While Toshiba and some other notebook manufacturers have opted to use HD DVD optical drives in their systems, Alienware (now owned by Dell) has chosen Blu-ray as their partner – at least for now. And while the Alienware Area-51 m5790 Special Edition laptop might come jam-packed with features, its base price is surprisingly affordable at just $1299.
So what makes this system so special? Well for starters it comes with new Intel Core 2 Duo processors, supports up to 2GB of dual channel memory, gives you a choice between ATI or Nvidia graphics (X1800, X1900 or GeForce Go 7600), allows you to add up to two hard drives in a RAID configuration, and as icing on top – gives you an optional to add a Blu-ray drive to the setup.
Although the Area-51 m5790 ships with Windows XP installed, the company says the system is Vista upgradeable, and if you purchase the system now through January 30th, you are "eligible" for a free upgrade to Microsoft Windows Vista. Keep in mind though that Windows Vista is expected to be available for purchase the last week in January, so you might want to wait till then to see if this system comes with the new OS pre-installed.
“The Alienware Area-51 m5790 Special Edition offers knockout multimedia performance for users who routinely perform a multitude of power-hungry applications like gaming and digital content management,” said Mark Vena, Vice President of Marketing for Alienware. “This mobile system represents an industry first as one of the only 17" inch overclocked notebooks on the market and it easily exploits the performance and productivity benefits of Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows Vista release.”
“The Area-51 m5790 Special Edition with advanced mobile graphics technology from AMD ushers in a world of visual velocity with incredible 3D gaming performance and sharp visual quality for unparalleled digital entertainment,” said David Cummings, Director of Marketing, Notebook GPU, AMD Graphics Product Group. “Mobility enthusiasts can now stream video with amazing smoothness, play the latest games with all the hottest visual effects, and view their digital photos in stunning high-definition.”
“Intel Core 2 Duo mobile technology enables notebooks like the Alienware Area-51 m5790 Special Edition to play the latest high-performance games as well as great looking high-definition video,” said Karen Regis, director of marketing programs for Intel’s Mobile Platforms Group. “The Area-51 m5790 Special Edition gives users more freedom and flexibility to stay connected, making their notebook a key entertainment, communications and information resource.”
