One for the ALIENS

While doing unimportant things like surfing the Net or using the unit for official work,the integrated 9400M graphics chip of the laptop takes over in order to save power. The screen,a 17″ wide UXGA 1920 x 1200 display,is all a gamer could ask for. But here is a personal plea,please do not use the laptop for stuff like watching movies or listening to songs. Not that it can’t do it,it is just that this beauty was built for better things.

Dawn of War2,Supreme Commander and Batman: Arkham Asylum all ran on a full detailed 1920×1200 resolution without so much as a whisper. It makes sense discussing performance parameters for lower-end gaming machine,but for a system that can take on PS3 games with the ease of the archaic pinball machines,there really isn’t much to complain about. We can safely say that the piece will max out all gaming aspirations and demands for the next two years,at least.

If you thought that this is all that the M17X offered there is more to rejoice. It comes with a slot loading Blu-ray combo drive,HDMI and video output,four hi-speed USB ports,an eSATA port,separate sub-woofer and central speaker audio jacks and a rear surround audio port. Also the two front built-in speakers provide sound that is good enough for average listeners. For gaming,however,you might want to hook up the system to a surround sound system or hi-end headphones. Also the integrated Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 (1000Mbps) and high-speed MIMO-capable WLAN make it a neat option for the multiplayer games too.

All the heavy-duty gaming does take a toll on the battery though. We managed a small two-and-a-half hours of running from the 9-cell Lithium-Ion battery in the power saver mode,performing the regular non-gaming tasks. However,in high performance gaming tasks the system ran out of battery juice in a little over half an hour. But the whole point of the laptop is that it is not for lugging around to office but for replacing the old desktop and so battery life shouldn’t be a deterrent. Sadly,the systems come with the Windows Vista system.

Before you start getting ideas,here’s a word of caution. Firstly,it is definitely not an average household buy because it comes with a very steep Rs 1,44,000 price tag (for the higher end version with all the extended goodies) and a Rs 1,38,000 price tag for the one without the extreme gaming requirements. And,secondly,it is not a laptop that you can carry out to office to do mundane day-to-day chores. This one is only for hardcore gamers,or rich kids with a lot of moolah to spend. However,if you are looking for the ultimate gaming experience without frowning at the price tag,then your search definitely ends here. And as for the poorer of the lot,all we can do is wait for Dell to launch the cheaper Alienware desktops in India.