Alienware M15X 15.6-Inch Cosmic Black Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium)

by Alienware

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 19.9 x 17.4 inches ; 19.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 19.6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B002PY7P0C
• Item model number: m15x-889CSB
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,007 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 18, 2009

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Take control of your gaming with the Alienware M15X multimedia laptop, which features an all-new, thermally optimized case design with aggressive lines and an in-your-face attitude. It features a stunning, high-definition 15.6-inch display and the newest Intel Core i7 processor--four cores of intelligent processing power. Additionally, it offers ultra-fast DDR3 system memory and the NVIDIA GeForce GTx 260M graphics with 1 GB of video memory. Taken together, this combination of high-performance technologies allow you to rip through the latest 3D games at lightning-fast frame-rates.

Learn more about Windows 7 Home Premium below.

Pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system (64-bit version), you'll be able to easily create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. Windows 7 is the easiest, fastest, and most engaging version of Windows yet. Better ways to find and manage files, like Jump Lists and improved taskbar previews, help you speed through everyday tasks. Windows 7 is designed for faster and more reliable performance, so your PC just works the way you want it to. (Learn more about Windows 7 Home Premium below.)

It includes a Draft-N wireless LAN, which will connect to 802.11n routers and offers compatibility with 802.11b/g networks as well. Other features include a 320 GB hard drive, 4 GB of installed DDR3 RAM, dual-layer DVD burner, 8-in-1 memory card reader, ExpressCard 34 slot, and high-definition 5.1 surround sound.

Key Features

• 15.6-inch widescreen display with 1600 x 900-pixel resolution (Learn more)
• Windows 7 Home Premium makes it easy to create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. And you can watch shows for free when and where you want with Internet TV on Windows Media Center. Get the best entertainment experience with Windows 7 Home Premium. (Learn more)
• Get more features with Windows Anytime Upgrade. It's the best way to add features to Windows 7, takes as few as ten minutes, requires no software or downloads, and you'll keep your existing programs, files, and settings. Windows will walk you through the simple upgrade process.
• 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 720QM processor delivers maximum processing power in response to peak demands. You'll fly through everything you do on your PC--from playing intense 3D games to creating and editing digital video, music and photos. (Learn more)
• 320 GB hard drive
• 4 GB of installed DDR3 RAM (expandable to 8 GB)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M with 1 GB discrete graphics memory offers what gamers want most--hyper-realistic action with intense 3D visuals, plus vibrant, lifelike scenes and dynamic character effects--thanks to NVIDIA's PhysX technology. It goes beyond everyday gaming with built-in CUDA technology to speed demanding system tasks, like video playback and HD movie editing. You'll also enjoy up to a 50 percent improvement over previous generation mobile graphics processors, and a more rewarding Windows 7 experience with accelerated video and image processing.
• 8x multi-format DVD drive supports reading/writing of CD-R/RW, DVD±R, DVD±RW, DVD±R DL, and DVD-RAM
• Draft-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g/n)
• Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)
• Norton Anti-Virus Gamer Edition (30 Day Trial)
• 9-cell battery
• Dimensions: 14.88 x 12.15 x 1.92 inches (WxDxH)
• Weight: 9 pounds
• Warranty: One-year with 24x7 technical support

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
Be ready for the next platform in wireless connectivity with an integrated Draft-N Wi-Fi chip. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existing 802.11g wireless. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found in home routers and Wi-Fi hotspots). It also includes a next-generation ExpressCard card slot (replacing the PCMCIA slot), which lets you take advantage of thinner, faster, and lighter expansion cards for even more advanced wireless, networking, storage, and security features. It comes with the following external connectors:

• 3 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
  • Includes 1 eSATA/USB combo port
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• Analog video output: 1 VGA
• 1 ExpressCard/34 slot
• 8-in-1 memory card reader compatible with Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, and more
• 1 headphone jack, 1 microphone jack
• RJ-45 port for Ethernet

What's in the Box
This package contains the Alienware M15X notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions

Learn More

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Windows 7 Home Premium makes it easy to create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. You can even watch, pause, rewind, and record TV. Get the best entertainment experience with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Simplify everyday tasks	Work the way you want	Make new things possible
Simplify your PC with new navigation features like Aero Shake, Jump Lists, and Snap. Customize Windows to look and feel the way you like by changing themes and taskbar programs. Setting up a home network and connecting to printers and devices is easier than ever. Windows 7 Home Premium supports the latest hardware and software.	Designed to make your PC sleep and resume quicker. Takes full advantage of 64-bit PC hardware and memory. Connecting to wireless networks is fast and easy.	Watch, pause, rewind, and record TV with Windows Media Center. Watch your favorite DVD movies. Includes integrated video and Dolby audio codecs.

Jump Lists
New in Windows 7, Jump Lists take you right to the documents, pictures, songs, or websites you turn to each day. To open a Jump List, just right-click a program icon on the Windows 7 taskbar. (You'll also find them on the Start menu.) What you see in a Jump List depends entirely on the program. The Jump List for Internet Explorer 8 shows frequently-viewed websites. Windows Media Player 12 lists commonly-played tunes. Your Jump List missing a favorite? You can "pin" whatever files you like there. Jump Lists don't just show shortcuts to files. Sometimes they also provide quick access to commands for things like composing new e‑mail messages or playing music.

Improved Windows Taskbar
In Windows 7 you can "pin" favorite programs anywhere on the taskbar for easy access. Not crazy about the icon lineup? Now you can rearrange them any way you like by clicking and dragging. Finally, there are new ways to preview windows. Point to a taskbar icon to see a thumbnail preview of open files or programs. Then, move your mouse over a thumbnail to preview the window full-screen. You can even close windows from the thumbnail previews--a big time saver.

Snap
Ever need to cut through a cluttered desktop and quickly focus on a single window? Just click a pane and give your mouse a shake. Every open window except that one instantly disappears. Jiggle again--and your windows are back.

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Rip-Roaring Intel Core I7 Processor

The Intel Core I7 processor smoothly handles the most intense gaming and digital media creation. Intel Turbo Boost Technology increases processor speed at peak times--when you need it most. Intel Hyper-Threading Technology accelerates multitasking like never before thanks to the processor's unique 4-core, multi-thread design. Intel Advanced Smart Cache technology minimizes wait times by allocating more access to frequently used data to the processing core that needs it most.

The Core i7 720QM processor has a 2.8 GHz core speed with 8 processing threads via Intel Hyper-Threading technology. It also provides 8 MB of L3 Smart Cache. The Core i7 processor includes the following Intel technologies:

• Intel Turbo Boost technology maximizes speed for demanding applications, dynamically accelerating performance to match your workload--more performance when you need it the most.
• Intel Hyper-Threading technology enables highly threaded applications to get more work done in parallel. With 8 threads available to the operating system, multi-tasking becomes even easier.
• Intel Smart Cache provides a higher-performance, more efficient cache subsystem. Optimized for industry leading multi-threaded games.
• Intel QuickPath Interconnect is designed for increased bandwidth and low latency. It can achieve data transfer speeds as high as 25.6 GB/sec with the Extreme Edition processor.
• Integrated memory controller enables three channels of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, resulting in up to 25.6 GB/sec memory bandwidth. This memory controller's lower latency and higher memory bandwidth delivers amazing performance for data-intensive applications.
• Intel HD Boost significantly improves a broad range of multimedia and compute-intensive applications. The 128-bit SSE instructions are issued at a throughput rate of one per clock cycle, allowing a new level of processing efficiency with SSE4 optimized applications.

Product Description

The Area-51 m15x contains the most powerful mobile graphics card ever in a 15.4-inch laptop. Alienware has always set the standard for graphics capabilities and, with an NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT with 512MB of dedicated graphics memory, the tradition continues. Alienware stands alone as the first and only manufacturer to bring this advanced GPU to market in a 15.4-inch form factor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 100% Awesome!, January 11, 2010

By 

Colin Thompson (San Fernando Valley) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alienware M15X 15.6-Inch Cosmic Black Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) (Personal Computers)

I ordered my Alienware M15x through the Dell website on 12/3/2009. Delivery occurred on 12/18/2009, which was the original order anticipated build completion date. Nice! The laptop is replacing a home-built custom quad-core Cosmos gaming PC.

During the purchase process, I opted for the RAM upgrade to 4GB @ 1333MHz, upgraded the video card to the 260m (and got a $50 Dell promo gift card from this), got the 1080p screen, and upped the hard drive to 320GB. I subscribe to Steve Job's notion that Blu-Ray is a bag of hurt, so I stuck with the DVD/CD slot burner.

Performance-wise, the M15x is Sea Biscuit. I've thrown several games at it, from Crysis (silky-smooth at high resolution), WoW, Torchlight, Fallout 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Half-Life 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Company of Heroes. All ran flawlessly, at max or near-max settings. The standard Core i7 1.6GHz (2.8GHz turbo) cuts through these applications like nothing I've seen. While I enjoyed overclocking my custom desktop PC, this machine doesn't really need it. It's greased lightning right out of the box.

Pros:

I liked the price point. I knew I was getting a great machine for the money, and what I spent matches what I received.

Weight. This is a desktop replacement, so I expected some heft. I like the fact that this thing has some meat to it. If I wanted a light, take-anywhere laptop, I would have bought a netbook.

Alienware effects/polish/workmanship - worth the price of admission. This is a beautiful machine.

Dell's service. Anytime a company underpromises and overdelivers, I'm a happy camper. The M15x arrived way ahead of schedule, packaged professionally, and came out of the box ready to roll.

My cons are pretty similar to other reviewers:

- screen is really reflective, but playing in a darker room mitigates this.

- touchpad. I don't know who was driving the boat when they decided on this particular hardware. It's not that bad, but it's not great either. Onscreen movement is pretty herky-jerky, even after software update. Mouse-users won't bother with it.

After years of desktop machines and business laptops, this is my first personal laptop, and start-to-finish, it's been a great experience. It's easily replaced my workhorse desktop for all my uses. I will gladly buy Dell/Alienware again down the road. Can't recommend it enough.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great machine!, December 27, 2011

By 

TinMan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alienware M15X 15.6-Inch Cosmic Black Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) (Personal Computers)

I got this computer last week and I've logged soooo many hours on it already its ridonkulous. Plays wow good. Super fast for editing photos (I'm a photographer so I opted for a larger hard drive). I will use this machine until it dies on me. Screen is crystal clear, boot times are fantastic. Good, solid, stable machine for gaming runs cool and we all know alienware isn't surpassed by looks. Get one and get the enjoyment I have from mine! Hoo-yah alienware!

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not too bad, February 7, 2010

By 

Philip Griffin - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alienware M15X 15.6-Inch Cosmic Black Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium) (Personal Computers)

Decent gaming computer, but buying from amazon sticks you with factory defaults. It would be easier and probably cheaper just to buy from [...] unless you are like me and live in an area that they dont deliver to.