Slimmer and faster Dell Alienware m15 and m17 gaming notebooks launched at Computex 2019

On top of a refreshed array of productivity devices that include revamped additions to Dell’s Inspiron line of notebooks and all-in-one desktops, their desirable XPS 13 2-in-1 and XPS 15 premium notebooks, Dell has also introduced redesigned and beefed up versions of the Alienware m15 and m17 gaming notebooks that feature the latest ninth generation Intel Core processors, the latest NVIDIA graphics cards and a slicker looking, slimmer look that takes the definition of class up by a notch or two.

Both the m15 and the slightly larger m17 come with the brand’s new ‘Legend’ industrial aesthetic with two different colours akin to the Alienware 51m in your choice of either Lunar Light and a unique shade of black dubbed the Dark Side of the Moon. The chassis itself is visually impressive with precision-machined hexagonal cutouts above the keyboard and a fingerprint resistant finish.

Rather than garishly taking on RGB backlighting to everything in sight, the Alienware m15 and m17 keeps it classy with customisable lighting retained on the power button, the Alienware logo on the lid, the keyboard with every key offering individually customisable colour lighting and around the housing on the rear ventilation ports. Both notebooks are exceptionally slim too and are just 20.5mm at their thickest point with the m15 weighing 2.16kg and the m17 slightly more at 2.63kg.

The redesign also extends to the.keyboard and trackpad with the former getting better key travel from last year’s modest 1.4mm to a better 1.7mm for better tactility on top of anti-ghosting and N-key rollover tech while the trackpad is sheathed in glass for a much smoother glide for your digits. One area where the larger m17 differs is that it has enough space to sport a full sized numeric keypad versus the smaller m15 which has a more compact keyboard layout.

In terms of displays, the Alienware m15 can be equipped with up to a 15.6-inch 4K UHD 1ms DCI-P3 colour gamut display with Tobii Eyetracking tech and a 60Hz refresh rate though you can also kit it out with a Full HD variant that has a faster 240Hz refresh rate with 300-nits and 100% sRGB colour gamut compliance along with the same Tobii Eyetracking tech.

The larger Alienware m17 maxes out at a Full HD 144Hz screen with a 9ms refresh rate, Dell’s new Eyesafe tech that minimises damaging blue light emanating from the display and also Tobii Eyetracking tech though a variant exists without eyetracking. Regardless, all the displays on the m15 and m17 are some of the slimmest ever incorporated in an Alienware gaming notebook.

Both the Alienware m15 and m17 feature options with Tobii Eyetracking tech.

Bar the display, both the Alienware m15 and m17 have similar choices for storage, graphics and processors with up to an Intel Core i9-9980HK octacore processor, up to 16GB DDR4 2,666MHz RAM and the option to cram in up to the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 GPU with Max-Q design and up to 8GB GDDR6 VRAM. Storage options can be maxed out all the way to to a terrifyingly massive 4TB via a pair of 2TB PCIe M.2 SSDs in RAID 0 configuration.

Of particular note is that both the Alienware m15 and m17 both have 8-phase graphics voltage regulation and 6-phase processor voltage regulation that ensures consistent power to the aforementioned hardware for sustained, consistent gaming performance. To keep things cool, both notebooks have also increased the fan size cooling both the CPU and GPU, allowing for about a 10% increase in airflow.

Combined, all this makes the m15 and m17 exceptionally tempting gaming rigs indeed though prices will be predictably princely with both gaming notebooks started in on the ground floor with from USD1,500 and up. Stay tuned to Dell’s official website for more updates here.