Alienware’s stand at PAX this year was flocked to by fans of the hardware manufacturer, although not to the surprise of Joe Olmsted, Product Marketing Coordinator at Alienware. He’s enjoyed visiting PAX Australia the past couple of years, thanks to the positive engagement Alienware has seen with its fans locally, who are not usually able to connect with the brand. New to this year’s PAX, and the centrepiece of the booth’s promotion, was the launch of a new kind of laptop from Alienware, the Alienware m15, a slimline device that still packs enough power to play your favourite games on the go.
“We’ve long been known for doing thicker notebooks… But obviously, some people want a lighter notebook.” says Joe, “We started this about 22 months ago, and everyone else has been out with theirs longer than we have. And we saw a lot of compromises. We wanted it under 5lb [the laptop is 2.16kg], we wanted great build quality, we wanted serious performance, thermal performance and we wanted a decent keyboard.”
“We wanted to make certain you could have access to a full 1070 for an 8-hour gaming session without having to have laptop coolers and 50-degree hot-spots and all that kind of stuff.”
The laptop, with stations set-up around the booth, looks every bit an Alienware device, with AlienFX RGB lighting built into the keyboard, and 144hz Full HD display. However, it still comes in at 21 mm thick, and approaches the MacBook Pro’s weight of 1.86kg, making it a contender for those looking for a serious powerhouse laptop that won’t break your backpack.
“When we were approaching it, there are a few things we don’t give up on when we make something with our brand. Performance and Quality are the top two. We weren’t first, but sometimes being first doesn’t mean you’re the best.”
Also on show at the booth was the Alienware Academy, a platform launched this year where players can hone the skills necessary to enter esports, with modules taught by professional players.
“It’s been phenomenal. We worked very closely with Team Liquid and they did some of the training modules for us in CS:GO, and so it brings just a level of – I hate to say authenticity as its used too often these days – but it’s a real guy who gets paid to play these games all over the world, and you see what he does and how he competes, and you really are getting a video lesson from one of the top tier pros.”
“It’s like in golf, if you wanted a Jack Nicklaus lesson it would cost you a bunch. But with Alienware Academy, you don’t even have to have an Alienware system to do it.”
