The software will come ready to use and preloaded with Portal to sweeten the deal. I’m sure this move will expose Steam to some new gamers, but chances are that if you’re buying an Alienware, you already know about Steam. Maybe Steam will eventually work its way onto standard Dell Inspiron and Studio lines for real exposure.

Here are the specs on the version that they sent us for review:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53 GHz (that’s the 12mb cache version)
OS: Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Video Card: Dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M, 2GB running SLI
LCD: 17-inch WideUXGA 1920×1200 (at 1200p)
Memory: 4GB dual channel DDR3
Hard drive: 1TB total (2x 500GB 7,200 RPM Raid 0)
Optical drive: Slot-load dual layer Blu-ray combo with DVD writer

As you can see, it’s a very strong machine. Yes, you pay for this level of performance, but if you want something that will give you the hardware-level edge over your competition, this is the machine to do it. But the hardware is only half the story. This machine has the looks to impress as well. Alienware built the case out of anodized black aluminum, which makes it feel like one hell of a sturdy unit. They also added some new touch controls across the top of the keyboard, in addition to the typical indicator lights. The touch strip allows you to eject the optical media, turn the volume up and down, turn off the wifi, and activate or deactivate the “Command Center” (more on that later) and the discrete graphics mode. This is rather handy, and except for some obvious exceptions, standard on most laptops nowadays.

The battery life on most gaming laptops is pretty bad. Alienware has managed to avoid this issue for the most part by adding a discrete video card to the motherboard. What this means is that when you unplug the power from the machine, it automatically disables the dual Nvidia cards and switches you to the onboard video. This results in a significant hit to performance, but it also adds about an hour and a half to two hours worth of battery time. The bad thing is, if this happens on accident while you’re in-game, your framerate will drop to almost a standstill. You also have to be cautious not to accidentally hit the button on the touch strip that does the same thing. I spoke with Alienware, and they said that currently, there isn’t any way to disable that particular button.

The overall appearance on the M17x is outstanding. The aluminum case looks very nice, and gives the laptop an almost automotive feel. It does add to the weight, but honestly, this isn’t intended to be a portable laptop that you carry around everywhere. Alienware also went all out with the lighting. They’ve put LEDs under the keyboard, behind the speaker grill, and underneath the touch strip above the keyboard. The really fun part is that you can change the color of the LED’s from in the Command Center, and there are different zones which allow you to vary the color of the lights from one side of the keyboard to the other. Personally, I turned all the LEDs red while I played some L4D in the dark, which gave the whole experience a particularly creepy air.

The Good: Alienware’s M17x laptop is an extremely powerful gaming machine. It’ll run your favorite games with no hesitation, and then ask for more. The Nvidia chipset performs brilliantly, and makes even the newest games (I tried Batman: Arkham Asylum) an absolute dream to play. The full size keyboard also makes it a great laptop for schoolwork, or whatever else you might decide to use it for.

The Bad: There are a couple of things I wasn’t fond of. That touch button that disables the Nvidia cards is really a pain. The weight is also an issue. The thing weighs 13 pounds with the power adapter. But we already knew that it’s not a computer for road warriors. It’s also extremely expensive. The system we were sent to review has an MSRP of $3898. Is it worth it? Yes. And honestly, if you are looking at Alienware, you’re not expecting it to be cheap anyway. Also, it comes with Vista. If you wait a bit, though, 7 will probably be the default.

Bottom line: If money is no object, and you want a semi-portable machine that will provide you with destktop-level gaming performance, buy the M17x.

Update: Disaster! While taking pictures this morning for the review, the system quit booting. After multiple attempts, the recovery CD finally did work, but it was quite the hassle. I blame Vista, and think that waiting for Windows 7 (or installing Ubuntu, which would fly on this thing) would be the way to go.

Hot Hardware gave it a spin and it came in with some extremely impressive benchmarks. Most impressive was a record breaking 75.6 FPS on Crysis. Remember, this is the game that many people felt was written for hardware from the future, not the CPU’s and GPU’s that were available at the time. Well, the future has arrived.

Of course with Alienware, there’s always that other shoe that drops. You know, the price? Well, the Aurora ALX comes in at a wallet-plundering $4074, as tested. Ouch.

Alienware announced yesterday they will “shake the gaming world to its foundation” at the Tokyo Game Show 2009. Well, the show started today, I went there and played Resident Evil 5 (and a bunch of other titles, for example Streetfighter 4) on Alienware hardware. I’m not sure if the gaming world is really that different when compared to yesterday, but all the games did look damn impressive on the Alienware notebooks and desktop computers.

Here’s a short video I took at the show today (Alienware desktop PC running Resident Evil 5):

Alienware said that it was going to “shake the gaming world to its foundation” this week at the Tokyo Game Show. I don’t know if these new rigs really do all that, but they are impressive enough.

The new M15x notebook packs an impressive amount of computing power with the new Clarksfield mobile Core i7 running at 2.0GHz and a 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260m hands the graphics. Plus there is an astounding 8GB of DDR3 RAM, a 500GB hard drive, and the rest of the standard equipment including a Blu-ray drive, three USB 2.0 ports, Firewire, and gigabit Ethernet.

So far, I don’t think there have been any benchmarks conducted, but with specs like that, the M15x probably won’t have any issues being the fastest 15-inch notebook on the planet. Dell has the configure page up now for the notebook and prices start at $1,499 but I made one without any accessories or extra warranty that tallied up to $4,698. Anyone wanna buy it for me?

Even the microATX Aurora and liquid-cooled Aurora ALX got an update and can now be configured with up to 12GB of DD3 RAM, Core i7 CPUs, dual graphics cards. All this power starts at only $1,299.

The new Area-51 and Area-51 ALX desktops are just as impressive sporting liquid-cooled Core i7 CPUs and enough options to satisfy any trust fund baby including up to 12GB of 1,333MHz DDR memory, quad-GPUs, twin Blu-ray drives and dual gigabit Ethernet ports. The cases have been redesigned and now feature all sorts of nifty features as internal lighting, six cable-less hdd trays, and of course, look like nothing else on the market. Prices start out at $1,999 but can probably rocket-up once all the extras, including the new TactX gaming accessories, get added on.

[via Engadget]

Well, that’s no fun. We just posted the Alienware teaser this morning that states the company was going to introduce new kits at the Tokyo Game Show and the systems have already leaked.

According to an Engadget tipster, Alienware has a new Area-51 m15x and four Aurora / Area-51 ALX systems at the show. All we know besides what they are is that the m15x is suppose to be the fast 15-incher ever. We can probably assume something similar about the desktops too although we don’t have any specs to confirm it yet. Do these releases “shake the gaming world to its foundation?” We’ll tell you once we get our hands on them tomorrow.

Alienware’s last big release was the AllPowerful M17x notebook – which Dave is currently testing- so I’m sort-of leaning towards a super desktop. I know, desktops are so 2008, but the company does have a new LCD that just wants to get bundled to a new tower and the M17x is still fresh. At least we don’t have long to wait as the Tokyo Game Show starts on Thursday.

[Facebook via Engadget]

Gamers have it made nowadays. In the old days, they would have to deal with computer peripherals that were meant for an office environment and not tailored to meet their gaming needs. But that’s changed. Now even Alienware has a line of gaming accessories. Previously, Alienware showed off the OptX LCD monitor and TactX Headset, but apparently there is a TactX keyboard and TactX mouse coming soon. Look out Razer, Steelseries, Logitech, and Microsoft, Alienware is here.

The details are a little light on both right now as the product pages aren’t live yet, but both are shaping up nicely. The TactX Keyboard has 6 customizable macro keys and a WASD gaming cluster with anti-ghosting technology. Plus, the whole damn thing lights up and can be configured for two lighting zones.

The Tact Mouse comes with a radical design that is sure to leave some skeptical. Like me. That’s a monster ass for sure. But at least the specs are solid: 5000 DPI laser with on-the-fly sensitivity adjustments, 5 user profiles, 9 buttons, and back lighting. We only wish we could pass along the pricing and availability, but they’re not available yet.

First off the mic is retractable so it’s not sticking out when you’re playing solo. Also, the cord is only three feet long, but it also ships with a 7 foot extension just in case. Expect to pay $79 for the headset and it’s shipping right now from Dell.

The 21.5-inch monitor comes packing a 1080p screen with a 2ms response time. Plus, it sports an 80,000:1 contrast ratio and a brightness of 300 cd/ms.

To be honest though, we really don’t see how this monitor is worth a $100 more than the SX2210. That monitor has nearly the same specs – only 50,000:1 contrast ratio – but it also has a webcam and an analog video input. But maybe you’re willing to spend $300 on this monitor just for the Alienware brand. That’s fine. Apple owners understand the feeling.

The differences are subtle: the Ostendo one is significantly narrower (32.5cm vs 50cm), which suggests a less-extreme curvature. Let’s hope there’s a less subtle difference in price. I’d love to get my hands on one of these, though — or maybe two.

Wow, it seems that someone over at PCWorld.com couldn’t keep their mouth shut and announced the Alienware M17x a bit early. No matter, the most important thing is that you see what this baby has under the hood. It’s damn impressive and certainly allpowerful.

Most important, the new M17x notebook comes with a pair of 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M GPUs. Impressive, yes. And also battery vampires. If the machine isn’t gaming, it could always fall back on the GeForce 9400M G1 GPU that’s also installed for better battery life.

A Core 2 Extreme quad-core CPU is at the core and can use up to 8GB of RAM 1333MHz DD3 to do its bidding. Plus, it can be config’d with either a RAID 0 or RAID 1 cluster over a 1TB drive or a 512MB SSD. Your choice. The rest is standard fare for a $1,799 + notebook including a Blu-ray drive, WiFi, 1920×1200 LCD, Displayport and HDMI out.

We’ve seen the big boy in person and it’s impressive. We just can’t wait to load some games on a review unit and take her for a spin.

Get ready to meet your maker. Alienware’s Allpowerful (that’s the codename) will decimate everything in its path and leave nothing but trembling subjects in the wake. This monstrosity is more than a desktop replacement. It’s so big, it could be the desk. Trust us, we’ve seen and played with the beast. Alienware isn’t ready to release it yet, but this riddle provides some clues of what’s too come. We can’t give any hints though so you’re on your own to decipher it.

The sum of the first four primes
denotes a state of two parts
known as the gentleman’s muscle car of 1967
when pure, it will carry a yield strength of 7-11 mpa
is always empty in zero sum games

NotebookReview via Engadget

ALLPOWERFUL! Alienware is teasing a new laptop line with some sort of alien head and some weird alien language. We suspect they’ll be launching this in June, probably in time for E3.

Until then, stare into the head. Stare into the head.

Alienware’s basic model is about average for a mid-range notebook of this size. Churning away at Vista, the Intel Core2 2.26GHz CPU is more then sufficient for most gamers or business users. The stock configuration comes with 2 GB of RAM, a 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870, and a 160 GB hard drive for $1,399. The system we received had dual 3870 X2 card, 3 GB of RAM, and the upgraded 17″ 1920×1200 LCD.

Price vs. Performance
The M17 is, quite frankly, a beast of a machine. The system that Alienware sent us was upgraded with a few of their more gaming specific features, which does have an impact on the price. Aesthetically, our M17 also had the new “Ripley” case design as well as the illuminated keyboard. This meant that our review system came to a total of $1,999 — expensive but not mind-blowing. It proved to be a very acceptable system for gaming, getting a pretty steady 30 fps in Far Cry 2, and around 45 in the Half-Life 2 “Lost Coast” demo.

Form Factor
When you start looking at the size of the M17, that’s where you start to run into problems. As I said, it’s a beast. Obviously not designed for portability, the M17 weighs in at a hefty 9.5 pounds, without the AC adapter. Once you add that to your bag, you’re looking at 12.5 pounds hanging from your shoulder. This would be fine for going to a LAN party, but for a road warrior traveling in business class, I think it’d be a bit much.

The redesigned “Ripley” case brings Alienware into new territory: understated. I have to admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of the vaguely Geiger-esque design that Alienware has used in the past, but the “Ripley” design is smooth, understated, and works well on the M17. The entire system is also covered in a rubberized “Stealth Black Soft-Touch” finish. I have to say, I like this design feature. It avoids the smudginess that other case surfaces fall into and maintains a clean look.

Screen
The 17″ screen is quite large for a notebook, and supports the aforementioned 1920×1200. This is ideal for gaming, and provides a great movie watching experience. This is also where I feel that the system could be improved. The colors are vibrant and clear, the refresh rate is more then acceptable, but you could also safely use the screen as a mirror. For whatever reason, Alienware chose to use a highly reflective surface on the monitor, which can be really irritating in some lighting situations. Great for sitting in the dark playing games, less than ideal for sitting on the couch with a window behind you.

Software
The M17 also has some very nice software features built into the Alienware Command Center. The system comes stock with a webcam built into the lid, and the Command Center is set up to use facial recognition to allow you to bypass typing in your password when you want to use your system. Amusingly, I was able to confuse the system by getting a haircut and trimming my beard. Luckily for me, the system we reviewed also has a fingerprint scanner built in, so I was able to log in that way instead. When discussing this issue with Alienware, they told me that facial hair is a known issue with the recognition system, and to be fair, that would be true of any facial recognition software.

The Bad
There were a couple of things that we didn’t like about the M17. The screen has a highly reflective coating on it, and the battery life leaves much to be desired. During tests I was only able to get about an hour and half of usage before running out of power. When you consider the weight and the battery life, the M17 should really be considered more of a desktop replacement system, and less as a portable system. I also didn’t care for the fact that while you could change the color of the keyboard, the indicator lights across the top never change, nor does the alien head in the top of the lid. When I asked Alienware about this, they explained that it would have required significant changes to the manufacturing that would have added to the cost.

The Good
I like the M17. It’s a nice system, with many little features that make owning an Alienware a special experience. The new “Ripley” case design works well, the keyboard is full size and has a good tactile feeling to it, the illumination is great (who can’t pick between red, green, or blue), and overall the system just feels high-quality. The facial recognition and fingerprint ID system is just cool, as long as you shave regularly (or don’t ever).

Bottom Line
The Alienware M17 isn’t perfect. But if you’re looking to buy a system that looks sexy, plays hard, and won’t (totally) break the bank, you could do much much worse then the M17.

Still, a solid gaming machine is a good machine in most every aspect, so if you’re looking for something quick, well-equipeed, and likely heavy, they start at about $1400 — $1200 with the extra savings. There’s also free shipping until the end of December, so hop to it.

• Dell has them in their XPS 730x starting today at $2K
• Alienware has them in the X-58 series starting at $1650 (or $3700, your choice)
• Gateway has them in the 6800 series starting at a suspiciously low $1250, considering how fancy the case is.

And of course they have all the other fixins as well.Keep in mind that Core i7 is not a magic bullet, though companies will try to tell you otherwise. It’s a fundamentally faster processor than the Core2, but a fast Core2 can still take on a slow Core i7, so check your hard hardware sites for the latest reviews before plunking down for a budget next-gen processor.

I can certainly vouch for their build quality and reliability, but now may be the time to learn something about putting a computer together and save a few bills by putting together your own sweet budget rig.

Dell-owned Alienware has released another gaming laptop that might interest some of you. It’s the M17, and it has that quad-core mobile processor, the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300. It also has CrossFireX, which is AMD’s fancy name for dual GPUs. As such, with two Mobility Radeons HD 3870, video memory goes up to 1GB. That’s quite a bit, and maybe just enough to get Crysis running at full speed.

As the name implies, it’s got a 17-inch display whose resolution tops out at 1920×1200.

What separates the men from the boys here is price. Yes, the M17 starts, technically, at $1,399, which isn’t unreasonable for a 17-inch laptop, but outfitting it with all that high-tech wunder isn’t exactly cheap. The QX9300 processor adds $1,200 to the base price and dual GPUs adds a further $250 to the mix. Then again, we all know PC gaming—let alone laptop PC-based gaming isn’t for the miserly man.

But when they do that thing where they attempt to contextualize the hard drive space by giving you a number of mp3s (112,500 in this case)? That’s when I stop taking them seriously as enthusiast hardware.

The full release:

Dell Delivers Alienware Aurora Desktops Exclusively To Best Buy
Austin, Texas, October 15, 2008

* Immersive gaming experiences, visually stunning graphics and leading edge performance
* Available in more than 200 U.S. locations and at www.bestbuy.com.

Hardcore gamers and tech-savvy enthusiasts looking for immersive gaming experiences, stunning graphics and leading edge performance can now test drive, and buy, the Alienware AuroraTM Desktop exclusively at Best Buy. Dell announced it is selling the Alienware Aurora desktop at 200 stores in the United States and through BestBuy.com.

“People are defining themselves by the products they choose and groups they associate with, “says Michael Tatelman, vice president, global consumer sales and marketing, Dell. “Individuals who choose the Alienware Aurora are saying I am a serious gamer and user who demands the best in personal computing.”

The Aurora was built and optimized for high-end gaming and for ultimate entertainment and enjoyment. The system features an array of high-performance components including:

* The AMD PhenomTM X4 9550 quad-core CPU to power through even the most resource-intensive games
* Dual ATI RadeonTM HD 4850 GPUs with a combined 1GB of GDDR3 graphics memory1
* A 500GB2 7,200RPM hard drive capable of storing up to 75 games, 90 full-length movies or 112,500 songs3
* 4GB4 of DDR2 memory for extreme multitasking capabilities

“Best Buy constantly looks for the most exciting and in-demand consumer electronics to offer shoppers,” says Keith Bryan, director of desktop computing, Best Buy. “The addition of the Alienware Aurora is no exception. Its quality, design and performance features can draw people to Best Buy who want to experience Alienware first hand and experience a new standard in personal computing and gaming.”

The Alienware Aurora will retail at $1,699.99.

For more information on the Alienware Aurora desktop being offered at Best Buy, please visit: http://www.bestbuy.com.

Alienware is Dell’s premier high-performance PC gaming brand.