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Alienware Area-51 m15x

Published on 10th July 2008 by Joe Martin

Extras

Finally, we get round to the little things - the niggles and flaws which really get under our skin and mar the face of the Alienware Area-51 m15x because, to put it bluntly, though there are a lot of things to like about this laptop in terms of awesome game performance and it's overall design, there are also some things that irritate us.

One of the most critical things on the mind of any new notebook owner is going to be making sure that their new prize possession is safe and secure at all times, and on that regard the Alienware is a little bit of a disappointment, though at least it does have a Kensington lock slot.

Don’t expect to rely on the provided wallet for security; the skin tight envelope the m15x comes in feels more like a lycra cycling suit than a serious attempt at protection and the fact that it clearly has ‘Alienware’ emblazoned on the side isn’t going to put off potential thieves or make it less likely to survive a bump in your backpack. People buy gaming laptops to go out and about with them, so even something like a Neoprene sleeve would have been beneficial.

Speaking of bumps and scrapes, it’s worth saying that the chassis of the Area 51 m15x doesn’t feel incredibly sturdy. It is well put together and nicely secured, sure, but it’s also made entirely of plastic that feels a tiny bit flimsy – it won't survive many hits to the keyboard after fits of rage from being fragged for the nth time, that's for sure.

Alienware Area-51 m15x Alienware Area-51 m15x - Conclusions

The m15x makes up for this in terms of design and style though and this is certainly a great-looking laptop that we’d be proud to use, but practically it’s a bit limited in some areas of connectivity.

The good news is that there’s a sweet little HDMI connector on the side of the case and it is flanked by the standard array of express-card and MMC, SD and MS card readers. There’s an 802.11n WiFi card inside, as well as a trusty Ethernet port for when something hardwired is needed.

The bad news is that the total of three USB ports is less than we’d hope for – especially if you assume that they’ll be quickly taken up by a mouse, and possibly keyboard and USB stick. When it comes time to connect your iPod, mobile phone or USB game of whac-a-mole then you’ll be sorely disappointed.

The fact that the DVD-RW drive doesn’t have an eject button is completely baffling too as, no matter how you look at it, that’s a fundamentally accepted part of any optical drive. Instead, if you want to eject a CD or DVD then you’ll have to use the Fn – F8 shortcut, which is more counterintuitive than learning to drive using only your nipples.

And yes, nipple-steering does sound fun – but you just wait until you have to change gear. Bring an icecube, that’s all we’ll say.

Still, there are some redeeming qualities for the Alienware Area 51 m15x. The screen for instance is pretty top notch – detailed and bright, sharp and defined, though failing a little when it comes to the black levels. There is a touch of bleed from the backlight too that can be seen if you look at it from pretty much any angle other than head-on, but that isn’t the end of the world – the screen is adjustable.

The speakers too are pretty good and can reach a really impressive volume considering how small the top-mounted speakers are. There’s a certain level of tininess, but with speakers like this that’s unavoidable and the m15x can easily belt out some decent music. Bob Dylan sounds especially good – but that’s hardly surprising.

Battery life is also something to think on as, although the laptop is really intended to be used with a constant power connection, the 98 minute battery life we got out of it at idle is a little bit worrying. The battery may have impressed us originally with a LED charge indicator on the side and all, but packing less than two hours of office work is pretty worrying.

Conclusions

When you get right down to it, the Alienware Area 51 m15x is solid, but only marginally groundbreaking.

There are a number of little things and touches which might help make the m15x stand out, mainly in terms of the adjustable colour schemes and the overall look and feel of the excellent keyboard, but for each one there’s also a drawback. Besides, adjustable colour profiles may look fancy, but are functionally redundant.

Still, niggles and nags aside the performance and style on offer here is very good, even if you do have to pay a premium. Gaming notebooks are an odd creature in that they aren’t ever really intended to be notebooks as much as they desktop replacements. Even then, this is slightly more portable as a 15.4" rather than a 17". Measured on that scale, the Alienware Area-51 m15x is a solid purchase.