Alienware M14x Pro Reviews

Don't let the Alienware M14x's benchmark specs mislead you--WorldBench 7 puts a lot of weight on small, speedy SSDs, which this laptop doesn't have. Nevertheless, the M14x outperforms any Ultrabook we've seen in screen and graphic quality. And because the M14x is built for gamers, it has a relatively user-friendly design. Ultrabooks often skimp on quality components in an effort to achieve the lightest, thinnest, and sexiest profile it can. In comparison,the M14x is heavy and bulky, but it's also sturdy, with a keyboard and a trackpad that will stand the test of time, as well as excellent port selection. The M14x also comes at a great price for a gaming-oriented laptop, though upgrade prices are expensive: Doubling the RAM from 8GB to 16GB costs $150, and adding a Blu-ray reader costs $200.

The Alienware M14x R2 is a perfect example of why it's so tough to compete in the gaming PC market. Technology moves so fast that you not only have to make sure you're keeping pace but you have to watch out for what the compeition is doing in the same space. While Alienware can arguably lay claim to the title of "best 14-inch gaming notebook" the M14x R2 is as thick and heavy as many 15-inch gaming notebooks from other manufacturers ... and those notebooks have better performance. As if that wasn't bad enough, there are thinner, lighter and cheaper 11-inch gaming notebooks available with nearly identical in-game performance and hardware (minus the 1600x900 screen resolution, mSATA drive, and DVD drive). As it is now, the Alienware M14x R2 finds itself in the dominant position of a small niche in the gaming market. If you're looking for a 14-inch gaming notebook with an awesome design, cool LEDs, lots of storage customization options, and an optical drive then the M14x R2 is the best choice. That said, the same amount of money can buy a smaller, lighter gaming notebook (if you're willing to sacrifice a few features) or a larger, more powerful notebook (if you're willing to sacrifice portability).

The Alienware M14x R2 is a fine 14-inch gaming laptop hampered only by its performance in a couple of key areas.

Our review unit rang up to about $1,600 including upgrades. Some of them are unnecessary for great gaming performance, however, such as the RAM and the Killer Wireless-N solution. But dumping them saves little money; so expect to spend about $1,500 on a reasonably equipped rig. This price puts the M14x in an awkward position. The M17x is $500 more, but is far more capable even in its base configuration. Anyone who’s unconcerned about portability should save up the extra cash for an M17x. The M14x is also threatened by powerful multimedia laptops such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580. That 15.6-inch laptop starts at $899 and comes with a more powerful graphics solution. Size is the selling point. You have to decide if that matters. Most buyers probably aren’t planning to tote their rigs around frequently, but some PC gamers like to participate in LAN parties or play face-to-face at a friend’s house. These gamers are this laptop’s target audience, and the M14x is the best option for them. The 11.6 display the older M11x used was too small, and the M15x was too big. The M14x is just right.

There's certainly a lot to like about the Alienware M14x R2 in terms of portability, its productivity performance, and the build quality. It also has a great keyboard for a gaming rig, and it starts out at a modest $1,099, so you can nab the Alienware imprimatur, if that's all you want, without spending a mint. That being said, its gaming performance is limited by its sole-option Nvidia GeForce GT 650M graphics (albeit in either 1GB or 2GB choices). Its performance is good enough for high-end gaming today, but on some titles you'll have to dial back some settings or drop the resolution a bit. Plus, at $1,604 in our test configuration, the M14x R2's asking price is a bit steep for what was inside the machine. We wish it were a bit lower, even though there aren't any direct, same-size competitors to compare it to. You can step up to slightly larger 15-inch models, but they usually sport higher-resolution screens and higher-end graphics, so they cost more and weigh more, as well. And 17-inch gaming laptops really aren't very portable at all, often weighing close to (or more than) 10 pounds. That leaves the M14x R2's 6.5-pound heft seeming not so hefty at all.

Expensive isn't necessarily good - but sometimes it can be. Alienware's M14x certainly isn't a bargain, but the buyer receives an excellent gaming notebook with few weaknesses. The combination of Ivy Bridge and Kepler, more specifically Core i7-3720QM and GeForce GT 650M deliver excellent software and gaming performance; only the far too small mSATA-SSD muddles the overall picture. The notebook also scores points aside from performance: Stability and workmanship of the case are excellent, the selection of interfaces and the quality of the input devices give little reason for complaint. A highlight is also the contrast rich HD+ display, though the cheap reflective plastic screen cover is annoying.

Although the M14x looks the same as its predecessor – and still looks cool – it’s what's on the inside that counts here. For your hard-earned pounds, this Alienware offers high levels of gaming performance and plenty of connectivity inside a portable shell with a screen big enough for proper gaming sessions.

I can see why the M15x was replaced with this laptop. That outgoing model was simply too large to carry on a daily basis, which meant there was little practical destinction between it and the M17x. The story is now different. The Alienware M14x offers a combination of affordability, portability and power that's not available elsewhere.

The Alienware M14x is a solid, reasonably powerful gaming notebook, but it has issues ... mainly related to Dell/Alienware deciding to make the M15x smaller and create the M14x. The M14x indeed takes up less space on your desk, but in order to reduce the footprint Alienware made the M14x thicker and heavier than any other 14-inch laptop on the market. The end result is a 14-inch notebook that basically takes up as much desktop real estate as a standard 15-inch multimedia notebook and weighs as much as a 17-inch gaming notebook but still lacks the internal space needed to hold a really high-end graphics card. The Nvidia GeForce GT 555M is the only graphics card option in the M14x (mainly because of limited internal space) and the 555M is actually less powerful than other gaming notebooks currently being sold for the same price. You can buy the 15-inch ASUS G53 or the 17-inch Toshiba Qosmio X775 for the same amount of money. Both of those notebooks are larger but weigh about the same and have noticeably better gaming performance. The bottom line is that Alienware might have made a bad call getting rid of the M15x and bringing the M14x to the table. Many gamers put up with the performance limits of the Alienware M11x because it's very small and has great battery life but the M14x makes performance sacrifices in order to have a slightly smaller footprint on the desk and there isn't a practical gain in terms of better mobility. The Alienware M14x is indeed "the most powerful 14-inch laptop in the universe" but that doesn't mean much when you can get a much better 15-inch or 17-inch gaming laptop for the same price (and roughly the same weight).

If you can deal with the bulk, the potential noise, and the bottom intake fan on the M14x, there's an awful lot to recommend it. Gamers should definitely consider it as a portable option, and it's an otherwise well-built notebook that's just plain comfortable to use. The GeForce GT 555M is a force to be reckoned with in this class, too, offering the kind of performance we'd really like to see become standard. It's unfortunate that the GDDR5 version is hamstrung in a couple areas, as the extra bandwidth could be put to use, but for now the DDR3 model in the M14x is the preferred configuration. Hopefully GDDR5 will only continue to proliferate the way it has in AMD's lines, shoring up the memory bandwidth issues that make it hard for a good GPU to handle high resolution gaming. For now, the 555M is in the sweet spot for the M14x's 900p screen, and the M14x is a solid choice for mobile gaming.

The M14xr3 is the middle child of the Alienware family. It's a great performer on the gaming grid, but its 14-inch frame works against it—the screen size may make you presume it's portable, but its weight is that of a desktop replacement. And with all the high-end components packed in, you might notice a formidable heat buildup.

As we noted early on, gamer-class notebooks seem to get a lot of attention around here and elsewhere. And for good reason, top-shelf notebooks like Alienware's M14x are a pleasure to use for a number of obvious reasons. With the M14x you get absolutely impeccable build quality and great looks that will even turn heads of non-gamers or enthusiasts. The 14-inch high resolution display that was configured in our machine was very easy on the eyes and the M14x's keyboard, all backlit and ready for game time, was just as comfortable to use as the display was nice to look at. Performance-wise, the numbers told the story easily. This is one of the fastest 14-inch notebooks we've ever tested under any test condition, gaming or otherwise. Again, if you wanted to wring more performance out of this machine, the only upgrade we'd suggest is a fast SSD as the boot drive. At that point, you'd have portable gaming nirvana.

While 500GB of hard drive space is a lot for the average laptop, gaming machines tend to fill up fast when you install all of your favourite titles. You'll have to choose carefully to avoid running out of space. We fell in love with the M14x's compact and portable chassis, which still finds room for some impressive technology. Based on price and portability alone, we'd pick this slim gamer over its big brother.

A no-compromise gaming powerhouse squeezed into a very compact 14in chassis; it’s expensive, but if you refuse to sacrifice performance for portability there’s simply no better alternative.

There's no denying that Alienware's 14.1in laptop is a beautiful piece of tech. It looks great, with its sleek 'stealth-bomber' lines, red or black matte finish and, most impressive of all, individually controllable light zones. It feels just as good, with solid build, soft-touch plastics and a superb keyboard and touchpad. There's plenty of connectivity, decent battery life and all the specifications you could wish for too. However, it's let down by arguably its key component; its graphics card. It's plenty fast enough to play all games but just not when looking their best, and for a gaming oriented machine that's crucial. Combined with its noisiness under load and premium price this prevents the M14x from receiving our coveted recommendation despite its many strengths.

A bold, burly 14in laptop that combines gaming power with gorgeous build, but it’s much better value without the expensive SSD

This high-performance 14 inch laptop is designed for those users who enjoy great design and performance but at the same time are willing to turn a blind eye to the relatively high noise emissions and easily dirtied display.

Alienware's first 14-inch notebook, the M14x, provides a potent blend of power and portability in an eye-catching design.

It's tough to find mobile PC gaming in a package that's neither too big nor too small. The Alienware M14x comes very close, with plenty of component options and a size that's hefty, but not backbreaking.