Latest Gaming Laptop Models from Alienware and Asus

Looking for a new gaming laptop? They aren’t all huge and chunky anymore, and many can deliver impressive results. Several brands have released advanced new models in the past few months, giving you more options than ever for powerful yet mobile PC gaming.

Two brands in particular, Alienware and Asus, have distinguished themselves in the gaming laptop space. Below, you’ll find a roundup of the latest models from these two makers.

By the way, if you’re getting close to pulling the trigger on a new gaming rig or gaming laptop, make sure to give yourself the peace of mind of knowing you’re protected if something should go wrong with your new machine. An extended laptop warranty from Upsie will do just that!

The brand Alienware is synonymous with gaming: gaming PCs are what the company was founded to make, and they do a pretty stellar job of it! Back in 2006, the brand was acquired by Dell, but Alienware machines continue to pack a gaming punch.

Alienware’s top of the line model is the Area-51m. It’s a beast of a laptop in several ways. While many gaming laptops are looking slimmer than ever, not this one. It’s still pretty thick. There’s a reason for the thickness, though: the machine uses some actual desktop parts for added power, rather than the less power-intensive laptop equivalents.

It’s a powerful rig with a steep price tag to match, and the price goes significantly higher as you move up in specifications. Featuring a high refresh rate (but no 4K screen), the Area-51m performs well, and games dazzle on the 17-inch screen.

One huge selling point: user-upgradable parts. You can swap out both CPU and graphics card down the road, so this machine has some staying power.

The machine scored well in CNet’s review with one Achilles heel: very poor battery life.

If you’re looking for an Alienware gaming laptop at a more approachable price, there’s good news for you. Techradar notes that you can save a chunk of change by taking advantage of what Dell is doing at the moment. The manufacturer seems to be clearing out older machines at steep discounts, including m15 R3 machines from 2020.

This m15 R3 is loaded to the hilt, with an RTX 2070, a high-performance Core i7 processor, a massive 1TB SSD, 16 GB of RAM, and a display that clocks in at an eye-melting 300Hz. It’s also quite a bit thinner and lighter, but you do sacrifice about two inches in screen real estate.

Asus was a latecomer to the gaming laptop space, and it wasn’t necessarily the most lauded regular laptop maker at the time. Still, Asus has impressed many gamers and reviewers alike by offering capable gaming laptops at surprisingly affordable prices. Here are two top models for 2021 from Asus.

One of the top performers in terms of overall power, the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX701 is powerful. For its graphics card, the machine features the top-of-the-line RTX 2080 with Max-Q. It’s ultra-slim and features a 17-inch screen with a tiny bezel – on three sides, anyway. The backlit RGB keyboard is positioned toward the front – just like gamers would want.

The ROG Zephyrus features the ability to toggle between gaming mode and “Optimus mode” (essentially, business/multitasking mode), which is a nice touch. The price tag is steep, but it matches the feature set.

If you need to keep your budget in check or you want actual battery life in your gaming laptop, the G14 is a serious contender. It features an AMD chipset rather than Intel, but that chipset is honestly pretty impressive.

As a budget machine, the G14 starts a little lower in terms of storage, RAM, and graphics power, but you can scale any of these up as you build out your rig.

No matter how you slice it, your gaming laptop is going to run you a decent chunk of change. And while gaming laptops are built to withstand the rigors of graphics-intensive use, they can still fail. For that matter, they’re no less immune than normal laptops to sliding off the table or falling out of your bag – they just cost way more.

Whichever brand you choose, armor up your gaming laptop with an extended computer warranty from Upsie. Choose from two or three years of extended warranty, including accident protection. Then rest assured that you’ll be OK if something goes wrong with your new machine. Upsie’s warranties cover accidents, liquid damage, drops, and failure of pretty much any component on your new (or or used) machine.