Alienware Area 51 m9750

Alienware has long been the first name in big-budget gaming rigs, straddling the line between the mainstream and enthusiast markets with flashy ads, high-end components, and just enough hand-holding for novices. We first laid eyes on the company's flagship laptop, the Area-51 m9750, at CES 2007 back in January and came away impressed with its array of high-end components. Its huge, high-resolution display, twin SLI video cards, and a Blu-ray drive, along with a promise that its starting price would approach a reasonable $2,000 earned it a Best of CES nod in the gaming category.

Details:

• Operating System: MS Windows XP Media Center

• Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo T7600

• Processor Speed: 2.33 GHz

• RAM: 2 GB

• Weight: 9.2 lb

• Screen Size: 17 inches

• Screen Size Type: widescreen

• Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce Go 7950GTX SLI

• Storage Capacity: 320 GB

• Networking Options: 802.11n

• Primary Optical Drive: DVD+R DL

Normally when testing with notebooks we have to crank all the settings down and sometimes turn down the screen resolution – not so with the Area-51 m9750. With the exception of Lost Planet, we’re going to be testing this system at the same game settings we use for GeForce 8800 GTX/Ultra cards! Clearly the m9750 system is up for the challenge, at 1920x1200 the system averaged 45 fps in Company of Heroes.