PHOTOS: Alienware M15x, Aurora and Area 51

High-power gaming machines

23 September 2009 16:20 GMT / By Duncan Geere

Dell has unveiled a pair of new gaming desktop machines, and a 15-inch version of its gaming laptop. Pocket-lint was on hand to take a few photos, and here are the results.

It's worth noting that these are prototypes - the lighting on the desktop machines wasn't operational in the versions we saw. In the normal versions, you can customise the colour of a set of LEDs that run around the edges of the case.

There's also a set of cooling flaps at the top of the machine that can be opened to vent air out if things are getting hot. However - the machines all come with liquid cooling by default, so it's not entirely clear what you'll need these for - calming down the power supply, perhaps?

The top end of these devices will come with Logitech-created, but Alienware-branded mice and keyboards, as well as an Alienware branded monitor. The mouse looked to us to be a variant of the G9, with the keyboard resembling the G15 but lacking the LCD display.

All three models are available online now, and will be shipping in the second week of October. Prices will vary massively depending on the configuration of each individual machine, but with six SSDs possible in one desktop, the high-end won't come cheap.