A few months in the past I reviewed the brand new Alienware 13, which was designed as a mid-range gaming computer that would accept a severe overall performance increase by being plugged in to the non-obligatory Graphics Amplifier. While the concept of an outside GPU for a laptop is promising, the chunky layout of the Alienware 13 paired with merely average hardware didn’t make the device as appealing for laptop gamers as I might have liked.

Enter the new Alienware 15. This a whole lot larger gaming pc from Dell’s lovers emblem is a totally extraordinary story. Designed for excessive-quit gaming, the Alienware 15 packs effective hardware rivalling decent gaming desktops, together with flagship cellular GPUs from each AMD and Nvidia. And like other Alienware machines, the 15 is extraordinarily customizable, with pricing starting from $1,two hundred up to $2,seven hundred depending at the hardware inside.

To ensure we were given the message that the Alienware 15 method business, Dell despatched us the top-spec version to check. This means a 15.6-inch Ultra HD display, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M devoted GPU, an Intel Core i7-4710HQ processor, sixteen GB of RAM, and 1.five TB of garage break up among a difficult power and stable kingdom. This is one significantly powerful pc; the maximum effective that we’ve reviewed to this point.

I’ll kick off via describing what the Alienware 15 is not. It’s now not a thin, mild or portable pc. It’s not some thing you’ll need to move very regularly. It’s now not going to update your paintings laptop which you take on the train every day. This is a beastly, heavy behemoth designed to take a seat in your desk for extended gaming sessions, with the option of portability for LAN events and different gaming activities.

The system weighs 3.2 kilograms (7.1 lbs) and clocks in at 34.4mm thick, nicely over your trendy 15-inch pc. However in comparison to the contemporary crop of gaming laptops, the Alienware 15 sits someplace within the middle: you’ll find structures from MSI, Maingear, Asus ROG, and others that are heavier or lighter, normally with an accompanying shift in charge.

The thickness and weight of this laptop can be attributed to 2 matters. First, the battery internal this gadget is a beefy ninety two Wh, which is bigger than similar magnificence laptops and optimistically huge enough to remaining longer than an hour in the course of gaming.

Also, the cooling device for the powerful CPU and GPU – which intakes from the bottom and exhausts out massive vents at the lower back – requires a respectable quantity of space for heatsinks to chill effectively.

Design-clever, the Alienware 15 is styled in a comparable fashion to the thirteen. It features an angular frame with a silver, steel lid that this time is virtually fabricated from gently-brushed aluminium (in place of plastic). Thanks to using metallic, this whole display assembly is hard and reveals no flex whilst using the touchscreen. Like other Alienware structures, the lid features AlienFX lighting fixtures in a Y-shaped pattern, complete with a sparkling alien head.

The most important frame of the Alienware 15 is fabricated from tender-touch matte plastic, which appears moderately desirable, but greater importantly feels remarkable whilst the usage of the keyboard. This plastic wraps across the facets of the body in which you’ll discover the ports, even though it loses the smooth touch coating. Meanwhile, the show is blanketed via smooth, smooth glass, at least on the touchscreen version I obtained to check.

The layout of the Alienware 15 usual isn’t as slick or stylish as I would like for a fabricated from this charge factor. This is basically because of the wholesome dose of ‘gamer’ style carried out around the gadget, which I’m not a massive fan of, however is favored by using the goal demographic of this type of pc. Use of wellknown substances doesn’t make it look like a $2,seven-hundred laptop both, though rest confident the hardware inner is awesome.

The front segment of the frame is in which you’ll locate the stereo audio system, above two strips of AlienFX lights. These speakers are loud and effective, with quality higher than what you usually get with computer audio system. There’s still a wellknown loss of bass, which makes the speaker system sound unbalanced, so I’d endorse an amazing pair of external audio system or headphones if you need to take your gaming experience to the next level. However, the audio system are high-quality for informal gaming or looking films faraway from your audio setup.

Around the rims, the selection of ports at the Alienware 15 is almost identical to the Alienware 13. On the left you’ll locate the power port, two USB ports, and audio jacks. On the right is every other two USB ports and a gigabit Ethernet port. Finally, at the again you’ll locate HDMI, mini DisplayPort, and the proprietary PCIe x4 connector for the Graphics Amplifier.

As for AlienFX lighting fixtures, I’ve cited some zones on this evaluation already: the lid and below the audio system. But it doesn’t stop there, as you’ll additionally locate customizable lighting fixtures inside the Alienware logo beneath the display, the reputation LEDs in the pinnacle-left nook of the keyboard vicinity, the alien head electricity button, the keyboard backlighting itself, or even the trackpad. All of those zones are geared up with RGB lights, so you can pick out anything shade you want for each region within the AlienFX settings.

When set up to fulfill your desires, the lights across the Alienware 15 can look quite cool. Lighting in the trackpad is surely overboard though, so this changed into the best quarter I disabled.

The base of the Alienware 15 is raised some millimeters with the aid of rubber mounts to allow for airflow to the big phase of vents along the bottom panel. This cooling setup is pretty effective for gaming on a desk, but less so when the laptop is constricted via fabric along with while the laptop is placed on a bed or couch. The bottom region additionally capabilities a detachable panel that offers get right of entry to to the replaceable drives interior.