September 17, 2008 3:30 PM PDT
Alienware's got the biggest, baddest gaming laptop we've seen (but still really expensive)
We've just finished testing and reviewing Alienware's flagship 17-inch gaming laptop, the Area-51 m17x. We'll just come right out and say the m17x is about as powerful as a laptop gets, at least if it's as tricked-out as our $6,000-plus review unit was. How powerful? How about around 120 frames per second in Unreal Tournament III at a 1,920x1,200 resolution?
Sure there are more modest Area-51 m17x builds available for as little as $1,999, but at that level, you might as well save up your pennies for a few more years, or switch to an entirely more affordable option, such as Gateway's P-7811FX, which offers about as much gaming performance as anyone not in the rarefied $5,000-plus market, all for a highly reasonable $1,450.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
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