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The beast from front and back.

(Credit: Alienware)

With E3 around the corner, gaming news is breaking left and right. Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that details on Alienware's M17x gaming laptop broke a little earlier than next weekend's onslaught of pixels and polygons. And indeed, Friday morning, the full profile of Alienware's All Powerful laptop has surfaced--ahead of schedule, and ready to steal a little weekend limelight while it can.

It's big. And thick--2.11 inches thick, to be precise. At 11.6 pounds, and 15.98 inches by 12.65 inches, the M17x comes with a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo P8600 (which can be upgraded to a Core 2 Extreme Quad-Core) and up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM. And it can be outfitted with dual 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M GPUs (it starts with a single 1GB GeForce GTX260M, but why not dare to dream?). The hard drive capacity goes up to 1TB, or half a terabyte of solid-state. A nine-cell battery, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Blu-ray-upgradable optical drive round out the package. And, of course, there's the 1920x1200 17-inch screen.

It's thicker than Texas toast.

(Credit: Alienware)

In case you're clamoring for audio/video options, the M17x includes HDMI, VGA and DisplayPort, as well as 6.1 audio out.

As you can see, glowing red lighting is everywhere, including the keyboard, trackpad, and considerable grille, fairly screaming, "I'm a gaming laptop" to anyone who dares approach this beast's cooling vents. Carry this one out of your dorm/bedroom at your own risk.

We'll report more on this when we've actually played with one here at the lab. But the All Powerful promise looks to have been kept. Prices start at $1,799, but if you want the maximum upgrades we've listed here, look for a credit card with a line much higher than that.

According to I4U, Alienware will soon be offering a $200 instant discount on the Area 51 m17x Notebook (which starts from $1,999) and the Area 51 790i Desktop (which starts from $1,349). This deal will be available from November 26 until December 2, and free shipping is available until December 31.

We reviewed the Alienware Area 51 m17x in September and were really impressed with its performance. However, $200 isn't that much of a deal for this kind of beast, but if you're a fan of the systems then I guess you can't look a gift horse in the mouth.

Alienware Area 51 m17x

(Credit: CNET Networks)

The starting price for the Area 51 m17x Notebook gets you:

• Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz
• 1GB DDR2 667MHz
• Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
• Dual 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT--SLI Enabled
• Single Drive--160GB 7,200rpm

For a gamer on a budget, however, we recommend the 17-inch Gateway P-7811FX--that's if you can still find it.

At the time of review, the Gateway was priced at $1,449 and included these specs:

• Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz
• 4GB DDR3 667MHz
• Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
• Single 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS
• Single Drive--200GB 7,200rpm

We just got our hands on Alienware's latest laptop, the 17-inch M17. It's an offshoot of the popular Area-51 M17X, which impressed us earlier this year with its twin Nvidia GeForce 9800 GPUs and striking new design.

The new M17 (minus the "x") system trades Nvidia graphics for ATI (including a multi-GPU CrossFireX option) and also includes optional Intel Quad Core 2 Extreme CPUs.

We tested a relatively inexpensive (and not terribly exciting) configuration, which for $1,999 (starting price: $1,399) included dual ATI Radeon HD 3870 GPUs and a dual-core, Penryn-class Core 2 Duo P8400 processor. For basic computing, it was about as good as our gaming favorite, the $1,350 Gateway P-7811FX, but the Alienware had better gaming scores, pushing 104 frames per second in Unreal Tournament III at 1,920x1,200 resolution, versus 58 frames per second for the Gateway.

On the other hand, The M17 skips the recent slab-like redesign seen in the M17X, and goes back to an older chassis, similar to the one we saw in last year's Area-51 m9570 model. It's a step backwards aesthetically, and we're not sure what this means for Alienware designs going forward.

Read the full review of the Alienware M17.

(Credit: Alienware)

PC gaming giant Alienware announced a new addition to the company's gaming laptop lineup on Monday, taking a somewhat sharp turn from the recent M17x model. The new M17 (minus the "x") system trades Nvidia graphics for ATI (including a multi-GPU CrossfireX option) and also includes optional Intel Quad Core 2 Extreme CPUs. Those new parts drive the price up quite a bit, but a more basic config is actually very affordable (at least when talking about Alienware), starting at just $1,399.

The M17 skips the recent slab-like redesign of Alienware's laptop line, and goes back to an older chassis, similar to the one we saw in last year's Area-51 m9570 model. Also missing is the amusing (but not terribly practical) M17x lighting system, which could illuminate the keyboard, touchpad border, and other parts of the system with different colored lights. This new model has just a simple backlit keyboard.

We just got our hands on a test system that includes a 1,920x1,200 display, dual ATI Radeon HD 3870 GPUs, 64-bit Vista, 3GB of RAM, and a 7,200rpm 160GB hard drive for $1,999. We're running some initial tests right now, and will let you know how it compares to the $6,000 M17x we looked at, as well as our recommended budget gaming laptop, the $1,399 Gateway P-7811FX. (If you're curious, our CPU is a Core 2 Duo P8400. Upgrading to a Core 2 Quad Q9100 would be an extra $850, and upgrading to a Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9300 is a $1,200 upgrade).

(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 m15x's cool backlit keyboard.

A couple of weeks ago, we brought you some exclusive pics of Alienware's two new laptops, the high-end Area-51 m15x and Area-51 m17x, which impressed us with their updated designs, cutting-edge components, and imaginative lighting systems (seriously--lots of lights on these things).

While these two laptops probably won't be shipping until mid-January, we just got our hands on a preproduction unit, which, while not exactly final shipping hardware, has both the lighting control system and an Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX video card--the first laptop we've gotten our hands on with one of those.

We're in a green mood today.

Using the lighting control panel, you can assign different colors to the backlit keyboard, keyboard tray indicators, touch pad outline, skull logo, and sides of the display panel. The touch pad itself is just a touch-sensitive section of the wrist rest and made of the same material as the rest of the keyboard tray--and with the internal lights off, you see only the keyboard and a power button--no touch pad, no status lights. With the lights turned on, the touch pad is outlined by a colored light--a very cool effect, but one that might take a little getting used to, as we kept running our fingers off the side of the touch pad accidentally, because of the lack of any tactile feedback.

We're currently loading up some games to put the m15x through its paces, and we'll let you know how the new Nvidia 8800 handles the current crop of system-crushing games, including Crysis and Unreal Tournament III.

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