mySN XMG7.c RPC-EDITION

Spec review :

• Processor : Intel Core i7-620M 2.66GHz (up to 3.33GHz with Turbo Boost), 4MB cache
• Memory : 2 x 2048MB DDR3 SO-DIMM RAM 1066MHz
• Hard drive : 2 x 320GB Seagate Momentus 7,200rpm SATA II
• Graphics card : 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M GDDR3
• Screen : 17.3-inch 1920 x 1080 FHD TFT
• Operating system : not included
• DirectX 10 supported
• Dimension (HWD) : 1.5~1.9x16.2x10.9 inches
• Optical drive : Dual Layer 8x DVD-RW
• Primary 6-cell lithium-polymer battery
• Power adapter
• Plus internal system.

Price : €1,599.00

Starting price : €1,599.00

Starting weight : 8.7 pounds

Customizable : yes.

For more information about component, customization and price, visit mySN's official website here. Please note that the website is using German.
The specification above is the default specification of XMG7.c RPC-EDITION, so it comes with default (not minimum, as it still can be downgraded) price and weight.
External accessories and any software (including operating system), are not included in price.

This time, let us travel to Europe! And the destination is mySN from Germany. Although mySN is not a well-known  laptop reseller, it offers high-end gaming laptops, at fair price. There are two versions  code-named XMG7 : XMG7.c which has lower specification (and price, of course), and this RPC-EDITION.  XMG7.c  RPC-EDITION gives you Core i7-620M 2.66GHz, 4GB DDR3 memory, 1GB GTX 285M and 640GB SATA II 7,200rpm for $1,941.51 (currently : 1 euro = 1.2142 dollar). Well, if you think that's too expensive, you can still downgrade a bit for a lower price. Say, get the GTX 280M and Messegerät body kit (a.k.a Gehäuseoptionen) will lower the price by $240.42, makes the price to down to $1,701.09. But unfortunately, hard drive and memory components can not be downgraded. Only graphics card that can be downgraded. In other words, $1,701.09 is the minimum price (still too expensive? Go for XMG7.c 'normal edition') . Quite comparable to M15x  that I recommend, with difference in price of $300. Not bad, I suppose...
And please note that  XMG7.c is based on Clevo W870CU barebone.

XMG7.c RPC-EDITION uses Core i7-620M as its default processor. Core i7-620M has a normal clock speed of 2.66GHz, much higher than standard (used in most gaming laptops) i7-720QM 1.6GHz. Nevertheless, note that i7-620M is a dual cores processor, while Core i7-720QM is a quad. You can upgrade 620M to 720QM for €35 (currently about $42.50) if you wish. For gaming purpose, i7-620M is faster in most games than i7-720QM, since most current games don't use multiple cores,  not taking significant advantages on quad cores, so dual cores is better due to its higher clock speed. Quad cores processor is highly useful for running heavy multi-threaded applications (running multiple games, perhaps?), so single application will not run efficiently.  Core i7-620M consumes less power and is also cooler than i7-720QM, so upgrading to i7-720QM will  reduce battery life and waste more heat. Core i7-620M has all of Intel features ; Turbo Boost to greatly increase performance for demanding applications, Hyper-Threading to improve performance for multi-threaded software, VT-x, VT-d, TXT, Enhanced Speedstep Technology, Thermal Monitor Technology, Execute Disable Bit and many more. Complete! Want to upgrade? Think again.
GeForce GTX 285M is the most advanced graphics card from NVIDIA, certainly before Fermi is released. According to notebookcheck, GTX 285M is only 3% to 6% faster than GTX 280M. Whether 6% is worth enough for additional cost €123 (currently $152.67)? If I were you, I will go with GTX 280M instead of GTX 285M for financial reason. GTX 285M is capable of playing latest games at high-ultra setting and resolution smoothly. Only small numbers of high-class games (Crysis, BF Bad Company 2, etc) that need medium-high setting to run flawlessly. GTX 285M is equipped with CUDA to dramatically increase performance in computing (mostly for research, medical, energy and other needs that are not related to video games), PureVideo HD to bring ultra-smooth, clear and pure video images, and PhysX to have more realistic visual effects in order to bring living gaming experience. Please note that not every game supports PhysX, unfortunately.
For the memory, 4GB DDR3 is fairly enough for gaming purpose. Current games only need 2GB of memory, so upgrade is not necessary. Unless if you were to run Photoshop, designing, CADing and  running other applications that need huge memory to run, upgrading memory is nearly a must. You can upgrade it to 8GB for €260.00 (currently $315.70). Expensive? Yes, of course. 
For the hard drive, 640GB is more than enough to store tons of HD games and multimedia applications and files without worrying of running out of space. But if it's not enough for your needs, you can upgrade it up to 1,280GB (2 x 640GB) for €76 ($92.28), but for me, personally, that is not necessary.

XMG7.c RPC-EDITION has some cons, unfortunately, and certainly...
Cons on : short battery life. This problem always occurs on every single high-end gaming laptop, so this is a normal case, very annoying normal case. XMG7.c RPC-EDITION can not last even close to two hours, but very close to its half. This laptop can last maximally only for 1 hour and 6 minutes or so (with no running application and minimum brightness setting), but far less than 2 hours. Uh, is this a laptop or a small dekstop PC with UPS?
Cons two : noise. According to notebookcheck, XMG7.c RPC-EDITION is very noisy even while in idle mode (no running application). The noise hit its loudest point while playing DVD. Not a good deal. Probably because XMG7.c RPC-EDITION consumes high power and produces much heat so it needs good cooling system : noisy fans. And yes, this laptop consumes very high power under load.
Cons three : loudspeaker. The bass is not loud enough to be comfortably heard. It's indistinct and just horrible. External dekstop speaker or headphones is recommended.
Cons four, five, six... nine-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine : weight, display, touchpad and some (9993?) minor problems.
Okay, those are common cons of  XMG7.c RPC-EDITION taken from many sources. If you own this laptop and have any additional pros and/or cons, please write in comment. And please comment this review...

References :
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-mySN-XMG7-c-Notebook.22205.0.html

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43560&code=Intel%C2%AE+Core%E2%84%A2+i7-620M+Processor+%284M+Cache%2c+2.66+GHz%29

http://www.google.co.id/url?q=http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo-reviews-owners-lounges/423943-official-sager-np8760-clevo-w870cu-owners-lounge-51.html&ei=FgcHTLr6ENC6rAeKktDMDw&sa=X&oi=forum_cluster&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&ved=0CBUQrAIoADAA&usg=AFQjCNFyD43xCAHe3mPYdvXMkJgFLCXQYQ

http://www.nvidia.com/object/what_is_cuda_new.html

http://www.mysn.de/detail.asp?userid=aa479jmb433lc5ghe7kf1f43j6k9667453t4i845ljnp3r4th9&KategorienOrder=010;020;010;028;010&bestellnr=RPC1002#DNconfig

iBuyPower Battalion 101 X8100

Spec review :

• Processor : Intel Core i7-720QM 1.6GHz (up to 2.8GHz with Turbo Boost) 6MB cache
• Memory : 2 x 2048MB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz
• Hard drive : 320GB SATA II 7,200rpm Super Slim
• Graphics card : 2 x 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M PCl-Express with GDDR3 (SLI mode)
• Screen : 18.4-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 TFT
• Operating system : Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• DirectX 10 supported
• Dimension (HWD) : 1.7x17.3x11.8 inches
• Optical drive : Dual Format 8x DVD-RW + 16x CD-RW Combo
• Primary Smart Li-polymer battery
• Fingerprint security system
• Universal AC adapter
• Standard 1 year warranty + lifetime technical support
• Plus internal system.

Price : $2,339.00
Starting price : $2,339.00
Starting weight : 12.5 pounds
Customizable : yes.
For more information about component, customization and price, visit iBuyPower's official website here.
The specification above are the default specification of Battalion 101 X8100, so it comes with default (not minimum) price and weight. Customizing will change price and weight.
External accesories (external mouse, speaker, keyboard, headphones, etc) are not included, except for Deluxe carrying case, is included.

Here it comes, the biggest, most powerful and most advanced high-end gaming laptop from iBuyPower!  Oh, and the most expensive, too, unfortunately. Battalion 101 X8100 is the latest high-end gaming laptop  form iBuyPower so far. This laptop is a bit more expensive than Battalion 101 D900F, with little but significant differences. What differs them? Let's compare!

First, processor : Battalion 101 D900F uses Core i7-930, which has higher frequency and overclock rate than Core i7-720QM inside Battalion 101 X8100. Simply say, D900F has faster processor over X8100. One-zero for D900F. Second, memory : D900F has 2GB more memory than X8100, with same frequency and DDR3 type, and brand. Two-zero for D900F. Third, hard drive : D900F has 320GB and X8100 has 320GB... same, huh? No difference in hard drive. Okay, still two-zero for D900F. Fourth, and the most important and sexiest part, graphics card : both D900F and X8100 have same graphics card, 1GB GTX 285M, but different in quantity. D900F has single GTX 285M, while X8100 has dual GTX 285M in SLI mode! Triple blows to D900F! Two-three for X8100. So the winner is... me!

- Axa's personal review, and opinion.

So, the conclusion is, D900F is faster and has higher overclock rate,  while X8100 has standard Core i7-720QM processor and powerful dual GTX 285M in SLI mode. So which one is more worth, high overclock rate processor or two graphics cards equipped with SLI technology? Well, don't jump yet to that question. But first (for noobs), what is SLI technology? Read the 'graphics card' section below.

Battalion 101 X8100 uses the very standard Core i7-720QM quad processor. Most mid-end to high-end gaming laptops use this as default processor, though it's customizable. It has a normal clock speed of 1.6GHz,  quite slow for recent processors, and is overclockable up to 2.8GHz with Turbo Boost. Quite good for current games, but don't expect that much in speed as it's a standard, and the slowest Core i7 processor. Works very well for older games, thank to the Turbo Boost technology.  It's also featured with Hyper-Threading Technology to improve performance on the multi-threaded software. Hyper-Threading technology also uses the 4 cores to work in parallel for every running thread. Simply say, it helps multi-tasking activities. Core i7-720QM consumes 45 watts of power, so it's only suitable for big laptops with good cooling system.
Back to the question above, what is SLI technology? SLI (Scalable Link Interface) is a technology that enables user to combine two or more SLI-certified NVIDIA graphics cards to produce a better single output. It's a graphics parallel processing application, in order to get increased performance as result. By this technique, SLI technology can deliver, according to NVIDIA website, up to twice performance with two cards (100% performance increase, yet very rare in most cases), and up to 2.8 times performance with 3 cards!  For those who don't believe, read here to see gaming performance with and without SLI mode. How to make it? Read here. Oh, don't forget that SLI also has multi-monitor support, which allows user to connect graphics cards to up to 4 dekstop monitors (depending on how many graphics cards used), and even up to 6 monitors with SLI-supported GeForce motherboard GPU (for more information read here). This means user can have up to 6 monitors working at the same time. Very similar to ATI Radeon's Eyefinity technology. GTX 285M SLI is a top-end DX10 graphics card. They (dual GTX 285M) are also equipped with PureVideo to bring ultra-smooth HD video, CUDA to improve graphics computing performance, and PhysX which adds very impressive visual effects (shattered glasses, flowing water, plastic, etc) to bring more realistic gaming experience. With SLI mode, PhysX can work much better by dividing their 'jobs', one/more (the most powerful) GPU(s) to render graphics, and the other one to fully concentrate on PhysX. By this method, user will experience smoother and more realistic gaming performance. So sweet...
So, which one? High overclock rate processor or dual high-end graphics cards in SLI mode? Well, that is your  choice...
For the memory, 4GB DDR3 is fairly big to play latest games. No need to upgrade if this laptop were only for gaming. Having an 8GB memory to run current games won't affect performance significantly, just wasting money. Not worth for $455. Upgrade is necessary for multi-tasking, CADing, designing, and such activities which need lots of applications to run at the same time.Well, it's up to you, after all.
For the hard drive, 320GB is below average for current laptops. I suggest to (no persuasion) upgrade to 500GB with 7,200rpm for $56 to have more space, enough to store many HD games and applications without worrying of running out of space. I do not recommend using 5,400rpm hard drive, as it is too slow for playing current games. Solid state drive is a good option, it's very fast for gaming, yet very expensive, too. Two-edged sword, yikes...

Even Battalion 101 X8100 which has almost everything needed for ultimate gaming, is not without flaws. What flaws dare enough to challenge Battalion 101 X8100?

Flaw one : weight and size. Battalion 101 X8100 has weight over 12 pounds, heavier than two Battalion Touch CZ-10s. Also, 18.4-inch is very huge to bear. What a monster! Perhaps it's not possible to hold it by one hand. Very big and heavy, you'll need long hard times to adapt. Very unfriendly, it also greatly reduces your mobility.

Flaw two : power consumption. Core i7-720QM uses power averagely 45 watts. But it's not the matter! The real evil troublemaker is that dual GTX 285M consume power also two times than a single GTX 285M, which means the dual GTX 285M use up to 150 watts. So, Battalion 101 X8100 totally consumes more than 200 watts of power. You will need a powerful AC adapter, massive electrical power, and a lot of time for Battalion 101 X8100 to get fully charged.

Flaw three : battery life. Consuming such huge power will greatly drop battery life. Battalion 101 X8100 can last maximally only for 1 hour and 16 minutes, with no running application (idle) and minimum brightness setting. Running any application (playing DVD, surfing, gaming, etc) reduces battery life to less than an hour.  I recommend to have at least one additional battery. Turning on Battalion 101 X8100 while on the go is not a wise decision. 

Big, heavy and short battery life are main problems of this laptop, I suppose...

Flaw four : noise. As a result of high power consumption, Battalion 101 X8100 also produces much heat. And as the reaction of heat effect, Battalion 101 X8100 also must be equipped with good cooling system, and in this case, fast turning fans. These fans cause noise, especially while the laptop is running many  'heavy' applications, as it gets hotter, and the fans turn faster. You'll need to wear headphones to get comfort.

Flaw five : some display and minor problems.

Okay, those are flaws which cause Battalion 101 X8100 be imperfect. If you own this laptop and have any additional pros and/or cons, please write in comment. And do comment this review, please...

References : 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-mySN-XMG8-c-Clevo-X8100-Notebook.28411.0.html 

http://www.slizone.com/object/sli_multi_monitor.html#confoptions 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Link_Interface 

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalion_101_X8100_Gaming_Notebook 

http://www.nvidia.com/object/what_is_cuda_new.html 

iBuyPower Battalion 101 D900F

Spec review :

• Processor : Intel Core i7-930 2.8GHz (up to 3.06GHz with Turbo Boost) 8MB cache
• Memory : 3 x 2048MB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
• Hard drive : 320GB SATA II 7,200rpm
• Graphics card : 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M  PCl-Express with GDDR3
• Screen : 17-inch FHD 1920 x 1200 TFT LCD
• Operating system : Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• DirectX 10 supported
• Dimensions (HWD) : 1.0~2.4x15.5x11.8 inches
• Optical drive : Dual Format 8x DVD-RW + 16x CD-RW Combo
• Primary 12-cell lithium ion battery
• Universal AC adapter
• Standard 1 year warranty + lifetime technical support
• Plus internal system.

Price : $2,299.00
Starting price : $2,299.00
Weight : 11.6 pounds.
Customizable : yes.
For more information about component, customization and price, visit here.
The specification above are the default setting of D900F, so it comes with default (not minimum) price and weight. Different components will have changes in price and weight.
External accesories (including any software, but not operating system) are excluded, except for Deluxe carrying case is included.

Battalion 101 D900F is quite expensive for a gaming laptop, yet it comes with very intense specification!  With Core i7-930, GTX 285M and 6GB DDR3 memory, Battalion 101 D900F is very dangerous for gaming. This beast  can play almost every games with maximum setting. Very comparable to Alienware, but not in price. It costs  $290 more than M15x that I recommend, with great improvement in processor, memory and graphics card, but with less hard drive capacity. Battalion 101 D900F is a good option for hardcore gamers. Well, Battalion 101 D900F also suits casual gamers, if they do love gaming over money...

Core i7 is very popular among gaming laptops these days. Core i7-930 is featured with Turbo Boost to increase performance of demanding applications, Hyper-Threading Technology to get more efficient use of processor resources and higher processing output, Virtualization Technology (VT-x) to allow multiple operating system to run simultaneously, VT-d, Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) to defend computer from software-based attacks, Enhanced Speedstep Technology to enable instantaneous performance using low power, and Execute Disable Bit. Core i7-930 is also very suitable paired with Intel X58 Express chipset. Great Combo. Another big info, i7-930 has very impressive overclocking potential. It has maximum overclock of  4.3GHz, performance improvement up to 53%! Wow... Don't believe? Read here.
GTX 285M is the fastest graphics card from NVIDIA, before the release of GTX 480M  surely. GTX 285M is 6% faster than GTX 280M, means it can run most latest games in ultra setting (Crysis and BF : Bad Company 2 should run well in high setting, though). GTX 285M is equipped with CUDA to increase computing performance, PureVideo to bring ultra-smooth video, and of course PhysX to bring more realistic gaming experience. It consumes high power, though. Only suitable for big laptops with strong cooling system.
The 6GB memory is far from enough for gaming. Most latest games need only 2GB too run flawlessly. Upgrade is not necessary if you were only to play games. Upgrade is for designing, programming, CADing and/or other multi-tasking activities, which need lots of RAM. You can upgrade the memory to 12GB with additional cost of  $684. Whoops... why so expensive? Of course because it uses DDR3.

For the hard drive, 320GB is below average for an high-end gaming laptop. You can upgrade it to 500GB 5,400rpm for $14, but it'll be too slow to run current and later games. I suggest (no persuasion) to upgrade it to 500GB with 7,200rpm for $56, as it can run games well. Yet it's up to you, after all.

Alright, now is the time for the cons to show up!

First, as an 17-inch high-end gaming laptop, Battalion 101 D900F is very heavy, nearly as heavy as M17x. It's a tank! Be careful : lifting a heavy tank with bare hands might cause injury, toothache and even death if necessary. Not recommended for children. Don't think 11.6 pounds (5.3kg) is light to lift. It's heavier than (no persuasion) 3 Harry Potter novels stacked together. Perhaps it will need both of your hands to get lifted, so you can't carry it whilst eating ice cream. No! I love ice cream! Not recommended for ice cream lovers... Stupid jokes, huh?

Second, Battalion 101 D900F consumes high power, mainly due to its processor and graphics card. Core i7-930 consumes very high power, 124 watts (idle) and up to 42% increase (176 watts) while being overclocked. GTX 285M consumes nearly 75 watts. The conclusion is, Battalion 101 D900F has insatiable power hunger. Even the fully charged 12-cell battery can not make it to last for up to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Very short battery life, simply say.

Third, and again, crappy design. Is it a laptop? Yes. Is it a block? Yes. So what is it exactly ? It is a block-shaped laptop! Very ugly for an high-end gaming laptop. Very rigid and awkward (in shape) for an $2,000 worth stuff. You spend $2,000 only for this boxy block? Well, it's a laptop, after all...

Well, those are cons according to MY opinion and from some websites related as references for it. Sorry. But basically, Battalion 101 D900F is somewhat similar to any other D900F series from many resellers (Malibal Nine D900F, AVADirect Clevo D900F, etc). It might be re-branded. So, the cons are similar as well. Don't worry, just trust me!

References :

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2010/03/01/intel-core-i7-930-cpu-review/6

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-285M.23822.0.html

http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=41447

http://www.malibal.com/products/laptops/series9.shtml

http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_configurator.asp?PRID=13880#configure

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalion_101_D900F_Gaming_Notebook

iBuyPower Battalion Touch CZ-10

Spec review :

• Processor : Intel Core2Duo P8700 2.53GHz (3MB cache), 1066MHz FSB
• Memory : 2 x 2048MB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz
• Hard drive : 500GB SATA II 5,400rpm
• Graphics card : 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650
• Screen : 15.6-inch WXGA 1366 x 768 multi touch
• Operating system : Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• DirectX 10 supported
• Dimension (HWD) : 1.1~1.4x14.7x9.6 inches
• Optical drive : 8x DVD-RW + 16x CD-RW Combo Dual Format
• Primary 6-cell smart lithium battery
• Universal AC power adapter
• Standard 1 year warranty + lifetime technical support
• Plus internal system.

Price : $899.00
Starting price : $899.00
Weight : 6.05 pounds
Customizable : yes.
For more information about component, customization and price, visit iBuyPower's official website here.
The specification above is the default setting, so it comes with default (not minimum, as it still can be downgraded) price and weight.
External accesories, aside Deluxe carrying case, are not included.

Again, a 'very' cheap yet powerful gaming laptop is here! What specification do you expect with a budget less than $1000? Battalion Touch CZ-10 offers Core2Duo P8700 processor, 4GB DDR3 memory, 500GB SATA II hard drive and 512MB Mobility Radeon HD 4650 for $900! Plus backpack. A very competitive price for an amazing specification. And what else do you expect for an 15-inch gaming laptop? Battalion Touch CZ-10 has weight of 6 pounds! As you all know, 15-inch gaming laptops usually have weight over 7 to 8 pounds, even M15x is 9 pounds over. So Battalion Touch CZ-10 is much lighter compared with other 15-inch gaming laptop. And what what else else? Battalion Touch CZ-10 has touch screen! Give it a touch with your finger, and the cursor will move! What a magic! So call it... magical laptop!

Battalion Touch CZ-10 uses Core2Duo P8700. It has VT-x, TXT, Enhanced Speedstep Technology and Execute Disable Bit to improve virtualization system, enable very high performance and security. Unfortunately, Core2Duo system isn't supported with Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading Technologies, which are very useful for gaming and multi-tasking activities.

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 is, technically, the same as Mobility HD 4670 with little lower clockrate. The gaming performance is also a bit below Mobility HD 4670. Paired with Core2Duo P8700, Mobility Radeon HD 4650 can play most DX9 games (Far Cry 2, F.E.A.R 2, GRID, Company of Heroes, Modern Warfare 1&2, etc) are able to be played at high setting flawlessly. DX10 games  (Crysis, NFS : Shift, Anno 1404, etc) should run well at low-medium setting, as high setting will cause very slow performance.

For the memory, 4GB DDR3 at 1333MHz is more than enough for current games. Current games have memory requirement approximately 2GB, so 4GB will just run fast and flawlessly. No need to upgrade if you were only for gaming. Well, if you like big memory for certain reasons (3D programming, designing, drawing, etc), you still can upgrade it to 8GB for $455. It's all up to you, adjust with your needs. Optimize  performance for your needs with the available budget wisely. Just don't waste your money.
For the hard drive, 500GB is quite big to store HD games and multimedia applications, but with spin rate of 5,400rpm it will be too slow for gaming, especially for current games, and later, of course. You still can upgrade it to 7,200rpm with an additional cost of $42. A reasonable price for a great improvement. I suggest you (no persuasion) do upgrade it, if you love gaming, because I do. Again, it's all up to you.
Battalion Touch CZ-10 has solid battery life. It can last for 3 hours and 15 minutes while surfing via WiFi, and 2 hours and 15 minutes while playing DVD. Above average for an 15-inch gaming laptop.

Alright, let's go to bed... err, the badness. Comin'!
As an 15-inch gaming laptop, it's very disappointing that Battalion Touch CZ-10 has only 1366x768 maximum resolution. Generally, 15-inch gaming laptops have 1920x1080 resolution, much higher than Battalion Touch CZ-10. Really, it gives good gaming performance, but not gaming experience. What a great loss...
A gaming laptop mostly doesn't use touch screen. So, what is this touch screen for? Style only? Well, you still can use it for pointing and clicking units and buildings in RTS games, though using mouse is much more comfortable. Also, this laptop isn't only for gaming, is it? Actually, the touch screen is very helpful, but limited in non-gaming activities, mostly.
Speaker quality is bad. Headphones and/or external speakers is highly suggested for gaming and playing music. No persuasion.
Some keyboard problems.
Crappy design. Very not cool for a gaming laptop. Not charming. No good.
Okay, those are common cons of Battalion Touch CZ-10. If  you find any additional pros and/or cons, please write in comment.


References :
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4650.13883.0.html
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=37006&code=Intel%u00ae+Core%u21222+Duo+Processor+P8700+(3M+Cache%2c+2.53+GHz%2c+1066+MHz+FSB)
http://computershopper.com/laptops/reviews/ibuypower-battalion-touch-cz-10
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptop/ibuypower-battalion-touch-cz-10.aspx?page=1
http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalion_Touch_CZ-10_Gaming_Notebook

Asus G51Jx-A1

Spec review :

• Processor : Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (up to 2.8GHz with Turbo Boost), 6MB cache
• Memory : 3 x 2048MB DDR3 1066MHz
• Hard drive : 500GB SATA II 7,200rpm
• Graphics card : 1GB GDDR5 VRAM NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M
• Chipset : Mobile Intel PM55 Express 
• Screen : 15.6-inch FHD (1920x1080) LED backlit display
• Operating system : Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
• DirectX 10 supported
• Dimensions (HWD) : 14.8x10.5x1.4~1.6 inches
• Optical drive : 8x DVD-RW Super Multi Dual Layer
• Primary 6-cell lithium ion battery 
• AC adapter
• 2 years limited global hardware warranty + 1 year battery pack warranty + 1 year accident coverage warranty
• Plus internal system.

 Price : $1,449.00 (might vary depending on the store)
Starting price : $1,449.00
Starting weight : 7.26 pounds.
Customizable : yes.
For more information about component, customization and price for A1 model, visit here.
The specification above is the basic for A1 model, so it comes with minimum weight and price.
External accesories, except for optical mouse and backpack, are not included.

Another high-end gaming laptop from Asus, with budget less than $1,500! Seriously, what laptop can you expect with budget below $1,500? G51Jx gives you Core i7 720QM, 6GB DDR3 memory, 500GB hard drive and 1GB GTX 360M. Are they worth for $1,500? Of course! However, this laptop is only $100 cheaper than G73JH, still there are so many downgrades. Yet G51Jx wins two cases : size and weight. It is an 15-inch high-end gaming laptop, and 7.26 lbs is average for this size.

G51Jx also has great gaming performance. It can run Age of Conan, Race Driver Grid, Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect, Gothic 3 and other latest games fluently at high setting. Crysis still should run well at medium, though.

Core i7-720QM featured with Turbo Boost, Hyper-Threading, VT-x, VT-d, and Enhanced Speedstep  Technologies provides speedy gaming performance and multi-tasking capabilities, along with incredible security technologies by Execute Disable Bit  and TXT.

GTS 360M  actually has the same chip as GTS 260M. The only difference is that GTS 360M has higher clcok rate, and has high performance with GDDR5. It's advanced OpenCL, Powermizer and CUDA to speed up most demanding tasks, greatly improves performance. Also PhysX to bring more realistic gaming effects.

For the memory, again here it comes the unusual 6GB.  And again, it's too big if you were only to play games. Big memory is only suitable for running professional multiple 3D programs, like Photoshop, Premiere, scaning computer and other at the same time. Read here for more information.

For the hard drive, SATA II 500GB with 7,200rpm is standard for current high-end gaming laptops. External hard drive is not necessary at all. No need to be upgraded. It's just no less, no more.

Asus  G51Jx is also featured with Altec Lansing speakers and EAX Advanced HD 4.0 to enable you to hear every accoustic that is intended to be heard. Simply it brings more realistic sound effect.

I just interviewed G51Jx and asked her if she had any bad behaviour. And yes, she does have some...

Oh, G51Jx is so sexy... She's HOT! It gets hot quickly! Prepare external cooler! Waste your money! Sell your car! Aww man, being a sexy laptop will never be good.

You know, if someone is cursed, he will get chased by the reaper, the puller of life, or the angel of death. The same goes for G51Jx. She's cursed because of her sexiness and now is being chased by the reaper of laptop... BSoD, a.k.a black screen of death! There are issues that BSoD comes only a couple of days to a month after you purchased it and/or when you play games for a moment. Perhaps if you own this laptop you'll  (no persuasion) get cursed, too?

Some keyboard problems.

Short battery life. While playing DVD, G51Jx can only last for 1 hour and 30 minutes, less than 2 hours, below average for an 15-inch laptop.

Well, those are common cons of G51Jx, taken from many sources. If you own this laptop and have any additional pros and/or cons, please write in comment.

References :
http://compreviews.about.com/od/thinandlight/gr/ASUS-G51Jx-X1.htm
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTS-360M.24058.0.html
http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=bplbQOy6w8myYSq5
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43122
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/memory-module-upgrade,2264.html

Asus G72Gx-A1

Spec review :

• Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 (6M Cache, 2.00 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB)
• Memory :  3 x 2048MB DDR2 800 MHz SDRAM
• Hard drive : 2 x 500GB SATA Seagate  7,200rpm
• Graphics card : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M GDDR3 VRAM
• Chipset : Mobile Intel P43 Express + ICH10 
• Screen : 17.3-inch F HD (1920x1080) + (1600x900) Glare-type
• Operating system : Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• DirectX 10 supported
• Dimension : 16.14 x 11.77 x 1.75~ 2.04 inches
• Optical drive : Blu-Ray + 8x DVD-RW Dual Layer
• Primary 8-cell li-ion battery
•  2 years limited global hardware warranty + 1 year battery pack warranty
• Plus internal system.

Price : $1599.95
Starting price : $1599.95 (might vary depending on the store)
Starting weight : 8.9 pounds
Customizable : yes.
The specification above is for A1 model with basic components, so it comes with minimum price and weight. For more information about component, customization and price for A1 model, visit  here.
External accecories (keyboard, headphone, TV tunner, gaming controller, etc) are exculded, except for Razer Copperhead mouse and backpack are both included.

Again, another Asus' G-series laptop is here. And again, it's cheap! No humiliation, because actually it's not  cheap, but ways cheaper compared with other high-end gaming laptops. G72Gx is before G73JH, so it has lower specification, but the difference isn't that worth. Almost no difference in price, but G72Gx comes with Blu-Ray optical drive. Quite a hit for his brother.

G72Gx has great gaming performance. Call of Duty 4, Left4Dead, GRID, Anno 1404 are able to be played at max setting and resolution fluently. Unfortunatelly, G72Gx can't run ultra-high DX 10 games such as Crysis smoothly at high setting, but medium will work well.

G72Gx here uses Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000 2GHz with 6MB L2 cache and 1066MHz FSB. Q9000 is advanced with VT-x, Trusted Execution and Speedstep technologies to improve performance for multi-threaded applications and be faster, cooler and quieter. However, Q9000 doesn't have Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading technologies, which greatly speed up performance for demanding applications, especially for gaming. Also, it consumes high power. Oh, well... But worry not, because G72Gx paired with quad core has Performance Boost which can boost performance up to 15%! Oh, yeah!

GTX 260M is featured with 1GB GDDR3 VRAM, CUDA, PhysX and PureVideo HD technologies. Equipped with those technologies, GTX 260M displays very impressive graphics and visual effects, very smooth. As the consequence, it consumes high power, so it's only suited for big laptops equipped with cooling system. Asus reduces GTX 260M clock rate, likely because without reducing its clock rate, the laptop will quickly get heated up while in Turbo Mode.

For the memory, 6GB is... unusual, but quite big for current gaming laptops. Current games need approximately 2GB memory, so if you were to have this laptop only for gaming, 6GB is much too big. DDR2 is still fine, because DDR3 is just too early to have and much more expensive. DDR3 is ways faster than DDR2, and consumes 30% less power. Yet, DDR2 is still fine.

For the hard drive, again G72Gx comes with 1TB and 7,200rpm. So big... I wonder if  I can store an elephant inside this huge black box. A TeraByte equals to approximately 128 DVDs, 20 Blu-Ray Discs and can store about 250,000 4MegaPixels images. Wow, I can store a photo for every cat in my continent! Still, it's just too big for me.
G72Gx has numpad, too.

Where there's good, there's evil. The evil of  laptop is its shortage, which has sullied every laptop in the universe and caused them to fall to cons. And here are cons of G72Gx...
The Q9000 and GTX 260M consume high power, causing G72Gx to overheat quickly, very quickly while in Turbo Mode and ultra quick (approaches the light speed) while being overclocked. Fixed well with external cooler. Another output, huh...
Short battery life due to high power consumption. G72Gx can last for less than 2 hours, maximum for 101 minutes with minimum setting. It's a normal case for a big gaming laptop, but too short!
G72Gx comes with almost the same price as G73JH, equipped with blu-ray drive, but not Core i7. Blu-ray as an exchange for Core i7 by Core2Quad? Think again.
The system is noisy. It can't be quiet even if you set the volume muted. Just wear headphones and you won't hear a continous nuclear explosion.
Some keyboard problems. Some say have experienced double-strokes, and such. External keyboard? Oh, please...
Finish! Those are common cons from G72Gx. If you own this laptop and have additional pros and/or cons, please write in comment.


References :
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-G72GX-Gaming-Notebook.22297.0.html
http://ca.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=qaDohSj4JPENXkxw
http://hubpages.com/hub/How-Much-is-a-Terabyte
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-reviews-owners-lounges/455755-asus-g72gx-rbbx-05-gaming-performance-review.html
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=40480
http://www.agearnotebooks.com/asusg72gx-a1.html

Asus G73JH

Spec review : 

• Processor : Intel Core i7 720QM 1.60GHz (up to 2.80GHz with Turbo Boost), 6MB Cache     
• Memory : 4 x 2048MB DDR3 1066MHz
• Hard drive : Dual SATA II 500GB 7,200rpm (1TB total)
• Graphics card : 1GB ATI Mobility  Radeon HD 5870 GDDR5 VRAM
• Chipset : Intel HM55 Express
• Screen : 17.3-inch Full HD 1920x1080*
• Operating system : Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
• DirectX 11 supported 
• Dimensions (HWD) : 0.8~2.2x16.3x12.6 inches
• Optical drive : 8x DVD-RW DL Super Multi Combo
• Primary 8 cells 5200 mAh battery
• AC adapter
• 2 years limited global hardware warranty + 1 year battery pack warranty + 1 year accident coverage warranty
• Plus internal system (bluetooth, WIFI, audio speaker, card reader, 2.0MP webcam, etc).

*Maximum resolution of 'Best Buy' version is 1600 x 900.

Prices : $1,549.00 (might vary depending on the store)

Starting prices : $1,549.00

Starting weight : 8.5 pounds (3.85kg)

Customizable : yes.

For more informations about components, customizations and prices for the A2 model, visit here.

These components are the basic specification for the A2 model, so it comes with minimum price and weight. Extenal accesories (keyboard, headset, TV tunner, gaming controller, additional AC adaptor/battery/battery charger, etc) are excluded, except for external laser mouse and backpack are both included.

Here it comes, a 'cheap' high-end gaming laptop from Asus!
Just wonder now, what will you get with $1,600 for a gaming laptop from Asus? A mid-end one? No. You'll get an 17-inch high-end gaming laptop filled with Core i7-720QM, 8GB memory, 1TB hard drive and even 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5870, along with your $51! An impressive price for a steady gaming laptop. Being a gaming laptop less than $2,000, G73JH series can compete with other top high-end gaming laptops (such as M17x, M15x, Qosmio X305-Q708, Clevo M980NU, etc) in many cases with no significant difference, but very different in price. G73JH can be said quite light for an 17-inch gaming laptop. It has number pad, too.

There are 3 series of  G73JH, with minor changes.

"This model comes in a few different variations depending where you buy it from and what options you want. They are all essentially the same core system.
G73JH
A1 - Bluray Optical Drive, 2x500gb HDD, Bag & Mouse
A2 - DVD Optical Drive, 2x500gb HDD, Bag & Mouse
X1 - DVD Optical Drive, 1x500gb HDD
X3 - DVD Optical Drive, 2x320gb HDD
Those are the only changes so far.
My unit is a G73JH-A2". >>>>> no persuasion.

- ViciousXUSMC (for more information read here).

Q : how is its performance?
A : why do you still ask?
G73JH along with i7-720QM and HD 5870 plus 8GB memory is capable of playing latest games at high-very high setting very smoothly at native resolution using directx 10. Simply say  Mass Effect 2, Modern Warfare 2, Far Cry 2, Dirt 2, Left4Dead 2, Company of Heroes, NFS : Shift are able to be played flawlessly using DX 10 and full settings. ViciousXUSMC even has tested Dirt 2 on DX 11 ultra setting without any problem. 

Core i7 series are known as the most advanced processors this far. Core i7-720QM with 6MB cache is featured by Turbo Boost Technology, which dynamically speeds up performance for demanding applications; Hyper-Threading Technology mainly improves multi-tasking performance; VT-x increases manageability, security, and flexibility in gaming environments; VT-d provides hardware assists for virtualization solution; Trusted Execution Technology (TXT) provides hardware-based mechanisms that protect the system from software-based attacks (viruses, hacks, etc); Enhanced Speedstep Technology enables very high performance with the consequence of using more power, and vice-versa; and Execute Disable Bit reduces exposure to viruses and malicious-code attacks. TB for gaming, Hyper-Threading for multi-tasking, and other for both.

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870  paired with GDDR5 VRAM is the fastest laptop GPU (except SLI / CF) until this review is posted. It displays very impressive visual effects, especially for gaming and multimedia applications. It also supports Eyefinity technology, which enables us to connect Mobility HD 5870 to up to six monitors. Mobility Radeon HD 5870 consumes high power, so it's only suited for big laptops equipped with cooling system. Please note that Mobility Radeon HD 5870 is not the same with Mobility Radeon HD 5870 for PC. Similar name, but quite different.

Core i7 paired with 8GB DDR3 memory is wonderful. It's very helpful for multi-tasking,  but current games don't need  such a very big memory. So... for multi-tasking only, huh? NO NO NO NO NO...  It also helps you when you are running many applications while gaming. Example : I wanna 'play Modern Warfare 2' with audio setting is turned off to 'listen to musics using winamp' and oh, I haven't  'scan my computer' since 2 years ago, etc... all in one time. Well, that's multi-tasking!

For the hard drive, 1TB = 1 million MB. So, what is a 1TB hard drive capable of? It can store about 200,000 songs (if you count a song = 5MB), completely all songs from 11 BC to 2020 ADD (After Doomsday), I suppose... Any question?

Q : do you still need more space? 

A :  I suppose not...

Q : do you need less? 

A : stupid question!
Q : ... do you need me?
A : ... SECURITY!

With 7,200rpm it can run games and other applications at high speed, plus fast loading times. It also has high transfer data rate for both writing and reading. Any question? No, please...
For the cooling system,  G73JH has dual exhausts in the rear to draw and throw away heat. Surprisingly, it comes without noise, but deadly silent.

Nothing is perfect. What makes G73JH imperfect? Here they are...

As a high-end GPU card, ATI Mobile Radeon HD consumes high power. Technically, it reduces the battery life. G73JH can last for less than 2 hours, approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes. It also requires major power supply and a lot of time to be fully charged.
The keyboard buttons are too small compared with other 17-inch laptops. Probably (98.7%, I guess) because Asus adds numpad on it.
No discrete media controls.
Speaker quality is below average. It is loud, with less distortion. Can't rock up with this! Better buy headphones or external speaker for gaming and playing musics.
Those are common cons from this laptop, according to many sources. If you have any other pros and/or cons, please write in comment.

References :
http://computershopper.com/laptops/reviews/asus-republic-of-gamers-g73jh
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-reviews-owners-lounges/459400-viciousxusmcs-ultimate-g73jh-review.html
http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43122
http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5870.23073.0.html
http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=525X832&url=http%3A%2F%2F1toppc.com%2FMerchant2%2Fmerchant.mv%3FScreen%3DPROD%26Product_Code%3DG73JH-A2%26Category_Code%3D&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fforum.notebookreview.com%2Fasus-reviews-owners-lounges%2F459400-viciousxusmcs-ultimate-g73jh-review.html

Alienware M11x

Spec review :

• Processor : Overclockable Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 1.3GHz (3MB Cache) 
• Memory : 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 800MHz
• Hard drive : 500GB SATAII 7,200RPM
• Graphics card : 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M, switchable to Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated graphics
• Screen : 11.6 inches (1366x768 native resolution)
• Operating system : Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
• DirectX 10 supported (slow)
• Dimensions (HWD) : 1.3x11.3x9.2 inches
• 8-Cell Li-ion 64WH battery 

• 65 Watt 3 Prong AC Adapter with 3.28 ft Power Cord
• 1 Year Basic Plan
• Plus internal system.

Prices : $1,609.00
Starting prices : $799.00
Starting weight : 4.39 pounds
Customizable : yes.

For more informations about components, customizations and prices, visit Alienware's official website here.

These components are recommended by Alienware, exception for the processor. External accesories (keyboard, mouse, gaming controller, TV tunner, headphones, bluetooth, etc) are not inculded.

Again, Alienware launched another gaming laptop. Yet unexpected, this Alienware's new product is a mid-end gaming laptop, and has nothing so special... except for its tiny size! M11x is the only 11-inch gaming laptop, or just call it an ultraportable, in the world! And the smallest one, of course. M11x is also fairly light for a gaming laptop. But don't jump to conclusion badly due to its small size, because this ultraportable-sized gaming laptop is capable of playing Fallout 3, CoD : Modern Warfare 2,  Left4Dead 2, Command & Conquer 3, Red Alert 3 in high-full setting flawlessly! But don't expect the same for Crysis, as it can be played quiet smoothly only in medium setting.
M11x : tiny, light and good...

Actually, there's no processor recommendation from Alienware. The default processor is Intel Pentium SU4100 1.3GHz (2MB Cache), but I put Core 2 Duo SU7300 1.3GHz (3MB Cache) because SU7300 has  VT (Virtualization Technology) and bigger cache, with an extra cost of $100. Aside from VT and bigger L2 cache, there's no significant difference between those two processors, except that Core2Duo is much better for gaming than Pentium.
GeForce GT 335M is advanced with PhysX technology to bring more realistic game environments and virtual worlds playing at high resolutiuons, along with CUDA to experience new multimedia capabilities. Oh, and the GeForce GT 335M can be switched to integrated graphics  Intel GMA 4500MHD to conserve power. With GeForce GT 335M, M11x  can last for about 3 hours, and with integrated graphics it can last for 6 hours or so. And if you use SU4100  processor with integrated graphics, the longest I've ever heard for a gaming laptop, it can last for 8 hours and 39 minutes! Wow... long live, M11x!
Alienware recommends to have an 8GB memory. It enables playing latest video games at high speed and  keeping great performance while doing multiple tasks. But, isn't 8GB memory too big for an 11-inch laptop, with mid processor and graphics card? 

"More RAM doesn't always mean better performance (don't believe it? Read here). Usually, 8GB memory is for any high-end laptop and PC with intense specification and insane price for running multiple media applications. And also, recommended memory requirement for current video games (Modern Warfare 2, Fallout 3, Crysis, Mass Effect 2,  BF : Bad Company 2, etc) is far less than 8GB, approximately 2GB. I will get the 4GB instead of 8GB for the reason above and to save my precious $300."

- Axa's personal opinion.

For the hard drive, 500GB is big enough to store about 100,000 songs and HD games. External hard drive is unnecessary, unless if you want to store tons of tons of applications. With 7,200rpm it also provides speedy  multimedia and gaming performances, but not as fast as SSD.

Alright, enough for the good. The badness is waiting. Move it!
First, M11x is a gaming laptop, but it doesn't have an internal optical drive. So, how do we instal games  and other applications from CD or DVDs? Do we have to use external optical drive? Yes. Wherever you go with your M11x, you've to bring an external optical drive, too. Dell offers 4 kind of external optical drives, start from $14 to $80. Actually, no internal optical drive is a normal case for ultraportable-sized laptops. But, how annoying...
M11x is very limited to upgrade, unlike his big brothers which can be upgraded in some extents. So, if you were to purchase M11x, make sure you have configured its components at best for you, or you'll suffer for the rest of the Earth's life (2012? I don't think so).
M11x does support directX 10, but it's agonizingly slow in most cases. Returning to directX 9 is the best option, I suppose.
Alienware's recommendation is too expensive. It will be much cheaper if we downgrade it a bit. Say, get the 4GB memory (-$300), Windows7 Home Premium (-$150) and no power adapter (-$60) will lower the price to $1,099. Not bad to save $510. A little sacrifice, a worthy return.
Okay, these are the cons I know from many sources. If you have any additional pros and/or cons, please write in comment.

References :

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/alienware-m11x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/laptop-alienware/topics/en/alienware-m11x-graphics-nvidia-geforce?c=us&cs=&l=en&s=gen&~lt=bodyonly

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DKCWMN1&s=dhs

http://computershopper.com/laptops/reviews/alienware-m11x
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/the-8gb64-bit-advantage-more-ram-doesnt-always-mean-better-performance/2354

Alienware M15x

Spec review :

• Processor : Intel Core i7 920XM 2.0GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
• Memory : 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz – 2 x 4096MB
• Hard drive : 500GB SATAII 7,200RPM
• Graphics card : 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
• Screen : 15.6-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 (1080p) WLED
• Operating System :  Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit 
• DirectX 10 supported
• Dimensions (HWD) : 1.9x14.9x12.2 inches
• Optical Drive : Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
• Primary - 9-cell (85Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery
• Monster Cable MDP 650 Digital PowerCenter Surge Protector
• Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
• 1 Year Basic Service Plan
• Plus internal system.

Prices : $3,445.00
Starting prices : $1,199.00
Starting weight : 9 pounds
Customizable : yes.
For more informations about components, customizations and prices of M15x, visit Alienware's official website here.
These are components recommended by Alienware. External accesories (keyboard, mouse, gaming controller, TV tunner, etc) are not inculded.

Seeing those components, this setting is best for high-definition gaming activities, as this laptop is designed for hardcore gamers and has drool-worthy specifications. And yes, Alienware's M15x is the world's best 15-inch gaming laptop until this paper is posted at May 1, 2010.

Using Intel Core i7 920XM, which is billed as Intel’s best and most advanced CPU, enables gamers to play most intense games at high speed rate, speeds up the processor frequency to increase the performance with Turbo Boost technology, and the 8MB cache to allocate shared cache to all four cores. Very suitable for gaming.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M notebook GPU is known as the highest performing notebook GPU, especially for gaming. It enables the most realistic physical visual effects with PhysX  to get a totally new gaming experience. Note that PhysX doesn't bring smoother graphics, but more realistic visual effects, like broken glass, flowing water, explosion and such. Read here for more information.
The 8GB memory provides speedy performance even while working multiple tasks at once. But if you are a true gamer, mean that this laptop is only for gaming, the 8GB memory is much too big. It won't bring a significant difference than using the 4GB. It's only suitable for doing multiple programs at the same time, like designing.
A 500GB hard drive is big enough to store HD games and multimedia applications without worrying to buy an external hard drive.

To the cons, the negative, the unwanted side of the laptop. Here we go!

First, and again, it is too pricey. It is the best 15-inch gaming laptop, but is it worth for $3,450.00 as recommended? If I were to buy, then I will not follow Alienware's recommendation. As long as it's able to play games I like, that is enough. Well, that is my personal opinion.

"I see that many gamers look for this laptop. So let me give you a downgraded specification that will lower the cost a bit. Get 'em!
Processor : Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (up to 2.8GHz with Turbo Boost), 6MB L3 cache
Memory : 2 x 2048MB DDR3 1333MHz
Graphics card : 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
Hard drive : 500GB SATA II 7,200rpm
Operating system : Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Optical drive : Dual layer DVD/CD-RW
Battery : 9-cell lithium ion battery
And you can have them for $2,009.00! How about that?"

 - Axa's personal opinion.

For the battery life, indeed there are lots of complaints that it can last for less than 2 hours. Read 'how to extend your battery life with an M15x' here, and thank to Koshinn.

A bit too heavy for an 15-inch laptop. With the minimum weight of 9 pounds (starting weight, without customization), this is the heaviest 15-inch laptop. If you were to custom it, then start lifting barbells because this laptop will get heavier. M15x : the best laptop, the heaviest one, too.

Well, those are common complaints about this laptop. If you own this laptop and have any additional  pros and/or cons, please write in comments.

Hope this helps! 

References :
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/alienware-m15x-intel-core/4852-3121_7-33772443-1.html?tag=page 
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/alienware-m15x?c=us&l=en&s=dhs 
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/alienware-m15x.aspx
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_260m_us.html 
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DKCWFW1&s=dhs 

Alienware M17x

 Specs review :

• Processor : 2.00GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000
• Memory : 8GB RAM Dual Channel DDR3 1333MHz
• Hard drive :  256GB Solid State Drive
• Graphics card : dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M, 2GB
• Screen : 17-inch WideXGA+ 1440x900 (900p)
• Operating System : Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
• Dimensions (HWD) : 2.1x16x12.7 inches
• DirectX 10 supported  
• Optical Drive : Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
• Additional 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery for Alienware M17x Laptop
• Monster Cable MDP 650 Digital PowerCenter Surge Protector
• 1 Year Basic Service Plan
• Plus internal system. 

Prices : $3,420.00
Starting prices : $1,799.00
Starting weight : 11,68 pounds.

The specifications above are all the Alienware M17x's recommendation for Core2Duo/Quad/Extreme processor-based system, including operating system software. These components exclude external accesories (TV tunner, gaming controller, gear store, keyboard, mouse, headset), to minimize the cost.

Actually, the components are customizable, so the prices might vary from the components chosen, starts from $1,799.00. As mentioned above, these components are the Alienware's recommendation for Core2Duo/Quad/Extreme processor-based system.

For more informations about components, customizations and prices, visit here for the Core2Duo/Quad/Extreme processor-based system, and here for Core i5 and i7.

Dell's Alienware M17x is known as the fastest gaming laptop so far. The 2.00GHz Intel Core2Quad Q9000 is the second ultimate engine (after Extreme QX9300 from the processor options available for this laptop, but still below Core i7) for high-definition multimedia and gaming, with 6MB L2 cache and 1066 MHz FSB.  For the best performance, 2.53GHz Intel Core2Extreme QX9300 with 12MB L2 cache is the option. However, it'll be much more expensive, with an extra cost of $700. Besides, Alienware doesn't recommend it.  The 256GB solid state drive speeds up game load times and has solid state reability. Solid-state drives are less fragile than hard disks and are also silent. Nvidia Geforce GTX 260M graphics cards, along with max resolution of 1440x900 give rich colors and a remarkably crisp image. Plus the 8GB memory of RAM, M17x is capable of playing HD games smoothly and fastly, such as CoD : Modern Warfare, World at War, Age of Empire III, Left 4 Dead 2, Crysis, NFS : Shift and even Far Cry 2 with the visual effects set to high.

The  downside of this amazing gaming laptop is its battery life, which can last maximum only for 1 hour and 45 minutes (without additional battery). This is reasonable due to its 'heavy' graphics cards and processor, which need a huge amount of power to work. For the hard drive... err, SSD (Solid State Drive), 256GB for a high-end gaming laptop? Too small compared with space required for HD games, which means you will have to instal-play-finish-uninstal-repeat HD games in order to keep up the space of your SSD. But it's customizable, so you can replaced it with any bigger-space hard drive, though it won't  follow Alienware's best recommendation. And urggh... it is heavy! Ever carrying a single 12 pounds (remember, 1 lb = 0.453 kg) laptop?  Push it up and down, and you'll be doing fitness with a laptop. Another downside, which always occurs on every single good item : price. M17x comes with a shocking price at $3,420.00, as recommended by the Alienware. Is it worth enough to spend $3,420 only for a gaming laptop? You decide...

References : 
http://computershopper.com/laptops/reviews/alienware-m17x
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=dkcwqt1&s=dhs
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=dkcwbn1&s=dhs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_state_drive