragon looks toyish, colorful and too flashy no offense. I like mine in Black with pretty lights or Aluminum/Titanium color or Silver/Black or all silver and AW light or just plain white backlit kb.

 

Well, that's totally subjective and some people say the same thing about our Alienware machines. However, I do agree with you and whenever I see one of those gaudy MSI toys I just think "yuck" to myself every time. I'll be the first to admit beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Maybe they will bundle it with a pair of fuzzy dice for the front, and a bobble-head chihuahua statue for the back.

 

I saw someone comment on it and said it looked like an ed hardy shirt LMAO

red with tribal dragons..just add some rhinestones

it'd be interesting to see someone take some modern industrial minimalist approach to gaming lappys aesthetics

you know one of my favorite styles of electronics was the first gen zune so clean boxy but nice

msi seems more pt cruiser than 300zx

im sick of looking at my calendar will AW do any controlled leaks?

 

It's just a high quality wrap, by that logic anything with a wrap is "toyish"..........but like everyone said beauty is in the eye the beholder. I generally enjoy the look of Alienwares, but that doesn't mean I will flaunt one around in public , I'm a grown man after all.

Clevo is probably as close to that as you're gonna get...........but even they seem to be moving towards more "flashy" stuff which saddens me.

 

http://benyouhuifile.it168.com/forum/201305/23/200116o8g5zk45sofrooqo.jpg

saw this picture, kinda looks like the 'pics'

 

wow that looks just like the leak photos whered u find that

 

Really hope that isn't the final version. That trackpad looks horrendous still. Rest of the chassis doesn't look to bad though if that what we will have to deal with.

 

does it look like the edges light up too like near the usb ports?

 

I guess it could really be the final version. Looks pretty cool, though a bricky impression, anyway. But that led trackpad may get warmer than usual?

 

I reckon it looks terrible. Looks like I am sticking with my M18x R2.

 

IF they'd just drop some decent pictures and info already they wouldn't run the risk of "bad photos" i really don't know how i feel about it..... idk r4 or this im like almost liking the r4 more

 

haha that looks really bad, the R4 looks way thinner, that looks msi fat... and why the backlit trackpad, that looks really cheap and just plain useless, I prefered the backlit contours around the trackpad oh well, I hope this isn't the final product .

 

I think their plan is to do that at E3. Whatever is leaking out before then is always shady...

 

I'll keep that in mind

Im sure it'll grow on me

 

Here I am again. Back to fuel the model discussions. I don`t have much to show but you can clearly see that Alienware have changed to looks on the models

Alienware M17x R5 looks SEXY :hi2:

If anyone knows chinese, please help us translate what it says.

The new M14x, M17x and M18x together. Looks like Alienware is fusing the looks of desktop X51 and notebooks together



New Alienware M17x with GTX 780M. From the picture above it looks like all models will have the same design. Seeeexxxxy :hi2:

 

I'd really like to know what that trackpad is. Also, is it odd that what looks like the M14x is using the lid design of the M18x? I suppose it's too much to hope for aluminium casings for all...

 

Now that looks amazing. The other pictures looked quite ugly but this looks really good.
It looks like Alienware have added more lighting zones, and from the pictures you can kind of tell that the keyboard has AlienFX too.
Can't tell if it will be constructed using aluminum (might say in the text, maybe someone can translate?)

If it does then it looks like June 10th I will be getting the M18xR3 with 780m SLI

 

Hmm, I don't know why exactly but this new design looks a bit gimmicky to me. The previous design was more elegant and gave off a high quality vibe, but this reminds me more of a blocky Clevo. I'll have to wait for a more in depth look at the design before I make solidify my opinion though. If the M18x doesn't have an aluminum chassis, or at least some material higher quality than plastic this time around though, it may be the end of the line for me.

 

Looks like a brand new keyboard unlike any previous Alienware keyboards

 

or a better question what does the front look like? like the speaker area?