Alienware m11x

For my netbook I bought one of those stands that's sort of U-shaped and doubles a quasi-slip-case (good to protect it when traveling, it's wide enough that you can throw it inside it w/a neoprene sleeve already on it)... Helps keep my lap cool and tilt the thing up a lil', but it's light and wrapped in fabric so it doesn't weigh me down or feel odd. I can get you the model/brand if ya want...

MS has some great neoprene netbook/laptop sleeves... Not much of a choice in colors (black w/OJ accents or... black w/OJ accents) but they're zippered, they've got handles, and they've got these bumps or bubbles made of bundles of neoprene which provide a lil' bit extra protection over the typical sleeve which will just combat scratches and light bumps within your bag. They're cheap too...

For my netbook I just use an old portable DVD neoprene sleeve I bought when netbooks were still a novelty, and I toss it in my book bag. When I travel I toss it in a slightly hardier fake leather sleeve w/some foam padding (more water resistant, in case I drop my bag somewhere filthy), but I'll probably replace both of those things with one of the Microsoft sleeves when I upgrade to a 12-13" model.
 
How long? Im thinking about getting one for college

we have identical laptops almost, mine's a Gateway 7811-FX

it looks like we're both also looking into this little beast for the same reasons, pretty cool.

It gets tiring lugging around such a big ass laptop and you do kind of look at something that weighs as much as a medium sized school or college book, maybe a lab manual or something, and that will fit comfortably in a small messenger style bag or bookbag.

This looks like just it.

You can flip it open and it'll start right up and you can get to work.

How satisfied are you guys with watching movies on this thing? Any noticeable decrease in quality from watching it on a monitor or?
 
I got this to use as a stand for my netbook... It's nice and comfy, technically it's supposed to double as a hard shell case for traveling (has a handle and all) but my netbook is one of the first Acer models and it's a bit chunky... It fits fine inside the case but it's a bit exposed on the sides since the thing doesn't enclose it all the way around, and it doesn't fit very easily while encased in a neoprene sleeve (plus I have an Autobots decal on my netbook's lid and it'd probably get torn up from squeezing it into this thing all the time). Soo, I just use it as a stand and nothing else.

As you can see it's got a slope so your netbook sits at a more comfortable angle, and a lip so it doesn't slip out (plus the fabric itself prevents it from sliding anyway). For the M11x you might want a larger model tho... I'm not sure of the M11x's exact dimensions. If it's close to an 11" netbook it'd probably fit on mine, though not inside, if it's closer to a 12-13" laptop you might wanna try this one... It's from a partner company/brand. Same concept, same design in general, tho it's meant to be slipped into a bag or something else w/the laptop in it when used as a case (not used as a stand-alone case type thing). There's tons of these types of things out there, MicroCenter and CompUsa have a whole bunch if you have either nearby.

I've seen other sorts of stands, plastic ones w/fans, mat-like things that are supposed to isolate heat (they have silica or w/e inside), etc... I liked these light, fabric-wrapped ones the best. The fact that you can use it as sort of a hard cover for the netbook when you toss it in a bag is a plus.

As far as regular thin neoprene sleeves... Just hit up Ebay or Amazon, you'll find a million of them in all different colors, you'll probably find some that fit the M11x exactly if you search for M11x sleeve and/or look at the user reviews. Don't pay more than $10-15 for one of those things, you shouldn't have to. Now the MS neoprene sleeves I was talking about are sorta like this. Look at the third pick and you'll see the padded bubbles I was talking about... I dunno, I think it's a step up from most sleeves. They have that thing in several different sizes but I dunno if one of 'em will fit your M11x precisely. Might wanna check elsewhere besides Amazon for other sizes.

As an alternative, the case I got for my netbook before I discovered those MS ones was this one... The memory foam does protect it better than a simple neoprene sleeve (tho probably about as well as one of those MS sleeves would), pretty sure they make a variety of models for other laptops, and I think they even make it w/a nylon outing (or patterns) if you'd rather have that over the fake leather (fake leather was cheaper and I figured it provided more protection anyway). It's branded CaseCrown by Amazon and sold by Senyx but the things are made by some Chinese company called Burnoaa (the brand tag on the case says Burnoaa, as did the packaging), but w/e.The engrish on the packaging was pretty funny...

I looked around for most of this stuff in November of '08 when I bought my netbook and there weren't many netbook accessories (my CaseLogic neoprene sleeve was still sold as a portable DVD player sleeve, heh), there's probably a ton more stuff out there now.

Bags you're on your own... Heh. I've got a small Targus one that was meant for portable DVD players but that definitely won't fit your M11x. There's some CasLogic bags that sit vertically and have a ton of pockets, they look a bit purse-ish (because the laptop slips in vertically) but they're pretty convenient. Most of the time I toss my netbook in my book bag or travel bag anyway, neither of which was meant to carry a laptop, but as long as it's covered by the neoprene sleeve or that other memory foam case the thing's fine in there. I'm not paying $80 for a fancy laptop bag that looks like a laptop bag and calls out for people to steal it... My ratty messenger travel bag from AE will do. :p
 
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Wow thanks for the advice Impulse! I will have to look around some more on what I want. I really like the look of the SwissGear stuff but its expensive, might as well buy the Alienware backpack instead. But I will see what I can find. Thanks again!
 
Since there have not been many pictures, I thought I would post mine, as it came in on Monday.
FYI, I found a great bag. best buy has it (not cheap unfortunately, though I had RZ certs).
It's the Targus "Unofficial". It's made for 14" laptops, but fits the m11x really well:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Targus+...8156771023&skuId=9714292&st=9714292&cp=1&lp=1
check it out in store, as it does not look so dumpy in person.

Anyway, here is my m11x:












Pardon the 'meh' picture quality. i am using my 5 year old camera.
 
Nice pics!

I just got mine yesterday! Very impressed with the build quality, definitely a solid machine. It has a good weight to it for its size, but it is far from "heavy". There are 2 small issues I have so far, and I had heard many reports of this going in, so it was no surprise... The LCD is super glossy, so glossy I think it could double as a mirror. I have a matte finish desktop lcd and it really is just no comparison (purely in terms of gloss vs matte). I bought the Black version and while it looks great, the lid (behind the lcd) is a fingerprint magnet, to the extreme. Think slick touchscreen (iPhone/Touch etc) levels of fingerprint madness. Other than that, I am thoroughly impressed, I oc'd the cpu, did a few of the tweaks from notebookreview.com, and updated to newest drivers. Since I had a ton of homework to do, I let the m11x download Steam games and WoW. Loaded up WoW at the end of the night and it was smooth in Dalaran running around, maybe 40ish FPS average. This was on medium-high settings, no aa, running all the mods I use on my desktop, so there is plenty of optimizing to do. Carried it into work this am in my Timbuk2 Q backpack and it was very light and I didn't notice much difference when it was on my back. I would recommend this bag, it looks nice, very comfy, good construction and I like how it is setup to be able to put the laptop in from the side, and the battery pack (previously held my umbrella, seattle....) fits nicely into the bottom compartment.

I will try to take some pics too, but I plan to mainly test it via HDMI on a 40" 720p LCD tonight.

**Also, finding the "dim alienware fx" was nice. The backlighting stuff was super bright, but on dim it looks real nice and a bit more subtle. (using white atm, blue/green power button).
 
Has anybody done any "real" video playback tests from full battery to shutdown with their mx11 w/ updated drivers, typical stuff running. My biggest issue is video watching time if I get one of these.
 
recently I took mine on a trip to Boston from Seattle, I watched the entire 6th season of Entourage in HD x264 format and still had about 15% battery life left. So 6ish hours of playback on mid level brightness playing HD content through VLC, not to shabby.
 
how does a movie with subtitles look on this screen?

man i'm tempted more and more to buy one

simply for a portable movie box as well as other things!
 
Been awhile since I last visited this thread.

I bought some more stuff for my M11x. Already owned the Razer Orochi and decided to also get the Razer Kabuto mouse pad.

For a sleeve I bought a Mobile Edge Sumo 12" black sleeve. It is super cheap atm on Amazon for $12. Its super thick and padded which is great for tossing in backpacks and th eM11x fits perfectly in it.

But I decided that I wanted to also get a smaller laptop bag so I ended up getting the Case Logic XNTM 4 vertical messenger bag at Best Buy. It was located in the dvd/cd section with all the other Case Logic gear. It was marked down on clearance for $20 from the normal price of $40 and to my surprise rang up at the register for the low price of $8. So I bought all 3 they had. The M11x fits snugly in the laptop compartment and this bag holds easily some extra accessories. Just do not expect to use this for school as it does not hold even a normal sized notebook.

Another thing I did was purchase a vinyl skin from invisibledefenders. And here are the results:

2n0sbpg.jpg


rk07iq.jpg


It was super easy to apply. It is easy to reapply though until you press it firmly in. At that point if you remove it it can't be reapplied.

The back skin is slightly crooked but it is not noticable. It was my fault though as I was only making sure I was not covering the alien head.

The LCD bezel skin took some time as I had to constantly readjust it to match it with the background image. As you can see though, it matches up for the most part, probably about 90%ish.
 
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Wow Raq, that's really cool, I love the way the skin and desktop integrate together, really nice job I haven't seen this before.

*Edit, wow they have so many designs as well lets see if they can make one for my behemoth asus :p
 
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I was thinking about getting the orochi. Is it worth the $70?
I already have a Logitech VX nano, and am pretty happy. The one thing I dislike is the mouse wheel is not a button, and cannot be designated as one, so nades in MW2 are a pain.
 
I was using the VX nano as well prior to my orochi. Losing the USB dongle in favor of Bluetooth (or even corded) is great and like you, the middle mouse button never seemed quite right in any app, not so with the orochi; orochi form factor is way better, too. Well worth it. Oh and the stock blue matches the Alienware FX blue, if that matters (I shut them off when saving power).
 
AGh, I dod not realize the orochi was bluetooth. I decided to save the $20 and go without, since none of my stuff is bluetooth.
 
Has anybody done any "real" video playback tests from full battery to shutdown with their mx11 w/ updated drivers, typical stuff running. My biggest issue is video watching time if I get one of these.

I just did a hulu-video rundown and, with the dedicated card ON, I got around 2.5 hours until the 10% warning.
 
Love this thing! Haha its amazing. RAQemUP thanks for the link to the skins, I think imma get the carbon fiber one, looks clean, like its suppose to be that color.
 
so I went to 9 pages and I see people saying they watch hulu just fine.

I wanted to ask if they only watch hulu or if they actually multitask without a problem? Currently I use a gateway 3103u and it has trouble watching a 720p stream and browsing the web comfortably, since the stream is actually taking almost all of the netbooks resources.

Probably going to give this netbook to my sister and look at an M11x if it passes. Should I wait to see if they update any parts? I saw some argument about the CPU. I'm not the most knowledgable so don't call me stupid if I ask something :( but is it logical to assume dell will update the CPU in a new build soon?
 
There is an update in June, which is supposed to have Optimus and a new CPU. I pulled the trigger anyway. First, because I needed a system NOW. Second, because as0is, the system is spot-on what I want.

In terms of hulu, I usually leave it at the default res and tuck the screen in a lower corner, and make it stay on top, then use the rest for browsing and word/outlook. No slow-downs noticed @1.3 or 1.7
 
Well the assumption is there will be a refresh in June/July suggesting there would be a 6 month product cycle. Sure, there will be a refresh but it's a guess at best really as to when the refresh will happen. There is no evidence to state when it will happen. It could happen at the end of the year or even next year (heh or even tomorrow!).
 
That article you linked to states that the guy was spreading a rumor in the edit and was, in fact, not stating anything of fact.
 
I wanted to ask if they only watch hulu or if they actually multitask without a problem? Currently I use a gateway 3103u and it has trouble watching a 720p stream and browsing the web comfortably, since the stream is actually taking almost all of the netbooks resources.

From what I can see after a quick Google search your laptop uses an AMD A64 @1.2GHz... This uses an Intel CULV C2D @1.3-1.7GHz... I'm not terribly familiar w/AMD's mobile processors these days, but even if it's on-par w/the C2D it's still clocked lower AND has only a single core vs the M11x's dual core proc... So I'd say the M11x is far more capable.
 
how does a movie with subtitles look on this screen? man i'm tempted more and more to buy one, simply for a portable movie box as well as other things!

Well, you don't need a GPU quite as powerful as the M11x's for that... There's other hybrid CULV laptops out there that are cheaper and/or give you more choices (as far as size, etc.) which would accomplish that... You probably don't even need one w/a hybrid GPU at all tbh, unless you're hoping to output 1080p video over HDMI or something like that. Now if you also plan to game on it, that's a different story...

AGh, I dod not realize the orochi was bluetooth. I decided to save the $20 and go without, since none of my stuff is bluetooth.

You can get a Bluetooth dongle as small as the Nano's for $20... Iogear's are pretty good, they use the Widcomm BT stack (one of the better ones) but can also be used with MS' native Windows stack. I've had on my netbook for a while to pick up photos or send songs to my phone (and to use it as a remote on my desktop).
 
What CPU do you guys think they'll put in the new m11x?

As far as I can see they have three options:
i5-520UM (3M, 1.06 - 1.86 GHz)
i7-620UM (4M, 1.06 - 2.13 GHz)
i7-640UM (4M, 1.20 - 2.26 GHz)

All of those have a TDP of 18W and cost $241, $278 and $305 respectively. Do you think they could fit the 25W i7-620LM (4M, 2.00 - 2.8) or i7-640LM (4M, 2.13 - 2.93)?

What I'd like to see is one of those CPUs with Intel's new integrated graphics, a dx11 equivalent of the 335M, Optimus and a matte screen. That's when the m11x would be quite appealing to me. Anyway, a new CPU and support for Optimus would be a nice addition if not an absolutely necessary one.
 
Question about drivers:
Can you use the Nvidia drivers from the nvidia website for the m11x, or do you have to use the Dell-branded ones because of the switching?
 
To keep the functionality between switching between the Intel and Nvidia GPUs, you must use either the Dell drivers (there are currently a new set based on Nvidia 197.x on Dell as of a week or 2 ago) or hack your own drivers.

Attempting to install with the drivers at Nvidia.com atm will result in problems. Besides loosing the ability to switch GPUs with either the notification icon and FN+F6 hotkey in Win 7(which is confirmed), it will keep both graphic cards on at same time (confirmed) and mess with the GPU fan profile.
 
Another thing I did was purchase a vinyl skin from invisibledefenders. And here are the results:

2n0sbpg.jpg


rk07iq.jpg

that looks GREAT raqemup! thanks for the link and pics (re: invisibledefenders.com) now I gotta find one I like, and order it... damn that is purrrrty!
 
I'm rather torn on this laptop. I love the idea of this laptop quite a bit. A week or two ago I was set on buying one.

However after hearing the rumors of a refresh I feel really hesitant to jump on it because I don't want to buy it now and have them refresh less than a month later.
 
from what i understand the refresh won't be for at least a few months, and that's at least.
 
And it will probably be a Core iX series, which will not be nearly as battery efficient
 
And it will probably be a Core iX series, which will not be nearly as battery efficient

You never know. I feel that the Core i7-640UM could be more efficient, especially since the TDP is 18W (up from 10W of the Core2Duo), but also had the graphics integrated on die.
 
How much longevity do you think this laptop will have though as a gaming laptop?

I unfortunately am torn between portability and gaming right now while looking for a laptop. I'm a student in college whose first laptop was an eeePC 901 and I've used that as my main laptop alongside a desktop for the last two years.

However my desktop is now on its last leg and frankly the m11x would be an upgrade. My friends have also started to having LAN parties, and I am a very heavy traveler for business further necessitating portability. I don't have access to my desktop at least a fourth of the year.

What I'm hoping the m11x will be is a gaming laptop that will last me approximately 2 years till I finish school. I don't need it to do ultra settings on whatever the latest and greatest game is two years down the line, but something that will at least get the job done.
I've been rather underwhelmed with other laptops being mammoth 18" 20 pound bricks.

I just kinda felt that the refresh could potentially make all the difference in terms of the actual "lifespan" it'll fulfill my needs. It seems like what I read stated the current bottleneck was the CPU, so an upgrade to iX could make it a lot more likely to last as long as I hope.

I got a coupon today for $100 off the laptop, and I can also apply a student discount which is making the decision even harder.
 
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They need to upgrade the cpu this year and if they do hopefully with an i5 XD probably dreaming then I'm buying one asap.
 
They should try to put a new cpu and gpu in the new revision. Can barely play Bad Company 2. :(
 
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