Posted Alienware Area 51-m Review

Ok, so most of you have herd of Alienware by now. But for those of you that haven’t, Alienware specializes in high-end computers aimed at computer gaming enthusiasts. In April of 2002 Alienware released a new gaming laptop called the Area 51-m. This laptop would be considered a desktop replacement laptop, as it is big and heavy. However given this the Area 51-M is ideal for those who drag around a full sized PC to LAN parties, or are serious about gaming.

So I have been looking at getting a new high-end computer for programming websites and digital music production. I also wanted to be able to play just about every game out there with out having any problems. And here is the kicker I wanted it to be extremely portable so that when I go to a LAN party I don’t have to drag around a server cabinet. These options led me to only one choice the most technically advanced laptop out there. I knew what I wanted was possible all I had to do was find a manufacturer.

I was on the web searching for high performance gaming laptops when I found a link on home.dreamincode.net stating that Alienware had released a new laptop so I pointed my browser to www.alienware.com and was then amazed at what I had found.
This new laptop had A Desktop 2.4Ghz Pentium 4! After the initial drool factor I knew I had to have that laptop. (Plus it helps when your company tells you to buy a computer for personal use.)

The laptop that I ordered is a 2.4Ghz Pentium 4with, 512MB DDR PC-2100 ram, a 40 GB IBM Travelstar 4200 ATA 100 hard drive, a 8X DVD / 8x4x24 CD-RW combo drive w/Software MPEG2 Decoder, a ATI Mobil 7500 graphics adapter w/64MB DDR Video RAM, a 15’ Ultra XGA LCD display with a maximum resolution of 1600x1200, 4 1.1 USB ports, a IEEE 1394 (fire wire) port a internal 56k modem, internal 10/100 Ethernet port, 1 type 2 PCMCIA Card slot, a 4000mAh Lithium Ion main battery, a optional 3400mAh Lithium Ion secondary battery, internal SoundBlaster compatible sound card and speakers, and a Alienware backpack case to lug it around in.
The closed dimensions are (H) x (W) x (D): 1.7"x13"x11.4", with it weighing in at 9.6 lbs with the main battery installed with the main and secondary battery it is closer to 11lbs.

After I placed my order Alienware sent me an email requesting a verification of my shipping address, and credit card information. I placed a call in to the customer support line and was greeted less then a minute later by one of Alienware's helpful staff that went over all the details of my order. I have to admit I was nervous ordering a $3000 computer and having never seen it in action. I picked the Support reps brain, asking about whether the display would produce an image comparable to a CRT Monitor he assured me that I would be very happy with the display.

Two weeks later it finally arrived. There it was A big black box with a aliens head on the side, possessing the object of my desire dare I open it, silly question. After ripping off the tape I came to a keyboard sized box with my personalized manual and the secondary battery. Below that were 2 flaps with 2 inch foam padding on them and below them was another box labeled laptop computer. I am only including this in here as I was extremely impressed with their packaging the laptop was surrounded on all sides by a minimum of 2” open cell foam on the top and bottom on the sides the foam was closer to 5”. I unpacked the Area 51-M and installed the primary and secondary batteries, waited about 4 hours for the batteries to charge and turned it on.

The laptop was extremely quiet witch surprised me as there are 3 fans on the bottom 2 for the processor and 1 for the video chipset. The P4 is a hot running chip and to combat this Alienware has installed a copper heat sink on the processor. The heat can be a problem if you were to place it on your lap because; if the inlet ports for the fans were covered the processor would overheat causing lockups and diminished processor life.
So tray tables and desks are the recommended placement. You could just throw a clipboard in the laptop case so that the inlet ports aren’t covered and it would also insulate your legs from any low temperature injury.

The Setup for Windows XP took less then 5 minutes to complete, as the software is already activated from the factory. The Alien Autopsy software is cool as if the Area 51-m is starting to develop problems it will automatically send an email to Alienware to have the issue solved.

Now to the fun stuff Quake 3 runs at 108 frames per second witch is virtually unheard of in a laptop. I ran a copy of 3Dmark by mad onion and the area 51-m scored a 5086 with super smooth animation. The main battery alone will last about 2 hours with the second battery that extends out to about 3.5 hours. DVD’s look flawless I haven’t had any incidents of a movie getting blurry even during the high-speed fight scenes in the Matrix.

The only complaint I have is that the speakers sound tinny, and are either too loud or two soft. However using the onboard sound card to my 5.1 channel home theater the sound is more then adequate.

In all Alienware has a winner with the Area 51-M Laptop. I would definitely get a second battery if you ever plan on using it for any length of time off of the power grid. The laptop is on the heavy side. But even considering its flaws it is the best computer I have ever used. Oh and have I mentioned its cool.

Likes Dislikes
Super fast Heavy
Great graphics Lousy Speakers (fixed with good headphones)
Case Styling Short battery life on 1 battery

Carl Campbell

:w00t: