Monsters. No, really. The worth-every-penny-you-spend-on-them gaming laptops these days are absolute monsters. Monsters you can tame to do your bidding.

In the past two months, I had the opportunity to play with two such machines that came bearing a legacy of gaming that is SO awesome – there is no denying that they are, in fact, the guys that set the bar for other gaming machines to achieve. I am referring to Alienware and ASUS ROG. Both these brands set the bar for PC gaming whether desktop or laptops and in the case of ROG, components too. I do love gaming – PC gaming to be more precise and these machines just fuel that experience. Onwards to the comparison.

Let me just start by saying – a comparison is essentially unfair as both these machines are just so great by their own and do serve the purpose they are built for. Then, “Why this comparison?”, you ask. Because life is rarely fair to gamers who could buy both and be extremely pleased. So one over the other it has to be.

DELL ALIENWARE 17 Gallery

You there – can I have your attention back to this comparison? Let’s start with the essentials.

The core: Both the laptops I got ran the Quad Core Intel i7 4710 chipset that provides great support for all your base level processing but does not let you down for high core utilities like graphic design software or in my case, Titanfall. Supplemented able-ly by Nvidia’s GTX 970m GPU, this machine makes graphics processing look easy, on a 17″ display, no less. With enough RAM to make sure you never run out of quick access storage and a hard drive to support that with actual storage, these laptops are well equipped to give your graphic design work life a great big pillar to lean on or the gamer inside you to never run out games or speed to run those games.

ASUS ROG G751JY Gallery

See those photos? Aren’t these machines just amazing? Now get your tongue off the ground and read on for more.

The interface: Interacting with the laptops, like you would on any other laptop, is a keyboard, a trackpad, the speakers and a monitor. But wait, these aren’t just any laptops, now are they? This is why special care has been given to these aspects. Keyboards on both these are really workhorses and do perform well under gaming stress and while the layouts are not your typical keyboard, it is nothing a little time can’t repair. The trackpad on the Asus is good but the Dell is better in terms of sensitivity and stuff. Obviously, I did not game with it because Trackpad+Gaming=NoWayIAmWinning. Now for the Pièce de résistance. Ze Monitor. Both these gorgeous machines feature brilliant FHD 17″ LED panels with some great software boosts to deliver brilliant colours, amazing depth and all of this at a brightness level that will not leave you blind but quite painlessly trudging on gaming through the night. I know I did ;). Sounds emanating from the onboard speakers are better than the rubbish 2.1 speakers I had until I heard these and threw those speakers right out. I kid you not. They deliver crisp and clear sounds for the game – after all it is a personal computer and we dont want the world disturbed. Wait, I am a gamer, I don’t care and neither did these speakers as they belted Megadeth’s The Mechanix with ease and no tinny aftermath either.

The experience: One Word – WANT. I want one of these machines to stay on my table for as long as humanly possible.

The verdict: Now since this is a combined review, I will not really pick a winner because lets face it – if you pick one you are not going to buy the other. Both Dell and ASUS have made fantastic beast machines for gaming on the go, packaged really useful software into it, made the experience as seamless as possible and provided a few variations in their product line that deliver a similar experience but at various price points. Both brands are prospecting customers for upwards of US$ 1800 for an entry level monster going all the way up to US$3000 for the big beast that no one can really top! If I had to pick? I would pick one that came to me and said, Partha, here is your gaming laptop – we love you! If I had to buy? Ask me that in an email and I will tell you.