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Alienware Steam Machines to get a new model every year
Alienware's Steam Machines won't be easily upgraded, but there will be a new model each year, Alienware General Manager Frank Azor told Trusted Reviews. "Lifecycle wise, consoles update every five, six, seven years. We will be updating our Steam Machines every year," Azor said. There will be no customization options in Alienware's Steam Machines, Azor continued: "You can't really update it." Customers will have small range of configurations to choose from, such as more memory or a faster CPU, he said. Those who want to beef up their machines on their own are better off with a standard PC, Azor noted – after all, anyone can turn a PC into a Steam Machine by buying a Steam Controller and downloading SteamOS. "If you actually want to customize your Alienware Steam Machine, maybe change your graphics card out or put in a new CPU, you would be better off with the standard Alienware X51. This particular product is restricted in its upgrade options." The first round of Alienware Steam Machines are due to hit retail in September.
Alienware Steam Machine makes contact in September
Alienware's Steam Machine will launch in September, the company announced today at the Steam Dev Days conference. Alienware didn't provide any specs or pricing, but did say it's using a Haswell chip and it will "constantly update" the box, Hot Blooded Games CFO Dave Oshry tweeted. Take a closer look at Alienware's Steam Machine, along with 12 other boxes from different manufacturers, in our galleries from CES. During Steam Dev Days, which is open to developers and publishers only, Valve's Steam Machines team stressed that it accounts for the entire living room experience, not only gaming, with the new hardware initiative. Consoles and PCs have to only ship with a Steam Controller and SteamOS, Valve's Linux-based operating system, to be considered Steam Machines, Valve spokesperson Anna Sweet told us at CES. "Our goal with Steam Machines has never been to force customers into the living room if they don't want to go," the Steam Machines team said at Dev Days.
Alienware's Steam Machine launches in September
The Alienware-made Steam Machine we showed you at CES 2014 arrives in September, the company announced during Valve's first Steam Dev Days conference in Seattle. Alienware's little black box has some form of Haswell chip inside, and promised us earlier this year that it'd "perform on par with a gaming notebook" -- outside of that, we don't know any specifics on what powers it. The company's apparently hoping to push it across "several market segments," which we take to mean you can configure it to a variety of different spec/price points. We've reached out to Dell for more specific info and will update this piece as we learn more! Update: Dell tells us, "We're targeting September but haven't confirmed a final date yet."
Alienware announces Valve partnership, Steam Machines
Alienware will beam a Steam Machine down to Earth in late 2014, the Dell subsidiary announced today. No spec details or price was given, but the Alienware Steam Machine will, according to a statement by Gabe Newell given in a press release, encapsulate "the full potential of what a Steam Machine should be." If by "full potential" Newell means that it looks pretty, well, we can't argue there. Sleek! "We have been working with Alienware since we began defining our vision of the Steam Machine," Newell said. "Alienware's historic commitment to gaming, their design and engineering capabilities and their global reach made them an ideal partner for us on our Steam Machine project." Alienware will also be offering a Steam Machine version of their X51 desktop PC in late 2014.
This is Alienware's Steam Machine
We all saw this coming, right? Alienware is getting in on Steam OS, and what you see above is the first Steam Machine from Dell's gaming brand. It looks surprisingly measured considering its X51 brethren! Just ahead of CES 2014, Dell showed us the Alienware Steam Machine: It's set to arrive in the "later half of 2014," and Dell isn't talking specs just yet (except to say that it will perform on par with a gaming notebook). Even then, Dell reps declined to make any specific comparisons with Alienware's current notebook offerings, so you really won't know until later if this is an Alienware 14 or 18 equivalent. As for the price, it will be "highly competitive to the next generation of consoles," according to Marc Diana with Alienware business development. So, between $400 and $500, then? Dell is hoping it can sell more Steam Machines than all the other guys, even if this is something of an experimental category. "We feel we are uniquely positioned in that we can serve a lot of customers from the start," Diana told us.
Here are all of Valve's Steam Machines from CES 2014, in specs
Remember those Steam Machine partners we heard about? Gabe Newell just took the stage at Valve's CES 2014 event and made them official, doling out specs for gaming rigs from Alienware, CyberPower, Gigabyte, iBuyPower, Falcon Northwest, and more. There are thirteen machines in all, varying from $500 to $6000 a piece. Not all of them revealed their full hardware specifications, but skip past the break, and we'll give you a rundown of what we know.
Valve's Steam Machine partners include Alienware, Gigabyte, more
Valve is working with partners to bring Steam Machines into living rooms this year, and our Engadget pals learned of some of those partners at this year's CES trade show in Vegas. Dell subsidiary Alienware and Taiwanese manufacturer Gigabyte are two of the stand-out names among the 12 third-parties in Engadget's list. The dozen comprises Alienware, Alternate, CyberPower PC, Digital Storm Falcon Northwest, Gigabyte, iBuyPower, Materiel.net, Next, Scan Computers, Webhallen, and Zotac, although Engadget notes Valve may unveil other partners at CES, particularly at its press conference later today. Valve revealed the Steam Machines program last year as part of a three-headed march on the living room, along with SteamOS, its customized Linux operating system, and its Steam-optimized controller. Valve's aim is to provide a variety of Steam-centric gaming machines to suit a variety of homes. So far the number of homes is restricted to 300, where the same number of first-party Steam Machines reside as part of beta testing.
Here are Valve's 14 Steam Machines partners (so far)
Valve's Steam Machines initiative is supported by a first-party box that 300 beta users have right now, but 2014 is all about third-party Steam Machines taking that reference box and running with it. Thus far, the only third parties we know of that're making Steam Machines are iBuyPower and Digital Storm -- today, that all changes. Alienware, Falcon Northwest, iBuyPower, CyberPowerPC, Origin PC, Gigabyte, Materiel.net, Webhallen, Alternate, Next, Zotac and Scan Computers are among the first companies signed on to support Valve's initiative, Engadget learned this afternoon. The entire lineup will be on display this week at CES 2014, and we'll have many more details in the coming days. Beyond the dozen companies above, it's totally possible that there are other third parties signed on for Steam Machines -- we'll have to wait and see when Valve unveils everything at its press conference tomorrow afternoon. Update: As seen in the image above, live from Valve's CES 2014 presser, those third-party manufacturers are double confirmed. Maingear is the final addition that makes 14 in total.
Alienware's X51 now ships with AMD's R9 270X graphics card (updated)
If Haswell innards weren't enough to incite a purchase of Alienware's X51 gaming PC, perhaps an extra choice of GPU could push you over the edge: Dell's little gaming-machine-that-can is now available with AMD's Radeon R9 270X. The card adds $100 to the base price of the Core i7 model, bringing the total to $1,200. In return, this configuration brings the chipset maker's Eyefinity tech into the fold for multi-monitor support or output to a 4K monitor, although you probably wouldn't want to attempt gaming on it beyond 1080p. While we're scraping together enough pennies for a true 12K gaming rig, we suppose this may just have to do. Update: Apologies for the earlier error regarding this being a flagship card. The post has been corrected.
Pocket $200 for old consoles with new Alienware purchase
It's difficult to put a price on the seven years of memories you've shared with your 60GB PS3, but if Alienware had to take a guess, it'd say all that mushy emotional investment is worth $200 in cold, hard cash. Alienware's trade-in program now includes game consoles, offering $200 for the Wii, 250GB Xbox 360 Slim, 60GB PS3 "fat," 120GB PS3 Slim and 500GB PS3 "super slim" when you buy a new Alienware system. Consoles have to be fully functional and complete with power adapters. To receive the trade-in cash, first buy a new Alienware PC, then print out a prepaid shipping label via the Trade Up Portal and send in your console. Once it's verified, wait 40 days to receive the money. Last step: Splurge. Or save it, if you're the practical type. Alienware ran a similar trade-in program in 2007, offering cash for everything from MP3 players to PCs. With the Steam Machines on their way, a shiny new computer could be the way to go for those unimpressed or uninterested in major next-gen offerings.
Alienware 14 and 17 review: Dell's new gaming laptops are fast, powerful and well-lit
Picking a gaming laptop is a difficult task these days: machines can be found in all shapes and sizes, from pricey thin-and-lights to oversized behemoths. That wide selection is a good thing, allowing buyers to pick and choose the best machine from dozens of manufacturers, possibly even finding a deal on a lower-cost ODM system. Still, there needs to be some sort of benchmark buyers can look to, and for many, Alienware serves that purpose. The brand, now owned by Dell, is known for offering powerful, high-quality machines at the market's going rate; that is, not too cheap, not too expensive, but reasonably priced with just a hint of prestige. Considering Alienware's 2013 hardware refresh, it seemed about time we took a closer look at Dell's updated family of gaming portables. We picked out two: the Alienware 14 ($1,199+) and the larger Alienware 17 ($1,499+). Let's see how they stack up.
Alienware brings Ivy Bridge-E to its Aurora gaming desktops
Here's a nice update for those of you who like your high-performance gaming rigs coupled with tiny glowing extraterrestrial heads. Alienware today let it be known that it'll be upgrading its Aurora line with new processors. The flagship desktop is getting those new Ivy Bridge-E chips, letting users configure their machines with up to six cores and a 15MB of cache, bringing overclocking speeds of up to 4.3GHz. Also new for this week's Intel Developer Forum are NVIDIA GeForce 700 AMD 8900 series graphics options. The new configurations are available today through Dell's site, starting at $1,399.
The Daily Roundup for 06.11.2013
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Dell unveils redesigned Alienware 14, 17 and 18 gaming notebooks, available now from $1,199 (hands-on)
Hot on the heels of refreshing its X51 gaming desktop, Dell is sharing the news gamers have really been waiting for. The company just unveiled some fresh Alienware laptops, complete with a new look and even a new naming scheme: Alienware 14, 17 and 18. As you'd expect, they step up to Haswell processors, the latest NVIDIA graphics and 802.11ac on some models, but the real story is that they've received a serious makeover, the first in six years. For starters, Dell ditched the ol' plastic body and moved to a metal chassis with an aluminum lid and magnesium alloy chassis. As befits an Alienware, there are LEDs aplenty, including lights around the edges and a touchpad that fully lights up. And though the alien logo on the lid always glowed, that color is now customizable like other zones on the laptop. Speaking of the keyboard, you get 10 color zones on the 17 / 18 and five on the 14, and it promises improved travel, too, thanks to some retooled key caps. Dell also added Klipsch speakers, backed by Dolby Audio Theater. On a more practical note, the vents have moved to the back edge, as far as possible from gamers' hands. All told, it's a nicer design, but if you were expecting these guys to be thinner or lighter, you're going to be disappointed: the dimensions haven't really budged. Moving on to performance, Dell added some macro keys on the larger models, with the 18 supporting up to nine, and the 17 allowing for four. All come standard with a quad-core Core i7 processor, though they won't each be configurable with the same range of CPUs. 750GB of HDD storage is the minimum, and SSDs will be available too. On the 14, in particular, you can add up to three HDDs, while the two larger notebooks have room for four. Graphics-wise, NVIDIA's GTX 765M (2GB) is standard on the 17 and 18, while the 14 starts with a 1GB 750M. And on the 18 you get two GPUs by default, in an SLI setup. The Alienware 17 and 18 come with 802.11ac WiFi, while the 14 packs a Killer Wireless-N 1202 radio. As for displays, they're all non-touch (mostly TN), and while 1080p is offered on all, it's only standard on the 18 (the 14, in particular, starts with 1,366 x 768, blech). They're all available now, with starting prices pegged at $1,199 for the 14, $1,499 for the 17 and $2,099 for the 18. A Core i5 version of the 14 is also on the way, and will start around $1,099. Hopefully we'll review one of these soon, but until then have a look at some hands-on photos, a detailed spec table and a trio of promo videos, all embedded after the break.
Dell's Alienware X51 desktop gets Haswell, NVIDIA GTX 670 graphics
For the most part, Dell's using this week at Computex to talk up its various XPS products, though its Alienware division is also getting a little love. The company just announced that the pint-size X51 desktop has been refreshed with Haswell processors (up to a quad-core Core i7-4770) and an optional 2GB NVIDIA GTX 670 GPU. The design hasn't changed at all, as you can see, but the price has: it now starts at $900 with Haswell. If you're on a budget, though, and willing to settle for last year's chips, the Ivy Bridge models will still be available for $699 and up. Now all we need are some fresh gaming laptops. How 'bout it, Dell?
Alienware X51 gaming PC now available with Ubuntu, starts at $600
While the Alienware X51 has been slated by Valve as a currently available Steambox, consumers still have to get rid of that pesky Windows to install the Linux-driven platform. As we've seen with the Razer Edge, a Windows 8-powered gaming system just doesn't work well for living rooms because it still needs an interface that's not a game controller. Fortunately, that barrier is slowly evaporating as the Dell-owned commodity is now providing Ubuntu as an OS option for the X51, paving the way for easier Steambox modification in the future. It'll come with Linux-friendly drivers from NVIDIA right out of the box, and you can of course install Steam for Linux on it from the get-go. As a reminder, the X51 is available in Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 models, and can be upgraded to 8GB of RAM with 1TB of storage, with either a NVIDIA GeForce GT645 or a GTX 660 card. Features include HDMI 1.4, eight USB ports (six are 2.0 while two are 3.0), digital 7.1 surround sound, on-board WiFi and gigabit Ethernet. Pricing for the base Ubuntu model is $599, which is about $100 less than its Windows counterpart.
2013: The year that Valve attacks
I lost a bet with myself at CES 2013. In the gaming preview we published ahead of this week's big show, I wrote, "As per usual, the games industry and CES are acquaintances at best -- at least from what we've heard thus far. Perhaps this will be the year that bucks the years-long trend, but we're not betting on it." Wrong. Wrong. But hey, this is one of those, "glad to be wrong" situations. NVIDIA shocked everyone with its first Tegra 4 device, Project Shield, which is essentially NVIDIA's first in-house dedicated gaming handheld. Not only does it play Android games, but more importantly, it streams full retail games from your NVIDIA GPU-based PC, all on its high-res 5-inch screen. Heck, it even has Steam's Big Picture Mode built right in, allowing you to explore Steam and purchase games, as well as push them directly to your television (employing Shield as your controller). And then Valve's internal hardware prototypes popped up, confirming what we've heard murmurs of for months: the company's head down on creating a PC for your living room. Not exactly shocking, but certainly exciting; the plans are still nebulous, but Valve's confirmed we'll see hardware in 2013. We even saw some third-parties stepping up with their own versions of Valve's initiative. Xi3's Piston is the first such creation revealed, though the company's staying tight-lipped about specs -- we do know that Xi3's working directly with Valve on its tiny, modular PC. It's barely 2013, and already Valve's Steambox initiative is dominating gaming news. Let's call it right here -- this is the year that Valve attacks.
Engadget's holiday gift guide 2012: gaming
Welcome to the Engadget holiday gift guide! Picking presents for friends and loved ones is never a simple task, and with thousands of options for each category, buying technology can be an especially frustrating experience. We're here to help. Below you'll find today's bevy of curated picks, and you can head back to our hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the holiday season. Nothing quite says "holidays" like snuggling up with your favorite gaming device and putting some serious time into the backlog of games piling up next to the TV. But 2012 is a year of change when it comes to gaming devices -- PC graphics cards are dropping in price and easily outclassing console competition, and new entrants like the PlayStation Vita and Nintendo Wii U offer novel ways to interact with classic characters. So, what should you get for the gaming-inclined people in your life? Read on to find out what will fit best into your budget this year.
Engadget's back to school guide 2012: gaming
Welcome to Engadget's back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn't nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we're getting our game on -- and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they're added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back -- at the end of the month we'll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides -- and hit up the hub page right here! It's time to balance out that daily grind at school with some well-deserved leisure. Fortunately, many of our choices walk that fine line between work and play -- if you're willing to stump up some more cash beyond a normal laptop, you could get something capable of handling the latest PC titles. Some of our other choices may be a harder sell in the education stakes, but we all need some stress relief, right? And with bigger consoles nearing the end of their life cycles, there's never been a more wallet-friendly time to get involved. Jump in after the break for our favorite gaming choices. If all your money's been earmarked for learnin', then you should certainly enter our sweepstakes. Leave a comment after the break for a chance to win, and visit our giveaway page for all the details.
Origins of Malu to have playable demo at PAX Prime
If things have seemed quiet on the Origins of Malu front, it might be because Burning Dog Media has been working on a special treat for attendees of this year's PAX. Folks lucky enough to be milling about the convention this year have the opportunity for some hands-on experience with the up-and-coming sandbox! Teaming with Alienware, the studio is bringing a mini-game version of Origins of Malu to give players a peek into the world. Two eight-man teams will fight over the Chochobi (a true scaredy-chicken) for 20 minutes in a head-to-head battle. Players will be able to choose from the Toljon, Qulinta, or Jolah races and will have the chance to get used to the variety of spells, skills and talents they will be playing with before diving into the fray. This mini-game is only a glimpse of what's to come when the game releases (think 300-man battlegrounds), but is a great opportunity to sneak a peek first-hand. To participate, find Burning Dog at the Alienware arena. And we'll keep you posted on any further details as they come in.
