Thin, Light Alienware 13 Gaming Notebook Coming With Intel Core Processors And NVIDIA 860M Graphics
For a while, Razer's 0.71-inch tall Blade seemingly dominated the ultra-thin gaming notebook sector. But as of late, other players like Origin PC and CyberPower have produced super-thin gaming solutions as well. Alienware appears to have no intention of letting that continue without a fight, as the company has released the Alienware 13, a thin-and-light gaming notebook that packs a punch not only in components, but in the style department, too.
According to the specifications, the Alienware 13 will arrive in three flavors: HD (1366 x 768, 200 nits, TN-panel, 45 percent color gamut), FHD (1920 x 1080, 350 nits, IPS-panel, 72 percent color gamut, double-wide viewing angles), and QHD with touch (2560 x 1440, 400 nits, IPS-panel, 72 percent color gamut, double-wide viewing angles).
The Alienware 13 is the company's thinnest gaming laptop to date, measuring just 1 inch thin and weighing slightly under 4.5 pounds. The laptop is also based on Intel Core processors, Nvidia GeForce 860M GTX graphics, and it offers up to 16 GB of DDR3 memory.
The specifications also show that the Alienware 13 includes support for up to two SSDs, Killer Wireless AC connectivity, and audio powered by Klipsch. Also included is Alienware's Command Center 4.0, AlienFX, and an Alienware TACTX keyboard. The laptop is cooled by using a copper thermal solution mounted inside the laptop.
CyberPower revealed a 15.6-inch thin-and-light gaming laptop last month packing an Intel Core i7-4710HQ Haswell processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M with 6 GB of VRAM. Keeping all of this cool is the company's Supra-Cool cooling system featuring dual fans and heatsinks. Also included is 8 GB of DDR3 memory, a 1 TB hard drive and Wireless N and Bluetooth connectivity. This laptop measures 0.82 inches thick, weighs 4.75 pounds and has a starting price of $1399.
Origin PC's EVO15-S includes a 15.6-inch eDP display with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, or customers can opt for the 15.6-inch screen with a 2880 x 1620 resolution. Under the hood is an Intel Core i7-4710HQ quad-core processor (2.5 GHz, 3.5 GHz), an Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M GPU with 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, and 16 GB of DDR3L-1600 memory. This notebook measures 0.79 inches tall, weighs 4.36 pounds and has a starting price of $2,199.
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So how much will the Alienware 13 cost compared to these two competing laptops? Here's something to chew on: the Alienware 14 has a starting price of $1,099, and the Alienware 17 starts at $1,399. Unfortunately, pricing for the Alienware 13 won't be revealed until a later date.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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airborne11b I'm not buying a gaming laptop again until there's one with Gsync or Freesync. My Gsync modded monitor is amazing, and I couldn't imagine gaming without Gsync or something similar ever again.Reply
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Blazer1985 Still on the not so thin-and-light side imho but at least for now the cooling department of the alienwares has always been flawless so the small added weight and size compared to the competition could proof itself more than worthy.Reply -
TechyInAZ I like the silver finish, however I still think the alien look is goofy.Reply
Interesting to finally see alienware stepping it up a notch, since I haven't heard of any new slim laptops from Dells gaming line. -
jasonelmore dear oem's.... please stop using killer nic. Intel nic much better, intel wireless much better.Reply
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envain I have the r2 of the mx14 and its a great laptop. I run multiple vms for testing, some gaming and it holds up quite well my one gripe was the weight. Dell seems like they have indeed improved over the past few years from what i experienced in the past and i buy a lot of their stuff for my clients. Would love to trade in mine for something like this.Reply -
Kraszmyl Replydear oem's.... please stop using killer nic. Intel nic much better, intel wireless much better.
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And how do you figure? Every review of it shows it beating or equaling intel nics. Not a huge fan of the software so I don't load it but the nic itself and their firmware/drivers seem rather good minus some of the weird problems that seem to crop up with Intel nics and tethering.
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LummusMaximus I've been waiting for Alienware to release a thin and light. I always hoped/knew that they'd have to eventually.Reply -
razzb3d There's nothing "gaming" about the 860M. It's miles away (performance wise) from it's desktop counterpart - being closer in performance to the GT 750 (non-Ti). See for yourselves. http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-860M.107794.0.htmlReply -
chicofehr These would be great for those who are traveling allot and not home much and live in hotel for work like me. But if you go home everyday, then use a proper 3 monitor desktop setup and nice sound system. I miss my desktop and something like this will never be used when I am home but great when I'm not.Reply