Is Bigger WORSE? - Alienware 15 Gaming Review

[AlexTheGreatish]

Buy the Alienware 15 on Amazon: http://geni.us/jf286qF

 

Buy the Alienware 15 on Newegg: http://geni.us/poUyh7B

 

The Alienware 15 packs a lot of gaming power, but does it pack enough usability to beat the Alienware 13?
 

 

[shadowbyte]

ok

[The Sloth]

"quality feeling plastic" 

[AlexTheGreatish]

4 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

"quality feeling plastic" 

It's actually pretty fantastic feeling, like its kinda soft, I'm not sure how to describe it besides its a nice place to rest your wrists.

[The Sloth]

4 minutes ago, AlexTheGreatish said:

It's actually pretty fantastic feeling, like its kinda soft, I'm not sure how to describe it besides its a nice place to rest your wrists.

 

much as i love plastic, long-term durability is sacrificed compared to something like aluminum, looking at the price point i would expect something more premium. 

[hui]

Linus mentioned a "chance to win" the mouse at the link in the description, but it seems to be a regular amazon link. Broken link or US only?

[Ameigen]

Enjoyable video, but boy do I have a new favorite .gif!

[Ameigen]

1 minute ago, hui said:

Linus mentioned a "chance to win" the mouse at the link in the description, but it seems to be a regular amazon link. Broken link or US only?

From the US and I'm not sure where the link is either. 

[Guest Darth Revan]

"Solid premium feel" said while showing how the panel flexes.

[hui]

8 minutes ago, Abyssal Radon said:

One thing that the video forgot to mention was it's weight. 

They did mention it, even had Jon play a "wow this thing is heavy" sketch

[The Sloth]

2 minutes ago, Abyssal Radon said:

One thing that the video forgot to mention was it's weight. For me, I would rather have a thinner, lighter laptop for school. I like my MSi GS-60 Pro, but I have to say I will be upgrading to a new laptop in the near future. Other than that, personally I would probably buy the 15" Alienware if I had to choose between the two. Because my hands are big, and a 13" laptop would be a disadvantage for me. 

 

XPS 15 is a perfect laptop for school, the non-touch 1080p screen model with that huge battery. 

[LeapFrogMasterRace]

I don't mind the side LEDs but the RGB touchpad is just so tacky 

[AlexTheGreatish]

28 minutes ago, Abyssal Radon said:

One thing that the video forgot to mention was it's weight. For me, I would rather have a thinner, lighter laptop for school. I like my MSi GS-60 Pro, but I have to say I will be upgrading to a new laptop in the near future. Other than that, personally I would probably buy the 15" Alienware if I had to choose between the two. Because my hands are big, and a 13" laptop would be a disadvantage for me. 

The 13 and 15 both have essentially the same keyboard and trackpad so I don't see how the size of your hands would really affect usability.  For school I'd choose the 13" every time.

[Guest lilbman]

55 minutes ago, AlexTheGreatish said:

It's actually pretty fantastic feeling, like its kinda soft, I'm not sure how to describe it besides its a nice place to rest your wrists.

Only problem is that it's a fingerprint/sweat magnet  otherwise I love it!

[Guest lilbman]

52 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

much as i love plastic, long-term durability is sacrificed compared to something like aluminum, looking at the price point i would expect something more premium. 

Wouldn't it get hotter though?

[The Sloth]

2 minutes ago, lilbman said:

Wouldn't it get hotter though?

a bit, but nothing to be concerned about, if it's designed well 

[Guest lilbman]

2 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

a bit, but nothing to be concerned about, if it's designed well 

Between the trackpad and the space bar is where my unit gets the hottest, and it's pretty hot, uncomfortable even.  It would be borderline burn capable if it was aluminum.

[The Sloth]

9 minutes ago, lilbman said:

Between the trackpad and the space bar is where my unit gets the hottest, and it's pretty hot, uncomfortable even.  It would be borderline burn capable if it was aluminum.

 

then design it well so it doesn't have that problem, not putting the GPU and CPU under the trackpad or the spacebar seems like a good solution , my MacBook has no issues considering its almost 4 years old. 

[Guest lilbman]

32 minutes ago, nerdslayer1 said:

then design it well so it doesn't have that problem, not putting the GPU and CPU under the trackpad or the spacebar seems like a good solution , my MacBook has no issues considering its almost 4 years old. 

The CPU and GPU are underneath the keyboard, it's just that that section is the deepest part.

[The Sloth]

4 minutes ago, lilbman said:

The CPU and GPU are underneath the keyboard, it's just that that section is the deepest part.

use proper cooling, i don't understand your point? 

[XHAD]

I don't understand where you get witcher 3 from casual and overwatch and CSGO as competitive at all I mean yeah sure but it is more like one is RPG and the other is an FPS . Other than that I really liked how you did that space themey background style when showing off the charts instead of using games running in the background to help reduce visual noise.

[Grifith256]

I was actually a bit surprised at how they described the 15 as heavy, and that no one would want to carry it around.  I find my 17 r3, part of the same family, to be fairly light and have no problems carrying it around at work or on trips.  To me 13 and 15 inch laptops are just too small for any real gaming or production work.  I would like to see a comparison from their point of view between the 15 and the 17 with the 1440 screen and twin 1080 cards.

[Luscious]

Alienware would be wise to bring back the 18 inch notebook they had a few years ago. I enjoyed the M18x I looked at back when it was still available, and probably would have kept the $5400 beast if it wasn't for the flaky sound hardware that would fail to power back up every time the system was rebooted. Sad as well that Dell knew about the issue and refused to offer a fix.

 

I would love to see an 18 or even 20 inch performance notebook with a 4K display, and since HP and Toshiba have dropped out of the high-end notebook race, Alienware could snag that very niche enthusiast crowd with deep pockets. That 21 inch Acer Predator X is an overpriced crying shame with it's 1080p display.

[havok0159]

15 hours ago, Abyssal Radon said:

One thing that the video forgot to mention was it's weight. For me, I would rather have a thinner, lighter laptop for school. I like my MSi GS-60 Pro, but I have to say I will be upgrading to a new laptop in the near future. Other than that, personally I would probably buy the 15" Alienware if I had to choose between the two. Because my hands are big, and a 13" laptop would be a disadvantage for me. 

It's why I went with a Zenbook for my on the go needs. My old XPS may have been able to play Skyrim 4 years after it's release but it's battery could barely last through a single course, the weight was enough to make my back hurt after a while (although to be fair, it was relatively light for a 2008 laptop) and ran way too hot. Now the only way I will hear a fan is if I'm in complete silence and can leave my charger at home.

[ResidentRad]

I like my 13 because its most of the oomph of the 15 without the weight penalty. 

 

And yes, quality feeling plastic is a thing. I have no issues dropping, and have dropped before, and the thing just keeps on going. Display hinge is hilariously over engineered, one less thing to have to worry about long term. 

 

With the AGA, and the 7700HQ in here now, I feel like Ill get years out of this long past the point the 1060 starts showing its age. 

 

right now its a great gaming machine on the go, can still crank through PS when I need to, and if I'm just looking at images or typing, the battery life is shockingly great. Ive gone upwards of 7 hours with just browser/word use. Not bad for a machine that can turn around and 1080/60 a wack ton of modern games without trouble