Review : Dell Allienware M15X

 

The Dell Alienware M15x is considered the 15-inch monster of the gaming world.  Not only does it sport a monster-like design, the Dell Alienware M15x also comes with some seriously intimidating specs, especially with its choices of processor.



A laptop made to cater to hardcore gamers, the Dell Alienware M15x first came out with Intel’s Core 2 Extreme X9000 powering its system.  This processor was already a very potent one, and it made other gaming laptops look like a turtle racing with the rabbit-like Dell Alienware M15x.   Dell turbo boosted the Dell Alienware M15x by evolving its processing unit into the noteworthy Intel Core “i” technology.

The present Dell Alienware M15x comes with two processor options – the Intel Core i5 and the Intel Core i7.  The Intel Core i7 is the latest and most powerful processor of this time, but the Intel Core i5 is not going to lose a lot in processing prowess.  If the Intel Core i7 is the current king of processors, then the Intel Core i5 is definitely the first-born prince.  With the king making the headlines, let us focus for at the prince, the Intel Core i5.

The Dell Alienware M15x with Intel Core i5 may contain any of the following units: the Intel Core i5-520M or the Intel Core i5-540M.  Both CPUs run with two cores, but could outrun other dual core processors, including its predecessors.  That is why, even with the Intel Core i5, the Dell Alienware M15x could still be considered a leviathan of the gaming world and is poised to become one of the favorites of hardcore gamers with budgets not enough to acquire a similar laptop with the Intel Core i7 in it.

The Intel Core i5 that runs on the Dell Alienware M15x uses Intel’s Turbo Boost technology.  This system allows any Intel Core i5 laptops processor to run at a faster clock rate when doing tremendous processing tasks.  The 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5-520M could turbo boost up to 2.93 GHz while the 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5-540M could accelerate up to 3.06 GHz.

Complimenting this speed and power is lots of memory.  The Dell Alienware M15x Core i5 version is loaded with up to 4 GB of random access memory.  This guarantees very smooth performance even when accessing memory-hungry applications.  Another important compliment is the back up graphics for hardcore games.  The Dell Alienware M15x is installed with 1 GB of VRAM in the Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M.  Rendering heavy graphics becomes a cinch with this dedicated graphics card.

The Dell Alienware M15x Core i5 version still comes in very gamer-like chassis with three designs to choose from — It comes in Red Nebula, Lunar Shadow and Cosmic Black designs.  It also could contain up to 250 GB of digital files and if storage is not enough, its BD-ROM/DVD/-RW drive can be used to burn those files.

The Dell Alienware M15x Core i5 version also comes with a full HD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels – ideal not only for gaming but also for multimedia experience.

SPECS
Central Processing Unit	2.4-GHz Intel Core i5-520QM with Turbo Boost
	2.53-GHz Intel Core i5-540QM with Turbo Boost
Read Access Memory	4 GB
Storage Drive	SATA 250GB Hard Drive 7,200 rpm
Optical Drive	BD-ROM/DVD /-RW
Display Size	15.6 inches
Native Resolution	1920 x 1080
Dimension	14.9 x 12.2 x 1.9 inches
Graphics Card	Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M with 1 GB VRAM
Weight	9.0 pounds

Pros

The Dell Alienware M15x with Intel Core i5 is just a level down from its more powerful twin, the Dell Alienware M15x with Intel Core i7.  Anything its more potent sibling can do, this laptop also can, but with lesser power.

The Dell Alienware M15x with Intel Core i5 still offers awesome graphics, a full HD display and a Blu-Ray ready drive.

Cons

Dell Alienware M15x comes with an average audio system that could play sounds well but not at an excellent level.  With nine pounds of weight to carry around, some people might find the Dell Alienware M15x too heavy.

Conclusion

The Dell Alienware M15x is already a very excellent gaming laptop to begin and its price of around $1,199 ups the appeal as well.

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Review : Apple MacBook Pro Spring 2010

The Apple MacBook Pro Spring 2010 retains the same unibody aluminum chassis and its large multitouch touchpad. Apple gives the option of lot of upgrade options. The new MacBook is powered by robust Intel Core i7 processor that offer better performance and power efficiency over other processors. Apple also uses the automatic graphics switching technology that switches between Intel’s integrated graphics chip and Nvidia GeForce GT330M dedicated graphics. It has 15.4 inch or 17 inch( two variants) display, 4GB RAM, 500GB hard drive. It offers excellent battery life of 6 hours. It is available at base price of $1699.

Design

Apple has retained the iconic unibody chassis made up of solid blocks of Aluminum that is chipped down, instead of  thin outer shell that had support struts added to it. This gives very thin  but strong chassis. We feel this is pretty solid. Overall, the design looks simple but elegant.

The whole keyboard is slightly raised above from palmrest. The keyboard size is relatively small compared to its palmrest. All the keys are in black and narrowly separated. We felt that the dedicated numberpad could have been included instead of wasting palmrest area along sides. The keys are tactile and offer comfortable typing. All the important keys like Shift, Tab are in good size.

It comes with largest touchpad that supports variety of multi-gestures. The touchpad is pretty responsive and offer smooth glide. It supports swiping with 4 fingers; right or left brings up application switcher and conceals all other windows. Apple has included a new feature named “inertial scrolling” that moves up the web pages slightly when you lift your fingers up from the touchpad.

The MacBook Pro sports 15.4 widescreen display that has the native resolution of 1,440×900-pixel. It would it have been better if it sports 1,680×1,050-pixel display keeping growing HD video trend in mind. However, the screen is bright, sharp and colorful. The video, photos, text and web pages looks absolutely superb. The system speakers are louder and as well as clearer.

Features

There is not much significance difference made in port and network part, it remains average as earlier. It has just 2 USB port, a mini-DisplayPort, a FireWire 800, a SD card reader, Ethernet port, Wireless n Wi-fi support, Bluetooth and few audio outs. There are neither eSATA ports nor HDMI port. It also includes DVD burner. In this version DisplayPort can stream both Video as well as audio. At this price tag, Blue-ray Drive would have been included. We also loved to see 3G connectivity in future models of MacBook Pro.

The MacBook is powered by Intel’s latest, robust Core i7 M620 processor that clocks at 2.66GHz. It outperforms its predecessor with respect to performance and as well as power efficiency. It has 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM and it can be upgraded up to 8GB. It has the hard disk capacity of 500GB. Apple includes lots of configuration options at different price with this Mac Pro.

The 17- and 15- inch MacBook Pros has Nvidia GeForce 330M GPU along with the Intel’s integrated graphics. This combination immensely boosts the gaming and other graphics capabilities. It incorporates “automatic graphics switching”, an Apple mastered alteration  of “Optimus  graphics-switching technology” of Nvidia. The idea is simple, it uses the Intel Graphics chip as default and it switches to powerful Nvidia GPU chip when the load demands automatically. You don’t need to push the button to switch between Graphics chip as in the earlier case.  It drastically improves the power efficiency. You will be able to play most of the main stream games. It comfortably handled Call of Duty game in full screen at 1,440×900-pixel resolution.

The system is certainly responsive and faster comparing to last year’s laptop. The Core i7 satisfies most of the needs of the customers. It is lot capable of handling complex tasks and multitasking programs. Overall, The Core i7 offers excellent performance and better performs over older Core 2 Duo processor. In Multitasking, it completely outperformed all other laptops in its category. In single tasks like iTunes, Photoshop, the Alienware’s Core i7 M15x gave neck-to-neck competition.

Apple Mac Pro 2010 offers the battery life of 5 hour 56 minutes over last year’s laptop offered about 5 hour 5 minutes. It is lot appreciable as it is running on powerful processor.

Apple has good reputation for its service and support. Apple includes an industry standard one year warranty on all parts and labour. But it includes the telephone support is valid for 90 days. You will get FAQ book, online manual, drivers and email support from its service website. The three warranty extension comes at a whopping cost of $349.

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