Alienware today became the last of Dell’s PC brands to formally make the leap to Intel’s 2010 processors as it began selling faster versions of the M15x and M17x. The smaller, 15-inch M15x now starts out with a 2.13GHz Core i3 but still has the 3GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive and GeForce GT 240M of the Core 2 Duo predecessor. It can use much of the remaining Core i5 and i7 line up to and including the quad-core 2GHz Core i7 Extreme Edition.
As the flagship, the M17x starts out higher and runs on a minimum 2.4GHz Core i5. Its features also remain the same but are considerably better, including not just the 17-inch display but the Mobility Radeon HD 4870 and 4GB of base RAM. Most other options are similar and let it scale up to either dual 4870 or dual GeForce GTX 280M graphics along with the Core i7 selections.
The M15x starts out at $1,199, and most orders should ship by early February. To keep prices down, Alienware is for now keeping the Core 2 Duo model and starts the Core i5 system at $1,799
