Crave

Once the case door is off, you can see where the folks at Alienware shine. The inside of an Alienware PC is really a work of art. Click on the image above to see more from the gallery.

(Credit: Mark Kaelin/TechRepublic)

CNET News sister site TechRepublic runs a regular series called "Cracking Open" in which it takes a look inside a variety of gadgets. CNET News is publishing this excerpt of a photo gallery that examines the guts of this $8,000 Alienware Area 51 ALX, one of the company's flagship desktop computers.

Click on the image above to see more views, including the 1,200-watt power supply; four RAM sticks that make up the 4GB in the ALX system; and each of the 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 280 cards.

Click to see m15x gallery

(Credit: Mark Kaelin/CNET Networks)

The Area 51 m15x is one of the most powerful notebook computers TechRepublic's crew has had the pleasure of reviewing. So naturally, they couldn't resist cracking that puppy open.

Join TechRepublic's Mark Kaelin for a close encounter with Alienware's m15x as he dissects the boutique manufacturer's shiny, sleek notebook in this News.com gallery: Photos: Cracking open the Alienware Area 51 m15x

Now with Penryn: Alienware's Area-51 m15x

(Credit: CNET Networks Inc.)

Dell updated its XPS line of laptops earlier this month with Penryn CPU offerings, and now it's sharing Intel's latest mobile processors with its wholly owned subsidiary, Alienware. The Area-51 m15x now offers three Penryn chips, the Core 2 Duo T9300 and the T9500 and the Core 2 Extreme X9000. Pricing starts at $2,149. If you're scoring at home, Dell's 13-inch and 17-inch XPS laptops have received a Penryn update, skipping over the XPS M1530. Meanwhile, Alienware's 15-inch laptop has the Penryn and its 17-inch model does not.

Also with Penryn: Gateway P-171X FX

(Credit: CNET Networks Inc.)

Elsewhere, Gateway has made its first Penryn update. The 17-inch P-171X FX is a $2,000 fixed configuration that includes the Core 2 Duo T8300. For more on this laptop, read our recent review of the $3,000 P-171XL FX model, which includes a last-generation Core 2 Extreme X7900 and a suddenly outdated HD DVD drive. Gateway tell us it will be adding Penryn to an M-series laptop "in a few weeks."

For more on Penryn, read our coverage from CES.

Hot on the heels of the exclusive sneak peek photos we brought you last week, boutique computer maker Alienware finally let the press and public see its new creations in person Monday at a preview event. We call it that rather than a launch event, as the new Area-51 m15x and Area-51 m17x likely won't be available until the beginning of 2008.

The Skullcap and Ripley designs

We did, however, get to see these new systems in action, and as expected, both the 15- and 17-inch models will offer some hardcore hardware, including Core 2 Duo Extreme processors and the latest Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX graphics. Part of the reason Alienware unveiled the new systems today was to coincide with Nvidia's 8800M launch (that's their latest and greatest graphics chip for laptops).

But those parts will be available in many laptops--what Alienware is really selling is not the steak, but the sizzle. The company has taken lumps for not redesigning its systems enough between generations, but parts of these two new laptops represent a major (for Alienware) design overhaul.

A custom app controls the keyboard color.

Two chassis designs are available: Skullcap has the familiar ridges we've seen on systems such as the m9750, but the new Ripley design keeps just the iconic alien head, against a glossy (and very reflective), flat lid. A backlit keyboard can be programmed to run any variety of colors, similar to the vent and fan lights in Dell's XPS laptops, but the light-up keyboard makes a huge difference, as does the totally flat touch pad, demarcated only by its backlit border.

No pricing or shipping dates yet, but expect to see these available sometime in January.

Boutique PC maker Alienware has been flooding in-boxes recently with secretive messages about its upcoming unveiling of two new gaming laptops. E-mails to members of the company's mailing list are filled with cryptic notes about "increased extraterrestrial activity" and links to a Web site with an "alien" message to decipher.

If you've cracked the code, you probably already know some of this, but Alienware has confirmed for CNET that the two new laptops are going to be called the Area-51 m15x and Area-51 m17x, and both will be officially shown off for the first time on Monday here in New York.

Backlit red keys. We've also seen a blue version.

We won't see these new 15- and 17-inch systems in full until next week, but Alienware says they have a whole new look, designed from the ground up, and will be available with a choice of two case designs called Skullcap and Ripley. The exclusive teaser shots here--the first photos of the new systems Alienware has released--give you a small idea of the new direction. Check back Monday for full details on these new laptops. More pics after the break... ... Read more

The Dell XPS M1730 we just reviewed took home an Editors' Choice award. This massive, 11-pound laptop is about as good as it gets for mobile gaming. It serves up a most powerful mix of components, from a Core 2 Extreme CPU to Nvidia SLI graphics. The M1730 even finds room for Ageia's PhysX processor. While we liked what we saw from the M1730 in our labs, what helped it score so highly was a number of new features absent from previous XPS models. There's a gamer-friendly, 10-key number pad, a useful status LCD above the keyboard, and Dell's Wi-Fi Catcher that lets you search for wireless networks without having to boot the system. Sure, we'd like it if Dell included a Blu-ray drive (it's a $550 option) in a laptop that tops the $4,000 mark, but the M1730's leading performance and big feature set help to justify the cost. Dell's flagship XPS laptop isn't the only game in town, however. We've seen two other 17-inch models and a plucky 15-incher that deliver the goods gamers require.

If you pass on the XPS M1730, Dell would hope you'd fall into the arms of Alienware, its wholly owned subsidiary. We wouldn't blame you. The Area-51 m9750 we reviewed at the end of the July is still tops with a DirectX 9 game like F.E.A.R.. (The XPS M1730 uses the newer GeForce 8700M GT, which is slightly slower than the GeForce 7950GTX but supports DirectX 10.) It's a little lighter than Dell's 17-inch XPS, slipping in below 10 pounds, but it doesn't have an HDMI if you're looking for a one-cable solution for outputting video and audio to an HDTV. It's obvious this luxury machine is crafted with care, though opinions may vary on the Alien-head motif. Lastly, we like the fact that Alienware gives you a choice of Vista or XP. (That performance-minded Alienware chose to outfit our review unit with XP should tell you something about the hit you take with Vista.)

The Toshiba Qosmio G45 is more of portable home theater than mobile gaming rig, but its lone GeForce 8600M GT card still serves up solid frame rates. While it holds its own as a gaming laptop, its real charms lie with its multimedia goodness. True, its 1920x1200 resolution is the same as found on Dell's and Alienware's 17-inch laptops, but it costs about $1,000 less than those models, trading raw performance for features that include an HDMI out, Harman Kardon speakers with subwoofer, and multimedia controls that make it easy to manage your media.

If a 17-inch laptop is just too big for your purposes, Velocity Micro has an interesting configuration. Its 15-inch NoteMagix x25 uses a desktop CPU, which helped the system excel on CNET Labs' benchmarks. The downside? It's big and bulky and generates a lot of heat. And its battery life is abysmal. In the end, it's probably no more portable than a larger 17-inch laptop because of its heft and poor battery life. But you do get all of that raw muscle for less than $2,000.

Alienware's Area 51 m9750

You may be asking, "Whatever happened to that laptop that won CNET's Best of CES award in the Gaming category back in January?" Like you, we've been waiting for the Alienware Area 51 m9750 ever since. With high-end options including dual video cards, a Blu-ray drive, and even a TV tuner, this massive black box impressed with a starting price around $2,000 (minus all those cool extras, of course).

After bugging Alienware on a seemingly weekly basis for months, the Area 51 m9750 was finally released this week, and our favorite Dell subsidiary even managed to send a rep to lovingly hand deliver one into our greedy little paws.

Is it the best gaming laptop ever? It's certainly close to the largest, at least for 17-inch desktop replacements, at nearly 10 pounds and 15.5-inches wide.

The Area 51 m9750 is currently undergoing our rigorous CNET Labs benchmark testing, to be followed by plenty of hands-on, real-world gaming (purely for research purposes, of course), so look for a full review soon.

(Credit: NASA)

It's just a guess, but something tells us that consumer gadgets promising to kill bacteria aren't quite strong enough for outer space. NASA apparently agrees, so it's developed its own microorganism detector to warn astronauts when alien bugs might be in the vicinity, according to Medgadget.

Technically named (of course) the "Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development?Portable Test System," it's a handheld device designed to detect bacteria or fungi on spacecraft surfaces far more quickly than standard culturing without the assistance of earth-bound labs, NASA says. This fall, an advanced prototype that can identify 130 microorganisms will be tested in the Arctic.

There's just one question: If we're still debating the existence of extraterrestrial life, how can we be sure what bacteria will thrive in outer space?

(Credit: Hammacher Schlemmer )

We still don't understand the overwhelming popularity of remote-controlled mini-choppers, mosquitos and other annoying flying objects. But if you absolutely must have one, we say go all the way.

The "Four-Motor Remote Control UFO" by Hammacher Schlemmer has a lightweight carbon fiber frame and a "gyro-stabilization system" that allows "precise control through hairpin turns, rolls, pitches, and hovering, in addition to yaw and throttle." And with a 300-foot range and nearly 2 feet in diameter, this UFO will squash those flying insects like, well, bugs.

That is, until the "Flytech Dragonfly" comes on the market. When that happens, you're on your own.