Alienware Area-51m
The Bottom Line
Alienware's Area-51m is built as a mobile gaming platform and it excells at this application. The systems high performance comes at the price of portability and the pocketbook.
Pros
- High Speed Pentium 4 CPU with Hyper Threading Support
- Excellent Graphics Processor
- User Upgradable Graphics Module
Cons
- Expensive
- Wireless Not Standard
Description
- Pentium 4 2.8 GHz Desktop Processor with Hyper Threading Support
- 512MB PC3200 DDR Memory
- 20GB 5,400rpm Hard Drive
- 24x CD-RW Combo Optical Drive
- 15.4" WXGA+ (1600x1050) Wide Screen LCD and ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro with 128MB
- AC'97 Audio
- v.92 56Kbps Modem, 10/100 Ethernet and Optional 802.11a/b/g Wireless
- Three USB 2.0 Ports, One FireWire Port, One Type II PC Card Slot
- 13.8" x 11.4" x 1.6" @ 7.5 lbs. (w/o battery)
- Windows XP Home Operating System
Guide Review - Alienware Area-51m
1/19/04 - Alienware's Area-51m is an ever evolving product. The latest incarnation offers a lot of great improvements to what was already a very good product. On the visible side of things, the system now features a wide-screen LCD panel which stretches the dimensions and weight of the unit. But it is the interals of the system that have really improved.
Powering the system is a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz desktop CPU. As an added bonus, the laptop now supports Hyper Threading for added performance. Matched up to this is 512MB of high-speed PC3200 memory. Most manufacturers are still using either PC2100 or PC2700 memory.
Storage on the system has also been upgraded somewhat. The system still ships with a 20GB 5,400rpm hard drive standard, but an option for a 7,200 drive is available. The optical drive has been upgraded to a much needed 24x CD-RW Combo drive.
Graphics have seen a huge improvement. The Area-51m now features a user upgradable graphics module. With the ATI Radeon Mobility 9600 Pro 128MB standard, most users won't have a need to upgrade. This GPU provides desktop level performance with DirectX 9 support at the portable level. The new 15.4" wide screen LCD display features a high resolution 1680x1050 resolution.
There are a few drawbacks to this otherwise excellent system. Most notable is the price. This is easily one of the more expensive notebooks available. Also, it would be nice to have wireless networking included instead of optional.
All the hardware is seated in an Intel 915P motherboard that supports PCI Express and you can have dual disk drives (2 x 60GB, Hitachi 7,200rpm ATA100 drives) in a RAID 0 array for so-called 'Extreme Performance'. There are dual optical drives as well so you can presumably burn or play CDs and DVDs while you're cracking on with your game.Powering the system is a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz desktop CPU. As an added bonus, the laptop now supports Hyper Threading for added performance. Matched up to this is 512MB of high-speed PC3200 memory. Most manufacturers are still using either PC2100 or PC2700 memory.
Storage on the system has also been upgraded somewhat. The system still ships with a 20GB 5,400rpm hard drive standard, but an option for a 7,200 drive is available. The optical drive has been upgraded to a much needed 24x CD-RW Combo drive.
Graphics have seen a huge improvement. The Area-51m now features a user upgradable graphics module. With the ATI Radeon Mobility 9600 Pro 128MB standard, most users won't have a need to upgrade. This GPU provides desktop level performance with DirectX 9 support at the portable level. The new 15.4" wide screen LCD display features a high resolution 1680x1050 resolution.
There are a few drawbacks to this otherwise excellent system. Most notable is the price. This is easily one of the more expensive notebooks available. Also, it would be nice to have wireless networking included instead of optional.
Good graphics and frame rates are only part of the story when it comes to satisfying gaming; what about the sound? Well, 7.1-channel surround sound comes as standard, though only four speakers and a subwoofer are supplied, so you're encouraged to plug in to an external Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 NX system or go one further with a ZS PC Card. Even without the Audigy supplement though, most gamers will be reasonably satisfied with the quality of onboard audio.
As you'd expect, there's a healthy collection of peripherals in the shape of four USB 2.0 ports, Wireless 802.11b/g, two IEEE-1394 ports, 56kbps modem and Ethernet connections, video in and out, PS2, LPT, DVI and COM Ports and a 7-in-1 memory card reader.
The AC adapter looks like a brick but it's another reason why you'll be less likely to balance this machine on your knees; the battery life is only around an hour and there's a notable drop in frame rate when you switch over from mains power.
As you'd expect, there's a healthy collection of peripherals in the shape of four USB 2.0 ports, Wireless 802.11b/g, two IEEE-1394 ports, 56kbps modem and Ethernet connections, video in and out, PS2, LPT, DVI and COM Ports and a 7-in-1 memory card reader.
The AC adapter looks like a brick but it's another reason why you'll be less likely to balance this machine on your knees; the battery life is only around an hour and there's a notable drop in frame rate when you switch over from mains power.
