iBuypower Battalion Ultra-Thin M1771

The Ultra-Thin iBuypower Battalion's M1771 ($ 1859) screen is large enough and the system is strong enough that you can actually use the system as a desktop replacement. It's got a quad-core Intel Haswell processor and NVIDIA GeForce graphics to get you through most games and multimedia tasks with ease. The 17-inche screen is big, bright, and the system can drive up to a 4K monitor out. It is a system of power users, to be sure. However, you will have to pay a premium for this system that can do everything.

Design and Features
The battalion Ultra-Thin M1771 is true to its name, with dimensions measuring 0.85 by 5.16 by 25.11 inches (HWD). The system weighs 5.93 pounds, so meant to sit on a surface rather than use in your lap on a plane or train commute. Using the included power adapter, the battalion Ultra-Thin M1771 has a powerful 7.17-pound weight loss journey.

The system has a black painted metal finish all around, with a centered, chiclet-style backlit keyboard. Keyboard with full gamut of keys, including a numeric keypad. The Start button is on the right side of the space bar, but it is okay for gaming rigs because it does away with WASD cluster and not be susceptible to inadvertent keystrokes during heavy gaming sessions. If you're looking for the macro keys, you're better off Alienware systems such as 17 ($ 2,799), which includes a range above the number pad. Either pack a mouse or train chrome-ringed trackpad system: The Battalion Ultra-Thin M1771 has no touch screen. While you can argue you can play 3D much time on this system, multimedia apps and Windows 8.1 actually call out specifically for the touch screen from 2013 to 2014.

Because the system has 17-inch 1920 by 1080 resolution screen, so definitely bigger than our Editor's Choice 'ultraportable laptops for gaming, the Razer Blade (2013) ($ 1,999), with a 14 -inch 1600-by-900 resolution screen. That said, the battalion iBuypower Ultra-Thin M1771 is quite a bit slimmer and smaller than the previous Editors Choice 'for gaming laptop entry level, the FangBook CyberPower X7-200 ($ 1,549), which is somewhat chunky. The battalion Ultra-Thin M1771 can do this because it eschews an optical drive. You'll need to use an external USB drive to install older games from CD and DVD.

The battalion Ultra-Thin M1771 is fully connected however, because it has a die-branded Ethernet and 802.11a/b/g/n networking. Other connectors include four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, two mini-DisplayPorts (capable of driving a 3,840-by-2, 160 display), audio, and an SD card reader. The system has a pair of 128GB SSDs linked together in a RAID 0 array for quick storage. While it is perfect for the obsessive gamer who rebuilds its OS and the game rotates on and off its C: drive, 256GB total is not a lot of space for users to download media often. Users should think it's about investing in an external 2TB hard drive.

The battalion Ultra-Thin M1771 we reviewed came with 16GB of memory, so multitasking should not be a problem, and you will have no problem meeting the minimum requirements for most games. "The system we tested came with Windows 8.1. Thankfully, iBuypower will not install any bloatware, preferring to let the user apps installed. System only had the standard Windows 8.1 environment and NVIDIA GeForce Experience pre-installed. Experience GeForce laid in the background, making sure your drivers are up to date and correct setup for your game and play sessions. The battalion Ultra-Thin M1771 has a standard one-year warranty.