Meet the Alienware Area-51m: Modern Gaming Megalith
With a 17-inch screen and a thickness of 1.2 inches, the Alienware Area-51m tips the scales at nearly 9 pounds.
Lunar Light
Color options include either the Lunar Light (white) shown here, or Dark Side of the Moon (black).
A Blue Touchpad
The pleasingly accurate touchpad, complete with Alienware's signature backlighting, is on the small side. It's also not clickable, which means you'll need to use the physical buttons below it for left- and right-clicking.
Tobii Eye Tracking
Our Area-51m also comes with built-in Tobii eye-tracking technology. Eye tracking is not new, but it's been slow to catch on. It's available as a supplementary means of control for some games and the Windows 10 operating system.
Just One USB-C Port
A single USB Type-C port is a bit stingy on an expensive laptop, especially one with as much edge real estate as the Area-51m. On the other hand, you probably won't need a spare USB-C port for display output, as the body already has plenty of dedicated ones.
The Rear View: Dual Exhausts
The Area-51m has two air intakes, two exhaust outlets, and a giant fan that can push air at velocities rivaling a desktop cooler.
Right-Side Ports
In addition to the single USB-C port that supports Thunderbolt 3, the laptop also has an Ethernet port capable of speeds up to 2.5Gbps, three USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI output, a mini-DisplayPort 1.4 output, audio-out and headset jacks, and a proprietary connector for the optional Alienware Graphics Amplifier external GPU enclosure.
The Screen: 1080p Only
There is just a single screen size and resolution available: a 1,920-by-1,080-pixel, 17-inch display. But you can configure several of the screen's other attributes. You can choose between matte and anti-glare finishes, as well as refresh rates of either 60Hz or 144Hz, and add Nvidia's G-Sync frame-rate-synchronization tech.
An Excellent Keyboard
The Area-51m's keyboard is excellent, if a bit old-fashioned. It's not an island-style board, which means there's very little space between the keys, resulting in a stodgy look. But that also means there's room for an additional column of customizable macro keys on the left side, a common feature on high-end standalone gaming keyboards.
Easily Removable Base
Upgrading the components is an easy process, with just six screws to loosen the back cover. Once the cover's off, you have easy access to the memory, storage, and battery.