All new hardware from Dell and Alienware makes its debut thanks to Computex
At Computex 2019, Dell hosted a briefing for invited media, to showcase their new line up of computers. Presenting were a host of folks, from Ray Wah and David Lear from the Business side of things and then there was Frank Azor, who heads up the XPS, G Series and Alienware brands.
Ray was the first to speak, and he took more of a look at the business side of things but started by celebrating that Dell is now 35 years old and with global sales of PC’s at $700 Billion, they could easily see another 35 years and more. After a little bit of business, such as growth rates and what not, it was time for new stuff, including Dell Services now offering Home Installation. For a set fee, which has yet to be confirmed, a Dell tech will come and unpack your new PC, set it up for you, move files from your old and basically do everything they can to ensure your setup is right for you, but with that piece of cool tech news done, it was time for new hardware.
Inspiron 15 7000 was the first piece of hardware and is marketed as an ultralight, no compromise performance laptop. The laptop is actually encased in the same material they use to make satellites, a special magnesium alloy, which works to not only keep the weight down, but keep it cool as well.
The laptop has dual heat pipes, fans and a drop hinge, which work together to help keep the system cool, whilst maintaining that incredibly thin profile. On the inside, you will find the 9th generation of Intel Core processors, duals SSD’s and a powerful, yet moderate Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics card.
But it is not all just about the specs, there are other changes as well, like the inclusion of the fast charge, or a redesigned keyboard that adds a new key to it, for power. The power key is also a fingerprint reader, but as it is within the confines of the keyboard space, the trackpad is now full sized, and it also has a thunderbolt port, just because.
Perhaps the coolest piece of information though was that the laptop has some accelerometers in it, which work with other tech to determine where the laptop is being used. If it is on your lap, it will understand that and keep the power levels down, so as not to create a lot of heat, but when you place it upon a desk, it will know that and let you run at full specs.
For those who want a more dedicate gaming system, Dell announced the new G3 15, that sports a whole new design that was crafted from the ground up. That was done to allow it to fit in the all new Intel 9th Generation Processor, along with the Nvidia 16 series graphics cards, so it is not the most powerful, but it is still damn impressive.
When you look at it, one of the things you will notice is that the laptop has much smaller borders than the previous G3 design, which again stems from that ground up design. For those that love a bit of colour in their keys, the option to get one with a RGB keyboard is there, complete with the software to control how it looks.
Something I thought was cool, was GameShift, a new mode that basically swaps out the device from gaming mode, to a more subdued mode, which is perfect for working in Word or browsing the internet and then with the press of a button, you can game away at full power. Frank Azor, who was presenting at this point compared to the two modes to a superhero and their secret identity, when in costume, it is all stations go, but when in secret, you only get glimpse of the power underneath.
After the entry level gaming laptop, we got to see the new Alienware m15 and m17 devices and they look amazing, both sport the Legend design language, which was first debuted back at CES, and will now be used across most of their thin and light laptops.
While the names of m15 and m17 have been used before, these are not updates to the ones from last year and earlier this year, these are all new machines, built from the ground up. Everything here is new, from the new Legend industrial design, which looks incredible, to the all-new keyboard that sports a 1.7mm travel distance, complete with individual RGB lighting under each one, anti-ghosting and more, Dell claim this is the best keyboard you can get in a laptop right now.
The bulk of the units are made from that same magnesium alloy from the Inspiron 15 7000, which helps keep the weight down, but allows for better heat transfer and structural stability required in a laptop. Inside of that case though, you can get the latest Intel 9th gen CPU, complete with 8 cores if you desire and for graphics you have range of options from the 1650 to the RTX 2080, so no matter what you want, you can get the graphics card to match. All that power though generates heat and they have taken that into consideration as well, with new copper and zinc heat pipes, wider fan blades and more are all designed to keep the machine as cool as can be.
Of course, having all that power means nothing if the display is not up to scratch and Dell have again stepped up the game, with screens that can offer 144Hz and 240Hz refresh rates, but they can be combined with the OLED 4K UHD HDR4000 Panel, complete with an impressive 1ms response time. But all that is not the most impressive thing, on the m17 the display will come packed with the Eyeface Low Bluelight technology, which removes the bluelight that screens generate, without making the colours wash out, as almost every screen does now. Bluelight damage is something that is quite real and can hurt everyone who spends a lot of time in front of a screen, something I do, so this tech sounds like it could help me out in a big way.
To anyone thinking this is just another software piece that will not work, it is not, Dell were annoyed with how gamers could get the best of everything and then lose colour thanks to software, so this tech is actually hardware and is integrated into the display. While it is starting here, it will rollout to other devices down the line.
They also stated that the battery life, that very important part of all laptops, is set to deliver almost all day life, meaning you can use it just as you like and you should get through the day.
The Alienware brand though is not just laptops, they have done keyboards and mice before, but as a bit of a shock, they announced two new headsets for gaming, the AW510H and AW310H.
Dell did release a headset last year and while people loved it, many complained it was out of their price range, so they set to rectify that. The first one we got to see was the 510H, which is a 7.1 headset, 15mm drivers and that same Legend design that the m15 and m17 use as well, so they will visually compliment each other.
Another part of the design is that the cups are the things that move, if you need to adjust the headset, never the band, so the look remains seamless at all times. It also has the added inclusion of keeping everything contained, so no exposed parts or thin plastic sections, which means less chance of breakage.
For those who only want a stereo headset the 310H is what you need to look at, it will be priced lower than the 510H, but will have the same design. The overall design might be the same, but the comfort features are different, so you will need to pick the one that suits the best.
There were many more things shown off, including a look at how Dell is making the most of discard materials, to lower their impact, but the four pieces of hardware here, are things that really stood out to me.
