Alienware 13 R3 release date, features, news: New gaming laptop starts at $1,199

A promotional image for Alienware 13 Dell/Alienware

Alienware has just launched the Alienware 13 R3 laptop. With a 13-inch display, it is touted as the smallest VR-ready laptop in the market right now, and it is also one of the most powerful of the small laptops currently available.

According to a review from PC World, the laptop is powered by the Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.6 GHz processor which can be boosted up to 3.5 GHz. It runs on 8 GB RAM although this can be upgraded up to 32 GB RAM and it uses the NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics card. This makes it fully capable of supporting VR technology.

It is also one of the first new laptops in Alienware's lineup that utilizes a full OLED display. The laptop, in general, weighs just over 5 pounds, making it one of the heaviest laptops that are under 15-inches in size. Fortunately, the laptop does come with customization options such as being able to upgrade the RAM and being able to utilize Alienware's Graphics Amplifier technology.

Consumers will also take note that the Alienware 13 comes with multiple ports. This includes two USB 3.0 Type A ports, a singleThunderbolt 3 port, one USB 3.0 Type-C port, one HDMI 2.0 port, a gigabit ethernet port, one Mini DisplayPort 1.2, a standard audio out, one lock slot, and jacks for standard headphones and microphones.

The review also points out that both the 2013 "Tomb Raider" game and "Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor" both ran excellently at full setting, with both of them running at 1080p resolutions at a consistent frame rate. The battery life for the laptop lasted an average of four hours, even when running movies at 4K resolutions.

The Alienware 13 R3 starts at just $1,199, but with a few upgrades and additional features, it can go up to $2,099. It should be noted that there are options for the same laptop using LCD screens instead of the high-end OLED display, and this will also lower the potential retail price.

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