I don't have this exact model as it's a ready to ship prebuild one. I got mine in June of 2012 so the specs vary and I will list them:i7-3610QM
8 GB DDR3
750GB 7200RPM
650M 1GB
1600 x 900 resolution
The build quality is excellent, the feel of the laptop when I use it is spectacular, it has a matte almost rubberish finish so it's not metal and doesn't get finger prints on it.
The keyboard has some flex, but nothing that you'd ever notice during normal use. It also has one of the best keyboards that I have used, the feeling is excellent and is 2nd to the higher end business line of Lenovo laptops.
The CPU is a powerhouse for being a mobile edition with 4 physical cores and hyperthreading you get 8 threads, combined with turboboost which can jump the 2.3 Ghz clock beyond 3.0Ghz this CPU blazes through tasks and anything I throw at it. While I have an i7 and this is an i5, the Ivy Bridge architecture with the 3rd generation is the same with both CPUs and is excellent, the i5 is a nice CPU and will handle anything you'd be able to throw at it with ease.
The 650M with 1GB will run nearly any game on high at native resolution, just make sure to properly ventilate the laptop of the GPU will underclock itself due to the heat. The GPU's stock clock is 745Mhz and will go up to somewhere around 850Mhz if needed for short periods of time. The extra 1GB on this model will help with textures and will provide some overhead for future games.
The AlienFX is nice and is part of the reason this laptop is expensive, you can set them to change to a different scheme when a certain .EXE file is running, which is great for games. As an example for Skyrim I would set the keyboard to go to all white. Some games implement the FX into the code of the game, like World of Tanks where if you get hit the keyboard will flash red.
The laptop can run pretty hot, I always have it elevated and when gaming plug the fans in. Personally I use a Cooler Master Notepal U2 which fits the laptop perfectly. When gaming the fans can be fairly loud, but if you have the audio on it's hardly noticeable. My temps with some small overclocks stay around 70 degrees Celsius. Because of the heat dispersion layout, when the laptop gets hot the keyboard and palm rest do also.
Battery life for me is what you would expect for such a powerful laptop, I can get about 3-5 hours depending on what is running, which is enough for me to make it through my classes. This i5 model will have better life because it's not running a quadcore CPU.
This laptop should have an MSATA slot under the bottom cover, allowing for a second hard drive that can be used either for storage, or as caching to speed up your HDD, they range from 32GB up to 128GB+ and are slightly more expensive than a normal SSD. I have yet to get one and cannot evaluate their value as of yet. If this changed I will update this.
There have been some issues with this laptop so I will list them:
I put the laptop into hibernate and it would not boot back up, needed a motherboard replacement. Dell / Alienware had a tech to my house in a couple of days and the laptop was back in perfect working order.
My "r" key needs to be replaced as it broke (the key itself not the mechanism) and they're sending someone out to replace the whole keyboard.
While not a real issue, the number of USB ports is slightly disappointing but I knew that going in.
I cannot natively run 3 monitors so far; I use the native screen, a 1600 x 900 HP through VGA and wanted to extend to my TV through HDMI but it will not allow that, I have heard that the Mini-Displayport may allow this but I have not bought an adapter. While a USB to VGA or DVI is always possibly I would rather a native solution be available.
Battery isn't easily removed, you need to unscrew 2 screws to take the bottom cover off, then 2 more to take out the battery which makes it difficult to carry more than one. My battery has so far experienced a 10.4% battery wear according to BatteryBar.
On an end note: If you are experiencing very low FPS in a game in moderate settings, ensure you're using the dedicated card, the system uses Nvidia Optimus which allows you to use the dedicated card when needed and the HD4000 when it's not. You can make any program use the dedicated card simply by right clicking, going to "run with graphics processor" and opening the Nvidia Control Panel, adding the EXE to the list and selecting the dedicated card from the drop down.
While there are other brands of laptops with similar or the same specs for ~$100 cheaper or so, I find this laptop to be worth the money, and when looking around, an Apple Macbook Pro of the same specs costs $1800 for me, where as I paid $1300 for my version.
Edit 3/5/13: Last week the tech came out the and keyboard was replaced, I observed minimal dis-assembly of the laptop, consisting of the bottom, some screws, and the bezel around the keyboard, then 2 more screws, the ribbon strips for connection and FX, then a replacement. The new one does have the new windows logo implemented for Win 8 and is up to par with the prior keyboard.
I will note that the lighting seems a little dimmer, especially with the space key. But this is in normal light and not darkness, when my room is dark the whole keyboard is clearly visible.
Buy Alienware M14x R2 AM14XR2-6111BK 14.0-Inch Laptop (Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish) Now
I love my laptop! Doesn't get hot and its great for gaming. Only thing I don't like about it is Windows 8, but that's not alienwares fault.I got this for my daughters 10th birthday, shes a gamer and says the graphics are awesome on this laptop. recommended for gamersThis is my first Dell. I used Macbook pro, Vaio and Compaq, but this pc is in another category. somple the best.
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