Gamers: say your goodbyes to Dell's XPS line. It's going away, for good.
Well, not exactly -- but the computer manufacturer is shifting the rest of the gaming community toward its Alienware arm (the hardcore gamers already switched) and plans to move its popular XPS line away from the segment, reports PC World.
The move makes sense. Until now, Dell's XPS line was a bulked-up (in terms of hardware) series of laptops that began as a gaming lineup and operated as a solution for anyone who needed a bit more oomph -- but not cutting-edge oomph -- in their machine.
Here at ZDNet, we've recommended Dell XPS laptops for a number of uses, from daily computing to student laptops and more.
On the other side of the fence, Alienware has operated as the extreme, bleeding-edge gaming solution. Extreme performance, extreme hardware, extreme style and an extreme price-tag to match. But Dell's new strategy aims to bring Alienware to (more of) the masses, rather than just an (if I may) extreme minority.
The company's new "All Powerful" campaign intends to expand Alienware's reach from six countries to 35, PC World reports, and the first system to herald in the new era is the new Alienware M17X laptop.
The 17-in. laptop, which will carry a starting price tag of $1,799 -- a big chunk of change, but hardly anything for a 17-in. gaming laptop -- will sport an anodized aluminum case and the following specs:
Ports: Four-pin FireWire, four USB, one eSATA/USB combo, one ExpressCard Slot, an eight-in-one Media Card reader, DisplayPort, HDMI, VGA video-out, audio-out jacks for 6.1 surround sound
