Alienware 15.6-inch FHD Gaming Laptop (Intel i7-8750H, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD, nVidia GTX 1060 6GB, Window 10) - Silver

AW15 R4's model and lighting system is acceptable, even better than the NEW M15 series. The cooling system is acceptable, although there is relatively loud noise at full power operation, it is still better than the relatively thin and light design of the gaming notebook, but there is still room for improvement. It is recommended to use accessories such as an additional cooling base. The overall speed of the processor and SSD is satisfactory。 Battery life is not recommended for out-of-town use. If necessary, please switch to power save mode.

Having been interested in the brand for some time I was grateful for the opportunity to review this laptop. I’ve had high end MacBook Pro’s but my computing experience began with the Acorn Electron and BBC computers. What a difference between now and then. This R4 is well made. It feels like a solid lump and with good reason. It needs a big battery to power this beast. The finish on the machine when in use is like a rubberised surface which I really like. The keyboard is great too and is responsive. The outer shell is not as solid as my Mac but it has a aluminium feel. There is no doubt that the R4 is made for games. It’s screen is very good and affords a clear image when in use. I like the customisations you can do to the keyboard and track pad in terms of colours they will glow. When put to the test the R4 performs. I have been impressed with the range of games it plays with no hassle (old thief games) and newer games with equal ease. It just eats them all up and provides a really satisfying result. What is less satisfying is the windows 10 registration needed to get the annoying watermark off the screen. If you don’t it even affects gameplay. The OS is not good and buggy. The R4 has had a few temperamental moments because the OS is so poor. I don’t find it as intuitive as any iOS system although even they are getting annoying. The big battery doesn’t last overly long if you are full tilt in a game either. And although it’s portable it’s heavy for some. Overall though you have a machine that has far more positives than negatives. It’s supremely powerful with big amounts of ram and storage space (a Terabyte HDD & 256 SSD). It’s got a lovely screen and feels very solid and well made. It should too given the price. But you can be assured if you do take the plunge it’s quality is obvious. It delivers in gameplay too. Lovely graphics and within a portable unit. Yes battery life is relatively small (I got around 4 hours life out of it playing games constantly). But if you keep it plugged in then that isn’t a problem. This laptop is a class act. It isn’t perfect and it isn’t cheap but the quality is undeniable and it’s performance impressive. On that basis I have to recommend, it’s a superb laptop.

This is a great gaming laptop . I am not good at techno speak, but I do know this laptop is superb for all gamers . It’s quite heavy so not the best for carrying around, but it puts in an amazing performance.

I turned this on in a room full of people and everybody was amazed and delighted by the light show it provides, enough for my wife to demand it and she doesn't even use a laptop. The case has lights along each side of the base and lid and behind the keyboard and trackpad and they're all independently customisable. You can even set them to change colour continuously. And did I mention that the Alien head on the lid lights up as well? I would imagine that contributes substantially to the low battery life, you would not want to take this machine away from a power supply for a long time. However as I shall use it mainly at home that won't be an issue. Essentially this is a Dell laptop on steroids and Dell have long had a reputation for making substantive and heavy machines, this is no exception. Its about as thick as three MacBooks! It also gets uncomfortably warm when its sitting on your lap for any time. On the plus side being a Dell it is very well built and being Alienware it is very highly specified. It initiates from power off in seconds. It runs the current batch of games at their highest spec to which it automatically defaults on install. I tested it it with 'Overwatch', 'Destiny 2' and 'Skyrim' and it never faltered. I have also installed MS Office 2019 and it demonstrated that as a general purpose computer it shines as well. Multitasking is no problem for this beast at all thanks to its high end processor. Overall this is not a laptop for lightweights but if you're prepared to accept its weight and power demands its amazing.

I've never used a gaming laptop before. I've had reasonably powerful desktops and used a myriad of different laptops over the course of 10 years but this Alienware Laptop is in a league of its own. Incredibly powerful, versatile and very aesthetically pleasing, this gaming laptop is one of the most impressive pieces of kit I've ever had the pleasure of using. Upon arrival, the laptop was presented in a slick white box surrounded by cushioning. All the cables and instructions were inside a snug little pocket in the box and everything was very very simple to set up. After a few minutes the laptop was ready to go and show off its power. Having used this for a few weeks now, I can honestly say this is well worth the money. I won't go into a massively in depth review on this but I will point out a few of the key pros and cons of this Gaming Laptop. Aesthetically, you'll be hard pressed to find a better looking laptop. The lighting under the keys is a cool blue and around the edges of the laptop the lights pulse and give off a brilliant radiance. The little alien face lights up yellow when you're charging the laptop and everything is very slick and polished. Performance-wise the laptop runs incredibly well. To test the limits of the 16gb RAM I booted up Planet Coaster, minimised the window, chucked on a random netflix video and also ran some updates. I experienced minor stuttering from the audio and barely any difference in quality when jumping between screens. I was very impressed. If you plan to do anything intensive, both gaming and professionally with video editing etc. then this laptop will perform without breaking a sweat. The graphics are great too and the LED lit screen gives off a really slick polish and everything looks very crisp and clean. For all of its positives, the battery life is pretty woeful if I'm honest. It'll last roughly around 3 hours not on charge but if you're gaming then expect that to drop quite rapidly. The battery pack it comes with is a beasty little block and you'll probably spend most of your time with it plugged in when gaming. It's worth noting too that the laptop gets incredibly hot too. If you intend to have this on your lap for extended periods of time, this can be a little uncomfortable but if you're trying to game on this while sprawled on the sofa then it's likely to happen. If you just intend to lounge with Netflix on then it doesn't heat up too much. It's also worth noting that at a little under 6KG this is a beasty piece of kit and surprisingly heavy compared to other laptops. There's a lot to like from this laptop and although many will raise their eyebrows at the price, for me I'd happily pay that much for this laptop. Performance wise it's hard to fault and the general concerns I have with the product are mainly linked to battery life and the product itself heating up, not the actual quality of the laptop. Simple a stunning piece of kit and well worth the money.

This is my first experience of a really high-end gaming laptop. Previously I've been limited to gaming on conventional laptops with all their limitations and this has been an awesome experience. First impressions of the laptop come with it still inside its smart and substantial box: it's heavy! Out of the box, it looks and feels fantastic. No cheap plastic laptop this one; this is a solid metal case with a beautiful soft sheen. I'm already starting to fall in love with this. Windows 10 Home installation is the usual MS experience. There's not too much to be said as this product and review is really about the laptop's gaming performance. If you hate MS, you'll hate it on this device. All you can say is that it's extremely fast to install, which is a good sign of things to come. In terms of use, the keyboard is fantastic. Probably the best I've ever used. It has a great “bounce” to it, and it feels really positive. I'm not a massive fan of trackpads, and normally use a wireless mouse. But again, this is the bets trackpad I've used. It has a nice, smooth action with separate buttons that are really positive and “clicky”. More signs of great quality. One impression that I'm already aware of at this early stage is the noise. The laptop has two fans to deal with cooling the CPUs during intensive play, and they are noisy. I'm sure it's something I'll get used to, but it's more significant than I've experienced with other laptops. If the demand for cooling is so great, it might be an idea to use a laptop stand to improve airflow. Using the Alienware Command Center facility, the configuration options on the keyboard backlight and strip lighting on the side panels are extensive and a lot of fun. I appreciate its only there to tell the world you have a cool, gaming laptop, but it does look great and that makes you feel that little bit better about owning such a cool bit of kit. More seriously, the Command Center provides you with massive range of configuration options for the laptop. To be honest, this is more extensive than I would ever need and for the meantime I shan't be fiddling too much, but just enjoying the experience. However, for those who are more serious technologist/game players, there are lots of opportunities to configure and maximise your performance and experience. Anyway, to get the the heart of the matter, a gaming laptop is all about performance and graphics. First off, the display is stunning. I've never experience such vivid colours and rich depth. Refresh rates are fantastic and the movement is silky smooth. This is when you truly appreciate the difference that a specialist gaming laptop can make to your experience. Performance is amazing. Coupled to the graphics card, all the gameplay I've tried has been way beyond anything I've experienced before. There is no judder or lag and everything seems to happen in real time. This makes the experience so much more immersive than I've experienced before and takes game play to a whole new level. Surprisingly the speakers are much better than I expected. Considering their size, I think this another area where the Alienware's size and build quality are a real advantage. I appreciate most gamers will be using a headset, but if you do have occasion to rely on the inbuilt speakers, you might be pleasantly surprised. Bearing in mind this is my first serious game playing laptop, perhaps I was always bound to be hugely impressed. I've no previous experience of equipment of similar specification. And there are downsides to such a device. Battery life is pretty short (roughly four to five hours of intensive used). It is heavy and noisy. And there's a lot of comment on the forums about how hot it gets. I could only gauge this by feeling the casing. It is hot, and it would be a pretty worrying if it weren't for the knowledge that this is a “feature” of the laptop. As I said earlier, I'd strongly recommend a laptop stand to improve airflow. All said and done though, I'm hugely impressed by my experience. There may be competition out there that would improve on the Alienware's shortcomings or offer a better experience for a dedicated gamer, but I don't think there's anything about this device that will disappoint.