If there was a machine that I’ve wanted to get my hands on ever since I’ve started writing for tech, it would be this one. The Alienware series of gaming laptops have always been this Holy Grail of gaming ever since I was still in secondary school, so getting the my hands on one for an extended period of time is much like meeting my childhood hero; except it’s a laptop. Seeing as we received the laptop at the tail end of the month though, we’ll only be giving you a quick look at the Alienware 17 before we do the full on review next month.

Identifiable Gaming Object

One of the identifying markers of an Alienware laptop is the overall design of the laptop. The Alienware 17 is no different as the cover is sloped, metallic and comes with a glowing Alien head, the signature identifier of an Alienware laptop. The thing is also smaller than I’ve expected it to be. While it is still a big laptop, it isn’t as large as some of the other gaming laptops that we have come through our test lab before.

Black Site

Besides looks, the Alienware 17 packs some very impressive hardware. For the unit that we gleefully received, it comes with a 4^th Generation Core i7 processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M. The powerful components are complemented by the light-show that the keyboard provides, which is customisable on the laptop’s own application, of which the name escapes me at the moment.

Stealth Mode

Using the Alienware 17 immediately after messing around with the Aorus, the one thing that I notice is how quiet the thing is. The laptop generates minimal noise during gaming, which is a great improvement over the vacuum cleaner that was the Aorus. As for gaming, the Alienware 17 has been chewing up and spitting out quite a few of my games thus far, so I’m looking forward to see what it can do with the other games in my library.

Close Encounter Of The Gaming Kind

From what I’ve experienced with the Alienware 17 thus far, I’m already in love with it. Check back in our next issue for the full review of the laptop and we’ll see if I actually propose to the machine itself.