Alienware m11x

I had thought that GPU > CPU, so thanks for confirming that!

Personally, I don't care at all about battery life. I do care a bit about heat.

I'm loving my M11 (i7) so far. I've been hooking it up to my main television (47") in the living room and playing with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Gives me my couch/console vibe with PC games.

FYI, Dell is ramping up their back to school promotions. Those waiting on deals will likely find some 5-15% reductions on their site.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

I had thought that GPU > CPU, so thanks for confirming that!

Personally, I don't care at all about battery life. I do care a bit about heat.

My i5 gets warm, but it's not cook your juevos hot.

Trying to use exactly the right thread, I posted a question about ASUS laptops here. Would appreciate any thoughts.

For a gaming laptop I would definitely go for the dual-core i5 if it's an option. If there's a mobile equivalent to the i5-655k I'd be all over it.

The Clarkdale based i5's are very, very nice gaming rig processors.

So, how is everyone enjoying there M11xs these days? I'm awfully tempted to get one still... The refurbed i5 models run about $200 cheaper than the brand-new versions. I'm wondering if Christmas sales will have any of them discounted further than that. I'm going to keep an eye out for a good deal and then maybe snatch one up.

I'd like to wait for them to upgrade the GPU, but I don't see that happening until next summer or maybe March at the earliest.

Still loving my i5. It has occasional quirks - Civ 5 doesn't work in DirectX 10/11 mode, but for the most part, it's fast, quiet and light. And it's got more LEDs than I can shake a stick at

Tanglebones wrote:

It has occasional quirks - Civ 5 doesn't work in DirectX 10/11 mode

I was looking at the graphics driver updates on Dell's website. It looks like the last nVidia graphics driver listed on their website is from 7/19/2010 which is quite awhile ago. Are you able to install graphics drivers from nVidia's website or do you have to use the ones from Dell's website. I've never had a laptop before, so I'm just curious how much of a pain it is to update everything.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

It has occasional quirks - Civ 5 doesn't work in DirectX 10/11 mode

I was looking at the graphics driver updates on Dell's website. It looks like the last nVidia graphics driver listed on their website is from 7/19/2010 which is quite awhile ago. Are you able to install graphics drivers from nVidia's website or do you have to use the ones from Dell's website. I've never had a laptop before, so I'm just curious how much of a pain it is to update everything.

I think there are beta drivers out there, but because it's a funky card, I'm sticking with the official drivers. Aside from the Civ5 issue, I haven't had any problems that can't be fixed by telling the program to run with the good graphics card.

heavyfeul wrote:

If you do not mind the 12 inch screen, it is a great netbook. I can play all the modern games on it, some at high settings, but I generally go 720p/medium with 2xAA (when possible) and 4xAiF. It is very easy to tote around and with the the GPU powered down it gets 4-6 hours of use.

I wouldn't recommend it as a dedicated gaming pc, but as a full on portable gaming system, it absolutely rocks. It basically delivers on the products intended use, but the small screen makes it too constrained to be as immersive as full-sized gaming laptop.

Side Note:
I tried a few different mice with the laptop and I really love the Logitech M500. It has overtaken the Logitech M518 I have had for years as my favorite mouse. It is a desktop non-gaming type of mouse, but the ergonomics, button layout and feedback, and dpi are just perfect for the m11x's screen size. I found the high performance gaming mice to be overkill on 1366x768 screen.

I am actually curious to try a thumb trackball for gaming. It could be great for portable applications too, since you do not need as much surface area to use them and carpel tunnel is becoming an issue as years behind a computer all day are starting to take their toll. I know there is a goodjer on this forums who uses track balls for shooters.

I have a fairly beefy desktop, so the small size is something I would want. The trackball idea is interesting because I would like to use a laptop on the bus for gaming and work (I generally would have about 3 hours a day on the bus to use it). An external mouse seems impractical on the bus, but a trackball...

All right Christmas sales... I hope you are good.

If you do not mind the 12 inch screen, it is a great netbook. I can play all the modern games on it, some at high settings, but I generally go 720p/medium with 2xAA (when possible) and 4xAiF. It is very easy to tote around and with the the GPU powered down it gets 4-6 hours of use.

I wouldn't recommend it as a dedicated gaming pc, but as a full on portable gaming system, it absolutely rocks. It basically delivers on the products intended use, but the small screen makes it too constrained to be as immersive as full-sized gaming laptop.

Side Note:
I tried a few different mice with the laptop and I really love the Logitech M500. It has overtaken the Logitech M518 I have had for years as my favorite mouse. It is a desktop non-gaming type of mouse, but the ergonomics, button layout and feedback, and dpi are just perfect for the m11x's screen size. I found the high performance gaming mice to be overkill on 1366x768 screen.

I am actually curious to try a thumb trackball for gaming. It could be great for portable applications too, since you do not need as much surface area to use them and carpel tunnel is becoming an issue as years behind a computer all day are starting to take their toll. I know there is a goodjer on this forums who uses track balls for shooters.

Tanglebones wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Tanglebones wrote:

It has occasional quirks - Civ 5 doesn't work in DirectX 10/11 mode

I was looking at the graphics driver updates on Dell's website. It looks like the last nVidia graphics driver listed on their website is from 7/19/2010 which is quite awhile ago. Are you able to install graphics drivers from nVidia's website or do you have to use the ones from Dell's website. I've never had a laptop before, so I'm just curious how much of a pain it is to update everything.

I think there are beta drivers out there, but because it's a funky card, I'm sticking with the official drivers. Aside from the Civ5 issue, I haven't had any problems that can't be fixed by telling the program to run with the good graphics card.

If you have the R2 Optimus versions, you can update the drivers direct from nVidia. Only the R1 users with manual switching have to wait for Dell to modify the drivers. This is because they have to make the Intel video drivers paly nice with the nVidia video drivers.

Us R1 people will not see that many driver updates in the future. Early adopter blues.

You can use the latest drivers from nVidia on the R1, but you have to set switchable graphics to dedicated in the BIOS, which means you cannot use the integrated graphics card and the battery savings it provides. Expect no more than 2.5-3 hours MAX (non-gaming) if you go that route.

That is good to hear about the R2's easier driver updates... I think the i5 w/ 4Gb of memory is the version I would get. Eventually, I'd throw a solid state drive in there, so the hard drive isn't much of an issue. I'm not terribly interested in the i7 just because it'll use more power and decrease battery life without giving much gaming performance gain.

sithcundman wrote:

I'm loving my M11 (i7) so far. I've been hooking it up to my main television (47") in the living room and playing with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Gives me my couch/console vibe with PC games.

I am going to have to try that myself. I have hooked it up when I had an HDMI receiver (now broken), but I never tried to play a game, but I did boot a couple up for proof of concept.

Do you have any problems with input lag?

I have been loving my M11x (i7 R2) It is a great size/form factor. It does get a bit hot when gaming but cannot be beat in the form factor. I have been having some problems with crashes when left on overnight but I think it may be related to the Momentus XT I put in to it not the original hardware. But I love it otherwise.

Does the M11X touchpad have multitouch scrolling like a macbook? I'm guessing no. I read that you can configure the side and bottom areas to scroll, but I was wondering if there was the option to have a 2 fingertip scroll. After using quite a few macbooks, I hate the side scroll thing.

Some interesting information I found out... I noticed if you get the slightly preconfigured versions, you can get the SSD upgrade for 450 bucks. A 256 GB Samsung 470 series costs about 550 on newegg. Seems like a good deal right? I figured that was the model they were using, but after looking at a review testing the read/write speeds, I'm almost positive it is not. It must be a weird cheaper model. If I end up getting one, I'll definitely go for a cheap hard drive initially and upgrade to an SSD later. I imagine SSD prices will be pretty decent next summer.

A word of warning. My girlfriend ordered one of these almost two months ago when they were having a sale. Every week they would delay it to the following week (why not just give a real shipping estimate?). It finally arrived yesterday.... with a dead pixel in the center of the screen. She just called this morning and they said they wouldn't replace it but have someone come out to look at it and replace the LCD if necessary. The kicker is they won't even do that until she runs a Dell diagnostics test, which she won't be able to do until she gets home from work. Then she has to call them back and sit on the phone again. Needless to say, shes not too happy.

Aside from the service issues, the machine is a nice little piece of hardware. To echo what others have said before it is a very well built machine. Unlike the 11.6 inch Acer Aspire, the letter keys are not full sized. Since I don't have the Acer anymore I can't compare to see why the Dell keyboard is smaller but I think it has to do with the page up, page dn, and home keys being in a vertical line on the right side of the keyboard. On the Acer I'm pretty sure they fit them around the arrow keys.

I recently bought a 13.3 incher with a i3 370m & ATI 5650. I'm looking forward to comparing these two machines specifically to see how well the the i7 UM does against a standard i3 mobile processor. The graphics cards should be pretty similar.

MULTITOUCH: There are Synaptics drivers that have the ability to do two finger scrolling, pinch zoom in/out, etc. You just have to get the driver from Synaptics and not the Dell site, at least last time I checked.

BUILD QUALITY: The LCD screen is crap (narrow viewing angle), but mine has zero dead pixels. The only build problem with my M11x is that the screen hinge is a hair too small in diameter (or set too low), so that when the screen closes, there is some upward pressure put on the bottom of the bezel near the hinge. It is hard to explain, but it seems like a common build defect based on posts from other forums (maybe just R1). Over time I see the hinge losing some tension. But besides that, the thing is as solid as brick with no keyboard flex.

heavyfeul wrote:

MULTITOUCH: There are Synaptics drivers that have the ability to do two finger scrolling, pinch zoom in/out, etc. You just have to get the driver from Synaptics and not the Dell site, at least last time I checked.

BUILD QUALITY: The LCD screen is crap (narrow viewing angle), but mine has zero dead pixels. The only build problem with my M11x is that the screen hinge is a hair too small in diameter (or set too low), so that when the screen closes, there is some upward pressure put on the bottom of the bezel near the hinge. It is hard to explain, but it seems like a common build defect based on posts from other forums (maybe just R1). Over time I see the hinge losing some tension. But besides that, the thing is as solid as brick with no keyboard flex.

No hinge issues with my R2, but agreed re: the LCD screen view angle

A diagnostic test for a bad pixel? They've gone insane.

Malor wrote:

A diagnostic test for a bad pixel? They've gone insane.

Either insane or on par for the typical technical support companies have these days. If it was me who made the call, I would have told them I just ran the test and it's requesting that I speak to a manager :D.

Probably the joy of Dell taking over Alienware now.

EvilDead wrote:
Malor wrote:

A diagnostic test for a bad pixel? They've gone insane.

Either insane or on par for the typical technical support companies have these days. If it was me who made the call, I would have told them I just ran the test and it's requesting that I speak to a manager :D.

I have done this (the part where I tell them I already ran it). It drives me up the wall when the "tech" is some dude reading a script who doesn't know jack about computers.

Well, I suppose it could be argued that if they're going to send a tech anyway, you should run diagnostics to make sure they get everything in one stop, but still.

Well... I pulled the trigger on one. They had the somewhat preconfigured i5 version for 160 bucks off, plus I used a coupon code to get an additional $50 off. With 4 GB of memory and the bluetooth module it ended up coming to 950 or so. Not bad, but not particularly great. I'm going to buy a 120 GB SSD to throw in it once I find a decent deal on a good one.

The Core 2 Duo versions are really cheap right now, but I really want the Optimus tech and matte finish, so I took the "unwise" choice. I know the combination of little things would annoy me too much.

EvilDead wrote:

A word of warning. My girlfriend ordered one of these almost two months ago when they were having a sale. Every week they would delay it to the following week (why not just give a real shipping estimate?). It finally arrived yesterday.... with a dead pixel in the center of the screen. She just called this morning and they said they wouldn't replace it but have someone come out to look at it and replace the LCD if necessary. The kicker is they won't even do that until she runs a Dell diagnostics test, which she won't be able to do until she gets home from work. Then she has to call them back and sit on the phone again. Needless to say, shes not too happy.

This gets better. By better I mean bad.

The tech came 1.5 weeks ago with a replacement LCD. However it had a silver backing but her computer was black. While taking it apart the tech found a "Loose terminal" on the motherboard that provided power to the LCD. He advised her not to use the laptop until the correct replacement LCD and a new motherboard were sent.

Another tech arrived yesterday with the correct LCD but a replacement palm rest of all things. She asked about the motherboard and he said everything was repaired. Since she did not see him do anything with the motherboard or see the part in the repaired parts list she called Dell today. At this point she just wants a replacement computer, however they will not authorize one to be sent out. They said they would only do that if there were 3 major system failures on a new computer. Seriously? Instead they want to send another tech with a motherboard.

I have a feeling I am going to have to make one of those annoying two hour calls to Dell or just return the system for a refund.

Well, I got mine today. I'm very impressed so far. I've got a 120 GB Vertex II coming Monday which I will proceed to throw in it. Not bad... not bad at all... It made my 1.5 hour bus ride home feel like 5 minutes.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Well, I got mine today. I'm very impressed so far. I've got a 120 GB Vertex II coming Monday which I will proceed to throw in it. Not bad... not bad at all... It made my 1.5 hour bus ride home feel like 5 minutes. :)

So jealous.

I should get mine ordered today or tomorrow, I hope. I'm going for the i5 so it should ship the next day... maybe even arriving before I go to my in-laws for the holidays. (hopehopehope)

VeggiePirate wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Well, I got mine today. I'm very impressed so far. I've got a 120 GB Vertex II coming Monday which I will proceed to throw in it. Not bad... not bad at all... It made my 1.5 hour bus ride home feel like 5 minutes. :)

So jealous.

I should get mine ordered today or tomorrow, I hope. I'm going for the i5 so it should ship the next day... maybe even arriving before I go to my in-laws for the holidays. (hopehopehope)

I've got that SSD installed now and it is really nice. I'm really happy with the laptop.

Another weird bug. The new Cataclysm water effects don't show up in WoW. Literally. If I'm standing in front of a lake, I'll see the ground, and people, fish and monsters floating around in it. There's a workaround - I can set the water graphics back to pre-Cataclysm levels. Blizzard is aware of it, but there doesn't seem to be an eta on a fix.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
VeggiePirate wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:

Well, I got mine today. I'm very impressed so far. I've got a 120 GB Vertex II coming Monday which I will proceed to throw in it. Not bad... not bad at all... It made my 1.5 hour bus ride home feel like 5 minutes. :)

So jealous.

I should get mine ordered today or tomorrow, I hope. I'm going for the i5 so it should ship the next day... maybe even arriving before I go to my in-laws for the holidays. (hopehopehope)

I've got that SSD installed now and it is really nice. I'm really happy with the laptop.

*Makes a note to rob anyone in town sporting a small Alienware*

SSD speed will be mine! bwahahaha