Stories about: Alienware

The original Seagate Momentus XT impressed us in 2010 with its innovative cache of SLC NAND flash memory: a small 4GB chip that stored a copy of commonly-accessed data and delivered it when needed at speeds much, much faster than the hard drive’s spinning platter could muster. While the rest of the Momentus XT functioned at similar speeds to any other fast laptop hard drive, this crucial flash memory did amazing things like reduce boot times and program loading times to rival the fastest solid-state disks. The new 750GB version of the Momentus XT doubles the size of the flash memory and adds a series of new algorithms to improve boot speed, as well as including another 18 months’ improvements in traditional laptop hard drive technology.

The Alienware Aurora represents a massive investment for a pre-built desktop PC, but it's an investment that should provide a solid computing foundation for at least the next three or four years (if not more).

Origin puts a lot of effort into the design and construction of its desktop PC systems, systems which are designed specifically to suit serious gamers and power users. The company pays attention to fine details so that when you pull your PC out of its crate (yes, it ships in a crate), you will love every aspect of it.

No one really talks about desktop PCs anymore, but there are still quite a few kicking around. HP is still in the game, and the company's Pavilion HPE Phoenix model aims to please gamers and other users who have a thirst for power. It's not the type of PC that's easily affordable though. With a price tag of $2799, only those with deep pockets need apply, and that's without a monitor, too.

The Alienware M18x is a desktop replacement notebook in the truest sense -- it’s powerful enough to replace a desktop workstation, but it’s also as big and as heavy as a desktop PC. It’s exceedingly powerful and has the ability to handle almost any current-day computing task possible. It’s also very well kitted out in terms of integrated ports, and the screen and keyboard are excellent.

There's no doubt that Apple's MacBook Air is the ultraportable laptop of choice for many people. However, at the top of our top rated list is its main challenger: Samsung Series 9. It's slim, light, a joy to use, it has good speed and connectivity features, and its matte screen is just beautiful.

The table below shows performance results for all the laptops that we have tested in 2011. The latest reviews are listed at the top of the table and we'll be adding all of the notebooks and netbooks that we test throughout the year.

The ASUS Lamborghini VX7 is an option for gamers who want a fast laptop that also looks the part. Like the famous luxury sports car manufacture it shares its name with, the Lamborghini VX7 is built to turn heads and designed with performance in mind. There is nothing modest about it and there is nothing cheap about it.

Alienware has an Airstream caravan chock-full of its latest laptops and PCs to show off, and it's touring it around Australia. We got a chance to take a quick peek -- it's in Sydney at the moment, in Circular Quay.

The Alienware M11x R3 is one of the heaviest 11.6in laptops you'll ever hold, but it's also the most badass! Within its tiny form factor lies an Intel Core i7-2617M CPU, 8GB of DDR3 SDRAM, a 750GB (7200rpm) hard drive and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M graphics adapter. It's a small laptop that's built for speed and mobility and it is ideal for gamers who want something that's easy to carry to LAN parties.