Comments on: Alienware M17x the fastest gaming laptop ever, but do we still need big PC gaming rigs?

After a steady stream of Netbooks and entry-level laptops, it's nice to slip behind the seat of a deluxe mobile powerhouse for a change like Alienware's new M17x laptop--but do people still need big PC gaming rigs?

[Mweaver2k9]

Spending 4k on a machine for the "high-end gaming PC" is absurd. You can't get get your hands dirty and make modifications like you can with a nice big cooler master case. Also, a very high end gaming rig can be built from scratch for $1500 easy and it looks so much cooler. Besides, where is the fun in purchasing the machines already put together.

Alienware is pretty and I don't doubt their quality, but they are way over priced. Apple anyone?

[MadLyb]

Uuuuhhhh...you did notice the article is talking about laptops...right?

[wavjockey]

@Mweaver2k9

Building your own PC kinda excludes Apple, don't you think?
Unless you build a Hackintosh-which really isn't a Mac at that point.

Besides, the current Macbook Pros are way under-powered (and way over-priced) compared to Alienware and Falcon lappers.

[streamline35]

Mweaver - I agree. I built my computer myself a year ago (and recently upgraded the video card). The machine is probably worth somewhere in the $1200-1300 range, and has a q6600 (2.4 ghz core2quad), 4 gb ram, a gtx260, almost 2TB of hard drive space, a nice 650watt psu with modular cabling, and some nice extras like a card reader I added, a nice CPU heatsink I added (arctic freezer pro 7), and a great antec 900 case (a pretty well known higher end case) with 4 blue LED 120mm fans and a massive 200mm fan on top.

It's a nice mid-upper range gaming PC that plays most new games with settings cranked up to max, didn't cost me a fortune, is extremely overclockable (some games run better with the cpu running @ 3.0 ghz), and was an absolute blast to make. I'm probably never going to buy another prebuilt desktop again, and for mobility, I just use a netbook - I can do anything I need at home, and the netbook is everything I need while mobile: notes, web browsing, movies, email, etc... (anything but games and heavy photo/video editing), plus it gets 5.5 hours of battery life (in real use) and only cost $400. Doesn't get any better than that!

wavjockey - I think he was saying that alienware is like apple - good quality, but overpriced.

[Mweaver2k9]

@MadLyb

I know it's about laptops, but the title asks if we still need big PC gaming rigs, and i was making my point that $4k for a laptop or a pre-built system is ridiculous. Although laptops now are certainly capable of high end gaming, is the price really worth it? I just don't see the need to be gaming "on the run". Building a high end desktop and buying a decent laptop for just browsing on the go is still cheaper than this machine being reviewed.

[Lerianis3]

MWeaver, apparently you never go away from home then. When I am up in my grandfather's house in West Virginia..... my notebook is my SAVING GRACE! Otherwise, I would go absolutely stir-crazy from nothing to do.

Sure, it's only a 1300 dollar 'Gateway FX laptop', but it is still VERY worth it.

Though.... the main reason that companies are turning to consoles is more because of the 'no piracy' or 'no easy piracy' thing.... which pisses me off, because there isn't really much 'piracy' on the PC.... just people trading the things usually AFTER THEY HAVE STOPPED BEING SOLD, like HellGate: London, which I will admit, I did download 'illegallly'.

[seven7dust]

it's funny how you compare macbooks to this alienware POS
the 17" macbook pro will get you 8-7 hrs of battery life compared to 2 hrs
futhermore this laptop is thicker, heavier and more expensive
yes it may have better specs but isnt it better to buy a desktop for gaming purposes instead !
this laptop is basically a overpriced desktop , it's huge !
and stop comparing Pcs and Macs based on specs, it's stupid
different operating system different needs !

[streamline35]

seven7dust - this is not mean to be portable - it is meant to be movable. It is first and formost a gaming machine. That macbook pro is certainly more portable, but it barely has a fraction of the gaming power (both the processor and the gpu kick the crap out of the mbp). Granted, it's a totally overpriced laptop, but so is that 17 inch macbook pro, so arguing from the mac perspective is kind of pointless.
And now that I've checked it out on mac's website, you really shouldn't be talking. A top of the line mbp 17" costs $3,800.

Alienware: $4,000
Core 2 Extreme Quad @ 2.53GHz
8GB DDR3 @ 1066
1TB HDD
2 x GTX280M in SLI
1,920x1,200 17 inch screen

Macbook Pro: $3,800
Core 2 Duo @ 3.06GHz
8GB DDR3 @ 1066
500GB HDD (you can spend another $600 on a 256 SSD)
9600GT
1,920x1,200 17 inch screen

Even the alienware, which is well known in the PC world as a complete ripoff, still kicks the crap out of the mac by an enormous margin (especially in graphics), for only $200 more. Not to mention all the fancy extras that alienware adds (like all the lighting, customization, etc...) And don't kid yourself, they are anything but low quality (they aren't going to send you a cheap feeling laptop for $4k).

[m1ghtyk0ng]

I feel that the pc game industry is dying mainly because of greedy pig companies like Alienware, and others that dont need mentioning. It is a known fact that the components to build these high end rigs are rather cheap to buy, but given the lack of consumer knowledge in building these high end rigs, or any other rig for that matter, plainly explains why such greedy companies exist. They know they can make top dollar for their goods, and they do. Instead of using competitive pricing, in relation to console game systems I mean, they just set super high prices, and stupid people pay. They will be the death of themselves, and when that day comes, they will have no one to blame but their own greedy selves. It is amazing how blind and stupid greed can make you.

[hightechfanboy]

Maybe $4000 gaming laptops are overated now, but I doubt pc gaming will be dead anytime soon. Just coz the fact the most first person shooters and strategy games will always be easier(and more exited-at least to me) to play with a keyboard and a mouse.

[streamline35]

I agree. I game pretty much exclusively on my PC (plus a bit of wii and guitar hero) and I recently attending a little get together where halo 3 was being played. I'm decently skilled and FPSs, but after 20 minutes I wanted to throw the controller through the screen out of sheer frustration of trying to play a FPS with an xbox controller. Getting attacked from behind is pretty much unavoidable death because you are half dead by the time you get your gun pointed at them, and normal aiming is already imprecise, even with tons of auto-aim correction (which PC FPSs rarely use and never need). I couldn't even imagine playing it without autoaim.
As for strategy games, they could probably pull off a clunky turned based one, but RTSs are just out of the question with controllers. We all saw what happened with Halo wars - it got simplified into oblivion just to make it playable with a controller.
The other big one you didn't mention is MMOs. They are pretty much exclusive to PCs, and will probably remain so for a while until the consoles get their acts together and figure out a coherent, consistent system for allowing games that massive and complicated. There's been alot of clamoring for The Old Republic on xbox and ps3, but the developers have decided not to bother attempting it.

Overall, PCs will always offer better graphics, customization, and user created content. And if you think user created content isn't important, just take one look at valve's source engine. It is the engine that runs half life 2, left 4 dead, portal, counter strike source, day of defeat source, team fortress 2, and more user created mods, models, maps, and content in general than you could play in a decade. And that's not even counting the insane modding community that spawned with the half life 1 engine (and continued on to the source engine). And best of all, all this user created content is free of charge.

Now this is completely unsubstantiated (it's just my opinion), but I suspect the PC market will always retain the majority of hard core gamers. They offer so much beyond what consoles do - they can just be more complicated (not everyone is a hardware expert, not that you have to be to play), and consoles offer a simpler solution for the more casual gamer.

[Rolker]

"console games brought in $8.9 billion last year, compared with only $701.4 million for PC games. This data usually excludes many downloadable and casual games"

I agree with you.

Just look at the quotation from the article. A lot of people today download their games from services such as Steam, but NPD's number don't take them into account. The same goes to casual games, which is a booming industry by itself.
Gaming PC (desktops) aren't expensive, and you can buy a nice gaming PC for less than 1000$. Online gaming is becoming more and more popular (just play left 4 dead... amazing experience), and the hole experience is great is great on the PC. The MOD community is something that just doesn't exist in the console world.
So I don't think that PC gaming is dead. Far from it.

[seamonkey420]

i don't think we need big laptop gaming rigs. pc rigs, yes.

sure, pc gaming isn't really what it used to be. now its more MMOs than anything (and they really don't require that much power unlike the crysis like games). i still believe that last gen's console generation (xbox/ps2) was when pc gaming was in its glory days. recently, it seems piracy has been a big concern for studios and in turn most went teh console route since they were guaranteed that a sale was a sale (except of course for us modders, hehe).

too much money for stuff i would never use. i'l stick w/my mid ground but still power laptops (hp dv6700, intel t9500, bluray, 4gb ram, 500gb hdd and under 6lbs).

just my .02

[drfrost]

In a world with tight budgets and companies paranoid about software piracy.... I imagine the trend to consoles will continue...

[Lerianis3]

Companies are TOO paranoid about software piracy. Most of the 'piracy' is people downloading the thing in question after they are no longer for sale anymore, so it's really a BS argument in the first place.

[wavjockey]

@Dan

Why do you need to use a gaming rig for gaming anyway?
Why not video editing or music production?

[monkeyfun14]

"The Alienware M17x ran for 1 hour and 15 minutes on our video playback battery drain test"

Lmfao i'm surprised you got that much out of it.

[rafusee2]

at that point your legs are probably asleep from the sheer weight of the thing anyway lol

[streamline35]

It's probably a huge battery. Cnet (rightly so) does not put much weight (pun not really intended, but still made me chuckle) into battery life of desktop replacement systems, since they are not made for, or expected to be used on the go. They are made for moving from one desk to another.

[justinf79]

PC gaming may be slowly dieing, but for me there are still many PC only games that I play: and ones which are only going to be on PC for awhile. Mainly certain RPG, MMO, RTS, and FPS type games.

[Shaun822]

All cyclical. Right now you can get a nearly equal experience on a console without having to worry about compatibility or how good your rig is. If the cost of PC gaming continues to drop there will be a spike in it in the next coupe years and people will begin to wonder if consoles will die off.

[Lerianis3]

Wrong. There are still quite a few games out there on consoles and PC that simply look better on PC's.

[jayj3000]

i think $4k for video games is absurd....considering you're getting a marginal improvement over $300 consoles....what a huge difference...just for some games

[streamline35]

And 95% of PC gamers would agree with you on that. However, most PC gamers probably pay somewhere from $700 to $1500 for their computers. Considering you are typing on a PC, and since you don't seem to like PC gaming I'm going to assume it's something in the range of a $500 machine (if it were a desktop), I would much rather just spend an extra $300 on it for a decent gaming machine, rather than $500 for a crappy PC and $300 for a console.

[jscott418]

Until you can upgrade graphics on a laptop your not going to get a lot of gamer's to buy expensive laptops when you can buy twice the hardware on a desktop!

[streamline35]

Oh more than twice as much for desktops, so much more. You could get a completely overpowered i7 gaming machine for $2000, or even a more reasonably powered one in the $900-$1000 range.

[AL-Graphic]

I think the article is misleading the PC gaming rig is no longer needed. A hardcore PC gamer will not spend the 4k on a laptop to play high end games but save money on an excellent desktop gaming system, as today's Corei7 plus SLI or Crossfire setup, adding 10000rpm raptor hard drivers and more rams, it will only cost you 2k (if you already stock up the items early for on-sale items, Bly-ray Rom and DVD rom, plus Xi-Fi Sound card, still cost below 2k), it handle all kinds of the games enough in highest settting; Bioshock, Fallout3, Crysis Warhead or 1st, even the newest Wolfenstein or next Bioshock2, it will handle well, of course, if you got money to burn and want to have an Alien laptop, go ahead, but PC graphic and game design complex will always there. id and ZeniMax just joined together as a company, it will develope more game titles later, console game has its advantage, but new generation will always catch up PC gaming when you see the graphic and custom built rig, you will know why! Go join each year's QuakeCon event, man!

[Dan_Ackerman]

Good points -- but $2K is a lot, too, just to play...what? Looking at your list, there's Bioshock -- a two-year-old console port, Fallout 3 -- another old console port, Crysis Warhead -- basically an add-on pack to the one big-ish PC FPS in years, Wolfenstein -- a console port no one is very excited about, and BioShock 2 -- another console port that won't be out until 2010.

[streamline35]

Let's see, here's a list of some of the best PC games in the past couple years:
(many are on consoles as well)
Arma 2 (PC only)- I think this game should be the new benchmark games. Pushes my system harder than Crysis
Assassin's Creed - multiplatform
Crysis + Warhead - PC only
Empire Total War - PC only - Turn based + Real Time strategy
Far Cry 2 - multiplatform
Fear 2 - multiplatform
Fallout 3 - multiplatform
GTA4 - multiplatform
HAWX - multiplatform
Mass Effect - multiplatform
Mirror's Edge - multiplatform
Prototype - multiplatform
Sins of a Solar Empire - PC only. No way you could ever play this on a console (very deep, slower paced RTS)

Supreme Commander - PC + xbox. But, I would count this as a PC exclusive. On IGN, the PC version got a 9.0, and the xbox version got a 4.5. Basically they said the graphics were heavily downgraded, and still played badly on xbox, and the controls were too hard to use. (both advantages of PCs in general).

Also, while you can get an absolutely amazing gaming PC for $2k, you can get a decent one for $800, or a great one for $1200-$1400. All of which would still blow console graphics away.

[streamline35]

A couple other amazing games slipped my mind that are worth mentioning:

World in Conflict - PC only - very fast paced RTS with graphics that consoles can only dream of (one of the few good direct x 10 games floating around)
Anything from Valve:
Team Fortress 2 - I would count as PC exclusive - it was ported to xbox but failed horribly. It still has a massive and very active PC base.
Left 4 Dead - PC and xbox, but again, like any STEAM game they try and port to xbox, it has a much better community (and controls, and graphics, and user created content, and so on...) on PC

[MarkPharaoh]

You get a lot more than that Dan. MMO, RTS, FPS, all have a superior playing experience on a PC. You have WoW, ETW, CS, just to name a few. Although a possibly bigger pull is the customization on games. WoW, you can alter your UI in just about anyway you want, CS and ETW you have numerous modders making great games into priceless games.

You also factor in that a Gaming PC is so much more than a piece of hardware to play games on. Yea, It's a little harder to justify one if you already have a laptop/desktop that can do everything you need (besides hardcore gaming of course). But if you need a PC anyways, it's a lot easier to justify, along with the option to upgrade it at your pace, instead of being forced to buy a new one like people who game on consoles are forced to do.

[renGek]

Not to mention the 11+ million who plays warcraft. Any serious wow gamer will not let their machine slack and its not something you can play on a console. And I suspect if warcraft wasn't around there would be a lot more PC games out there today. And there are some pretty big titles out there about to be launched over the next 12 months. And I suspect we will see more PC upgrades when that happens.

But isn't this really a question of perspective? Some people won't want to spend $50K for a car vs a honda civic because the civic will do the job for them just fine while others want a nicer feeling car. Some people won't consider spending $10 on jewelery while others believe if you don't spend at least $15K on an engagement ring there is no point in marriage or $500 on a cell phone thats ooooh so shiny but have awful video capabilities.

[rafusee2]

I find PCs tend to be less stable than consoles anyway. Of course, maybe its just that I dont have a good enough computer, and Xboxs/PS3s mess up all the time. But still, I just find consoles more reliable for games.

[Shaun822]

Totally agree with you. My PC is relatively old and with grad school loans, etc. I don't have the money to upgrade it but my PS3 and 360 still run very smooth. The PC on the other hand has been so rigged up on the fly it can't handle any of the newer games. I'd be happier though if someone in the console world could explain why console games cost 10 dollars more than PC counterparts that are typically just as good if not marginally better.

[streamline35]

Shaun822 - very simply because they can. Probably the larger gaming base on consoles makes it worth it for them (when they know a few less people will buy it, but the amount that will buy it will still more than make up that profit).

[Lerianis3]

What we really need is for companies to realize that they are charging too much for their games.... I mean, 60 BUCKS for one game? HELL NO! Not even the next 'Final Fantasy' would be worth that! Not even BioShock 2 would be worth that. We really need these console companies to realize that they are pricing a good portion of people out of the gaming arena and that is why piracy is so high... though most of the 'piracy' is people copying more than year old games that aren't sold anymore!

[play7]

I dont like lap top style computers for gaming......and paying 4000.00 us is a little if not totally nuts.

[streamline35]

It's completely nuts. Much faster (desktop) gaming PCs can be had for far, far less.

[MonkeyBusinessIU]

I think there's some confusion about what constitutes a gaming rig. Water cooling, LED fans, quad video cards, and extreme high speed hard drives don't have to be the only path to gaming nirvana.

Here are my system specs:
Core 2 Duo E8400 - 3.0GHz
4GB DDR2 1066 RAM
1 TB Storage (2 250GB HDDs, 1 500GB HDD)
Asus Xonar DX
Corsair 450w PSU
Asus P45 ATX Mobo
22x DVD Burner
GeForce 8800GT

Total cost when purchased LAST July: $603.86.

I game at 1680x1050, and I've yet to find a game that brings my system to it's knees. Crysis? Nope. Fallout 3? Nope. BioShock? Nope. Nothing I've played in over a year has managed to make me go "Hmmm, maybe it's time to upgrade something?".

Gaming laptops are great if you need to game portably. But honestly, they're big, they're heavy, and they get hot. Desktops continue to be a better solution.

An ATX Mid tower Case is 8" wide, about a foot and a half long, and a foot and a half tall. You can stash it under or on a desk. My case would fit fine with any home theater. So it's not like it has to be ugly or obtrusive.

PC Gaming will be here for a long time. It's outlasted every competitor, every console. Also, it's worth noting that all the old console games end up on PC anyway.

[Dominick_7]

A laptop/notebook is more convenient than a desktop, and if you do LAN parties they're a heck of a lot easier to carry. I prefer to be sitting back, in bed, or somewhere comfortable and do things on a notebook than a desktop. I have the HP HDX Dragon 20 inch notebook which is a BEAUTIFUL machine! Has an incredible WUXGA screen to give you the desktop experience, subwoofer for nice sound, a sweet dual hinge to view it from many angles..the thing that sucks is that HP locked down the CPU overclocking ability and upgrading the GPU..HDX users are currently looking for ways around this but while I'd love to have a backlighted keyboard ala Alienware and upgraded specs you see in the M17 or Sager NP9850 be it 3 hard drives, or 2 SLI 280M GPUS, the proposition of going from 20 inches to an 18 inch screen is difficult. It seems the choice between the laptops with the upgraded specs is either get the backlighted keyboard but 2 hard drives with the Alienware or 3 hard drives but no backlighted keyboard on the Sager. This is one nice looking Alienware..how am I not surprised to see all the negativity online towards something this sweet...

[dwend]

You can configure it for much less than $4K, that is about the highest it goes, the only thing missing is the blueray burner.
A nice system with a c2d and (2) GTX280m, 4gb ram, 1920x1200 display, and every thing else standard. cost $2500, not bad for a note book with these specs. That is only $300 more than a comparable Asus w90, but you dont' get the looks with the asus.

[amirault0]

I don't think PC gaming will even completely go away. For the price of a mid-upper range laptop you can build a desktop that runs just about all the games today (maybe minus crysis). Buying a gaming PC or laptop is ridiculously overpriced (kinda like macs haha). I much prefer a keyboard and mouse for playing FPS games than a controller.

[Ryiujin]

I dont think that PC gaming will ever die. There are far too many amazing games that you just cant get the same experience on with a console. Like a great RTS or MMORPG. But that isnt really the argument is it? I think what the editor is getting as is do we still need massive gaming rigs? On one hand I agree that fo the hard core gamers we do need these customizable machines to tweak like a geek version of a self built classic muscle car. I used to build great gaming rigs, and loved them. But these days I dont need such a powerful machine as I have given most of my hardcore games over to the Console purchases. So now I own really nice high end HP HDX 18t. It games pretty well and is still really portable. Which for me is a must have. Now, I do bring up the notion that I would love to see laptops as customizable as desktops one day. Hard to do I know (Clevo anyone?) but perhaps in the future you might see a line of easily modified laptops that we can work with like the gaming rigs we all love today.

Anyways that was just some thoughts,

Ryiu

[seven7dust]

I dont get the point of high end gaming laptops
they are huge and Heavy and have hardly any batterylife ,1.5 hrs on average !
you might as well buy a desktop for 1/4th price and get better performance and screen real estate !

OTOH there are many 1000-1500$ laptops with decent graphics cards that you can easily game on
and get decent batterylife also they are far more portable !

[streamline35]

They point isn't to be portable, it's just to be movable. Just think of it like a desktop that you can move much easier from one place to another. And these are people that have way too much money to spend on a computer. For portability, they probably spent way too much on a macbook air to take around with them.

[play7]

"by streamline35 July 16, 2009 11:29 PM PDT
They point isn't to be portable, it's just to be movable. "

Then its not thought of as a lap top right? But they are selling its as it is......""portable"" is only and should be used to a since of easy to carry and placei in another location. Well its not......

[Dan_Ackerman]

One of the commentators made a good point about the stability and reliability of gaming PCs vs consoles. As a long-time PC gamer (my first computer was a TRS-80, followed by a Tandy 1000), and someone who's covered PC hardware for years, I can honestly say that for any boxed retail PC game that lands on my desk -- I've got maybe a 50/50 chance of getting it installed and running properly on the first try.

Outfits like Steam have helped somewhat, but the mix of developers not being able to test with every possible hardware combo, plus crazy DRM schemes, makes buying and installing a PC game a frustrating experience for many.

[BradTrinh24]

Even steam though didn't have there new interface until 2 years back. I remember buying half life, and not even playing it for a couple weeks because I believed it to not work haha.