Dell's Alienware M11x already offered up some potent graphics, especially for a laptop of its size. Now—just a few months after release—the M11x is getting a Core i7 CPU upgrade that makes it a powerhouse in every sense.
While we'd heard before about the Core-i bump, the M11x will also get Nvidia Optimus, a system that makes switching between integrated and discrete graphics totally seamless and automatic. Those two moves take care of our primary M11x concerns, and make it an incredibly potent machine in a (relatively) very little chassis.
Other specs: you can get up to 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD or 256GB SSD, along with Core i5 or Core i7. They've taken away the VGA port to accommodate the new processors, but that's a sacrifice I'd be willing to make considering you've still got HDMI and USB in there. And with a Core i5 system still coming in at under $1000, it's time to take another serious look at the M11x. [Dell]