Entertainment
Alienware revives its Area-51 lineup and debuts positive pressure desktop at CES 2025
As CES 2025 innovations roll in, we’re keyed into the intersection of product launches. Nvidia kicked off CES with a highly anticipated keynote that unveiled the brand’s next generation of graphics cards, the GeForce RTX 5000 series.
While there’s plenty of excitement around this innovation in graphics, Alienware’s CES announcement is putting the Nvidia graphic cards to use.
Dell’s flagship gaming brand debuted its most advanced monitor yet, already lauded at CES. Plus, the brand is reviving its Area-51 line-up, catering to gamers seeking out the most advanced tech. Here’s everything announced by Alienware at CES 2025.
Alienware 27 4K QD-OLED Monitor

Alienware’s latest monitor is a CES 2025 Innovation Award honoree.
Credit: Alienware
A recipient of the CES 2025 Innovation Award, comes the Alienware 27 4K QD-OLED monitor. Composed of organic light-emitting diodes, this monitor offers some of the highest pixels per inch at 166ppi in addition to its astounding 240Hz refresh. It’s a feat of the latest technology available, delivering precise visual clarity and advanced speeds,
The 4K (3840 x 2160) display caters especially to gaming content creators. In addition to offering better cable management and 360-degree ventilation, the monitor comes with Creator Mode to switch between color spaces as you simultaneously play and produce content.
The Alienware 27 4K QD-OLED monitor is expected to hit the market in March of 2025, priced at $899.99.
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Area-51 Desktop

The Alienware Area-51 desktop makes it easier to upgrade your tech for years to come.
Credit: Alienware
Alienware is reviving its Area-51 collection, showcasing the brand’s most advanced features and powering up Nvidia’s latest graphics. Leading the charge is the Alienware Area-51 Desktop, an 80L tower taking its place as the brand’s new flagship PC. It comes outfitted with industry-standard components that are both easily replaceable and serviceable. Users can customize the motherboard, power supply, CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and fans. Plus it supports Nvidia’s latest graphics, also announced at CES, as well as an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K CPU. To make things easier, QR codes included within the device link to tutorials on how to swap out each component.
This desktop is engineered with a positive pressure design for a 13 percent cooler and 45 percent quieter operation. With three different-sized fans inside to cool systems, internal gaskets within the chassis create a seal to build positive pressure, which then expels exhaust through the back of the tower. This new system doesn’t include an exhaust fan, yet this innovative design is said to push out 25 percent more air.
This customizable desktop, made for the most passionate of gamers, is expected to debut in late Q1 of 2025. It will launch at $4,499, with other configurations available at a later date.
Alienware Area-51 Laptops

Alienware’s Area-51 gaming laptops have a Northern Lights-inspired design.
Credit: Alienware
For something more portable but nonetheless stacked with tech, look to Alienware’s Area-51 laptops. Coming in 16- and 18-inch models, they’re designed with 35 percent better airflow that also claims to be 15 percent quieter. The latest design is inspired by the Aurora Borealis, with fluid lighting effects for a radiant look. Plus, a clear Gorilla Glass window on the bottom of the laptop lets you look inside the machine.
Like the Area-51 desktop, these laptops come with Nvidia’s latest graphics and can be figured with a CPU as advanced as the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX. Not to mention, these laptops will offer configurations with up to 12TB of storage.
Also expected to hit the market in late Q1, entry-level models will start at $1,999, however, launch configurations will kick off at $3,199.
Mashable is on the ground live at CES 2025! We’re covering all the wildest and most important developments this week, so please keep checking back in with us. Want to submit a product you represent for our teams’ consideration as we identify the Best of CES? Here’s more info on how to do it.
Entertainment
Access all your AI tools in one spot with this Chrome extension, now $75 for life
TL;DR: See answers from multiple AI models in one convenient spot thanks to ChatPlayground AI, now $74.97 for a lifetime subscription (reg. $619) through May 10.
Credit: ChatPlayground AI
Every AI model has its strengths and weaknesses. ChatPlayground AI lets you see results from all the major models side by side — from ChatGPT and DeepSeek to Llama and Perplexity.
You can save yourself time and get the best possible results all at once with a lifetime subscription to this handy tool — on sale now for just $74.97 through May 10.
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Hopping between different AI models really slows down your workflow. If you’d like to streamline how you use these tools, ChatPlayground AI saves you time, letting you see responses from over 20 AI models in a convenient spot.
This Chrome extension lets you enter prompts and see answers from Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, Llama, and more in one window. Easily see the best answer for your prompt, while avoiding paying all the different subscription fees.
Whether you need help generating code or images, or you just need to ask a simple question, ChatPlayground AI provides an answer for everything. It can even help you build better prompts with prompt engineering tools.
Image and PDF chat features let you get context-aware answers even faster, as they save you from typing things out. You can also reference past conversations when you need to — ChatPlayground AI saves them all.
Your Unlimited Plan includes unlimited monthly messages, priority customer service, and priority access to any new features and future models.
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Get a lifetime subscription to ChatPlayground AI’s Unlimited Plan, now for just $74.97 through May 10.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
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Artificial Intelligence
Entertainment
This $10 upgrade transforms your PC — but it’s only on sale until midnight
TL;DR: Upgrade a PC affordably with this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license, on sale for just $9.97 (reg. $199) through tonight at midnight.
Want to get the feeling of a new computer without having to shell out all the money for one? A new operating system gives your device a whole new feel, and if you’ve got a PC lying around, it could probably use this Microsoft Windows 11 Pro upgrade. If you act fast, you can get it for only $9.97 through tonight at 11:59 p.m. PT.
Windows 11 Pro breathes new life into an old computer, extending its lifespan for less than the cost of your lunch. Unlike older operating systems, this one was made with the modern professional in mind.
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Rest easy knowing Windows 11 Pro is filled with features that can improve your workflow — from an easy-to-use interface that enhances usability to snap layouts, seamless redocking, a more powerful search experience, and improved voice typing.
Take advantage of unique professional tools like Azure AD, Hyper-V, Windows Sandbox, and BitLocker device encryption. Then take a break and check out the impressive gaming experience offered by DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics.
Windows 11 Pro includes Copilot, Microsoft’s very own AI-powered assistant, which can assist you with a wide range of tasks. Get some help kickstarting your writing process, summarizing web pages, changing your settings, or even opening your apps.
You can also enjoy improved cybersecurity with Windows 11 Pro, as it adds biometric logins, encrypted authentication, and enhanced antivirus protection.
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Get your PC a Microsoft Windows 11 Pro license for only $9.97 tonight through midnight.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
Entertainment
3 AdultFriendFinder red flags — how to avoid scams on AFF
Depending on who you ask, AdultFriendFinder is either the Wild West of hookup sites, an “anything goes” paradise for adult fun, or a total scam replete with bots, fake profiles, and inactive accounts.
After months of personal testing, I can confidently say which AFF you experience ultimately boils down to how you use the site. If you approach it naively, without a strategy, you’re probably going to have some frustrating experiences. On the other hand, if you exercise a modicum of caution and common sense, you’ll discover a huge, fun, and kink-friendly community.
Here are three red flags to look out for as you use AFF, to help you spot potential scammers and separate the authentic users from the fake profiles.
Hookup apps for everyone
AdultFriendFinder
—
readers’ pick for casual connections
Tinder
—
top pick for finding hookups
Hinge
—
popular choice for regular meetups
Credit: AdultFriendFinder
Unverified accounts
AdultFriendFinder already offers a fantastic first step in combatting fake profiles that they call ConfirmID. Once you’ve created an account, you can, at any time, upload a clear scan of a government-issued ID card and then, using a webcam, undergo a quick face verification scan to confirm that you are indeed the person identified in the government document.
This step strikes the perfect balance between not being onerous enough to annoy the average user but still requiring enough effort to deter scammers, who notoriously go after the low-hanging fruit.
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Once you’ve completed the ConfirmID sequence, you’ll be rewarded with a verification badge on your profile, and we strongly recommend that you limit your one-on-one interactions on the site to other verified users.
Perfect profile photos
Alright, admittedly this one requires some personal judgment, as everyone should strive to upload good, high-quality photos of themselves to dating websites. But if every photo looks like it belongs in a magazine, or if the person in the photo looks a little too good to be true, you should exercise caution.
In the age of generative AI and filters, it’s trivially easy to create a fake photo or series of photos, so you should also be on the lookout for what isn’t in the photos. Are there recognizable local landmarks (clubs, restaurants, well-known parks, or street corners) in the photos, or are they all equally generic?
Over-eager chatters
Ever since chat bots became a thing, dating sites have become plagued with them, and as AI improves more and more, it’s not always easy to know, right away, if the “person” you’re talking to is really human. One dead giveaway, though, is how much they chat and how quickly they reply.
Real people go off on tangents, employ non sequiturs, and sometimes stumble with awkward questions or comments. Chat bots, on the other hand, are typically always chipper and extremely fast-talking, so much so that a paragraph-long answer can come back to you in seconds.
They also almost always have an agenda, too, whether that’s directing you to click on a link (“Follow my Instagram profile”) or getting you to divulge some potentially compromising bit of personal information about yourself.
