Sometimes Bigger IS Better - Alienware 17 Review
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2018-05-06
·
1,371 words · ~6 min read
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So, in our recent video on the Alienware 15, we concluded that bigger was not in
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fact necessarily better. But what about
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bigger? The Alienware 17 is large and
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loves to flaunt it, but can it possibly be good enough to make up for how
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freaking heavy it is? Only one way to
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find out.
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EK Water Blocks's all aluminum fluid
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gaming lineup offers great custom grade
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water cooling performance for an affordable price. Learn more at the link
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in the video description. At 9.6 lb, the Alienware 17
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is heavy. But since I obviously wasn't expecting portability to be a strong
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point for a 17-in laptop, I'll accept the added weight in exchange for its
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excellent build quality. In typical Alienware fashion, the 17 is
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exceptionally rigid with virtually no chassis flex and sports a screen hinge
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that is so weighty it could probably be used as an exercise machine.
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Aesthetically, it maintains the gameesque look and RGB edge lighting
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from its little brother, the 15. But I feel like this styling works even better
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on the 17 cuz like I mean if you're going to be the size of a small
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aircraft, then you might as well look like one. You would think though with
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all of that added space that they might have been able to fit in a bit more
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I/IO, but nothing has changed for the
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big guy versus even the 13-in model. In
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fairness, it has basically everything you'd need. But come on, Dell, this has
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to be the world's loneliest USB slot
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right here. So, our model rocks a top-of-the-line Intel Core i7 7820HK
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that boosting up to 4.4 4 GHz is a CPU
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that has time and time again bested the
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cooling solutions of the laptops that dare try to contain its fury, even water
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cooled ones. Now, admirably, the Alienware 17 is able to keep this
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processor and its accompanying GPU, none other than the also top-of-the-line GTX
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1080, from overheating. But the 7820HK
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wasn't quite able to maintain its full boost speed the whole time, which I
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guess brings us to the noise. Under full load, I consider it perfectly
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acceptable. It isn't high-pitched, and it makes sense given the hardware it's
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packing. The problem, though, is that it doesn't really quiet down while
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performing less intensive tasks like installing programs or surfing the
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internet. So, some additional tuning to the fan curve might help with this, not
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to mention the less than stellar battery life. After the noisy installation,
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though, we finally got to boot up some games, and this thing really came into
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its own, with the real highlight of the experience being the display. Our
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version of the Alienware 17 comes with a 1440p G-Sync panel that runs at 120 Hz,
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which we managed to overclock to 130 Hz
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before it decided it had had enough. Now, it is a TN panel, but it's a good
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one. And in my opinion, 1440p really is
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the sweet spot for running the latest AAA titles smoothly on the GTX 1080 with
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high details at high frame rates. So, I'm willing to look the other way on the
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TNness for the frames and pixels that it
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has to offer. I mean, plus speaking of looking the other way, it's got a solid
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webcam up top and Toby tracking down below if you're really into the handful
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of games with meaningful support for that technology. Now, I know I always
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say this about higher refresh rate displays, but on this one especially
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playing Doom, freaking fantastic. getting over 120 FPS on ultra at 1440p
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made the experience feel metal as all hell. And if you're looking to play
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frantic games on a laptop, you will be hardressed to do better than this one.
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Of course, with a 1080, it'll smash through any game, frantic or not, with
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it absolutely tearing through our test suite. Not that you'll experience any
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tearing. G-Sync variable refresh rate technology takes care of that. And where
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the screen pulls you into the gaming experience, the keyboard keeps you
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connected. It's standard fair for Alienware, but that's a good thing. And
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the inclusion of a numpad makes this keyboard feel at home with the bigger
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screen. The throw of the keys has a smooth feel that was excellent for both
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gaming and typing. Well, excellent for
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typing once you disable the trackpad. In a move that frankly feels a bit lazy,
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Dell reused the same RGB trackpad from
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the Alienware 13. So, there's basically an ocean of empty space around it, and
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it got moved a bit further away from the keyboard to a position where my palm
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always seemed to hit it while typing, sending the cursor off to Never
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Neverland. After this happened enough times, yeah, it was enough. And I
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plugged in a mouse never to use it again, which is a bit of a shame because
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other than that, it's not bad. What is bad though are the speakers. Badass,
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that is. Don't even think about grabbing
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a Bluetooth speaker to throw on some tunes, cuz the speakers on the 17 are
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dank AF. They're not loud enough to hurt your ears or anything, but they pack a
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solid punch, easily enough to fill the average apartment, and this continues to
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be a really strong point for the Alienware lineup. Opening up the
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Alienware 17 reveals another strong point. It just takes a couple of screws,
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which is great news for the mad ballers
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that weren't paying attention as they breezed through the shopping cart,
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missing the buttons to reveal the rest of the laptop lineup and selecting the
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GTX 1080 config for over
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$2500 without realizing that it doesn't come with a freaking SSD. So, once
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you're in there, there are two M.2 two drive slots along with a 2 and 1/2 in
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drive bay which should pretty much cover you for future storage upgrades. At
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$3,000, our buildout is darn expensive,
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but honestly, I wouldn't really change anything. If you were willing to accept
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GTX 1070 performance to save a buck,
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well, there are a lot of thinner, lighter gaming laptops out there. And if
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you need to save more than a buck, the Alienware 13 is a great choice in a more
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practical package at closer to
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$2,000. So, I guess the conclusion here then is if you're going to go for the
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Alienware 17, go big or go home. Blue
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all the farm fresh ingredients you need right to your doorstep in exactly the
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right proportions. No trips to the grocery store, no waste from unused
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stay fresh even if you're not at home when your package arrives. Their whole
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vision is to develop a more sustainable food system through sustainable fishing,
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responsible farming, and reducing food waste. So, they source their ingredients
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from quality suppliers. And they offer two types of plans. The twoerson plan
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and the family plan. There's no commitment. You can skip or cancel at
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any time. And each meal is between 500 to 800 calories per person and is able
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to be prepared in 40 minutes or less. They're always adding new dishes every
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week, so there's tons of variety. So, stop making the same old dishes because
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the first 100 people will get three free meals on their first Blue Apron order by
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using the link in the video description. So, thanks for watching. If
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you guys dislike this video, dislike it. But if you liked it, hit the like button, get subscribed, maybe consider
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checking out where to buy the stuff we featured at the link in the video
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description. Also, down there, we've got our merch store as well as our community
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forum, which you should totally join.