The M1710 packs a 17-inch widescreen LCD with a superfine default resolution of 1,900 x 1,200 pixels. It is powered by a 1.83-GHz Intel Core Duo T2400 processor, among other high-quality components. Similar configurations are available from other laptop makers for a lot less money and a little less glitz. So what sets the M1710 apart from the rest?

Look and Feel

Any product that aspires to be the ultimate gaming laptop needs to stand out in a crowd. The M1710 has a stunning clamshell lid, available in metallic red or black, that is illuminated with slots emitting up to 16 colors of light. These light slivers also dress up the side vents and speaker vents.

The notebook is large at 5.5 x 11.3 x 1.6 inches and, at slightly more than 10 pounds, requires a little lugging after unplugging. The case is made of magnesium alloy, which provides a solid layer of protection.

With this notebook, game-control accessories take precedence over alphabet keys, but we found the fullsize keyboard to be a nice bonus. Serious number crunching might prove inconvenient because the keyboard lacks a number pad.

Features

The storage components are typical of midlevel laptops: a 60-GB hard drive and a DVD±RW/CD combination optical drive. While we were disappointed that our test model didn't come configured with a larger capacity hard drive, Dell offers the option of upgrading to a drive as large as 100 GB.

As far as the combo drive, our model was configured with a standard 24x/10x/24x CD-RW and 8x DVD-ROM. Again, Dell offers the option to upgrade to an 8x DVD+/-RW with dual-layer DVD+R write capability -- a much better choice.

Aside from the glitzy clamshell case and colorful lighting effects, perhaps the most stunning aspect of the M1710 is the 17-inch (diagonal measure) LCD. Its 1,900 x 1,200 native resolution makes playing graphics-laden games and watching DVDs very enjoyable. But we recently looked at several widescreen laptops with lower resolutions -- and lower prices -- and found their screens to be a bit brighter than the Dell's. (continued...)

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