If you prioritize a balance between cost and daily productivity, the ASUS Vivobook S 15 is less expensive, fairly portable with good performance for general use, and has a decent battery life. However, for high-end gaming or intensive engineering and 3D tasks, the Dell Alienware m18 R1, although more costly and less portable due to its size and weight, offers significantly higher performance with its powerful processor and graphics card. The Alienware also has a larger and higher-resolution screen, plus it's well-suited for tasks that demand high color accuracy. 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 S 15
Good portability
Good battery life
Advantages of the Dell Alienware m18 R1
Very good for general use
Excellent for engineering and design
Excellent for gaming and AI
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Good overall display quality
Very good overall build quality
Very good speakers
Very good keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.7/10
8.2/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
267.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
281.0 nits
9.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.0 Hours
6.7/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
7.7/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
5.1/10
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is very good for general use, while the ASUS Vivobook S 15 is good.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Gaming and AI
6.3/10
9.1/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.8/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Vivobook S 15 is only fair.
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
7.1/10
9.1/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.8/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is excellent for engineering and design, while the ASUS Vivobook S 15 is good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
7.6/10
8.4/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is very good for content creation, while the ASUS Vivobook S 15 is good.
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
7.4/10
8.0/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
6.7/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is very good for software development, while the ASUS Vivobook S 15 is good.
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
6.3/10
7.8/10
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
267.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
281.0 nits
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 has a better screen than the ASUS Vivobook S 15 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
For general use, the ASUS Vivobook S 15 provides an adequate display with suitable resolution and brightness, but its panel type may not be the most vibrant. However, the Dell Alienware m18 R1 offers a better visual experience due to its higher-quality panel that delivers sharp images and good brightness levels. For engineering and design tasks that demand color accuracy, neither laptop provides ideal coverage of professional color gamuts, and for gaming or 3D applications, although they may have acceptable resolution and panel types, their lower refresh rates make them less ideal for fast-paced visuals.
Battery
9.0 Hours
4.0 Hours
The ASUS Vivobook S 15 has 9 hours of battery life. The Dell Alienware m18 R1 has 4 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
Poor
15.6in
SIZE
17.3in
3.9 lbs
WEIGHT
8.9 lbs
0.7in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The ASUS Vivobook S 15 has good portability, while the Dell Alienware m18 R1 has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.0/10
8.5/10
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 has very good build quality, while the ASUS Vivobook S 15 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$908
$2,600
$0
$1,000
$2,000
$3,000
$4,000
The ASUS Vivobook S 15 has a price of $908 and the Dell Alienware m18 R1 costs $2,600.
"Internals make Asus VivoBook S15 laptop a compelling option. The Asus multimedia laptop may look rather below-average with its modest black chassis, lack of a dedicated GPU, limited RAM and meagre port selection without Thunderbolt support. But your impression of the device will start changing once you set your eyes on its high-contrast OLED capable of producing deep blacks and highly accurate colours. And your opinion will change completely when the VivoBook is switched on. The AMD CPU can effortlessly keep up with powerful rivals from Intel. The integrated Radeon graphics blows away Intel's iGPU when it comes to graphics workloads such as rendering and simpler games."
"Dell's Alienware m18 delivers on its promises: This is a large, powerful gaming laptop with the premium flair and feel you expect from an expensive purchase. The drawbacks are really the price and battery life, which in context are reasonable. (We'd also like to see more ports on the laptop's sides.) This price tier exists for deep-pocketed enthusiasts, and if you’re considering anything in this range, the m18 isn’t an outlier. For the majority of shoppers, of course, all of these mighty 18-inch systems are likely too expensive."
Get a great deal on the ASUS Vivobook S 15 or the Dell Alienware m18 R1
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.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
99,195
Recommendations made
21,493
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.