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To test such a powerful system, we are using a mixture of synthetic and real world testing, clearly labelled into various sections. We are also going to compare this Core i7 2630QM based machine against several other laptop systems (in specific areas of the review) – not as a direct comparison, but more as an analysis scenario for a possible upgrade, measuring potential gains and benefits.
The ASRock Ion3D system, to give an indication of potential benefits when upgrading from an ATOM powered computer, the MSI FX 600 Laptop, which features an Intel Core i3 330M processor and the MSI FX 623 which features a Core i5 460M.
Comparison Systems:
ASRock Ion3D – Atom D525 @ 1.8ghz
MSI FX600 – Intel Core i3 330M
MSI FX623 – Intel Core i5 460M
Software:
Windows 7 64 Bit
Aida 64
SiSoft Sandra
Cinebench R11.5 64 bit
Cyberlink Media Espresso
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra V10
PCMark Vantage
3Dmark Vantage
3DMark 11
HQV Benchmark V 2.0
Left4Dead
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam
Resident Evil 5
Tom Clancy HAWX 2
Crysis Warhead
Far Cry 2
Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Asus BluRay Drive
Lacie 730 Monitor (Image Quality testing)
Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter
Kill A Watt Meter
Nikon D300S SLR with R1C1 Kit.
Panasonic Lumix TZ10
All results are gained from multiple test runs to ensure any abnormalities are removed before publication.
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.