22. A Collection Of Sensible And Senseless Accessories

The M7700 is sensibly outfitted with a Logitech MX 518 1600 dpi mouse and a drab but functional mouse-grey USB diskette drive. Inside the transport case included with the notebook we also found an otherworldly T-shirt bearing the Alienware logo.

The transport case also included system and recovery CDs, which seemed a bit old-fashioned, and also proved to be incomplete upon closer examination. The device documentation is delivered as a separate manual, and is available only in English. The CD includes information about the warranty, support sites, and a bill of materials that's not included in any of the foreign language manuals. There's also a single page handout that explains how to restore the system if worst comes to worst.

Touchpad And Keyboard

The touchpad supports accurate cursor tracking and has markings for vertical scroll. There are two mouse buttons that clicked a bit too loudly for our taste, but maybe that's to overcome the cacophony of games and games at work. There's no dedicated switch to deactivate the touchpad, but it can be deactivated through its driver. The edge of the touchpad is narrow and isn't objectionable when you rest your palm on it. The keyboard has a positive touch and its keys have a very noticeable switch point. Speaking subjectively, we think some heavy handed typists might find the touch a bit too soft and the keyboard a little too flexible.

The numeric keypad does more than improve number entry

Because of the height of the notebook, typing for extended periods on the Aurora M7700 is pretty uncomfortable. Your wrists and forearms tend to press into the front edge of the keyboard deck. On the other hand, we rate the separate numeric keypad and the offset cursor keys as highly positive features. The blue power and status LEDs on the lower edge of the display look cool, but can irritate your eyes during periods of extended use.

Blue status LEDs are bright enough to be bothersome to the eyes