Once upon a time, having a laptop with any gaming credibility meant you had a 10-pound beast that looked and sounded more like an air conditioning unit than a portable PC. With the advances in mobile ...

The model on sale today foregoes the pricier Core i7 processor -- which does little for gaming performance -- and instead keeps costs down with a (still Ivy Bridge) Core i5-3210M dual-core chip.

The M14x R3 is the middle child of the Alienware family; it's a great performer on the gaming grid, but its weight and heat issues work against it.

Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and ...