The laptop itself is quite large, which is something that will become understandable when we get to the specs. It’s dimensions are 18″ x 12″ x 2.3″, and it weighs in a gargantuan 12 pounds. If you don’t have good upper-body strength already, owning this may help you develop it.
The reason the laptop is so big starts with the 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, 18.4-inch screen. It also comes with not one but two GeForce GTX 970M GPUs with the option to upgrade to two GTX 980Ms. Obviously, running two cards in a laptop is going to increase the size, but that’s the trade-off for power.
For the processor, the base model comes with a quad-core CPU with 2.5GHz base and 3.5 GHz Turbo clocks in the form of a Core i7-4710MQ. It can be upgraded to the Core i7-4910MQ or the Core i7-4940MX for buyers who want even more power (and a higher price) for their laptop.
The $2,500 model comes with 16GB of RAM, but the laptop features four DIMM slots, which means users can choose to snag 32GB of RAM. Even for anyone who doesn’t upgrade initially, the slots allow for expansion later.
In terms of internal storage, the base model comes with a 1TB HDD, but there is an option to get a 500GB SSD on top for an additional cost of $500.
Other notable features include a Killer Ethernet controller, a Broadcom 802.11ac wireless adapter, four USB 3.0 ports, a mini-DisplayPort, and HDMI input and output ports. No word on how long the battery lasts, though Dell did announce that it would included an 86 watt-hour unit. From a laptop this powerful with such a large screen, we aren’t expecting overwhelmingly impressive battery life.
Last, and probably least, is the option to choose 20 different colors of LED lighting in 10 different zones.
The Alienware 18 is available now directly from Dell. It starts with the aforementioned $2,499.99 base model and goes all the way to $4,649.99 for the top-end model.
