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our recent review of the $3,000 P-171XL FX model, which includes a last-generation Core 2 Extreme X7900 and a suddenly outdated HD DVD drive.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.
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
- prev
- 1
- next
