CES 2019: Alienware m17 is Dell’s biggest slim gaming laptop
Joining an updated m15 at CES 2019, the 17-inch model offers more screen and new graphics
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Alienware, Dell's in-house gaming brand, is pushing for thinner but larger gaming laptops with the new Alienware m17. An upscaled version of the recent m15 , this new model adds a 17-inch screen (obviously) and Nvidia's latest mobile GPU, which is likely going to be called the GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q (but that's not finalized yet).
The company says this is its "thinnest and lightest" 17-inch laptop to date, using materials like magnesium alloy and copper to cut the weight down to just under 6 pounds, with a thickness of 23 millimeters. I've been using the already released 15-inch Alienware m15 version for most of December, and this 17-inch model felt even more optimized for size, with a larger screen in body of roughly the same thickness.
Key features include: Six-zone customizable lighting (yes, including the alien head) and support for the existing Alienware Graphics Amplifier, which can hold a desktop graphics card (Nvidia or AMD) and attaches via a proprietary port found on almost every Alienware system. The improved thermal management system, called Cryo-Tech 2.0, controls the dual-intake/exhaust cooling system, heat pipes and fans. There's also an updated keyboard design, with new 1.4mm travel keys.
- Display options: 1,920x1,080 or 3,840x2,160 screens
- CPU options:
Intel
Core i5-8300H, Core i7-8750H or Core i9-8950HK
- GPU options: Nvidia GeForce 1050Ti, and (tentatively) RTX 2060, 2070 and 2080 GPUs
- 8GB-32GB of DDR4 RAM
- Single and dual storage options, from 256GB to 2TB
The existing 15-inch m15 model is getting an update as well, adding new options including RTX graphics from Nvidia, Intel's Core i9-8950HK CPU and a 4K display.
