Houston, we don't have a problem. This is what we've been waiting for ever since our last contact with an Alien – the Alienware M14x. The heavens have split open and the brand new Alienware 17 has finally landed. On our office's conference table. What are the odds?
And from the looks of it, the Alien is alive; but quite docile in this image. Gaze sparingly at the glowing Alien logo lest it trap you in its hypnotic depths. But marvel at its glowing LED accents, metal screen lid, and angular edges. With its lid down, the new Alienware 17 looks out of this world (pun intended)
Prop it open, and the Alienware 17 reveals its 17-inch, full-HD matte screen, full-sized keyboard (with a dedicated number pad) and touchpad. The touchpad has a secret which we won't reveal just yet. As it boots up, you can't help but marvel at the machine's solid build quality. The screen hinge, palmrest, and everything that you can touch and feel on the Alienware 17 comes across as highly reinforced. Could it be indestructible? Hmm..
Another look at the Alienware 17's matte screen, which is a pleasant departure from glossy screens found on laptops and ultrabooks these days. It's non-reflective and doesn't attract fingerprint smudges easily
At the helm of Alienware 17's control is an efficient keyboard and touchpad combo. The keys are nice and full-sized and obviously backlit, in keeping with past Aliens. The touchpad mystery is still under wraps; for now. How can everything be decoded so quickly, considering this is an Alien artifact?
Realizing it was the subject of our photoshoot, the Alienware 17 started pose vigorously, driving our photographer to the edge of madness. It re-oriented itself and gave us a quick glimpse at its side edge, revealing a host of connectivity ports – HDMI, mini DisplayPort, two USB 3.0, and audio jacks. What would it reveal next, one wondered
In a flash, the Alienware 17; like a trained runway model from outer space; turned on its invisible heels to bamboozle our photographer with another picture perfect moment. In doing so, we found the Alienware's right edge to have a Gigabit Ethernet port, two more USB 3.0 ports, SD Card slot and a slot-loading optical drive
The show wasn't over. Far from it. The Alienware 17, looking straight into the camera here, reveals its front lip which has a seductive angular edge. And notice what looks like to be the speaker grilles. Stereo speakers on the Alienware 17 comes with Klipsch audio. Apparently, Metallica and John Mayer are quite popular outside our solar system, as per the Alien’s audio demonstration
The backside of the Alienware 17’s spine reveals the machines heat exhaust vents – and also the knuckle-sized hinges. We found no traces of Space Drive (Rendezvous with Rama, anyone) in or around the vents, but can us mere mortals truly understand the marvels of an Alien artifact? Oh well.
While we were lost in thought contemplating the genius of Arthur C. Clarke and his sci-fi epics, the Alienware 17 quietly flipped over to reveal its back panel. Due to its heavy duty internal hardware, the Alienware 17 has an additional heat vent on the panel – and for good reason. The Alienware 17 has an Intel Core i7-4700MQ clocked at 3.2 GHz, 16GB DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz), Intel HD 4600 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M (2GB) GPU combo, and a 750GB (7200rpm) hard drive. That’s some spec sheet, eh?
Suddenly, without any warning, the lights went out and our conference room was bathed in complete darkness. Forces beyond our scope of imagination were at work and a blue radiance manifested at the spot where the Alienware 17 was lying spread-eagled. Half a second later we realized what we were looking at – the Alienware 17 in all its glowing awesomeness. It’s quite something, that sight. You need to see it to believe it. It’s something else
Notice the backlit touchpad? Mystery solved. The previous Alienwares had touchpad edges lit up, but never the whole surface. This is a first on the Alienware 17. Late night gaming sessions will never be the same.
The touchpad light goes off after a set interval (a few seconds of inactivity) to conserve battery. But every other glowing element shines unwaveringly. And the diffused glow of light that falls around the Alienwares edges gives it a real otherworldly aura
The LED accents running along the Alienware 17’s edges are a great new addition to its design. And did we mention that every glowing element on the machine – be it keyboard, touchpad, edge accent, logo, Alienware spelt out on the screen bezel – is completely configurable through Alienware Command Centre? It’s a utility that comes pre-installed on the Alienware 17 gaming laptop.
Thats all we have for now. We leave you with this thought-provoking image of the Alienware 17. It drove our photographer to an epiphany and he dashed out of the room, refusing to click any further photos. Was there a telepathic connection between him and the Alienware 17? We’re still investigating.