The Intel HD Graphics 3000 chip is used if the user is running low or not at all graphic intensive programs (Office, Internet, videosetc.). Dell Alienware M14x - Features, Specifications, Release date and Price 11yr About getting ready to order the M14x R2; Would these specs satisfy? Users who do not enjoy spending hours tuning the sound output to perfection can use the pre-defined scenarios (Films, Music, Language and Gaming). Admittedly a fully programmable version of this, like a lesser version of the Optimus Maximus, would be even better but that really would start ramping up the cost. Because no matter how fat your wallet is, the only option is an Nvidia GeForce GT 555M. The speakers, which are located above the keyboard, produce full, rich sound at an acceptably loud volume. There is, for example, its impressive battery life. The Alienware M14x R2 comes with a 1-Year Basic Hardware warranty. Nvidias Optimus technology allows the computer to switch between an integrated graphic chip and a dedicated graphic card. Up till now, Gamers did not pay much attention to laptops below the 15 inch category, as those devices did not offer enough performance to satisfy their gaming needs. When it came to movies and games, the M14x excelled. Devices with Same Screen Size and/or Weight. And neither of those comparisons are as far-fetched as for many laptops, var scp = v.createElement("script"), Connectivity is, quite simply, the best weve come across on a laptop this size. Click to EnlargeDue to the smaller accommodations, the M14x lacks the full number pad of its 17-inch counterpart. There's little to no latency, either; gaming on the M14x' 14-inch screen is fine, but fragging was a lot more fun when output to a 46-inch HDTV. The DDR3 VRAM of 3072 MB is big enough, but the memory interface can be a problem. Alienware M14x We sometimes had to perform a motion such as pinch-to-zoom several times before the system would accurately recognize our gesture and perform the associated action. The program performance delivered by the M14x is first class. Dimensions Ports and connectors Audio Video Video controller Storage Media-card reader Cards supported Secure Digital (SD) memory card Secure Digital Input/Output (SDIO) card Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC) card MultiMedia Card (MMC) MultiMedia Card plus (MMC+) Memory Stick Memory Stick PRO xD-Picture Card (type - M and type - H) The GT60 and its dual 500GB 7,200-rpm hard drives delivered a blistering 74.8MBps. Alienware M14x R2 Review | Gaming Notebook Reviews | Laptop Mag The M14x's Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6250 AGN Wi-Fi card produced lower-than-average results. While you probably won't hear this rig over gaming explosions, it was very noticeable in a quiet room. This model's native resolution is actually 1,600x900 pixels, which is a step up for gaming. Pros + Striking design + Powerful gaming performance for size + Fun. The great sound offered by the integrated 2.1 speaker system. NY 10036. Laptop Mag is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Get the latest business insights from Dun & Bradstreet. Feedback is superb, with just the right amount of travel and tension, and a positive click. However, new technology has allowed manufacturers to create models such as the Acer Aspire 4830TG which deliver good performance and offer mobility. Click to EnlargeDespite the smaller speakers, the M14x delivered rich, clear audio that easily filled a small room. Even with details turned up to maximum, it managed a 41.4 frames per second (fps) average in Stalker: Call of Pripyat at the screens native 1,600 x 900 resolution. The little laptops chunky thickness doubtless helps to give them the room they need for some serious rumble, with explosions and gunshots packing a decent punch. Options with information icons require changes to other options. Alienware M14x Review | Laptop Mag Why you can trust Laptop Mag The viewing angle stability is above average. On a 14-inch display, we'd expect to normally find a 1,366x768-pixel resolution, but for this much money, it's only natural to expect more. Theres a great-looking slot-loading DVD writer, though unfortunately you cant upgrade this to a Blu-ray drive. Tech Specs. During the "World of Warcraft" benchmark, the M14x delivered a frame rate of 72 fps on the highest setting at 1600 x 900p, beating the 50 fps mainstream notebook average. Click to EnlargeAlienware keeps things simple, only pre-installing a few third-party software titles and its usual suite of utilities. Typing on the traditional keyboard yielded firm feedback which, when coupled with the soft-touch palm rest, made for a comfortable experience. Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. Language: 'en-us', Audio likewise covers every base, with three 3.5mm jacks allowing for analogue surround sound systems to be connected, or allowing a setup where you have optical audio going out to a digital system while still allowing you to plug in analogue headphones and a microphone. The Alienware 14 is the most powerful 14-inch gaming notebook in the universe. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Not only can you change the colours on the fly between 19 different choices, but you can set them to pulse or morph between two different colours too, which can make for a really nice effect if you pick neighbouring shades. The default lighting color is set to blue. The most important software installed on the notebook is the "Command Center". Dell Alienware M14X R3 Laptop (Core i7 4th Gen/8 GB/750 GB/Windows 8/2 ChannelID: '5f2bc16e3709e324807ce0c1', Colors were a little washed out in both natural and fluorescent lighting, but the detail was sharp enough to see the lilac stitching in our dress. Gamers with smaller wallets but stronger backs might want to check out the larger MSI GT60, which costs $200 less, and has more powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 670M graphics. In that time, she's reviewed more than her share of laptops, tablets, smartphones and everything in between. We loved running our fingers over the ridges of the M14x R2's black matte soft touch lid. So anyone who likes to work at night, or play games till dawn, would find the laptops from Alienware perfect for their needs. However, the Aspire S5, like all Ultrabooks, comes with a speedy solid-state drive that helps it boot faster. The Nvidia GeForce GT555M is also a newer top-of-the-line part, and helped run our Unreal Tournament III test at 1,400x900-pixel resolution at 240.4 frames per second. Alienware M14x Laptop Product Details | Dell Netherlands Antilles/Curaao The end result of 7 hours and 17 minutes (minimum display brightness, and all energy-saving options turned on) is impressive. A good HDD can only reach read and write speeds of 80 MB/sec or more, whereas the Solid State Drive can deliver 250 MB/sec (CrystalDiskMark). Wireless duties are handled by the usual Bluetooth and Wi-Fi N combo, though both are optional modules that cost extra. Combined with its noisiness under load and premium price this prevents the M14x from receiving our coveted recommendation despite its many strengths. The lower notes in Bruce Springsteen's "I'm on Fire" and Jay Z's "Big Pimpin" were much more present than on the Digital Storm xm15. OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard; 2.7GHz Intel Core i7; 4,096MB DDR3 SDRAM 1,066MHz; 384MB (Shared) Intel HD 3000; 500GB Hitachi 5,400rpm, Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. The GT60, XPS 14 and Series 7 Gamer's displays notched 268, 435 and 325 lux, respectively. Audio sounds very good through the M14xs Klipsch 2.1 speaker system. On the OpenOffice Spreadsheet Macro test, the M14x matched 20,000 names with their corresponding addresses in 4 minutes and 26 seconds, matching the GT60 and beating the 6:17 category average by 1:51. In terms of brightness, the 236 lux screen on the M14x fell short of the 260 lux mainstream notebook average. NSW 2059. A crisper clicking method would be desirable. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Review Alienware 14 Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews Still, the GT60 (1920 x 1080p) scored a face-melting 106 fps. HDMI, Ethernet, Dual Headphone, VGA, DisplayPort, USB 3.0, Microphone, Kensington Lock, The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviews, Try a single issue or save on a subscription, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. The M14x has the same automotive-inspired grille along the front edge (which is only for show, not ventilation), a slick edge-to-edge glass overlay on the display, and a matte black chassis (the exterior of our system was a matte red). Dell Inc. disc laims any proprietary inte rest in trademarks and trade names other than its own. }; In everyday use, the installed SSD shows its potential: boot and loading times are relatively very short, files are transferred quickly, and the operating system has lighting fast reaction times. Brand: Alienware; Voltage: 14.4 v; Battery Capacity: 63 Wh; Battery Type: 8 cell li-ion; Cell Origin: Samsung . I have been working for Notebookcheck since 2009 with my focus mostly being on high-performance gaming laptops. The user can enjoy his collection of media on this display without any problems. With Alienware its a given that youre paying a premium for the brand, build and lights and arguably, these elements are worth it. Contacting Alienware For customers in the United States/Canada, call 1 -800 -ALIENWARE. The M14x is Alienwares first 14 inch gaming laptop. We had to lower the resolution to 1366 x 768 and set the graphics to "Very High" so as to run the game fluidly. Dell provides several online and telephone -based support and service options. Click to EnlargeWhile navigating with the 3.2 x 1.8-inch Synaptics touchpad was smooth, the somewhat small size made it a little tricky to execute multi-touch gestures such as two-finger rotate and pinch-to-zoom. The smooth, matte texture on the touch pad feels great under your fingers, and the two large, distinct mouse buttons are welcome. So basically, this 1830 gaming laptop cant run intensive titles at the settings they were meant to be played at, and it wont regardless of the amount of money youre willing to throw at it. Alienware has always had excellent touch pads, although much of the rest of the laptop industry is catching up in terms of size. But, you'll have a hard time beating the style and substance of the M14x. scp.type = "text/javascript"; Laptop Mag is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. The alien head, the Alienware logo on the display border and two bars in the front can be lighted up. At $2,198, the M14x isn't cheap by any means, but it's a nice compromise for those who want a gaming rig more powerful than the M11x but more portable than the M17x. NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M/Intel HD Graphics 4000, HDMI, USB 3.0, Gigabit Ethernet, security lock slot, Combo Headphone/Mic Jack, Mini DisplayPort, Microphone, Headphone/Mic, Headphone, VGA, The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviews, Try a single issue or save on a subscription, Issues delivered straight to your door or device. However, one of the things that has always stood out most about Alienwares laptops is their design, and the M14x is no different. The company has previously said that these tapered keys provide more space between the individual letters, which is better for first-person shooters, which make heavy use of the WASD keys. Frequent transportation will not be a problem thanks to the flat 150 W power adapter (540 grams). Because the transmitter beams audio as well, we were able to output that to our stereo, which gave even more depth and volume to explosions and music. As with other Alienware notebooks, we love the customizable backlighting on the M14x. In fact, we classify most 14-inch notebooks as thin-and-lights, so the M14x is heavy enough to bump it into the mainstream category. The $1,099 base model features a 2.3GHz Intel Core i7-3610QM processor with 6GB of RAM, a 500GB 7,200-rpm hard drive and Intel HD Graphics 4000 and Nvidia GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of VRAM. The XPS 14 scored just 18 fps while the GT60 delivered a whopping 101 fps. The left side houses a USB 2.0 slot, VGA, HDMI, mini-DisplayPort, a 9-in-1 reader, and jacks for a microphone, headset and headphones. PCWorld helps you navigate the PC ecosystem to find the products you want and the advice you need to get the job done. Like the M17x we reviewed, our configuration of the M14x came with a built-in Wireless HD transmitter, which beams data at up to 4 Gbps on the 60GHz spectrum, and has an effective range of up to 30 feet. Text_Color: '', While we wish there was a 1920 x 1080p option, the M14x's glossy display delivered reasonably sharp text; we noticed only a little pixelation when surfing to Kotaku and CNN.com. The notebook also comes with WiMax, so gamers on the go can still get onto the Internet, though you probably wouldn't want to game over that connection because of the slow upload speeds. PDF Alienware M14x Service Manual - downloads.dell.com scp.onload = function() { Theres also the issue of everything onscreen looking smaller but this can be tempered by adjusting settings in Windows. The best Apple Watch Series 8 deal is back, save $70 on our favorite wearable, Acer Predator Triton 16 hands-on impressions: My kind of gaming laptop. The user can install a 256 GB SSD instead of a fast HDD (7200 rpm - 500 or 750 GB). When we ran a full-screen Hulu video for 15 minutes, the touchpad and the space between the G and H keys measured 84 degrees Fahrenheit. The Radeon HD 6770M was in the lead by 6% with a score of 5286 to 4997 points. Selection of an option may cause previously selected specs to change. When it's not needed the GPU switches off, thanks to Nvidia's Optimus technology, allowing the system to use Intel's default integrated graphics instead. The performance is good, although the graphics card is a bit too slow for passionate gamers. Upgrading the processor or RAM is not necessary, the M14x delivers amazing performance even with the basic configuration. -- The New York Times. How we test computers. As we could not test all the games properly on just one laptop, we used two models: aMacBook Pro 15 and a MacBook Pro 17 (both are equipped with Radeon HD 6750M). PDF Alienware M14xR2 Owner's Manual - Dell Power through hard-core games and intense applications with the latest Intel Core i processors. From Monkey Island through Lands of Lore to Doom, I tried every game I could get my hands on. We never, ever, accept money to review a product. With the native HD+ resolution (1600 x 900), the delivered performance will suffice for high details. You can also upgrade to Killer Wi-Fi N for an extra 30. The GT 555M is available in two variations: with 1536 MB or with 3072 MB memory. (function (v,i) { The one negative is rather surprising on a gaming machine: the M14xs screen cant seem to differentiate between the three darkest shades on our greyscale test. Equipped with a 2.3GHz Intel Core i7-3610QM CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 750GB 7,200-rpm hard drive with a 32GB mSATA SSD cache, the Alienware M14x can frag with the best of ‘em. The Alienware M14x been configured with a 2.3GHz Intel core quad processor, 8GB RAM and Nvidia Geforce GT 555M processor which performs approximately 4000 times better than the other laptops. We recorded a good 40.8 fps, for the intro movie (U-Boat) of the single-player campaign. Wireless surfing using the WLAN module is not a problem either. However, with a laptop youre not likely to be viewing the screen from below, so its not an issue. On Far Cry 2, the M14x averaged 50 frames per second at native resolution and graphics set to Very High. The warranty periods range from 12 to maximum 48 months. And while they wont look or feel as nice, while their keyboards might not be as good nor their lights as bling, they will be able to play Crysis and other demanding games. It's been a few years since Dell gave its Alienware lineup a makeover, and it's starting to show. Alienware M14x The clock speeds have not been changed.