Gadgetory

tell us your peasy wish list and you can win a custom PC from NCIX and hardware connects check the description to learn more hey guys this is dimitri with haruka nuts and welcome back to another view we're taking a look today at one of aliens where his latest gaming laptop so I'm really excited to put its through its paces with gaming and see exactly just a portable this powerhouse is but this is the Alienware 17 and by the name you're looking at a 17 inch display 1080p and when it comes to pricing it's all about user defined configurations starting at $14.99 moving all the way up to 3k plus the model we have here is not 3d ready but you can opt in for a 120 Hertz display that will also include a pair of 3d glasses this level of customization I think is very appealing especially for a mobile system like this one and when I say mobile I don't mean you take this on the road with you on a train to play games this is a desktop replacement that you can carry it just over 9 pounds it's not particularly light but light enough for a mobile user so what does 2700 get you for a laptop a lot actually we get a quad core i7 4800 MQ 16 gigabytes of RAM GTX 780 M with 4 gigabytes of vram plus an SSD and storage drive for your OS and files respectively the custom form factor is also part of the deal so the entire exterior shell screams Alienware with angular design and of course the alien head on the lid that lights up we also get an LED strip running around the belly that's the whole incorporation of alien effects that we'll cover later but this machine certainly feels incredible many owners of the previous generation of alien wear laptops would not be happy with the new design changes gun is the alien head power button we no longer have a numbs the cater and the screen there's no longer glass it is matte and anti reflective so from a functionality standpoint it makes sense but to be honest it's sort of lost its Alienware appeal on the right side we get a Gigabit Ethernet port a pair of USB 3 ports and 9 + 1 SD card reader and a slot loading optical drive on the other side a power plug kang's is unlocked HDMI out and in mini displayport two more USB threes and audio jacks the speakers are located at the front and are one of the best speakers I have heard in the laptop alright so now let's take a listen at the sample of how the loud kiss speakers can go this is the hundred percent volume is you can hear I'm speaking in my regular tone so it's going to play this file so you guys can get an idea of how loud this laptop is hey guys this is Dimitri with her Clarkson welcome back to another view on the table today we've got a gaming headset from SteelSeries this is the five hb3 retailing for around $80 I think the sensor so you can hear the projection is excellent absolutely amazing speakers are located right in the front exactly where they should be place for really clear Direction very crisp sound exactly what you need from gaming the bass response could be butter is very poor but for in-game sounds and immersion it was totally satisfying and I found myself to use the laptop speakers more instead of the headphones so a big plus to Alienware for not forgetting about this very essential component in such an expensive package as you can see at the bottom we have a lot of intake and large exhaust vents at the back that will divert the heat away from your body and in my experience with gaming heat was never really an issue nor did the laptop heat up and none of the heat was transferred onto the keyboard so overall I'm very happy to report that cooling is not an issue having said that the fans inside the machine have to work really hard to keep the temps down and every time was gaming the noise levels was quite unpleasant now I'd like you guys to hear how loud the laptop gets right now it's not doing anything so it's an idle mode and high performance mode the fans acuity are not spinning so the lot was very quiet in this idle mode try to have been playing for a little bit with now 1/5 for now this is maxed out so it's hopefully pushing this GPU to sort of its limits and I'm going to be quiet so you guys can hear how loud the laptop is compared to what I was running it went on idle the fan is spinning you can clearly hear that if you're just playing at normal volumes obviously if you're wearing headphones it's not gonna be as noticeable and if you're using the entire 100 percent potential for the speaker as well it's going to be absolutely not an issue at all opening up the laptop does require both hands to be used and I do like that the screen is very tight and it won't budge unless you intend to change the angle that actually goes pretty wide it is very nice panel with pretty decent viewing angles it does exhibit slight pink overtone from side to side viewing and the more bluish hint from top to bottom but everything else from the brightness to clarity to pixel density is pretty excellent we also get a webcam that's located in its usual spot and it's actually quite nice with full HD recording available the interior of the Alienware 17 is coated with a slight rubberized layer which is nice to touch but it does tend to leave finger marks the illuminated trackpad is a welcome feature does blend in very well with the overall design and has a smooth touch interface with two separate physical buttons with great travel time and appropriate press feel I do wish though the trackpad was slightly offset to the right as accidentally touching the trackpad during gameplay was very common of course the same willing it is an option when using a mouse now the unit we received shipped with Windows 7 of course later versions of OS are available for configurations so finger gestures aren't native to Windows 7 but you are able to customize sensitivity areas for vertical and horizontal scrolling that works very well now for a gaming laptop one of the most important features I think is the keyboard sure you can customize the colors of four zones it really isn't all that practical but as long as we have backlit keys I am happy this backlight is also quite vibrant a visible and daylight but we don't have a keyboard shortcut to dim or turn them off completely all that done is through the software the keys are reinforced with aluminium underneath and feel a little heavier than my MX cherry-red switches and also exhibit very decent amount of travel time with excellent bounce now not only was this perfect for typing but WASD gaming zone was automatically natural the surface of the keys is also slightly curved better a finger precision and prevents your fingers from slipping we do have four macro buttons as well located above the numpad but with very limiting options available for built-in functions throughout my testing with gaming and also productivity I wasn't entirely happy with the height of the laptop particularly the somewhat sharp edge that was irritating my arm but this is a gaming machine and when came to testing I wasn't entirely happy with the results for a particular configuration with the 780 M I wasn't getting the frame rates that I'd expect from a $3,000 laptop BioShock Infinite was handled properly but demanding games like Metro last light on ultra wet physics off and no AAA we averaged at 44 fps which is playable but it doesn't hit that sweet spot of 60fps battlefield 4 at the highest possible settings averaging at 36 FPS core of duty ghosts' averaging at 44 of course it wouldn't be a gaming review without Crysis 3 again delivering ok results on ultra and what my favorites is ARMA 3 which is extremely demanding and averaging at 31 fps at high settings now these results will vary based on configuration and of course bumping the settings too high will deliver even better frame rates but to be honest I was expecting to hit over 60fps considering the specs and the price battery life is very limiting on this one with an 8 cell battery reaching just under two hours for web browsing this is at the hundred percent brightness in high performance mode kind of like your worst case scenario and gaming results were even worse at just over an hour of gameplay before needing charge I also liked the option to switch to integrated graphics card to save you power so if you're not gaming and just browsing the web it is an excellent option plus you get over three and a half hours of browsing time now given the size the way the thickness and the poor battery life this won't really satisfies anybody portable needs especially since the power brick is so massive the Alienware 17 really is meant to be a desktop replacement and anyone contemplating on the pricing of this machine should really consider the advantages of this over conventional desktops now while initial configure raishin is totally flexible when you order your gaming laptop Alienware really makes it easy to swap drives and memory just by removing the bottom panel so future drive upgrades are totally possible now before we conclude the last thing on the list is alien effects it's a custom API they changed as the lighting effects on the whole machine while you're gaming so it's another way to make your gaming fun at least when it works list of games is still very short that many times it was rather annoying and glitching then dynamic for example playing Battlefield 3 any time you deal damage the whole machine lights up in red and slowly recovers to white in Metro last light the colors are different and actually change out based on the in-game atmosphere which I did enjoy but there are many times when it just doesn't work and starts to flash and totally glitch and just ruins the experience even for games that are supported I ended up turning it off most the time to just enjoy my gameplay alright guys it's been a lengthy one so let's wrap this up this Alienware 17 I think hits the perfect spot for a portable powerhouse with many user-defined configurations based on your budget such as the 120 Hertz 3d display option everything from the screen to the keyboard to the clips integrated audio is absolutely amazing plus the adjustable lighting system is cool especially the backlit keyboard that is also functional built quality is nothing short of amazing exhaust is located at the rear exactly where it should be plus the upgrade option for your drives or memory is welcome now don't be expecting to hit over 60 FPS on the highest possible settings with some of the most demanding games but bumping them down just a little bit and you will see smoother gameplay now on the flip side the exhaust does get quite loud during gameplay I was not entirely happy with alien effects the supported games list is still very short and the API is very glitchy they really should address this and of course pricing is going to be an issue for many considering it's not just the hardware you're buying into but it's the entire alien we're branding which in a way is justifiable considering you won't be able to build yourself a laptop and desktop equivalent is just not comparable considering the form factor I'm guys this concludes our review of the Alienware 17 what do you guys think of this gaming laptop and alienware in general like this video for more similar content don't forget to subscribe and we'll see you in the next one