Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: sibling, rivalry | Themes: Laptops and Notebooks
5. Display Characteristics
We measured the brightness and blackness of Dell’s XPS M1730 display and its Alienware Area-51 m9750 sibling using a scanning device. Charts for each were set to the same scale and range for an easy comparison.
Dell’s XPS M1730 17" display (above) is nearly twice as bright as that of Alienware’s Area-51 m9750 (below), but with nearly twice the variation in brightness level. Brightness variation typically increases with brightness level, however, so Alienware’s "superior" uniformity is likely a product of its inferior light levels.
Dell has the lead in brightness. The brighter monitor thus helps to make it possible to see what is on the display in high-light conditions. But does the extra light wash out the darks?
The XPS M1730 not only has brighter brights, but it has darker darks as well (above) compared to its Alienware m9750 sibling (below). A contrast ratio that approaches the coveted 1000:1 level advertised by so many desktop display companies is quite an achievement for a notebook, even though variation across the screen’s area appears to be a little high.
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Hey since you guy wrote this review alienware has released an updated version of the m9750 which has dual mobile 8700s which give it directX 10 support and they added the option of putting in a creative X-FI sound card as well. I would love to know how well those dual 8700s work, together are they more powerful than a single 8800 GTX?????, And how may full-str3eam processors are active in each one????