Alienware m5790 Area-51 Special Edition laptop

By: Stefan Hinum

The new m5790 Area-51 Special Edition laptop looks more like a Dell than an Alienware offering, but it's what's under the hood of this high-powered machine that makes it deserve that Alienware badge and is designed for for mobile gamers and professionals. The base model starts at $1,299 in America.

Specs:

• Intel Core 2 Duo processor (2MB Cache, 667MHz FSB) or overclocked 2.66GHz Option
• Starting at 512MB Single Channel up to 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
• 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1900 and 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1800
• 17-inch widescreen display, 1080p quality (WUXGA 1920 x 1200 or WXGA+ 1440 x 900)
• dual hard drives with a combined capacity of 400GB (5400 RPM)
• 8x Dual Layer DVD± RW / 24x CD-RW or Blu-ray Disc Drive
• 4kg weight
• Windows Vista OS

Comments:

ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 (codename M28 Pro) is one of the most successfull mobile video cards, which are available at the moment. It can be compared with current high end desktop video cards. Newest games should run with all details fluently. Office applications and surfing should not be any problem.

The Core 2 Duo is a successor of Core Duo and Core Solo with a longer pipeline and up to 20% speed increase without to spend more current. 64-Bit EM64T command upgrade and 2 or 4 MB L2 cache characterize this processor with its 291 millions transistors, which are finished in 65 nm.

Nowadays, meanwhile the 17 inch display size is a more frequently offered standard format for desktop-replacements. The DTR-Laptops can't be carried easily, need much current, but on the other side texts can be read easily and high resolutions are no problem. DTR mainly are intended for stationary usage on desks, where the weight and the energy need are unimportant.

The weight of this laptop is above average compared with the mass of other notebooks. In relation to display size the weight of this notebook is just about average and almost a bit too heavy.

Alienware is a rather small international manufacturer with a small market share and few reviewed models. Reviews often mention the extraordinary performance, but also the high price.