Alienware is back with a bang. Along with the M14x and the M18x, the Alienware M17x has had an Intel Ivy Bridge refresh for 2012.

A powerful and surprisingly portable gaming mini-machine

The new Alienware gaming laptop gains an extra inch and more grunt

A compact gaming laptop packing Intel Sandy Bridge power

One of the best gaming laptops around and comes at a very reasonable price

Alienware has long been recognised as a premium brand for gaming enthusiasts, especially for desktop PCs, but its history with gaming laptops has been less impressive.

Better known for its high-end desktop gaming machines, Alienware also makes gaming laptops. The Area-51 m9750 (£2600 inc. VAT) boasts a high specification within a relatively compact chassis

The Alienware Aurora mALX (£2753 inc. VAT) is the flagship model in the company's range and proves this on a number of levels. It's the largest machine, sporting a 19-inch Super-TFT panel that is stunning to look at

Alienware is a dedicated gaming brand offering distinctive machines with powerful performance. As such, its Aurora M9700 (£2250 inc. VAT) offers Nvidia's SLI technology - this allows the M9700 to use two graphics cards simultaneously

A gaming machine with twin graphics cards and performance to spare

Some people aren't satisfied with a plain old laptop. There's clearly a market for PCs branded with glowing aliens and rubber fins, because Alienware, a company renowned for its high-price, highspec systems, is filling it.