Not a sponsored post (but I’m available for endorsements)

After five and a half years of steadfast and reliable service, I semi-retired The Beast, a 17″ Alienware laptop. I replaced it with…another 17″ Alienware laptop.

The Beast served me so well that I decided to go the same route for its replacement. I stuck with the same brand and screen size, picked a model I liked, and moved the configuration sliders for the hardware options all the way to the right for almost every component. I’m hoping that this system will last as long as the old one, which is still trucking along and now serving as a spare gaming rig for the kids in case one of theirs goes out of commission.

The new one is much faster than the old model and over two pounds lighter. But the killer feature for me is the mechanical keyboard they managed to squeeze into the laptop chassis, ultra-low profile Cherry switches. It’s a $100 upgrade from the regular keyboard, but let me tell you that it’s OH SO WORTH IT. It makes every other laptop keyboard I’ve ever typed on feel like mushy garbage. It’s firm and tactile and very clicky, and I want this keyboard on every laptop from now on.

(Keyboards are an important component when you’re in the business of typing a quarter million words or more a year.)