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We tested the Alienware panel with a Playstation 3 hooked into it, as well as with a range of High Definition movies and games. We used a La Cie measurement gun for some of the readings.
The LED panel supplied with this particular laptop is exceptionally good and it excelled with high quality 1080p movies. Our colour image and grayscale testing showed that it was able to resolve a fantastic amount of detail, and even some very subtle changes with media. Banding was noticeable, but at the better scale of the spectrum. Focusing quality is very good although backlighting inconsistency is apparent at the corners. To the naked eye it is hard to notice, but our measurement tools were able to show some fluctuation. Text was well resolved, with even fine text maintaining definition across the scale.
Offset viewing is very good, both horizontally and vertically, although the glare from the gloss screen can be slightly distracting with a light behind the viewer. Its a compromise necessary for rich, bright and vibrant media material however. We noticed no ghosting or artifacting when playing games such as Call Of Duty and when watching BluRay discs such as Avatar. We recorded a rating of around 400 cd/m2 at full brightness which is more than acceptable for a screen this size.
We used Displaymate to test the panel and were more than impressed with the overall image quality. The Gamut range in GamutVision was well above average, falling in line with what our eyes told us. Colour reproduction is excellent, although there is a slight pink tinge to neutral gray which can be tuned out with software settings. This is slightly more pronounced at the bottom left and right of the screen. The gamut however helps to ensure that realistic images are displayed, especially when watching high quality source material from the Playstation 3 over HDMI.
White purity shows minor shift between 5% and 17% across the width with higher corruption at the panel edges. This is a very good result and whites tend to look clear and pure when watching high definition media. Until the screen is calibrated, we did notice a slight pink tinge, but it was easily removed. Many people will probably not notice this under normal conditions.
Black definition is stellar, with only minor leaks on all edges of the panel ruining the overall result. It looks worse in this technical data image, however under real world conditions it is barely noticeable to the naked eye. Generally in the past we have found that screens on Alienware laptops have a leak from the bottom of the screen, trailing upwards by around 15%. This is one of the better Alienware screens we have tested to date and right up there with the best Apple panels we have seen.
Well thats damn nice. its also the price of my car mind you :p
Looks a lot nicer than the earlier versions. Although I loved that 11 inch version, that was sexy. these aren’t for me, too bulky to carry about.
Brilliant. Not sure id ever pay that for a laptop, but certainly made for nice reading.
Gotta love twitter alerts. need my daily review fix 😉
Very impressed with this unit, but the 15 inch one might make more physical sense. im all for desktop replacements, but it doesnt work for me. insane performance, thats without question.
Id love one of these, see them on tv shows a lot (as well as apple machine obviously).
Id be tempted to look at one, once they get the mobos replaced. When will that be? march?
Wow even this machine is affected by the bloody intel mess. will it ever end. its like the end of the world, i tell ya !
Its good, but they need a stronger GFX for such a high end machine.
My mate has a alienware, he uses it alot, but his keyboard fell apart over 3 years. hopefully they fixed that.
I read a lot of horror stories about these previous versions, google them ! I love the looks, but its hard to review long term strenght. some of these companies should let the reviewers hold onto them for months, so they can do follow ups. but they wont do that.
The lighting is awesome, that sold me before anything else :p
Its nice, and its fast, but why dont they make a ferrari one ? like the cars. I know acer did it, but dell would make them nicer.
Great laptop. I have the first revision and I agree, it wasn’t built to really last a long time, but ive looked after mine and its been great.
Pricing the components and the system isnt bad, including the overhead for the lighting and custom chassis etc. the SSD alone takes up a big portion of the price. but well worth it as the HD tests show.
Id love a 17 inch laptop, but Id need one for college and I dont fancy hauling this around. shall look at their 15 inch models, once the sandybridge fiasco is sorted.
I always loved their case designs and these look stunning, my professor has one in college and all the kids think he is cool for owning it (he is a 65 year old guy who can really use it too!)
I was going to order one, then realised at the last part of the review that this uses one of the troubled sandybridge motherboard. so will have to wait. Any ideas on the time frame for the fix? march? april?
Yes, the laptop is terrific, but that is one seriously awesome review guys! Boot time; acoustics; SSD; screen quality! Wow! Best I’ve read! Keep it up! (and rustle up a Eurocom equivalent!)
I’m prefered to call it M17X 2G rather than M17 R3 because: i) new redesign, and, ii) new ports (USB 3.0, HDMI 1.4)
I bought the m17x r3 before it was removed. One feature that was listed on the Alienware site was the wireless HD. I have not been able to figure out how this feature works. I looked for a WirelessHD icon or WiDi icon but did not find it on my system. I did find it on the resource CD. When I tried to run it there was an error stating it could not find the wireless Display card. I looked in the BIOS and found an entry under wireless that read DMC Sibeam. Have you tested this feature? If so what is missing?
Its back on sale now! ordered mine yesterday 🙂 nice and complete review!
You forgot to do a section on the audio quality………
For such an expensive laptop, headphone/speaker performance is important to prospective buyers.