Alienware is refreshing two of its most popular gaming laptops for the new year, the m15 and m17. Both the Alienware m15 and m17 now come with options for Nvidia’s next-generation 30-series graphics cards, and the m17 R4 even has a new 360Hz refresh rate display, too. More importantly, it’s one of the only laptops to include support for HDMI 2.1, the same standard that new consoles and televisions have adapted.
In addition, Alienware also is introducing a special Ryzen Edition of its Aurora gaming desktop, complete with AMD’s 5000 series CPUs and up to a 16-core processor.
For the first time in one of its thin portfolio 17-inch mobile laptops, not including the lesser portable Area 51-m gaming notebook, Alienware is including an option for a 360Hz panel on the M17 R4.
Under the hood, the Alienware m17 R4 keeps is powered by either a 10th generation Core i7-108070H processor, or the 10th generation Core i9-10980HK processor. That’s then paired with either 8, 16, or 32GB of RAM. Storage has single configurations from 256GB to 2TB, RAID 0 configurations from 512GB to 4TB, RAID 0 plus configurations from 1TB to 4TB.
The graphics on board the refreshed m17 R4 include Nvidia’s next-generation RTX 30-series graphics card. Combined with options for either a full HD 144Hz or 360Hz display, or a 4K 60Hz display, games will no doubt look good on the laptop. Elsewhere, the m17 is near identical to last year’s model, with the same ports and connectivity, as well as keyboard and webcam.
Other key updates include faster DDR4 memory at 2933MHz for increased multitasking, HDMI 2.1 for video output support of up to 4K at 120Hz, and updated Killer E3100 networking. These Alienware laptops are the first of their kind to implement the new HDMI standard, which will finally make PC gaming in the living room a bit more feasible.
It will be coming on January 26 starting at $2,150.
A smaller m15 model is also available for purchase, too. Storage, processor, memory, and CPU and GPU configurations are the same. However, there is no option for a 360Hz display. Instead, there are options for either FHD or 4K OLED.
The m15 R4 will be coming on January 26 for prices starting at $2,150.
As the name of the product suggests, what’s new with the Aurora Ryzen Edition is AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series processors. The hugely successful desktop chips have been sold out ever since release, and Alienware is one of the first major premade desktop manufacturers to start building with it. Dell is offering up to a 16-core processor with the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, perfect for gaming and content creation.
Elsewhere, memory options range from 8GB to 128GB of RAM, either at 3200MHz or 3400MHz. Storage options range from single storage SSD or SATA drives up to 2TB or dual storage options of 256GB to 2TB SSD and a 1TB or 2TB SATA disk.
Graphics options range from AMD’s Radeon 5000 or 6000 RX, or your choice of Nvidia’s latest GeForce RTX graphics.
Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition will be available come January 26 for prices starting at $1,080.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
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The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.