Thursday, December 8, 2005
Alienware Area-51 m5500
Posted by Chris Gohlke in "HARDWARE" @ 07:00 PM
"Clearly Alienware’s marketing people have been doing their homework, but what of Alienware’s notebook designers? The Area-51 m5500 is one of its new line-up of mobile products. Whereas its previous laptops were known for being seriously over specced, its current range is broader and has a more affordable look it. The m5500 in particular offers a sensible balance between size, power and cost. Highlights include its widescreen 15.4in display and echoing a trick we first saw in the Rock Pegasus 650, the m5500 has two graphics chips, which you can choose between with a flick of switch and a reboot. There’s Intel graphics for extended battery life and an nVidia GPU for gaming. Indeed, the m5500 features the same chassis so it’s size (326 x 278 x 31 (WxDxH), and weight, 3Kg, are the same."
A lot of gamer laptops have really been more of portables since the same horsepower that make them a must have for the hard core gamer also sucks the life out of current battery technology. I think their trick of having two user switchable graphics chips are a great way around this limitation. If you are not playing games, use the lower power Intel chip and smile just knowing you have the nVidia chip ready and waiting for when you need it.
A lot of gamer laptops have really been more of portables since the same horsepower that make them a must have for the hard core gamer also sucks the life out of current battery technology. I think their trick of having two user switchable graphics chips are a great way around this limitation. If you are not playing games, use the lower power Intel chip and smile just knowing you have the nVidia chip ready and waiting for when you need it.
