Alienware's revamped 17-inch megagaming rig finally takes flight
(Credit:
Alienware)
Way back in November of 2007, Alienware told us about its rebooted gaming laptop series: the 15-inch Area-51 m15x and the 17-inch Area-51 m17x. We first got our hands on the 15-inch version a month later in December, and it officially went on sale in February of this year, but in all that time we never heard another peep about the 17-inch model--a design that's the mainstay of any gaming laptop lineup (the only 17-inch choice was the older m9750 model).
We're pleased to say the long-awaited 17-inch Area-51 m17x is finally up and available to order on Alienware's Web site, starting at $2,199 and easily topping the $5,000 mark if you totally trick it out. Noteworthy highlights include:
The Area-51 m17x's design is nearly identical to the 15-inch version, although with a black finish instead of silver. At the time, we said of the m15x: "The system is somewhat clumsy looking...and very fingerprint-prone. It's dorm-room chic, at best--we'd expect a laptop with the fastest components available to look a little more sophisticated."
But there was no arguing about the high-end components inside, or that this was an extremely powerful gaming laptop: "The combination of the 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme X9000 CPU and Nvidia GeForce 8800 GPU is a real winner, and the m15x is, overall, the fastest laptop we've ever tested."
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. 
