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November 29, 2015

HP EliteBook 8440p Battery

Who knew a desert could be beautiful? At least it is in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's interpretation. The sepia-toned earth was a perfect foil for the clear blue sky and hazy white sun above. Vegetables brave enough to grow in the unforgiving heat showed their rebellion in dark green petals and hardy purple plants. When I used my binoculars, the details were so sharp that I could see the heat waves rising off the scorched horizon before me.

The Alienware 13 R2 hit 106.4 percent on the sRGB gamut test (measures color reproduction), which corroborated my initial findings. It's slightly above the minimum 100 percent and the 79 percent ultraportable average. It's slightly better than the Plus v3's 106.3 percent and the Blade's 102 percent.

On the color accuracy test, the Alienware 13 R2 hit 3 on the Delta-E scale (0 is perfect), which is better than the 5.8 average, but not as close to perfect 0 as I'd like. Still, it was much better than the X3 Plus v3, which notched 10.7, but no match for the Blade's 1.2.

The Alienware 13 R2's future is bright, at least according to our brightness test, where it averaged 317 nits, topping the 254 nits average. It's not as bright as the Blade's 337 nits, but it's enough to outshine the Plus v3's dismal 203 nits.

Audio
How Alienware managed to squeeze a pair of high-quality, Klipsch speakers into the Alienware 13 R2's tiny frame is beyond me. Paired with Creative's Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 software, the side-firing speakers filled my medium-size testing area with clear, buoyant audio.

Drake's pleading monotone sailed across a bed made from light synth and gentle bongos with just a dash of brushed cymbal. Out of the three available software settings (Music, Movie and Gaming) I found that Music was indeed the best option for listening to songs no matter the genre.

Making my way toward an enemy base in MSG V, I could hear my body scraping across the barren rock as I crawled toward an unsuspecting guard. A hawk screeched in the background as I slowly rose to my feet and crept closer. A campfire crackled cheerfully to my left as I moved closer, finally grabbing my enemy. A few quick taps and a sickening, yet satisfying crack signaled that the hostile's neck was broken, and I could move on to the next objective.

Say hello to supercomfortable typing. The Alienware 13 R2's full-size traditional TACTX keyboard delivers cushy feedback. I hit 62 words per minute on the 10 Fast Fingers Typing Test, which is slightly above my usual 60 wpm.

The 4.25 x 2.75-inch touchpad offers plenty of real estate to two-finger scroll, pinch-zoom and three-finger swipe. Performing gestures on the large surface was nice and responsive.

Alien Command Center
What's an Alienware without a massive dose of showmanship? In order to elicit the optimal amount of oohs and ahhs, the Alienware 13 R2 comes preloaded with the Alien Command Center control panel, which lets gamers tweak the lighting, power configurations and create shortcuts.

When it ships, the Alienware 13 R2 is covered by a 1-year premium support warranty, which includes 24/7 tech support and at-home repairs.I reviewed the $1,699 model of the Alienware 13 R2, which has a 2.5-GHz Intel Core i7-6500U processor with 16GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe SSD, an Intel HD Graphics 520 GPU, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M GPU with 2GB of VRAM and 3200 x 1800 touch screen.

The $949 base model offers a 2.3-GHz Intel Core i5-6200U CPU, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB 5,400-rpm hard drive, Intel HD Graphics 520 GPU, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M GPU with 2GB of VRAM and a 1366 x 768 display.

Bottom Line
Just because it's the smallest, that doesn't mean that the Alienware 13 R2 can't play with the big boys. It's the perfect size to curl up with on the couch or stow in a book bag for a long trip. The lovely superhigh-res display and powerful speakers make the 13 R2 a veritable multimedia powerhouse. Thanks to its Core i7 CPU and Nvidia GPU, you'll have no problems laying waste to wyverns in Witcher 3 or enemy soldiers in Metal Gear Solid V. And at $1,699, it's a cheaper entry point into legitimately mobile gaming laptops that typically start at $2,000.

Still, I wish Alienware would consider offering an Nvidia GeForce 970M configuration, as the 960M doesn't provide some extra graphical oomph. Yes, you can definitely purchase the graphics amp, however, that's strictly a desktop solution. The short battery life is a cause for concern, because the 13 is meant to be used on the road, and the warm temperatures make this a device you won't want on your lap.