Alienware's Allpowerful laptop teases with riddles
by Thomas Ricker 
posted May 28th 2009 at 7:21AM
The sum of the first four primes (Answer: 17 hinting at a 17-inch display or Core i7 maybe?)Of course, with a name like Allpowerful, we're expecting something big here. We've seen Core i7 laptops before, but dual GTX 260M / 280M GPUs might be a little much? We'll turn the sleuth-work over to you now dear readers. Best guess gets a HTTP cookie.
Denotes a state of two parts (Core 2 Extreme or dual-GPUs perhaps?)
Known as the gentleman's muscle car of 1967 (Plymouth GTX pointing to NVIDIA graphics?)
When pure, it will carry a yield strength of 7-11 mpa (Aluminum chassis?)
Is always empty in zero sum games (Core?)
[Thanks, MAG]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
TareX @ May 28th 2009 7:32AM
Desktop gaming FTW.
Specially with the much more demanding games getting announced in E3. You'll play truckloads of money and won't be able to fully enjoy a game on a device that could be easily stolen, even though you'll be spending most of your time playing at home...
Plus, I gotta try FPS in 3D vision...
random @ May 28th 2009 7:46AM
The New, All powerful Alienware...... Now with 5 Minutes of battery life.
wrabbit @ May 28th 2009 9:39AM
Yep, and in those 5 minutes it'll burn a laptop shaped hole in your desk (oh yeah, and don't put this thing on your lap, as long as you still plan on having kids).
MuSeW @ May 28th 2009 10:17AM
Correction
don't put this thing on your lap, as long as you still plan on having legs
Will @ May 28th 2009 12:01PM
@Random
I still think that this is easier to haul to a LAN party than an entire desktop. Most users are going to bring this with a power cord. As a matter of fact, I see no reason to even put a battery in this thing.
aznofazns @ May 28th 2009 1:01PM
Nah, the battery life will be comparable to previous gen gaming notebooks like the m1730. It's not like GTX260/280 use much more power than 8800/9800.
r3loaded @ May 28th 2009 7:36AM
The Alienware Allpowerful...aka Allexpensive.
Bet you anything the price will be between 1.5x-2x the cost of an equivalent desktop.
Patriks7 @ May 28th 2009 7:51AM
Well why don't you carry your desktop, monitor, mouse and keyboard everywhere you go?
GirTheRobot @ May 28th 2009 7:56AM
That's not the point, the point is that the Laptop could easily be comparable in price, not nearly double.
Alienware has gouged customers for as long as they've been in existence, their hardware is often really good, but not nearly double the list price good.
kook @ May 28th 2009 7:37AM
Gotta love NBR
strider_mt2k @ May 28th 2009 7:37AM
Riddles, great.
Hold on to your wallet for the punchline.
whoami @ May 28th 2009 7:42AM
One sec, I'll just holla @ Robert Langdon!!
smaa @ May 28th 2009 11:13AM
robert langdon says theres arrow pointing to a pentagram pointing to a church with a statue of a core i7
CH3BURASHKA @ May 28th 2009 7:48AM
This is just stupid. Hopefully the teaser doesn't lead to a countdown which ends in another countdown.
pcbutler @ May 28th 2009 7:55AM
The first four prime numbers are 1,2,3 & 5 which add to 11, not 17
CC13 @ May 28th 2009 7:57AM
My thought exactly... gonna be a heck of a small gaming laptop...
thanhhuynguyen89 @ May 28th 2009 7:57AM
1 is not a prime dude =D
CC13 @ May 28th 2009 7:59AM
See... that's why i so don't deserve this laptop... :-)
anonymous @ May 29th 2009 5:51AM
1,3,5,7 = 16. 16" maybe or to nearest inch 17".
cajie @ May 28th 2009 8:11AM
Had no idea that 1 is not a prime number. Went to Wikipedia and learned Sieve of Eratosthenes.
Wikipedia is great and all-powerful.
Mike @ May 28th 2009 8:14AM
thanhhuynguyen89 is right, 1 is not prime.
pcbutler @ May 28th 2009 9:20AM
Never one to deny my mistakes...I stand corrected.
Drew -- PS360: uphillbothways @ May 28th 2009 11:22AM
Am I the only geek that got all excited about some new algorithm to learn after seeing cajie's comment? Sieve of Eratoshenes is actually pretty wicked cool.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sieve_of_Eratosthenes
Steve @ May 28th 2009 8:05AM
Its definately i7, Dell UK slipped up earlier in the week and the image with the link to www.allpowerful.com had the Core i7 logo on it.
tridge @ May 28th 2009 8:09AM
I will take out a loan to purchase this.
Mike @ May 28th 2009 8:16AM
American economy crisis explained.
Kenjis9965 @ May 28th 2009 8:21AM
Hn..Aluminium, even pure doesnt have a yield strength of 7-11mpa...Tin is 9-14 but you wouldnt make a computer out of it...Aluminum is like..15-20 iirc in a pure state..IE unalloyed [Alloyed is well over 100]
I dont remember Magnesium, but Magnesium is tougher than aluminum, so i doubt its that [But then again, a Magnesium frame would be in line with other alienware laptops]
As for specs, I anticipate a Core2Extreme desktop processor, Not an i7 because of thermal concerns....
I expect dual everything, RAID 0 Intel X25 SSDs with an option for RAID 0 320gb 7200 RPM HDDs [Unless they stuffed a pair of velociraptors in there..but then im not sure id ever want that on a desk, let alone my lap] with a 500gb backup disk...
Dual GTXs of some form....Maybe a mobile version of the 275 in a SLI configuration?
Blu-Ray
High res 17" screen
But in the end..WHY? This thing will have no battery life, even if it is as fast as a desktop, its going to weigh the same as a lanbox with a 19" LCD monitor, it will be margainally more compact..but at the same time...a lanbox is easily upgraded....its going to make the vicinity of the user a good 20 degrees warmer and is going to be -loud-
And BTW, Laptops are killing pc gaming, Everyday, Millions of idiots buy a laptop thinking its a proper machine to game on and then are upset when they find out that Intel XXXXXXXX-TREME Graphics Suck Balls and cant run Super Mario Bros at 30fps let alone render one eyeball in Crysis...
Then this breeds a misconception you need to spend $3000 on a gaming computer, because obviously if a $500 laptop cant run it then it must need a $3000 computer
Now if you think that im exaggeraing im not...Many people I meet seem to think that $3000 computers are necessary to play games because games wont run on a $500 "The guy at Best Buy said it was powerful" crap eMachines/HP box...and when I tell them they could easily go to Newegg and build a $500 gamebox that makes most things at Best Buy junk they dont believe me -_-
Seriously, all you need is a decent dual core processor and a Radeon 4770....Bam, Gamebox :) Newegg is running a sale with a AMD Motherboard and a Dual core processor, as well as 4gbs of ram and a Radeon 3650 for $140 after rebates....add a decent case and power supply and you're not even to $300 yet most likely, Hard drive could be reused, or get a WD Black 640gb for $70, and a DVD drive is only $40 if you need one of those.....personally I'd get the Radeon 4770 over the 3650..it wont add much to the price and if you have a copy of windows already, you wont need to blow your money on a copy of it...
I guarantee this system would be as fast or faster than most computers at a big box store and MUCH faster than just about every sub $2000 laptop for gaming...
Oh and yes, It will in fact, run Crysis...
Fordham @ May 28th 2009 9:09AM
What you kids fail to understand, is that a lot of us Big People (Adults) have to travel for work, or even for fun. I'm in the military and I travel all the time. A gaming laptop is necessary for me. I would like to play some games while I sit in my room alone in some unknown place. Don't get me wrong, I also like to get out and explore a while, but sometimes, you just have to stay in.
Long live the gaming laptop. I'm sure they will evolve, as they have in the past, to use the same graphics and processors but in smaller (cooler) form factors. Till then, great balls of fire will be my swan song.
Hiattech @ May 28th 2009 10:16AM
Agreed Fordham. My wife and I bought gaming laptops a few years back. We needed them for school, play, and travel for work. Now, 4 years later, we don't do much in travel and they just aren't keeping up as well (not bad though for 4 yr old laptops) so I've definitely been looking into the $500ish gaming computer. Even if I did get another gaming laptop, I could never bring myself to pay out what would be required for this.
egghead @ May 28th 2009 11:11AM
A little over three years ago, I bought a MacBook Pro (Don't judge me) for $2500. It was mainly for my college courses since I really needed to get experience with OS X and Linux. Plus, my previous laptop was 10+ lbs with a 3.2GHz desktop processor (talk about scorching the lap and my hand right above the HDD) and I really wanted to still be able to play games between classes.
Fast forward to today, I tend to have the laptop set-up on a TV tray in the living room so I'm not tucked away in my office ignoring my wife. She's happy that I'm right there beside her and I'm happy I still get to play my games to de-stress. I've only run across one game so far that my laptop cannot run, GTA 4, which I've been told is above the specs for nearly everything but the latest hardware. Granted, games like Fallout3 I have to drop the resolution to 1200x800 (I think that's the right vertical) from 1400x900 so I can still have the visuals turned up.
I'm really wanting someone to figure out how to wirelessly pair a monitor with a desktop without introducing significant latency or artifacts. I'd then gladly switch to using a desktop hidden away in my entertainment center with a monitor, headset, keyboard, and mouse all wirelessly paired so I don't sequester the TV for my gaming habits. Until then, I'll stick to my powerful laptops.
TGianni @ May 28th 2009 11:55AM
The yield strength of pure aluminium is 7–11 MPa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium
Bill @ May 28th 2009 12:30PM
egghead, I'm really not sure how that works for you. Most women I know (including my wife) not only want you in the room, but they also want you to pay attention to them, and how can you do that while you're playing a game, especially an online game that cannot be paused? I find I'm better off just going upstairs to play in peace rather than sit next to her but pretty much pretend she's not there. Women HATE that.
p0x @ May 28th 2009 2:15PM
I was thinking that could refer to SLI also, however you probably won't experience much performance increase with a 17" screen.
bsdoherty2007 @ May 28th 2009 2:49PM
you obviously never heard of sager notebooks. $1300 and you're running crysis on high at 1920x1200. Research before you burn gaming laptops. It's not our fault most people don't know what to look for in a notebook. I can guarantee my laptop is faster than 95% of desktops.
Robert @ May 28th 2009 8:56AM
What if it's a dual 17" screen notebook? The second screen would slide out from behind the first screen?
Gr1zz @ May 28th 2009 9:04AM
Wealth and/or Profit is always empty in zero sum games.
This could mean we will have no wealth, or they are making no profit?
Putin @ May 28th 2009 5:09PM
"Is always empty in zero sum games (Core?) "
Must be 'Net' surely? Can they be bragging about a network card??
JPC @ May 28th 2009 7:02PM
could be a killer network processor for laptops
Zach @ May 28th 2009 4:48PM
New and improved birth control. With this baby, their is no need for any other contraceptives. It cooks your testicles or ovaries while you play ultra high-FPS games!
If you use this laptop for more than 1 hour, we can guarantee you will be sterile for the rest of your life!
Warning: high heat may cause scalding and first degree burns...
comment_system=Fail @ May 28th 2009 10:08AM
the only question in my mind is... will they get rid of the cheesy 90s era alien head design? and if so, will the new design look worse, given that it's made by Dell which made these XPS systems that hurt my eyes every time I watch TBBT?
don't get me wrong, i am sure the old alienware logo _could_ be made to look modern, but alienware chose to not do this for the past... 10? years...
Jose @ May 28th 2009 10:22AM
I really hope that anyone who looks here and might be interested in buying this laptop when it comes out thinks before they jump in. I bought one of their "gaming laptops", it ran around $4400. It was absolutely the dumbest thing I have ever purchased, really really stupid of me. What a waste. Do yourself a favor and get a desktop if you intend to play games, laptops are better suited for running Office applications and browsing the web.
Also, stay away from Alienware, I've had 2 of their computers (one desktop that I returned 2 years later because it was crap, they tried to fix it 5 times and still couldn't get it right. The laptop I bought after they gave me a credit for my first computer, I wish I could return that one too).
Aceofspades @ May 28th 2009 11:14AM
I hate alienware. They are like the monster cable (yes I'll admit that is a little harsh...no one is as bad as monster cable) of laptops. They are just a reseller they don't even build their own laptops anymore. Also the build quality...which is their biggest selling point...is kind of weak. Alienware basically takes MSI and Clevo laptops and puts their logos on it and some LEDs and calls it special. Sager already has laptops which are Core i7 and dual GPU....and their GPUs and CPUs are upgradable. Spare me like a tire alienware.
Josiah @ May 28th 2009 12:04PM
Glad they're going to be able to sell all 3 of them...
E. @ May 29th 2009 3:07PM
I can see the Engadget Post now: Alienware Allpowerful laptop owners outraged by overheating, CPU down clocking, cracking issues.
Of Course that's just speculatory, you remember the m15x right? Who knows maybe alienware will only release the Allpowerfull (Great Marketing’) after rigorous testing.
Indy89 @ May 28th 2009 12:13PM
There already is a notebook with dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M http://www.kobaltcomputers.co.uk/acatalog/comanchesli.html
jowee @ May 28th 2009 12:33PM
i want a cookie !
oh yeah...as to the "laptop"....i don't know about anyone else, but my lap isn't wide enough to hold a 17" behemoth
superhobo @ May 28th 2009 12:33PM
Maybe it's power is that it'll actually be worth it's price.
Just *maybe*...
T Jon @ May 28th 2009 1:49PM
I'ts about the same cost as a fully loaded Macbook Pro 17" and likely better for gaming. If you don't want/need OS X this would be a better choice for a portable gamer's hard earned dollar.
Seven @ May 28th 2009 1:06PM
Just buy a Sager NP8662, and save major cash compared to whatever this is going to end p being.
Seven @ May 28th 2009 1:07PM
up*