A (Mostly) Mobile Gaming Laptop

Who thinks an 11-pound notebook is light? Somebody accustomed to lugging a desktop minitower and CRT monitor around, that's who. Alienware designed its new Area-51m notebook for LAN-gaming party attendees and performance junkies who seek even a modicum of portability. This laptop doesn't disappoint.

At a stiff $2950, however, our shipping unit seemed a tad overpriced, despite packing such impressive features as a 2.4-GHz Intel Pentium 4 desktop chip, 512MB of DDR memory, an ATI Mobility Radeon graphics chip with 64MB of graphics memory, a 40GB hard drive, a combination 8X DVD-ROM and 8X/4X/24X CD-RW drive, a $73 optional second battery, a 15-inch display, and Windows XP Professional. My informal tests of the Area-51m, using Activision's graphics-heavy Soldier of Fortune 2, proved the unit's gaming mettle--as well as the value of its high-resolution LCD. Despite some jaggies (an inherent problem in LCDs) the screen delivered stunning details. From the gently swaying grass fields my game character tramped through to vivid red pools of blood near vanquished opponents, the Area-51m captured it all without missing a beat of game play.

The Area-51m scored an impressive 102 on PC WorldBench 4, second in our Windows XP Pro notebook tests only to a much less expensive ($2199) Micro Express NP 5240 that scored 107. Remarkably similar in configuration and design to the Alienware notebook (except that the NP 5240 relies on SDRAM instead of DDR SDRAM), the Micro Express supports a lower display resolution (which likely helped boost its final PC WorldBench 4 score).

Note: The Alienware is a hot machine--literally. Despite carrying more fans than a sunbelt locker room, parts of this notebook became quite warm during normal usage.

The Area-51m isn't for frequent business travelers. Its generic-looking chassis is a mammoth 13 by 11.4 by 1.7 inches. And even with a second battery, the unit conked out after 3 hours, 4 minutes in our tests. But if your idea of networking is to sit in a room and compete with 500 other gamers, you'll find plenty to like here--assuming you can get past the hefty price.

SUMMARY

Alienware Area-51m This gamer-oriented notebook has performance to burn, but it doesn't come cheap. Street: $2950