Alienware M14x

The basics

The Alienware M14x could be the ideal gaming laptop for lots of people – it sits in the middle of the company's range, is packed with power yet is still just about small and light enough to take with you when you go out. Does it live up to its early promise, however? Join us after the break to find out.

The good

The design of the Alienware M14x is stunning, aping previous range-topping Alienware models. It's all sharp creases, clean lines and bright coloured lights, with a matt black finish that helps it to stand out from other laptops. The M14x really delivers when it comes to build quality and usability. The keyboard is outstanding, proving tactile, comfortable and responsive. The keys are also large enough to make it easy to type for long periods without mistakes.

The high quality runs through to the casing of the laptop as well, with robust materials that are easily capable of withstanding daily use. As well as being tough, the Alienware M14x feels every inch the high-end laptop.

The 14-inch screen offers a sharp 1600 x 900-pixel resolution, and it's both bright and colourful. Although not the biggest screen, it's a great solution for watching movies, web browsing and indeed playing the latest games.

Games are handled by an nVidia GeForce GT 550M graphics card, with a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor also in place. With 8GB of memory and the option of a Solid State Drive (SSD), the M14x can be a blisteringly fast machine in day to day use.

The bad

Unfortunately, it's not quite as fast as we were hoping. Play the top titles in the highest resolutions, and the GeForce GT 550M just isn't fast enough to cope. This won't present a problem for casual gamers, but sadly for Alienware it's the hardcore fans they're trying to attract with this machine, and it's just not fast enough.

The bottom line

The Alienware M14x is a stunning machine: It's comfortable, well made and features a great design. It's also packed with features, and is more than powerful for most users. As a laptop for high-end graphics work, it'd be a great choice. Not so for high-end gaming, unfortunately. If gaming's your thing, we'd be more tempted by the M15x or m17x, both of which prove more capable.