Alienware m11x

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I picked up the Alienware m11x before my last family vacation I have to say that it is a pretty great machine. It is not perfect, but it plays all the games in my Steam library without a problem, it is very portable, well built (no keyboard flex), and it has a great battery life. I was able to game, with the processor overclocked, for about two and a half hours and with the dedicated GPU turned off I got about six hours surfing the web.

I did have a few problems with the machine, though. The biggest one is the screen. It is glossy and the vertical viewing angles are pretty narrow, which would not be such a big deal, but both of those things just amplify the fact that the overall image quality is pretty mediocre, mostly because of terrible black level performance.

The next biggest issue is the CPU. In order to maximize battery life and reduce heat, they went with a pretty slow processor. It is the biggest bottleneck the machine has. I had to be strict about background and start-up programs, otherwise game performance would drop, even with the processor overclocked.

The m11x feels like a first generation product. I would like to see a three pound, thirteen inch unit in the future with a better screen and a CPU that matches well with GPU's performance. Overall, though, after playing games on the m11x, I am really excited about the gaming laptops that will come out in the next few years. Having a small, light, and well designed gaming laptop to tote around is just great. I almost went for one of the 10 pound behemoths, but now I would never consider it.

Theres rumors that these laptops might come out with core i3 & i5 cpu.

I'm sure there are new and better specs in the pipeline. As long as they maintain the quality and price point these little machines are going to evolve into something pretty awesome.

Another feature that is probably coming is automatic GPU switching. Now you have to press a button to switch to the dedicated GPU. Not a big deal, but sometimes I do forget and the game won't be playable or you will forget to turn it off and it eats up your battery life.

NotmeyouFOOL wrote:

Theres rumors that these laptops might come out with core i3 & i5 cpu.

It's not much of a rumor at this point. Dell guy said it is getting the new CULV versions "next month" on video (at 2:20 or so):

I really want one of these. Everything I've read about them say they're incredible but two things are holding me back -- the small screen and the lack of a DVD drive. I have too many old games on my pile that may or may not work without a disc in the drive and I'd really rather not re-purchase everything in Steam.

Maybe I'll stick with the original plan and upgrade the wife's work laptop and use hers until Christmas...decisions, decisions...

I'd buy an equivalent thin-and-light 13" once they upgrade the processors. Can't decide I really want to go all the way down to 11".

The m11 is a 12" laptop, but something the size of the 13" Macbook Pros would be about perfect.

heavyfeul wrote:

The m11 is a 12" laptop, but something the size of the 13" Macbook Pros would be about perfect.

It's sold as an 11". Based on screen size. So it's a couple inches smaller screen than the UL30Jc I've also been looking at.

It has a 1366x768 resolution for an 11 inch monitor. That is huge for tiny monitor. Heck my secondary monitor is an 19 inch with 1366x768 resolution.

Well, it looks like you can get them with an i5 or i7 now.

Nice, but I ended up getting a different laptop anyway -- the small screen and no optical drive were hard to overcome for me.

edosan wrote:

Well, it looks like you can get them with an i5 or i7 now.

And not at a horrible price it seems. An i5 with 4GB and a 7200 rpm drive upgrade ends up at $1049. Not great, but with the inevitable Dell discounts it could be a decent deal.

Nice, but I ended up getting a different laptop anyway -- the small screen and no optical drive were hard to overcome for me.

I can live without optical, but I still want something similar with a 13" screen.

I ordered one today. I use a 720p 32" LCD TV as a monitor, so the native resolution is just fine by me (not like the card can't push it higher). The size and weight make it ideal for traveling. It's also about 4 generations beyond what I'm currently using.

Plus, no interest for 12 months with a Dell Preferred account.

I'm a happy camper, except for the arrival date, 7/9.

Edit - I got the i5

Hemidal wrote:

I ordered one today. I use a 720p 32" LCD TV as a monitor, so the native resolution is just fine by me (not like the card can't push it higher). The size and weight make it ideal for traveling. It's also about 4 generations beyond what I'm currently using.

Plus, no interest for 12 months with a Dell Preferred account.

I'm a happy camper, except for the arrival date, 7/9.

Edit - I got the i5

Re: my other thread - this looks to have taken the lead against the 13" MacBook Pro in the "Tanglebones gets a new laptop" sweepstakes.

My only concern would be the i5 clocked at a little over 1ghz (but with turbo boost). I know much about the new mobile chips but the low clock rate scares me off a little.

Does the new one have the rumored GPU switching?

I'm going to need a new laptop in the next month or so b/c I have already agreed to sell mine. This is defiantly a candidate.

The other two I have been eying are to-be-released 14 inch models: Asus N82, HP Envy 14

EvilDead wrote:

My only concern would be the i5 clocked at a little over 1ghz (but with turbo boost). I know much about the new mobile chips but the low clock rate scares me off a little.

Don't the new mobile processors do the automatic speed adjustments Intel's been pushing?

Does the new one have the rumored GPU switching?

Yes, that's the Optimus tech from Nvidia.

MannishBoy wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

My only concern would be the i5 clocked at a little over 1ghz (but with turbo boost). I don't know much about the new mobile chips but the low clock rate scares me off a little.

Don't the new mobile processors do the automatic speed adjustments Intel's been pushing?

Whoops! Looks like I forgot to add in the "don't" (which is now added in bold :)). It says it does speed adjustments, I just don't know what it means in terms of real world performance.

MannishBoy wrote:
Does the new one have the rumored GPU switching?

Yes, that's the Optimus tech from Nvidia.

Sweet. The review I read on the Asus N82 praised this feature for its power saving.

Hemidal wrote:

I ordered one today. I use a 720p 32" LCD TV as a monitor, so the native resolution is just fine by me (not like the card can't push it higher). The size and weight make it ideal for traveling. It's also about 4 generations beyond what I'm currently using.

Plus, no interest for 12 months with a Dell Preferred account.

I'm a happy camper, except for the arrival date, 7/9.

Edit - I got the i5

*tagging thread* Be sure to post your thoughts once you get it. I thought this little laptop would get interesting once the nVidia Optimus technology got thrown in. It would really rock to have a solid state drive in there, but the upgrade (I checked out of curiosity) is an extra 500. It would probably be better to get the cheap hard drive and then upgrade to an SSD later this year or something on your own (the prices will only go down). What hard drive did you go with?

I don't really need a laptop for anything... I'm fine with a smartphone and a desktop, but this and the 13" macbook pro have always been tempting gadgets.

I have the previous Gen M11x and ordered an i7 one because I'm a technology whore

TheGameguru wrote:

I have the previous Gen M11x and ordered an i7 one because I'm a technology whore

Wouldn't that make you the John in this situation?

I have been using my m11x the last few weeks just as a tote around laptop and it is great. It is built like a rock, has great back-lit keyboard, is easy to transport, and stays pretty cool when resting on your lap. As a simple general use laptop it is the best laptop I have owned. I do love my Lenovo W500, but I never use it now that I have the m11x (except for work) and I haven't even looked at my EEE PC since I brought the Alienware home. So, it is not only a good gaming laptop, but just a great all-around laptop. I love it.

For those of you that have the M11x, have you tried any RTS games? I was wondering if the interface would be too small on the 11 inch screen. At the moment I'm thinking Starcraft II.

I was a little concerned about the lack of an optical drive because I wanted to upgrade to Win 7 Ultimate (I have a copy and didn't want to pay the $150 upgrade cost). Well, leave it to Microsoft to figure out what I need. They've got a WIN 7 USB ISO utility for netbooks/devices without CDs. Here's the link.

Hemidal wrote:

I was a little concerned about the lack of an optical drive because I wanted to upgrade to Win 7 Ultimate (I have a copy and didn't want to pay the $150 upgrade cost). Well, leave it to Microsoft to figure out what I need. They've got a WIN 7 USB ISO utility for netbooks/devices without CDs. Here's the link.

Once you get a key set up, it's actually faster than installed from optical by a significant margin, too.

Hemidal wrote:

They've got a WIN 7 USB ISO utility for netbooks/devices without CDs. Here's the link.

I used the same thing to install 7 on my desktop with a thumb drive. Works great, but the OS download takes forever.

heavyfeul wrote:
Hemidal wrote:

They've got a WIN 7 USB ISO utility for netbooks/devices without CDs. Here's the link.

I used the same thing to install 7 on my desktop with a thumb drive. Works great, but the OS download takes forever.

Already have the ISO from MSDN, I'm ready to rock.

Any good comparisons of the mobile i5 vs. the mobile i7 out there? Is the i7 worth the extra bucks?

Tanglebones wrote:

Any good comparisons of the mobile i5 vs. the mobile i7 out there? Is the i7 worth the extra bucks?

It should be pointed out that the i5 and i7 mobile processors in the Alienware systems are the UM variety (e.g. i5 520UM vs. 520M). They use less power but have significantly slower clock rates then their counterparts.

EvilDead wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

Any good comparisons of the mobile i5 vs. the mobile i7 out there? Is the i7 worth the extra bucks?

It should be pointed out that the i5 and i7 mobile processors in the Alienware systems are the UM variety (e.g. i5 520UM vs. 520M). They use less power but have significantly slower clock rates then their counterparts.

Looks like the i5 and i7 CPUs will use "turbo boost," which is supposed to overclock the CPU when under load as opposed to the Core 2 models that have a BIOS setting to turn overclocking on or off.

Article: http://www.pcworld.com/article/19840...

I came into the forum to ask for some help in picking out a laptop to send my daughter off to college with that she could play WoW with her mom....uhm...with.

Do you think one of these i7s would be right for that?

You don't need an i7 for WoW. The i5 would save you some cash and work just as well.

Really, for WoW, even an i3 would probably work perfectly fine.

Every time I see your name I expect I should be being told I was just shot in the face. Or stabbed

Really? OK - What about screen size? I'm thinking maybe the 15" would be better. This is her graduation gift so I want it to be very nice and do what she needs and wants.

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