Alienware is always looking for new ways to innovate with its gaming laptops, and even though the new Alienware 18 is its most masterful to date, it is quite thick and heavy - making it less than ideal for portability. 

To alleviate this, the company has confirmed that it is working on a new line of slimmer gaming laptops, the Alienware 13 line. The laptop is fueled by an Nvidia GTX  860M GPU, up to 16GB DDR3 memory, and the latest Intel CPU, which will eventually be upgraded to the next-generation Broadwell processors, but not at launch. However, thes processors will be full voltage, so the laptop may be smaller, but it will probably run pretty hot. Best of all, the laptop will weigh 4.5 pounds (about two pounds lighter than the Alienware 14), and a 1-inch thick body, which makes it a closer competitor to the Razer Blade. The battery is rated for up to 8 hours of video playback, but that will certainly become irrelevant when gaming is involved.

Featuring a 13.3 inch display with optional touchscreen capabilities, the base model will have a 1,366 x 768 resolution, and higher end models will be at a full 1920 x 1080. The option touchscreen display will have a crisp 2,560 x 1,440 panel. The laptop will also include a TACTX keyboard, along with Klipsch audio and can be configured with an SSD or traditional drive. Buyers can also choose between Windows 7 or 8.1 to come pre-installed. 

The Razer Blade still wins in most point-by-point comparisons, since it sports a Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M GPU and a higher resolution 3,200 x 1,800 touchscreen, but maybe that means the Alienware 13 won't cost $3K, either. No pricing information has been announced yet, or the full spread of options, but more information is expected as we get closer to the computer's launch later this year.