Photo: Infinity Ward

Laptops have been on par with PCs for some time now in terms of annual sales, and it stands to reason that at some point they will begin to accelerate away from desktop PCs. As such, components makers have had to adjust their strategies while users have adjusted their demands. This has held true for makers of gaming hardware as many gamers have begun looking to mobile solutions to get their fix.

However, if you want the optimum performance and the bleeding edge of technology, especially for gaming, desktops are superior to laptops. This is fact. And it may stay this way for some time. Now that that’s out the way, let’s see what pre-assembled gaming PCs are available for those who don’t want to get their hands dirty assembling the units themselves.

Alienware

Alienware, which now belongs to computing giant Dell, has long been the pre-assembled gaming PC forerunner. Their pre-assembled units have always been pricey, though the comparable cost has dropped in recent years. If you don’t mind dropping a pretty dime, you can get the Alienware Area 51 LUX for a little under £2,900. This is an extravagant price tag for an extravagant gaming PC powered by an Intel Core i7-920M running at 3,2GHz standard. Add to that 6,144MB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM for added boost. The price tag is, however, escalated by the 2 X ATI Radeon HD 5970 graphics card that has 2048MB of onboard memory. These cards on their own cost north of £500, giving Alienware a bit of crutch in justifying that price tag. Not much, but a bit.

Zoostroom

Photo: Zoostorm

The lesser-known Zoostorm range of gaming PCs are also up for consideration, especially if price is a factor. The fairly recently released Zoostorm 7871 gaming PC is significantly less expensive than the Alienware Area 51 LUX, yet delivers sufficient performance for most gaming needs. With Intel Core i7 860 and its 8GB of DDR3 RAM with an Nvidia GeForce 275 GTX pushing out the graphics, Zoostorm are quite smart in cutting corners where it cannot compete with the Alienware Area 51 LUX (or Alienware in general) in terms of price.

American computer manufacturer Dell has been a leader in the field of laptops or notebooks and personal computers. Being the multinational technology corporation, Dell offers a range of laptops and desktops for both home and office purposes. Durability, expandability, convenience, looks and adaptability define Dell computers. Dell believes in the philosophy of tailoring its products with the latest technology from time to time. Dell champions the notebook genre offering Inspiron, Studio, Studio XPS and Alienware and Inspiron Mini series.

Coming from the Dell Inspiron series, one such wide screen, pocket friendly and multipurpose notebook is the Dell Inspiron 1750. It completely denies the notion that laptops with wider screens are more expensive. The Dell Inspiron 1750 is one of the high performer Inspirons. The Dell Inspiron 1750 is an office notebook with Intel Pentium Dual Core processor and 17.3” display. With the aspect ratio of 16:9, Dell Inspiron 1750 ensures high picture quality and great display. The slim design of this notebook makes it more mobile. Dell Inspiron 1750 offers you the customization options from the colours like Obsidian Black, Ice Blue and Cherry Red.

Two different screens in single notebook is what makes Dell Inspiron 1750 stand out. There is an HD display and a full HD display. Compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista Home, Dell Inspiron 1750 features Wi-Fi, 3 USB ports, 1.3 megapixel webcam, 7-in1 cardreader and 250 GB hard drive.

The Dell Inspiron 1750 performance range covers basic office work to simple multimedia use and is the next replacement for desktops. This enticing notebook fits in your budget and is perfect for outdoor use. For all those who want to enjoy the benefits of a notebook with big displays and reasonable cost, the Dell Inspiron 1750 is the smart choice.

When it comes to hi-fi gaming laptops, Alienware is no stranger to users. The company is into offering sophisticated machines to computing enthusiasts for a long time and now the M17 is out to amaze hardcore gamers.

The Alienware laptop possesses a never before seen hardware configuration, which lets its users easily use multiple applications at once. This machine has enough power to take care of any task with aplomb. With the Alienware M17 laptop you will experience extreme processer speed and speedy fast data management. The best part of this system is that it takes you ahead of the NVIDIA graphics chips that support DirectX 9.0 used in most computers like the Sony Vaio VGN-NS10J/S. Instead, the Alienware M17 uses ATI CrossFireX technology that fully supports DirectX 10.1, giving you an unadulterated view and a massive resolution of 1200p, i.e. far more than the resolution offered by the latest full HDTVs.

You can configure the M17 with the following specifications:

• Processor: Intel Core2 Duo and Extreme Processors (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) or Intel Core2 Quad and Extreme Processors (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)

• Memory: Up to 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz on two slots for dual channel configuration.

• OS: Windows Vista Home Premium (32- and 64-bit) or Windows Vista Ultimate (32- and 64-bit)

• Graphics: Single ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 or Dual ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 (CrossFireX Enabled)

• Storage: Single HDD (500GB SATA @ 5400 RPM or 320GB SATA @ 7200 RPM) or Dual HDD in RAID 0 (1TB @ 5400 RPM or 640GB @ 7200 RPM)

• Dual layer Blu-ray writer

Apart from these you can also choose among a number of connectivity options, keyboard types, LCD and other peripherals.