Sometimes nothing will satisfy quite like a desktop-dominating monster with an 18-inch screen and a body built like a tank. After a couple of years of ultrabooks and hybrids, it's surprising how much fun a huge PC, one that barely qualifies to be called a laptop, can be.
That's the appeal of the Alienware 18, a rare entry in the oversize gaming laptop space. It's even more of an outlier now, as 2013 has seen an influx of smaller gaming laptops, from the Alienware 14 to the Origin EON13-S to the Razer Blade 14.
Now, it's clear that Alienware parent Dell stacked the deck by sending us a system configured with nearly every high-priced upgrade possible. The Alienware 18 starts at $2,099, and can be ordered with either Windows 7 or Windows 8. Our review configuration included an upgraded Intel Core i7 processor, a 512GB solid-state drive (SSD)/750GB hard drive storage combo, two Nvidia GeForce 780M graphics cards, and a whopping 32GB of RAM, possibly the first time we've tested a laptop with that much memory. The cost? A budget-breaking $4,249.
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And for that healthy investment, you get enough power to play games such as the brand-new Battlefield 4 from EA at the highest "ultra" settings at the system's 1,920x1,080-pixel native resolution. (Although, with higher-res screens coming to smaller laptops now, is it too much to ask for a Retina-style display on a gaming rig?)
If you're looking to spend this kind of money on a gaming laptop, rather than building your own desktop, the choice is often between a big brand such as Dell's Alienware, or something from a boutique PC maker such as Origin PC or Maingear. A closely configured Origin 17-inch laptop costs about the same, and the biggest choice you'll have to make is whether you go for the custom design and chassis quality only a big company such as Dell can afford to develop, or the boutique-level hands-on customer service and overclocking you can get from a smaller PC gaming specialist.
Despite my love for small, slim, sleek laptops, the massive 18-inch screen won me over, and the Alienware 18 is a great way to take advantage of the current PC gaming renaissance we're experiencing right now. You really have to load on the expensive configuration options to make the system shine, but if you have the budget, a fully tricked-out Alienware 18 is an impressive gaming monster that manages to not look too much like a "gaming" machine.
| Alienware 18 | Alienware 17 | Toshiba Qosmio X75-A9278 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $4,249 | $2,699 | $1,899.99 |
| Display size/resolution | 18-inch, 1,920x1,080 screen | 17-inch, 1,920x1,080 screen | 17.3-inch 1,920x1,080 screen |
| PC CPU | 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-4900MQ | 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-4800MQ | 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-4700MQ |
| PC memory | 32GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM | 16GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM | 16GB 1,600MHZ DDR3 SDRAM |
| Graphics | (2) 2GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 780M | 4GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 780M | 3GB Nvidia Geforce GTX 770 |
| Storage | 512GB SSD + 750GB HD | 256GB SSD + 750GB HD | 256GB SSD + 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive |
| Optical drive | BD-ROM | BD-ROM | Blu-ray/DVD writer |
| Networking | Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0 | Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0 | Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wireless, Bluetooth 4.0 |
| Operating system | Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) | Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) | Windows 8 (64-bit) |
