"For years Alienware has been producing machines that cater to gamers and enthusiasts desires, coupling some of the industry's most radical designs with top of the line PC hardware. So when Alienware introduced the Area-51 m15x we were obviously keen to check it out.

Our review sample came configured with the new Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 "Penryn XE" mobile processor and a GeForce 8800M GTX (512MB) graphics card. In short, this is the combination of the fastest possible mobile CPU and the fastest mobile GPU out there. Of course, this won't come cheap as the retail value of our review sample was $4770."

"A few months ago, NVIDIA announced that any future chipset from the company would come with an integrated graphic chip built-in. This may come as a surprise to many enthusiasts, as many of us will never purchase a motherboard with integrated graphics since we are always going to need something stronger. However, in this increasingly environmentally-conscious world, going green is the talk of the town, and NVIDIA has taken this on by incorporating mGPU to their chipset. Confused? Read on.

The rationale behind NVIDIA’s decision is that while we need a super powerful graphics card in games, the computer system is actually not going to need all that graphical power while it is running desktop applications. In many cases, enthusiasts are using computers for web browsing, working, and running non-graphically intensive applications. It would be wasteful to have a powerful 3D graphics card sitting idle during these applications, wasting precious electrical power. Thus, by incorporating mGPU and combining it with NVIDIA’s “Hybrid power”, the computer is able to reduce the power usage (and energy bill) by switching off the discrete graphics card and using only the integrated graphics for low-demand applications. When the demand for graphic power increases, the dedicated graphic card will then kick in."

"CPU Coolers nowadays are becoming more and more silent. However, what normally comes with silence is a drop in performance. This has made enthusiasts try to find their own, personal, perfect balance- either for silence or performance. At Tech-Reviews today, we have a Nexus LXM-8200 for review, a cooler boasting noise levels of 17dBA. Is it the perfect balance?"

"Dan adds even more bling to his POLICE rig with the addition of the Gigabyte ODIN GT 800w Power Supply. This 80 plus PSU comes with an optional speed, temperature, and wattage guage that looks like it would be right at home in the dashboard of a Ferrari or Mustang. See how far we were able to bury the needle on the ODIN GT in our review."

"As readers of ASE Labs, you know that I have always said that it is very important to have proper backups and have redundant storage. While we have seen the MS2UTN+ from Sans Digital, this new model contains a LCD screen to easily setup and manage the unit. It is really amazing what a two line LCD can give you in terms of piece of mind."

"Although many companies have started to focus their research and development on DDR3 modules many months ago, some have released high performance DDR2 in the past few weeks. One of the most impressive sets are the new Pi series from G.Skill which can operate at 1100MHz at only 1.9Vdimm. By the end of the review will we know if they are worth the money."

"Silence is a wonderful thing, especially when it's with your computer. With the rise of HTPC's and the gamers demand for silence when shooting there favourite alien, many companies have jumped onto the band wagon and created silent or at least very quiet fans. Vizo is one such company and they have bought out the ultra quiet super muffle and the automatically speed adjusted freezer fans. Let's see if they can offer some silent peace in a usually loud case."

"Nowadays, not many people know how to really take care of their computer. Some assume that the computer looks after itself and that nothing will go wrong. Well after time, without any love or care your computer will slow down and stop doing the normal things that it used to be able to do without effort."

"When I go shopping for a digital audio player -- in which the last time I did so was January 2007 -- the brands that come to mind initially are only a handful. Although I lately turned to listening to music in my car while driving, I still enjoy using one once in a while just in case I needed to take the bus. Not to mention that my car has an audio input that I can use my digital audio player anyways. That said, the digital audio player brands that really come to my mind initially are nothing much more than the occasional Apple and Creative. I have a Creative Zen Vision:M that I purchased back then, which is an excellent player that I still enjoy very much to this day. On the other hand, when Nextar contacted me and introduced me to their T30 4GB digital media player, it really brought about my interest. I have to admit I have never heard of them before, but they promised a "sleek and stylish" machine with the T30 that can not only play WMA and MP3 files, but also offers a large 3.5-inch LCD for photos and videos. With 4GB flash storage capacity, it all comes in for only MSRP $99 and available in retail stores such as Wal-Mart. How does that sound to you? We'll see about that."

"In this article we take a closer look at three solutions from Titan and Scythe which aim to cool your HDD without fans; two of these products, Titan TTC-HD90 and Scythe Himuro also help reduce noise. We combine them with a 10.000rpm Raptor to see if they can handle the heat and noise!"

"There has obviously been a fair amount of buzz going on in the market about SSD (Solid State Disks) as of late, as pricing continues its downward trend. In addition, performance has continued to improve with SSDs as the technology matures. Recently, announcements from major OEMs like Samsung have promised fairly impressive offerings with read/write performance that would rival most standard spinning disks and of course sub 1ms access times that literally no standard rotational media could come close to.

In preparation for an SSD round-up here at HotHardware, we started getting in eval samples from various vendors and one of them perhaps has made a bit more of a splash than others recently, with its $200 price tag, after rebates (64GB model, 128GB is $399 - $449) and specified 120 - 140MB/sec read and 80 - 93MB/sec write performance. So, we decided to give you all a quick-take look at it before we dig into the pile of SSDs we have here in the lab. The OCZ Core Series SATA II 64GB Solid State Drive is here on the test bench and we pitted it against some stiff competition as you'll see..."

"I don't know about you, but I have quite a bit of data that I wouldn't want others to have direct access to. Items such as e-mail archives and financial records could potentially be disastrous in the hands of someone with malicious intent. Those who carry around vital data in external enclosures are even more at risk, as this data is "out and about" quite often and subject to loss or theft. If you fit into either of these categories, SilverStone recently released an external 2.5" hard drive enclosure that uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology to encrypt the contents of the drive inside, rendering it useless without the RFID sensor key to unlock it."

"Today on the desk we have Cyber Snipa’s latest in hardcore gaming accessories; the Tracer backlit mouse mat, Stinger Laser gaming mouse and the Gamepad v2. This lethal setup will fit right at home for most gamers looking to have some dedicated hardware to bring home the headshots. Now let’s look at the specs for each item.

Looking at the setup overall; I think Cyber Snipa are on to something good here. The dwarf keyboard is great for hardcore gamers and the mouse is a serious contender for anyone who needs a laser mouse. Coupled with a mouse mat that keeps the mouse gliding smooth, there’s no way you can loose, unless of course you’re like me and suck at games..."

"Today we are taking a look at the Really Cool Keyboard from Man & Machine. This keyboard has basic features with its main use being for environments where water or germs are an issue.

No software is required for operation of the Really Cool Keyboard on a Windows computer. You simply plug the Really Cool Keyboard in and turn on the computer and the keyboard works. The keys of the Really Cool Keyboard are sealed for water resistance and are spaced wider apart than some keyboards I have used and the keys are smaller than your typical keyboard."