Alienware Area-51 m5550

Alienware's Area-51 m5550 has a subdued look that might blend into the corporate landscape, were it not for the familiar glowing alien head on the lid. At 2.72kg, the Area-51 m5550 is also designed to be reasonably mobile -- although its disappointingly brief battery life is likely to keep users tethered to the wall socket. The notebook did post some of the best scores we've seen on our application benchmarks, so if you're looking for raw power (and you can afford the price), you won't go wrong with the Alienware Area-51 m5550. However, you'll need to look elsewhere if you want to work or play for long periods away from mains power.

Measuring 36.2cm wide by 27.3cm deep by 3.45cm high, the Area-51 m5550 is hardly svelte, but it's no monster either. This 2.72kg notebook falls between its competitors when it comes to weight as well: we wouldn't want to carry it every day, but we could easily imagine taking it on the occasional trip. With its AC adapter, the system weighs 3.7kg.

The glossy finish on the Area-51 m5550's 15.4in. display resulted in rich, deep colours in nearly all use scenarios; unfortunately, it also was quite reflective — even in average office-light environments. The screen's 1,920-by-1200-pixel native resolution looks sharp and gives you enough room to keep multiple windows open side by side.

The keyboard on the Area-51 m5550 is just less than full-size (the spacebar is half-size) and requires some adjustment to type comfortably. Users of keyboard shortcuts should note that Alienware has jettisoned the right-side control key to free up space. Although the keyboard is a bit cramped, the touchpad is downright spacious, and we appreciate its separate vertical scroll zone; likewise, the two large mouse buttons are easy to activate. We love the touchpad's on/off button, which let us easily disable the pad when typing or when using an external mouse.

A small built-in microphone sits to the left of the touchpad; we're surprised there's not a Webcam (a feature we're seeing on more notebooks in this category) to go with it. Above the keyboard, four programmable buttons launch frequently used applications and tap into Alienware's support site. The notebook lacks any external media controls, save the volume wheel on the left-hand side of the case.

The Area-51 m5550 has an average selection of ports and jacks for a mid-size notebook. There are S-Video, DVI and VGA connectors, three USB 2.0 ports and a four-pin FireWire port, plus a microphone jack and a headphone jack that doubles as an S/PDIF connector. Networking connections include Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g wireless and a modem. You can add functionality to the Area-51 m5550 via the ExpressCard/54 slot, and there's a built-in 4-in-1 card reader that recognises Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro and MMC formats. A tray-loading DVD burner rounds out the system's feature set. About the only thing missing is Bluetooth, which is a £28 option.

Priced at £1,141 (ex. VAT), our Alienware Area-51 m5550 configuration included a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 processor, 1GB of fast 667MHz RAM, an 80GB hard drive spinning at 7,200rpm, and an Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 video card with 256MB of dedicated memory.

A similar but slightly higher-spec model tested by (ZDNet UK sister site) CNET.com outscored the competition, posting some of the highest application performance scores seen to date. That performance came at the cost of battery life, though: the Area-51 m5550's six-cell battery lasted just 99 minutes in the drain tests — about half of the average for a system of its size and less than even some desktop replacement notebooks. CNET.com's test system had a top-of-the-line 2.33GHz T7600 Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of RAM and a 100GB hard disk. We would expect the 2GHz, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard disk model examined by ZDNet UK to deliver less stellar performance in return for somewhat more battery life.

Alienware backs the Area-51 m5550 with an industry-standard one-year warranty that includes 24/7 phone support, but unlike some other manufacturers', the Alienware warranty also includes on-site service. Upgrading to a three-year warranty costs £155, and the company's AlienAutopsy self-diagnosis software is available for an additional £12. The Alienware support Web site includes the expected knowledge database, driver downloads and FAQs plus some additional helpful features, such as up-to-date virus information with free virus scans, customer forums and the option to view your support history.

Specifications