The ASUS Vivobook Go 15 is a budget-friendly option that is suitable for general use and fairly lightweight, making it easy to carry around, but it has limited storage and RAM, and a lower quality display and build. It will struggle with intensive tasks and is not suitable for gaming or engineering software. On the other hand, the Dell Alienware X17 R2, while much heavier and less portable with shorter battery life, offers superior performance with significantly more storage and RAM, a high-quality display, and is well-suited for gaming, 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering tasks due to its powerful processor and graphics card. It's notably more expensive but is a top-of-the-line choice for intensive use. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the ASUS Vivobook Go 15
Good portability
Good battery life
Advantages of the Dell Alienware X17 R2
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Best in class speakers
Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
5.6/10
8.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
TN
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
200.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
367.0 nits
7.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
2.0 Hours
6.7/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.9/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.0/10
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is very good for general use, while the ASUS Vivobook Go 15 is poor.
The ASUS Vivobook Go 15, with its lower-end Intel Celeron processor, less RAM, and basic TN screen, offers inferior performance and screen quality compared to the high-powered Dell Alienware X17 R2 which boasts a much more powerful Intel i9 processor, ample RAM, and a higher-quality IPS display. While the Vivobook is more portable and has longer battery life, it falls short for general use due to weaker hardware and display capability compared to the robust and better-performing Alienware, which, despite being less portable with shorter battery life, excels in screen quality, performance, and overall user experience.
Gaming and AI
5.5/10
8.9/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.3/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
480Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is very good for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Vivobook Go 15 is poor.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
5.4/10
9.1/10
3.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
3.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.3/10
4.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is excellent for engineering and design, while the ASUS Vivobook Go 15 is poor.
The ASUS Vivobook Go 15, with its Intel Celeron processor, 4GB RAM, and basic Intel UHD Graphics, is not powerful enough for demanding engineering and design tasks, and its low-quality TN screen won't display colors as accurately as needed for those fields. Conversely, the Dell Alienware X17 R2 is outfitted with a high-end Intel i9 processor, substantial 32GB RAM, a top-tier Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti GPU, and a high-quality IPS screen, making it far more suited for such intensive tasks, despite being less portable and having a noisier operation.
Content Creation
5.7/10
8.3/10
3.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
4.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
TN
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is very good for content creation, while the ASUS Vivobook Go 15 is poor.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
5.9/10
7.8/10
3.3/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.4/10
4.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
6.7/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 is good for software development, while the ASUS Vivobook Go 15 is poor.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Screen Quality
5.2/10
8.5/10
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
TN
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
480Hz
200.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
367.0 nits
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 has a better screen than the ASUS Vivobook Go 15 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
The ASUS Vivobook Go 15 may have a lower resolution and dimmer display that affects its overall screen quality, making it less suitable for tasks where clarity and brightness are key. On the other hand, the Dell Alienware X17 R2 likely offers a high-resolution, bright screen with wide color coverage, enhancing the visual experience for engineering and design professionals who need accurate color representation. However, for gaming and 3D applications, despite the Dell's excellent resolution and color, its likely lower refresh rate compared to specialized gaming laptops means it may not provide the smoothest visuals in fast-paced gaming scenarios.
Battery
7.0 Hours
2.0 Hours
The ASUS Vivobook Go 15 has 7 hours of battery life. The Dell Alienware X17 R2 has 2 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Good
Fair
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
3.4 lbs
WEIGHT
6.8 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The ASUS Vivobook Go 15 has good portability, while the Dell Alienware X17 R2 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.0/10
8.5/10
The Dell Alienware X17 R2 has very good build quality, while the ASUS Vivobook Go 15 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$240
$2,000
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The ASUS Vivobook Go 15 has a price of $240 and the Dell Alienware X17 R2 costs $2,000.
"The Asus Vivobook Go 15 is a good option if you’re looking for one device to tackle a bunch of smaller problems. For simple school studies, portable evening entertainment or distractions, and getting household admin or light office workloads out of the way, it’s a great little package with respectable battery life, and a great contender for the advent of cloud gaming."
"The Alienware x17 R2 recognizes targets a significantly higher TGP of 175 W for a roughly 30 percent performance boost over laptops running on the ~100 W GeForce RTX 3080 Ti like the Razer Blade 15 or Gigabyte Aero YE5. Similar results can be found through the CPU as well. This single aspect of the Alienware is perhaps the biggest differentiating factor between it and other ultrathin gaming laptops. Of course, the "performance at all cost" approach comes with drawbacks. Power consumption in particular is through the roof and battery life suffers because of it even when on the lowest performance settings."
Get a great deal on the ASUS Vivobook Go 15 or the Dell Alienware X17 R2
About ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
About Dell
Dell is a highly recognizable American technology company, and is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. Their laptops are very popular for both personal and professional use, and they also own the Alienware brand which makes mid to high end gaming laptops. Their premium XPS range of laptops offer great build quality and portability, while Latitude and Precision laptops are known for reliability, repairability and performance for business users.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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