WidowPC's gaming laptop aims to poison Dell

(Credit: WidowPC)

Gaming laptop specialist WidowPC is gunning for Dell big time in an old-fashioned Texas shootout. Just a few miles down Interstate 35 from Dell's worldwide headquarters, Austin-based WidowPC just announced a new laptop that it claims is less expensive than comparable models from its gigantic competitor while performing just as well.

Fosfor Gadgets says the top-of-the-line Sting 517D features a 17-inch wide screen, Intel's latest Core 2 Duo Merom processor, up to 4GB of high-speed memory, a 200GB SATA hard drive, "the industry's fastest gaming video card" from Nvidia and "lifetime tech support from real humans in America." And, of course, the company's trademark black widow sprawled across the case. All this doesn't come cheap, at $2,195, but WidowPC insists that it's still more than $100 less than its rivals from Dell--a claim that it mentioned twice in a three-paragraph press release. At least no one can say they lack focus.