Alienware : The Ultimate Gaming Machine™

                           Don't confuse the new M17x with the busted old Area-51 m17x that it replaced.                          

I haven't gotten to test one of these systems yet and I haven't read any definitive reviews, but from what I've seen things are looking good so far. The chassis looks great, even compared to the m17x "Ripley" design (which was adequate), and the options allow for a capable computer. It's a bit pricey and I'm pretty sure that it's not the best gaming notebook dollar-for-dollar, but it's hard to deny the appeal of it.

Here is a build that I think would work nicely but still manages a reasonable price:

Starting price: $1799

    * Core 2 Duo T9600 ($200 upgrade)
    * Vista Home Premium 64-bit
    * Dual Nvidia 260M video cards ($300)
    * 1920×1200 display ($150)
    * 4GB 1066 DDR3 RAM
    * dual 320GB disks in RAID0 ($50)
    * DVD burner

Total price: $2499 (pre-tax).

That's a solid system that doesn't skimp on anything serious. Plus it allows for SLI video, and two hard drives. I would point out that if you want the system for workstation tasks you should consider the quad-core Q9000 processor (+$50) but that drops you down to 2.0GHz. Also the RAID0 is not for everyone, but it could be a cheap speed boost if you don't want to get the SSD. If this is your main computer or you want to do work with it, you can go RAID1 for the same price. Also, if you have a nice external display that you'll be using, go with a 1440×900 display and save yourself $150 (you almost buy a 24-inch display with that much these days).