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Alienware will give recent laptop buyers a free upgrade
It's tough to buy a laptop when new processors are imminent -- you can't help but feel that the system you just bought will be rendered obsolete weeks later. That might not be a problem if you snagged one of Alienware's latest laptops, though. The Dell-owned PC maker is promising free upgrades if you bought one of its updated portables (those introduced on August 27th) and new processors reach the relevant Alienware line within 30 days. In other words, you're not hosed if a Skylake-based system shows up while you're still getting used to your days-old machine. The company tells us it has "high confidence" that Skylake will show up by late September, so you'll be future-proofed as long as there isn't a delay.
Dell revives the Alienware 18, upgrades its smaller gaming laptops
It's a rare, satisfying feeling when a community rallies together to ask a company to bring back a discontinued product and it actually works. Today is one of those days: Dell announced at PAX that it's bringing back the Alienware 18 -- the most powerful portable gaming machine the company's ever made. The revived 18-inch rig is being touted as a 'special edition' and will pack in a 4th Generation Intel i7 processor, up to 32GB of RAM, a 1TB HDD (with an optional 512GB SSD) dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M or 980M graphics, depending on the configuration. Too big? Too much? No worries --- Alienware is refreshing its 13-, 15- and 17-inch laptops, too.
Alienware unleashes a pair of slimmed-down gaming laptops
Last summer, Alienware unveiled a 13-inch gaming laptop. It was by far the thinnest and lightest machine the brand had put out in years -- and it was a helluva lot smaller than the Alienware 14 it replaced, too. Well, it looks like there was more where that came from: Dell just announced a slimmed-down version of its Alienware 17 notebook, along with a brand-new 15-inch system -- the first machine of this size that Alienware has offered in two years. What's more, the company is discontinuing its massive 18-inch model, confirming that as far as gaming laptops go, there really is such a thing as too big.
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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.
