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Updated January 10, 2024·
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is more expensive and offers better performance with higher storage, RAM, and a more powerful GPU, which makes it well-suited for intensive tasks like gaming, 3D rendering, and engineering software. Its larger screen and higher resolution will also benefit these activities but expect a heavier build and shorter battery life, reducing its portability. On the other hand, the MSI Cyborg 15 is cheaper, has decent performance for general use and can handle some gaming, with a longer battery life and lighter weight, making it more portable. However, its smaller screen, lower resolution, and less powerful hardware make it less ideal for very demanding tasks. 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 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
Advantages of the MSI Cyborg 15
- Good portability
- Good battery life
Key differences
General Use
8.2
7.3
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
281.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
234.0 nits
4.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.5 Hours
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
5.1/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.2/10
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is very good for general use, while the MSI Cyborg 15 is good.
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 excels in general use with its powerful CPU, abundant RAM, and high-quality screen, though it is less portable and has lower battery life, making it suited for stationary use with occasional movement. The MSI Cyborg 15 offers a balance with adequate performance for general tasks, better battery life than the Alienware, and improved portability due to its lighter weight and more compact size, but it compromises on screen quality and raw power, which may affect multitasking and demanding applications.
Gaming and AI
9.1
7.2
9.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.5/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the MSI Cyborg 15 is good.
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
9.1
7.5
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.7/10
9.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
6.5/10
32.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is excellent for engineering and design, while the MSI Cyborg 15 is good.
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is superior for engineering and design due to its higher-performing CPU, more RAM, and a more advanced GPU, which are very important for such work, along with a higher-quality screen featuring better resolution and color coverage.
Content Creation
8.4
7.5
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.7/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
32.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is very good for content creation, while the MSI Cyborg 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
8.0
7.2
9.9/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.7/10
32.0 GB
RAM
8.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.0/10
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 is very good for software development, while the MSI Cyborg 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
7.8
6.8
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
281.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
234.0 nits
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 has a better screen than the MSI Cyborg 15 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, software development, and content creation.
The Dell Alienware's screen excels in general use and engineering due to its higher resolution and superior color accuracy, ensuring sharp visuals and faithful color reproduction critical for design tasks. However, its refresh rate is low for gaming where fast-paced visuals benefit from quicker screen updates. The MSI Cyborg 15 offers satisfactory resolution and color accuracy for everyday tasks and design work, but like the Alienware, it has a lower refresh rate that hampers the gaming and 3D application experience where fluid motion is key.
Battery
4.0 Hours
7.5 Hours
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 has 4 hours of battery life. The MSI Cyborg 15 has 7.5 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
Poor
Good
17.3in
SIZE
15.6in
8.9 lbs
WEIGHT
4.3 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The MSI Cyborg 15 has good portability, while the Dell Alienware m18 R1 has poor portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
8.5
6.7
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 has very good build quality, while the MSI Cyborg 15 has only fair build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$2,600
$1,100
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The Dell Alienware m18 R1 has a price of $2,600 and the MSI Cyborg 15 costs $1,100.
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How the Dell Alienware m18 R1 and the MSI Cyborg 15 compare to other laptops
Spec Comparison
 |  | |
| Dell Alienware m18 R1 | MSI Cyborg 15 |
GENERAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | |||
$2,600 | $1,100 | ||
Release Date | |||
Release Date | October 1, 2022 | May 1, 2023 | |
Overall Dimensions | |||
Overall Dimensions | 16.2'' x 12.6'' x 1.05'' | 14.2'' x 9.9'' x 0.9'' | |
Weight | |||
Weight | 8.9 lbs | 4.37 lbs | |
Width | |||
Width | 16.15" | 14.15" | |
Depth | |||
Depth | 12.59" | 9.86" | |
INTERNAL | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Processor | |||
Processor | Intel i9-13900HX | Intel i7-12650H | |
RAM | |||
RAM | 32 GB | 8 GB | |
DDR Memory Version | |||
DDR Memory Version | 5 | 5 | |
RAM Slots | |||
RAM Slots | 2 | 2 | |
Storage | |||
Storage | 1024 GB | 512 GB | |
BATTERY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Battery Life | |||
Battery Life | 4 Hours | 7.5 Hours | |
Battery Capacity | |||
Battery Capacity | 97 Wh | 53.5 Wh | |
SCREEN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Diagonal Size | |||
Diagonal Size | 17.3" | 15.6" | |
Display Technology | |||
Display Technology | IPS | IPS | |
Resolution | |||
Resolution | 2560 x 1600 | 1920 x 1080 | |
Refresh Rate | |||
Refresh Rate | 165Hz | 144Hz | |
Display Brightness | |||
Display Brightness | 281 nits | 234 nits | |
RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Build Quality Score | |||
Build Quality Score | 8.5/10 | 6.8/10 | |
Portability Score | |||
Portability Score | 5.1/10 | 7.3/10 | |
Gaming Laptop Appearance | |||
Gaming Laptop Appearance | Yes | Yes | |
Premium Business Laptop | |||
Premium Business Laptop | No | No | |
Fan Noise Score | |||
Fan Noise Score | 7/10 | 6.5/10 | |
HARDWARE FEATURES | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Keyboard Quality Score | |||
Keyboard Quality Score | 8.5/10 | 7/10 | |
Speaker Quality Score | |||
Speaker Quality Score | 8/10 | 6.8/10 | |
Webcam | |||
Webcam | 720p | 720p | |
Fingerprint Reader | |||
Fingerprint Reader | No | No | |
Backlit Keyboard | |||
Backlit Keyboard | Yes | Yes | |
Number Pad | |||
Number Pad | Yes | Yes | |
CONNECTIVITY | |||
|---|---|---|---|
USB Type-A | |||
USB Type-A | 4 | 2 | |
USB-C ports | |||
USB-C ports | 2 | 1 | |
USB-C Charging | |||
USB-C Charging | Yes | No | |
Display Outputs | |||
Display Outputs | 4 | 2 | |
Thunderbolt Version | |||
Thunderbolt Version | 4 | N/A | |
Shopping
Dell Alienware m18 R1
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Dig into reviews and images
PCMag
Matthew Buzzi | July 2023
"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."
MSI Cyborg 15
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Dig into reviews and images
NotebookCheck
Sascha Mölck | April 2023
"The focus of the MSI Cyborg 15 lies on a compromise of performance, mobility, and power consumption. Due to the reduced performance settings, the CPU and GPU perform below their capabilities. Nonetheless, their computing power is still sufficient for FHD gaming at high to maximum settings even then. The power consumption, which is low for a gaming laptop, can be translated into a good battery life. Realistic values of 7 to 8 h are still possible, despite the relatively small battery capacity of 53.5 Wh. Unfortunately the USB-C port doesn't offer any support for Power Delivery, which would be a sensible feature in the case of the Cyborg."
Get a great deal on the Dell Alienware m18 R1 or the MSI Cyborg 15
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.
About MSI
MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.
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