Alienware 15 (GTX 1070) Gaming Laptop Review

[Guest]

With a 7th gen Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070, the Alienware 15 should prove to be a powerful contender, but is it worth the premium price?

Alienware 15 (GTX 1070) Gaming Laptop Review : Read more

 

[cknobman]

Alienware the pinnacle of overpriced 15 year old styled laptops.

For such a huge laptop you get such a tiny screen with large bezels.
Its thick, heavy, and expensive.

The market has moved so far beyond this, Alienware really needs to get some new designers.

 

[computerguy72]

I have the previous version of this laptop - one thing to mention is the plastic case is pretty brittle in places. Even with a thick neoprene case I have cracks and the speaker area in the front cracked off. Just worth mentioning. It is indeed quite heavy for the features as well.

 

[MrRockliffe]

Strange - here in the UK, the alienware is the cheapest option for a GTX 1070 laptop by a long way (1600 GBP)!

 

[Nicolas_40]

This laptop is garbage, there are more flaws than pro's of having it; such as: corners will crack, bulky and very heavy, huge outdated bezels, NO 4k screen, lights all over that give the impression of a 5 year old using this and last of the least the Achilles blow, the power cord placement and design, it simply is horrendous and given time will start falling of it's slot. Shwitware go to bed, you're drunk. Never again!

 

[chill1221]

Would love to see a review of the Eluktronics gaming laptops done!

 

[Randall_Lind]

Take that $2k+ and build a awesome desktop it will be better. I love my Dell N5110 but it is a pain in the butt to repair.

 

[TMTOWTSAC]

Almost 2 inches of space on both sides of a cramped keyboard with no number pad?

 

[ArdvarkMaster]

Have had Alienware laptops and have switched to MSI, more bang for the buck

MSI comparable - https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834154470

MSI w/4K (GTX1060) - https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS63VR-Stealth-4K-228-i7-7700HQ/dp/B01N7MMFTW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1498159123&sr=8-2&keywords=GS63VR+STEALTH+PRO+4K

 

[g-unit1111]

At what point does a laptop get too big to become a laptop? That thing is so ridiculously huge that there's no way I would possibly consider it. Weight was one of the biggest factors for me in choosing my current laptop, which is why I went with MSI.

 

[10tacle]

I will never again buy a "gaming" laptop. The last one I bought was a Dell E1705 decked out with max specs (CPU, GPU, 17" 1920x1200, etc.) and ran $2,800. That was in 2006, and in today's dollars that's about $3,200. It lasted about two years as a desktop replacement gamer until the newer games started coming out in DX10 taking a big hit on it. By DX11, it was useless without seriously cranking down quality. Never again.

After that, I switched to a PS3 and PS4 for my portable gaming needs and never looked back. Most of my portable needs are either work travel or family travel. Hotels have had 1080p HDTVs for years now. In 2006, most were still using tube 480p TVs.

In any event, what is up with the horrid minimum frame rates in so many games? I've never seen dips that low before.

 

[emike09]

OMG the bezels on that thing are huge! And the system so plasticity. Reminds me of a fisher price toy my nephew just got.
Besides the decade old styling, this laptop is priced too high to be competitive with other systems that look better, have the same hardware, and a much lower price point. I'll pass on this one.

 

[g-unit1111]

I will never again buy a "gaming" laptop. The last one I bought was a Dell E1705 decked out with max specs (CPU, GPU, 17" 1920x1200, etc.) and ran $2,800. That was in 2006, and in today's dollars that's about $3,200. It lasted about two years as a desktop replacement gamer until the newer games started coming out in DX10 taking a big hit on it. By DX11, it was useless without seriously cranking down quality. Never again.

After that, I switched to a PS3 and PS4 for my portable gaming needs and never looked back. Most of my portable needs are either work travel or family travel. Hotels have had 1080p HDTVs for years now. In 2006, most were still using tube 480p TVs.

In any event, what is up with the horrid minimum frame rates in so many games? I've never seen dips that low before.

Gaming laptops are generally hose jobs. I just bought a new laptop and I think this is the second most I've ever paid for a laptop as this one was $1500. I usually don't play games on my laptop apart from maybe a couple of rounds of Civilization or something non taxing. I have my desktop for games and anything that requires serious horsepower.

 

[Sam Hain]

The ASUS ROG GL502VS-DS71 15.6" w/1080p 120Hz G-Sync IPS screen (better color/contrast), comes in at just over 4 lbs., better sound, better performance and can be configured (RAM, Storage, GPU, etc.) the same as this Alienware for the same or less price.

1440p would be great to see on these "gaming" laptops and there are some out there, through boutique build sites. Somebody mentioned 4K... I guess if you were doing photo/video edits/work on a mobile workstation that would make sense, but not on a gaming laptop, not enough single GPU-horsepower to push the pixels.

Those SLI laptops w/4K displays (and are only 60Hz mind you) are monstrosities and make this Alienware look and feel like a cell phone in comparison and M-GPU support is deep-six anyhoo for many existing and forthcoming DX12 titles.

 

[rizzo183]

Whether you want your laptop to look better or not is a personal choice. I'd rather pay an extra $100 for a better looking machine.

It's heavy because it's meant to be. I'm pretty sure Alienware isn't packing it with rocks. With the build quality you get, the weight should be negligible. Of course, if you want something lighter, Alienwares aren't for you. If you can't drive a truck, buy a sedan.

The 120hz TN panel is just an OPTION. Nobody ever mentions that. You can always go for the FHD or UHD 4k IPS panel, if you don't mind the 60hz refresh rate.

And for God's sake, the lights can be TURNED OFF.

I hate the bezels as well.

 

[g-unit1111]

The ASUS ROG GL502VS-DS71 15.6" w/1080p 120Hz G-Sync IPS screen (better color/contrast), comes in at just over 4 lbs., better sound, better performance and can be configured (RAM, Storage, GPU, etc.) the same as this Alienware for the same or less price.

1440p would be great to see on these "gaming" laptops and there are some out there, through boutique build sites. Somebody mentioned 4K... I guess if you were doing photo/video edits/work on a mobile workstation that would make sense, but not on a gaming laptop, not enough single GPU-horsepower to push the pixels.

Those SLI laptops w/4K displays (and are only 60Hz mind you) are monstrosities and make this Alienware look and feel like a cell phone in comparison and M-GPU support is deep-six anyhoo for many existing and forthcoming DX12 titles.

The thing that drives me away from Asus laptops is that they have those ugly bright red WASD keys. Yeah I get that these laptops are meant to be used for gaming, but at least make them look presentable so you can use them in other environments. I really wanted to get an Asus ROG laptop because I heard good things about them, but I couldn't get past the bright red WASD keys.

 

[Kunra Zether]

I think it looks ver nice on the outside but just terrible and out dated on the inside. My favorite laptops this gem so far is gigabytes, I love there look and they really standout from the competition but really wouldn't it be best to just build a 1070 PC and buy a 1050ti laptop it would be around the same price or little less and you get the best of both worlds.

 

[Sam Hain]

The ASUS ROG GL502VS-DS71 15.6" w/1080p 120Hz G-Sync IPS screen (better color/contrast), comes in at just over 4 lbs., better sound, better performance and can be configured (RAM, Storage, GPU, etc.) the same as this Alienware for the same or less price.

1440p would be great to see on these "gaming" laptops and there are some out there, through boutique build sites. Somebody mentioned 4K... I guess if you were doing photo/video edits/work on a mobile workstation that would make sense, but not on a gaming laptop, not enough single GPU-horsepower to push the pixels.

Those SLI laptops w/4K displays (and are only 60Hz mind you) are monstrosities and make this Alienware look and feel like a cell phone in comparison and M-GPU support is deep-six anyhoo for many existing and forthcoming DX12 titles.

The thing that drives me away from Asus laptops is that they have those ugly bright red WASD keys. Yeah I get that these laptops are meant to be used for gaming, but at least make them look presentable so you can use them in other environments. I really wanted to get an Asus ROG laptop because I heard good things about them, but I couldn't get past the bright red WASD keys.

I know which ones you are on about and yes, those are gawdy to say the least... This is the version I am referring to: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234458&cm_re=asus_gaming_laptop-_-34-234-458-_-Product

The WASD buttons are a little less prominent (lit only), than on the GL702 and other models where they are actually brightly colored red and not sure about backlighting as well; that would be unbearable!

 

[g-unit1111]

I know which ones you are on about and yes, those are gawdy to say the least... This is the version I am referring to: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834234458&cm_re=asus_gaming_laptop-_-34-234-458-_-Product

The WASD buttons are a little less prominent (lit only), than on the GL702 and other models where they are actually brightly colored red and not sure about backlighting as well; that would be unbearable!

That one is definitely slightly less obnoxious than some of the ones Asus has. But they can't advertise that as being a full backlit keyboard when only the WASD keys are backlit. You can have a laptop aimed at the gaming market without it being completely obnoxious. That's why I went with the MSI. Although I am really interested to see what Asus' Ryzen laptop brings to the table.