Alienware 17 R4: Worth its weight in gold

If there’s any gaming laptop as recognizable year to year as Razer’s Blade line, it’s probably Alienware’s. Following a redesign a few years back, the humbly named Alienware 17 has stayed pretty much the same ever since, at least on the outside.

And you know what that means: Time to hit the gym if you want to do anything with this laptop besides set it on a desk and forget about it.

THE BUILD: BIGFOOT

The Alienware 17 R4 (currently priced at $2,549 on Amazon) is still so big. Just staggeringly huge. With so many following Razer’s lead and slimming down to actual laptop size as opposed to so-called “desktop replacement” proportions, I keep expecting Alienware to do the same.

But no. Year after year, Alienware’s laptops remain gigantic—the better to disperse heat, and therefore utilize the full (or fuller) potential of all those expensive parts inside.

I get it. Really, I do. You’re paying for performance, you want that performance, and Alienware’s 17-inch laptop will give it to you. (More on that later.) But it’s damn near impossible to haul anywhere, so don’t