Alienware 17 R5 Review: High Performance Gaming Laptop
Alienware 17 R5 with a 17-inch display and weighing about 4.5 kg is a massive laptop. It is thick, heavy and incredibly durable. A laptop of this size would be completely impractical for everyday use, if not for the top-end hardware.
Alienware packed the new 17 R5 with all the power, including a 6-core Intel Core i9 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a discrete GTX 1080 graphics https://jiji.ng/287-oil/groundnut card. I put this high-performance monster to the test.
Alienware 17 R5 Design
From the outside, the Alienware 17 R5 is very similar to its predecessors. The case is partly made of metal (top and bottom cover), and partly made of high-quality plastic. It has a pair of ventilation holes to dissipate the heat generated by powerful equipment.
The design isn’t groundbreaking, but the laptop looks good, with futuristic angles, RGB lighting on the chassis, and a familiar pattern on the lid. The metal finish on this Alienware is slightly darker than past models, but otherwise it’s the same design. However, there is an area where this laptop looks a little dated – the display bezels, due to the shape of the case, are 2.5 cm thick.
Ports and connectors
Dell Alienware 17 R5 is large enough to accommodate all the necessary ports. On the back there is a connector for connecting the power adapter, an Ethernet port, USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, HDMI and mini-DisplayPort support. There is one USB-A port on the right side, and USB-C, USB-A, and headphone and microphone jacks on the left.
Keyboard and Traius Eye
The keyboard of the new Alienware 17 R5 offers decent keystroke depth, which is typical for gaming laptops. The touchpad is as smooth as expected thanks to Windows Precision Touch Pad support. It feels silky and smooth to the touch, but feels a bit small in the age of massive touchpads.
