Alienware m14x Buying Guide

Dell’s Alienware m14x is the powerhouse of 14” laptops. With plenty of power to spare and styling designed just for gamers the m14x is sure to fit the bill for the extreme mobile gamer. With a standard Intel Core i7 and GeForce® GT 555M the m14x packs a punch for gaming in a small package. It can be ordered in both red and black, and sports the Alienware logo on the back of the lid. Features like AlienFX lighting allow for a high degree of lighting customization all over the laptop (keyboard back-lit lighting up different colors in different sections). Weighing in a 7+ pounds the laptop can be a little on the heavy side, but this is only to be expected with so much packed into such a small package. You have the option to order with Steam, Eve Online, or World of Warcraft pre-installed on your machine allowing you to get straight into the gaming.  Each laptop comes with a custom laser engraved plate leaving no dispute to the ownership of the laptop.

Benchmarks show performance of the new GeForce® GT 555M to be similar to that of the older 9800 GT. This powerful card should be able to play just about anything you throw at it in its 3GB trim. The 1.5GB should leave you with high detail on most games and highest settings with anything that has been out for a while.  Both configuration (the 1.5GB or the 3GB one) comes with nVidia Optimus switchable graphics, letting you save on battery life by switching to the integrated graphics when you’re not gaming.

With the HD+ resolution screen you should be seeing frame rates of around 35-40 on Crysis 2 with medium settings while the lower end display will see frame rates between 30 and 35 on maximum settings. Crysis original should be able to be comfortably played on maximum settings. Bad Company 2 is reported to run well with the lower resolution screen. The extra ram on the graphics card (the 3GB upgrade) might buy you performance in the future with the more demanding games on the forefront, but it won’t help out too much with current games. The HD screen would be great for watching movies and high resolution content or playing older games maxed out.

Alienware M14x Higher End Config

The higher end m14x offers all the same features of the lower end model with many of them now coming standard. Upgrades include the 3GB graphics memory upgrade, 8GB of RAM up from 4, an extra 250GB hard drive, the HD+ screen, and the Advanced-N Wireless card from Intel.

Recommendations for the lower end model still hold true for this model with the SoundBlaster being a nice upgrade for those who need the audio quality to enhance their gaming experience. The move to the 256GB Solid state hard disk will allow significant load time improvement in games with quicker response to changing scenery and faster bootup times making it a very satisfying thing to upgrade (if you have the cash to afford it).

Last but not least, the higher end m14x comes with support for WirelessHD letting you stream HD content to any WirelessHDTV or WirelessHD receiver seamlessly without hassle of wires and hook-ups (no more reaching to the back to the HDTV just to get the HDMI cable connected to your laptop.  Stay on your couch, sync, and start rocking out the games and movies straight from the m14x.

Alienware M14x Lower End Config

The lower end m14x still offers a great lineup for most gaming enthusiasts who want mobility. The base level graphics card will let you play everything out there, and 4GB of RAM is still plenty to run with, although 6GB would be nice if you wanted to run games without closing all your open programs. The processor upgrades offer more performance if you just must have it, but it isn’t all that important for the gaming experience, your money would be better spent on the graphics card upgrade. The upgrade to a SoundBlaster is a great option for the FPS games where sound stage and localization is important to give that depth of sound. The Solid state disk although quick pricy will offer incredible bootup times coupled with fast game load times and an overall extremely responsive operating system that can be very nice, although at the sacrifice of storage space.

The bottom line

Regardless of the model you choose the m14x offers an amazing gaming experience in a compact, portable package. Options like the HD screen and Solid state disk upgrade can really make it shine in more than just gaming. The i7 quad core makes it a jack of all trades with great multitasking abilities and graphics to excess for things like video and photo editing. The battery life is unexpectedly good for a gaming laptop advertising 6 hours making it something you can take to class, although I wouldn’t expect to get this playing any sort of graphically taxing game. In addition you get all of the usual Alienware swag with adjustable lights, the Alienware logo, and plenty of bragging rights.