You may not have heard of Digital Storm, a small computer company that specializes in custom gaming rigs, but don't let that deter you from giving its xm15 notebook a look. This $1,049 laptop sports a minimalist design, but inside it packs a quad-core Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics for playing the latest titles. Can Digital Storm hold its own against machines from larger companies?
Design
The xm15's design can be summed up in just one word: utilitarian. That's not necessarily a bad look for a gaming rig, but it's certainly lacking the outward flair found on Alienware and MSI systems. The glossy lid's gray-on-black dotted pattern is the boldest thing about it. Under the hood, a matte plastic deck (complete with a faux brushed look) underscores that the xm15 means business... when it comes to games.
On the upper right side of the deck are buttons for toggling Wi-Fi, audio, and the webcam. On the upper left sits a button labeled VGA and several LED indicator lights. Owners can use the VGA button to turn Nvidia's Optimus graphics-switching technology on (orange) or off (green). When the Optimus graphics are switched off, the notebook will use integrated graphics only. Users will be able to tell when the system engages the discrete or integrated options by the LED indicators to the right of the button. The laptop battery light glows green for Intel's chip, while the meter light glows orange for Nvidia's.
Keyboard and Touchpad
We like that the xm15 includes a narrow number pad on the side, but some keys, such as the right Shift, are shrunken. We'd classify the keyboard feedback as just fair; there's plenty of travel, but it felt somewhat hollow when typing. Unlike the XPS 15 or Alienware, the keyboard isn't backlit.
The 3.5 x 1.75-inch touchpad is nice and wide, though we'd appreciate more height. The surface has a rough coating that felt somewhat like cheap plastic under our finger, but it did ensure friction-free movement. Multitouch gestures didn't execute smoothly each time, in part because we had to use a bit of force to get the surface to respond.
While the two mouse buttons underneath offered good feedback, they're small because a fingerprint reader sits in the middle. Something tells us that gamers could live without this feature.
Display and Audio
The 15.6-inch LED-backlit display on the xm15 offers a full HD resolution (1920 x 1080), popping colors, and deep blacks. However, due to the glossy surface, we often saw our reflection, even on mostly white screens, such as when using a word processor. Despite this, we enjoyed wide horizontal angles when watching an episode of House. Vertical angles were acceptably wide.
For a gaming and mulitmedia notebook, the xm15's audio is sorely lacking. Despite the addition of the THX TruStudio Pro drivers and software, the speakers under the front lip of sounded weak and thin. When we listened to Adam Lambert's "Pick U Up," S. J. Tucker's "Alligator in the House," and Daft Punk's "Derezzed," tininess overwhelmed, and bass was barely present. When we played games such as Dragon Age II, the flat and low audio kept us from a truly immersive experience. Thankfully, the S/PDIF output allows users to hook up better speakers.
Ports and Webcam
A generous port spread graces the left and right edges of the xm15. Of the four USB ports, two are USB 3.0. Plus, users get an eSATA port for high-speed backups and file transfers to compatible drives. We don't like that SD cards stick almost half an inch out of the 3-in-1 card slot, but at least its placement on the lower left edge of the xm15 keeps them out of the way. Otherwise, there's VGA, HDMI, Ethernet, headphone, mic, S/PDIF output, and an 8X DVD-RW drive.
We tested the 2-megapixel webcam above the display using Skype and found that it captures slightly pixelated, washed-out images in bright light and struggled to auto-adjust as conditions changed.
Heat
During testing, we noticed that the Digital Storm xm15 got pretty toasty on the left edge above the vent, even with the notebook on a passive cooling stand. The temperature on the left underside by the vent reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit; the heat rose up and noticeably warmed our left hand as we typed this review. Other parts of the notebook stayed cool: The touchpad and space between the G and H keys measured 81 and 88 degrees, respectively, and the middle of the underside only rose to 89. These are well under the acceptable threshold (95 degrees).
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