The Alienware Area-51 m15x is the latest gaming notebook in the line. It is also probably the best one yet. With 15.4-inch screen it is as powerful as most 17-inch notebooks available at the moment and with a great battery life too. It is aimed primarily at gamers and available in a few configurations (one more configuration – the cheapest one will be available soon).
The Alienware Area-51 m15x offers not only updated hardware, but also new, ultra-modern look. The surface is shiny and reflective (at least when it is new) silver. There are also a few lighting zones, such as Alien Head on the back, Power Button, Touchpad and a few more.
The Alienware Area-51 m15x has a “ClearView” glossy, 15.4-inch display with WXGA+ (1440×900 pixels) as a standard. The screen is equally backlit and its quality is nearly perfect for gaming, watching movies, not to mention the more general use. Also its viewing angles are satisfactory and the picture remains sharp in most angles. It displays full 1080p HD quality so Blu-ray movies look really awesome. They sound a bit worse though, as the speakers are really small, a bit too quiet and with no bass.
The Alienware Area-51 m15x does work a bit loud when it runs games, but for when you’re not playing on it, it is not at all the case. Maybe it is slightly audible, but it is nothing out of the ordinary for laptops. When it comes to the heat, it might be a sort of unpleasant after a while of playing, but again it is nothing unusual. However, the new m15x has a new feature called “Stealth Mode” which puts the fans at a low speed and underclocks the processor which minimizes the power consumption, heat and noise.
The m15x’s touchpad is large and functional with a new feature enabling users to disable it. Moreover, it automatically disables when an external mouse is plugged in. The touchpad is a bit too slippery so when you have even slightly moist hand it might be difficult to navigate.
The Alienware Area-51 m15x has two graphics cards and an interesting feature enabling users to switch between them. If you want to play games switch to the more powerful and more power consuming one, and if at a given time you care more for battery life just use the integrated graphics card. Thanks to this feature and the above mentioned “Stealth Mode” the Alienware Area-51 m15x has a really impressive battery life for a gaming laptop – up to almost three hours. And even more in the power saving mode when it can reach over four hours. To sum up, although it might seem a little pricey (the cheapest one available at the time of writing is $1,799) it is well worth considering and for sure it is one of the best laptops for players at the moment. The detailed list of possible specifications is as follows:
Source: Alienware.