Today we bring you an in-depth review of the mighty Alienware Aurora m9700. Featuring extreme gaming performance and the cost to match, we'll see just how badass it is, and what you can anticipate from a laptop computer of this caliber.
Measuring 15.65" x 11.75 " x 1.85" and weighing in at a very conservative figure of 8.50 lbs, the m9700 is not the most portable laptop on the block. I was surprised when I unboxed the laptop computer, it felt like I was lugging a World War II-era .30 caliber ammo can. This should be taken with a grain of salt although, since the Aurora m9700 is more of a desktop replacement than anything else. The individuals which will purchase this laptop computer most likely won't move it around too much.
Following I unboxed the m9700, I need to say I was quite impressed. Not only was the laptop computer friggin' large, it was bright! I'm used to fairly bland fare when it comes to laptops- you get your typical grays and blacks and silvers, etc. The crisp blue paintjob (Conspiracy Blue, in Alienware-speak) was a breath of fresh air in this department. The color had a gloss topcoat that prevented a lot of fingerprints from being left.
Embedded in the lid is a raised alien head logo, with blue LEDs illuminating the alien's eyes. Neat I suppose, but I'm an old fart now who's kind of over the garish LEDs and CCFLs fad that still adorn many cases. Maybe it would look cool at a LAN.
The Aurora m9700 has a full size keyboard, such as a number pad on the correct, for a total of 99 keys. The keys were silent and depressed very easily.
The m9700 also has a variety of Instant Access Buttons. These consist of shortcuts for programs including the Internet, E-mail, Windows Media Player, Power DVD, Windows Media Center, and also function keys for Play/Pause, Skip Forward, and Skip Backward.
The Aurora m9700's touchpad is of average size and consists of the scroll pad and 1 mouse buttons, although both left click and right click were supported depending on where you pressed. The touchpad type of reminded me of the MacBook Pro, but without the neutered functionality.
I found that the m9700's touchpad was quite responsive. It seemed to work well, although Alienware incorporated a Logitech G5 with the laptop (this can be a gaming machine following all!), so I didn't use the touchpad really much at all as a result. Alienware was even type enough to consist of an Alienware branded Func gaming mousepad, which was a very nice touch indeed.
The m9700 runs pretty quietly under normal circumstances. The single fan only spins up when it has to, to be able to keep noise levels at an absolute minimum. I noticed during longer gaming sessions that hot exhaust was literally pouring out of the back of the laptop computer (from the GPU vents). This really is typical although considering the level of hardware Alienware has wedged into the m9700.
Like most other manufacturers, Alienware allows you to easily upgrade RAM. If you haven't maxed out your hard drive configuration and have a spare slot, you can even add an additional drive.
If, however, you want to upgrade the CPU or replace the LCD if it breaks, you need to completely disassemble the laptop computer.
I've already mentioned the Func mousepad and Logitech G5 mouse (not pictured), and Alienware also incorporated a black T-shirt for good measure. As the laptop computer came loaded with Windows XP Media Center Edition, there was also a MCE remote control. All this sweetness came in a big black Alienware branded cardboard suitcase. Presentation was definitely 1 of Alienware's strongpoints. I liked how Alienware incorporated a faux leather binder with your system specs and user guide. As per usual, it had the ubiquitous alien head about the front cover.
Author Resource:
Asli Mana writes reviews about different issues, as well as Mitsubishi . For more information regarding to articles of Asli Mana look at this Projeksiyon page.
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