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Alienware's new version of the M17x makes some welcome design tweaks and offers the best laptop gaming hardware you can get. Just be warned: it ain't cheap.

Record-breaking performance, superslick design, wireless HD streaming, and five hours of battery life. Yup, this gaming notebook is pretty much perfect.

The Alienware M17x is the complete mobile gaming package, as its all-metallic look can stand in the spotlight with its parts.

This particular refresh of the Alienware M17x R4 is…well, refreshing. The new Ivy Bridge processor and Kepler-based Nvidia graphics card offer up great performance, and the entire system costs under $2000—a pretty good deal for a gaming-oriented desktop replacement.

With great performance, cool design and fantastic speakers, the Alienware M17x R3 is a top-level 17-inch gaming notebook.

The M17x is without a doubt a superb gaming notebook, leading the desktop replacement market in build quality and design. ... Other than the screen we found it difficult to fault the M17x and give it our recommendation.

The wonders Nvidia has worked with its mobile cards, combined with the power behind Ivy Bridge, mean this can now truly compete with top end gaming desktops.

If you are a gamer wanting a new high end desktop replacement with few compromises, then the Alienware M17X R4 is one of the best designed machines on the market. Just be sure to tick the AMD HD7970M box on the configurator.

By building on its already flawless foundation, the new M17x ratchets up power and features to make this the best gaming laptop you can buy. While the 3D abilities are inherently flawed, they don't reduce the impact of this exceptional and feature-packed laptop.

In regards to performance, you can actually only ask: "What more do you need?" There isn't currently any more efficient hardware in the mobile field available.