The Alienware m15 is not the most exciting gaming laptop when it comes to raw power, but rather it’s exciting in its portability. Not to mention a full-sized keyboard and impressive battery life claims for a gaming laptop.
Good
Good starting price
Full-sized keyboard
Solid build quality
Gaming performance on par with competitors
Great battery life
Bad
Underside is way too hot to use on your lap
Bezels are atrocious
No Windows Hello login options
Cramped QWERTY keyboard layout
I’m very much impressed by the Alienware m15. It’s not the most exciting gaming laptop when it comes to power, but rather it’s exciting in its portability.
Dell wants $1,299 (about £995) for the starting configuration of its Alienware m15 laptop. That setup nets you a 15.6-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) display with a 60Hz refresh rate, driven by Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics (6GB GDDR5 memory) and an 8th generation (Coffee Lake) Intel Core i5 H-series processor.
In addition to that, you’re getting 8GB of DDR4 memory as well as your choice between a 1TB hybrid hard drive with an 8GB SSD built in for faster system booting and app loading, or a straight 256GB SSD. From there, it’s almost the sky’s the limit when it comes to upgrades.
The processor can be upped to an Intel Core i7 model, while the graphics can be upped to GTX 1070 (8GB GDDR5) level.
Game consoles like the Nintendo Switch may well have steered our expectations of other portable gaming systems since, even laptops. With that in mind, it’s easy to get excited about a laptop that doesn’t weight much more than a Macbook Pro.
Plus, the extra niceties, like a full-sized keyboard complete with number pad, broaden the laptop’s appeal in tandem with a pared-down design. Sadly I only got a week with this laptop but hope to have it back for a further review.
