Leave it to Alienware to put 'gaming' and 'netbook' in the same sentence, let alone the same room. But that's basically what Dell's gaming venture has done with the unveiling of Alienware's 11.6-inch M11x ultraportable.

Of course, netbooks are all about battery life, and towards that end, the M11x boasts switchable graphics. Want to browse the Web or compose an email? Then there's no need to tap into the Nvidia GT335M GPU. But once you're finished being productive and ready to kick-back with a bit of small-screen gaming, just flip the hot switch to turn on the faster graphics (complete with a 1GB frame buffer), which will load in under two seconds, according to Dell representatives. And by doing so, Dell claims you'll be able to run Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at over 30fps in full-HD mode and settings cranked up to high.

Other details remain elusive, such as what kind of supplementary hardware the M11x is packing. We do know it comes with a DisplayPort, HDMI, and VGA ports, but other than that, we'll have to post an update when more details emerge.

Dell says it plans to ship the gaming netbook sometime this spring for under a grand.

Image Credit: Alienware

Have you been holding off on buying that new console for fear of the setup process? Does the thought of wasting a whole ten minutes of you time plugging everything in and turning it on make you physically ill? Well then, Target will totally have you covered later this month. Yes, for a mere $99 Target will come to your house and set up your console.

If you are rich enough to go for this, Target will plug in the console to your TV, configure it, put it on your network, and setup online accounts. Technically, it’s a third party, Zip Installation, that’s doing the work, but Target is putting their name on it.

At a hundred bucks, I imagine it will be a tough sell. Would you, or anyone you know pay for this service?

Saitek and Mad Catz have teamed up to create a next generation flight stick, but with a $400 price tag, and more buttons than a stealth bomber, only the most hardcore flight sim fans need apply. The X65F itself more closely mirrors the controls of a modern military aircraft because it responds to applied pressure, while still remaining fixed to the base.

The boys over at ars technica describe the feel of the X65F as “a heavy piece of metal in your hand- you won’t have to worry about keeping the stick steady or moving it around while you play-and after a while it simply feels as if the controls are reacting to your thoughts”.

This sounds like a great investment for PC flight sim fans, but with the death of the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, one wonders how big the market for this really is. It’s not like most people are going to be using this with Hawx are they?

Anyone out there interested?

Dreaming about what the Xbox 720 (or whatever Microsoft decides to name the Xbox 360's followup console) will be like? Well, keep dreaming, because the Redmond outfit has no plans of replacing the four-year old console any time soon, and is instead focused on Project Natal and other ways of extending the console's lifespan.

"I think it's important to say that the Xbox 360 is the console of the long future for us. There is no need to launch a new console, because we're able to give this console new life either with software upgrades or hardware upgrades like Project Natal," said David Hufford, senior director of Xbox product management. "The Xbox 360 was designed for a long life, and I don't even know if we're at the midpoint yet."

Microsoft is concentrating on bringing Project Natal to the Xbox 360, which the company indicated should be ready for the 2010 holiday season. After that, it's anyone's guess what else Microsoft has planned, especially if, as Hufford suggested, the console hasn't even reached its midpoint yet. Could Blu-ray finally be in the Xbox 360's future? Probably not.

"We love our prices right now," Hufford added. "I don't want to say that technology stops, but we believe we have a high quality console, and we stand by that quality with an unprecedented warranty, so we think we're in a good place now heading into the Natal era."

Image Credit: loudmouthedgamers.com