Gadgetory

So in our recent video on the Alienware 15 We concluded that bigger was, not in fact necessarily better. But what about... Bigger-er? The Alienware 17 is large and loves to flaunt it But can it possibly be good enough to make up for how Freaking heavy it is? Only one way to find out EK Water Blocks' all-aluminium Fluid gaming lineup offers great custom grade water cooling performance, for an affordable price. Learn more at the link in the video description. At 9.6 pounds (4.35 kilogram) the Alienware 17 is heavy, but since I obviously wasn't expecting portability to be a strong point for a 17" laptop, I'll accept the added weight in exchange for its excellent build quality. In typical alienware fashion the 17 is exceptionally rigid with virtually no chassis flex, and sports a screen hinge that is so weighty it could probably be used as an exercise machine. Aesthetically, it maintains the gamer-esque look and RGB edge lighting from its little brother the 15, but I feel like this styling works even better on the 17 'cause like, I mean if you're going to be the size of a small aircraft, then you might as well look like one. You would think though, with all of that added space that they might have been able to fit in a bit more I/O, but nothing has changed for the big guy versus even the 13-inch model. In fairness, it has basically everything you'd need, but come on Dell! This has to be the world's loneliest USB slot right here. So our model rocks a top of the line Intel Core i7 7820HK that, boosting up to 4.4 GHz, is a CPU that has, time and time again, bested the cooling solutions of the laptops that dare try to contain its fury, even water cooled ones. Now, admirably, the Alienware 17 is able to keep this processor and its accompanying GPU - none other than the also top-of-the-line GTX 1080 - from overheating, but, the 7820HK wasn't quite able to maintain its full boost speed the whole time, which I guess brings us to the noise. Under full load, I'd consider it perfectly acceptable. it isn't high pitched, and it makes sense, given the hardware, it's packing. The problem though, is that it doesn't really quiet down, while performing less intense tasks, Like Installing programs, or surfing the Internet. So some additional tuning to the fan curve, might help with this, not to mention the less than stellar battery life. After the noisy installation though, we finally got to boot up some games, And this thing really came to its own, with the really high live of the Experience- being the display. Our version of the Alienware 17 comes with a 1440p, G-Sync panel, that runs at A 120Hz, which we managed to overclock, To a 130Hz, before it decided that It had enough. Now it is a TN panel, But it's a good one, and in my opinion, 1440p really is The sweet spot for running the latest triple-A titles Smoothly on the GTX 1080 with high Details at high framerates. So I'm willing to look the other Way on the TN- ness for the frames, And pixels that it has to offer. I mean plus, Speaking of looking the other way, It's got a solid webcam on top, and Tobii eye Tracking down below, if you are really into the handful of games with meaningful support For that technology. Now, I know I always say this About higher refresh rate displays, but on this one- Especially. Playing Doom- freakin' fantastic Getting over 120FPS on Ultra, At 1440p made the experience feel Metal as all hell. And if you are looking to play frantic games on a laptop You will be hard pressed to do better than this one Of course, with a 1080, it will smash through any game, frantic or not, with it absolutely tearing through our test suite, not that you'll experience any tearing. G-Sync variable refresh rate technology takes care of that. And where the screen pulls you into the gaming experience the keyboard keeps you connected. It's standard fare for Alienware, but that's a good thing. And the inclusion of a numpad, makes this keyboard feel at home with a bigger screen The throw of the keys has a smooth feel that was excellent for both gaming and typing. Well excellent for typing once you disable the trackpad In a move that frankly feels a bit lazy, Dell reused the same RGB trackpad from the Alienware 13, so there is basically an ocean of empty space around it And it got moved a bit further away from the keyboard to a position where my palm always seemed to hit it while typing, sending the cursor off to never never land After this happened enough times it was enough, and I plugged in a mouse never to use it again, which is a bit of shame because other than that it's not bad. What is bad though are the speakers. Bad Ass that is don't even think about grabbing a Bluetooth speaker to throw on some tunes because the speakers on the 17 are dank AF They are not loud enough to hurt your ears or anything, but pack a solid punch easily enough to fill the average apartment and this continues to be a really strong point for the Alienware lineup. Opening up the Alienware 17 reveals another strong point. It just takes a couple of screws, which is great news for the mad ballers that weren't paying attention as they breezed through the shopping cart missing the buttons to reveal the rest of the laptop lineup and selecting the GTX 1080 config for over $2500 without realizing that it doesn't come with a freaking SSD. So once you are in there, there are two M.2 drive slots along with a 2.5" drive bay which should pretty much cover you for future storage upgrades At $3000, our build-out is darn expensive. But honestly I wouldn't really change anything If you were willing to accept GTX 1070 performance to save a buck, well, there are a lot of thinner, lighter gaming laptops out there And if you need to save more than a buck, the Alienware 13 is a great choice in a more practical package at closer to $2000 So I guess the conclusion here then is if you are going to go for the Alienware 17 Go big or go home Blue Apron lets you create delicious chef designed meals at home They deliver all the farm fresh ingredients you need right to your doorstep in exactly the right proportions No trips to the grocery store, no waste from unused ingredients. And because they are shipped in a refrigerated box, the ingredients stay fresh even if you are not at home when your package arrives Their whole vision is to develop a more sustainable food system through sustainable fishing, responsible farming and reducing food waste So, they source their ingredients from quality suppliers and they offer two types of plans, the two person plan and the family plan. There is no commitment, you can skip or cancel any time and each meal is from 500 to 800 calories per person and is able to be prepared in 40 minutes or less. They're always adding new dishes every week, so there is tons of variety. So stop making the same old dishes because the first 100 people will get free free meals on their first Blue Apron order by using the link in the video description So thanks for watching. If you guys disliked this video, dislike it if you liked it, hit the like button, get subscribed, maybe consider checking out where to but the stuff we featured at the links in the description Down there, we got our merch store as well as our community forum which you should totally join