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Alienware m11x

They should try to put a new cpu and gpu in the new revision. Can barely play Bad Company 2. :(

It would be nice, Lets see what happens in a few months :D

EDIT: Was wondering, How does the Alienwares Nvidia 335m compare to a macbooks 320m? Is it that much better?
 
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LAPTOP VIDEO GRAPHICS CARDS - BENCHMARK LIST

Basically out of a list of 248 laptop gpus, 335m is #47 and 320m is #84.

Click on them to see how they were benched in actual games.

Edit: As zerodeefex pointed out a few posts down, I was talking about the wrong 320m. The GT 320m is #84, the normal 320m is #105.
 
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I'd consider one of these but it would have be much more powerful. Twice as powerful at least, maybe more.
 
There will be a refresh, no doubt about that. The question is when? There is no proof that there will be one in June/July as the popular rumor has been going. It could be at any time, tomorrow even or even next year.

As it is, it has been selling pretty well for a ultraportable enthusiast laptop with everyone knowing what cpu it comes with now.
 
Most games are GPU limited and not CPU limited. So a better GPU in most cases would show more performance.
 
Once you have this thing for a month you will understand why Dell decided to do what they did with the M11x.

I barely play games on mine anymore. I can get nearly 7.5 hours of battery life and this thing runs so cool........it really is an ultraportable first - and gaming machine second.
 
Once you have this thing for a month you will understand why Dell decided to do what they did with the M11x.

I barely play games on mine anymore. I can get nearly 7.5 hours of battery life and this thing runs so cool........it really is an ultraportable first - and gaming machine second.

Well it's heavy and has an 11" screen in a 13" chassis, so I don't agree with that... at all.

My netbook is an ultraportable first and... well, it can't do any sort of gaming.
 
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.

Depends on what you're expecting. Even today there're games that the m11x struggles to play (Bad Company 2, Metro 2033, etc.) In two years time, there will certainly be games that will be quite hard, if not impossible, for the m11x. However, there'll be a lot of games that will be manageable as long as you're not expecting high settings. I'd say that those are the games that matter. At LAN parties people usually play mainstream games like TF2, Left 4 Dead, COD, Blizzard titles, etc. The m11x can handle those quite nicely.

The major problem for the future would be directx11 support. While a new CPU would help, the gain wouldn't be too significant. A nice gain would come from a new CPU and dx11 GPU. There's no point in waiting for such a refresh though - nVidia hasn't even announced dx11 mobile GPUs yet.

If you need the machine and are going to use it for 2 years just buy it now. Sure, you won't be able to play all games to come but you'll be set for the mainstream ones. Besides, two years aren't that much, you won't feel them pass.

Advice: Don't spend money on the SU7300 CPU there really isn't any gain. Do get 4 GB of RAM though. Always remember to overclock the CPU when you're playing games.
 
Well it's heavy and has an 11" screen in a 13" chassis, so I don't agree with that... at all.

My netbook is an ultraportable first and... well, it can't do any sort of gaming.

No, your netbook is a netbook. Not an ultraportable. Different class of CPU and ram determiners for both. And whether you agree with it or not, it's an ultraportable. Shoot, best buy labels it as such...

Anyway anything with this kind of battery life and an SU cpu falls into that category by default IMHO.
The way I figure it is that it is not my main gaming machine, my desktop is. My m11x is so I have a good laptop, with good battery, is small and reasonably powerful. When i need to blow off some time, I can game with it.
 
I hate all these size definitions...

As an owner of the M11x, I will definitely say it is beefy for its size, and is in no way similar to a netbook in size. If you think the M11x is the same size as a netbook, do not buy it or you will be disappointed. However, if you want something that is bigger/sturdier than a netbook, but not as big/bulky as a full featured 14/15+ laptop, then the M11x will be great for you.

Still hate the glossy screen, but after closely looking at the construction of the lid, it seems that some type of clear cover had to be in front of the actual lcd panel, so I guess glossy on that is better than dull (i can see that hurting the image of the actual screen). Not sure if that made sense, but if you own one, you may know what I am referring to.

I am definitely happy with mine, got about 6 hours of on-time (integrated graphics) while doing ms word, web browsing (wifi) and some hulu (not much, not full screen) all while using a bluetooth mouse.

If I had bought this as my sole gaming machine, I would be disappointed though. When people say it struggles on BC2, I chuckle a bit because I find it completely unplayable. (with oc'd dual core, 4gb ram, cleaned up processes/services, plugged in, optimized etc).
 
anyone have any experience with WOW?

I would like to do some wow stuff while on the road.

Say the SU7300, 4gig, 250gig setup
 
anyone have any experience with WOW?

I would like to do some wow stuff while on the road.

Say the SU7300, 4gig, 250gig setup

I saw a review that covered WoW gameplay. The game runs on ultra settings at the native resolution (1366 x 768), no problem whatsoever. See for yourself - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Ssqvy7SYU

P.S. You really don't need the SU7300, the performance is virtually the same with the SU4100.
 
anyone have any experience with WOW?

I would like to do some wow stuff while on the road.

Say the SU7300, 4gig, 250gig setup

Plays great even over wifi. I copied over my ui from my 27" 1920x1200 desktop setup, so after I tweaked things so I could read them, it was perfect. Ran a couple 5-mans and did some dailies/banking stuff and no performance issues. I guess the real test would be a 10-25 raid, and I assume there would be slowdown in typical high aoe stuff.

I would also add that it evens loads up reasonably fast, overall very happy with the wow performance.
 
well yeah I mean even my PC has massive FPS drops in 25mans

What about heat? Could it sustain gameplay for a while and not overheat at all? I'm guessin the fans just run louder.
 
For everyone's reference, here are some pictures next to my Acer Aspire One A150 (8.9" screen). The last two pictures are with the extended battery I had to get. The stock batter only would get ~2.5 hours of battery. The $50 upgrade got me to around 6.5, so in terms of battery life, it's a good comparison to make, as my M11X gets around 6.5 with average usage on the underclocked Su4100, but under the High Performance power profile.

DSC02976.jpg

DSC02978.jpg

DSC02980.jpg

DSC02981.jpg

DSC02982.jpg


So in real-world usage, the M11x is actually a lot thinner than my AAO.
 
well yeah I mean even my PC has massive FPS drops in 25mans

What about heat? Could it sustain gameplay for a while and not overheat at all? I'm guessin the fans just run louder.

It gets warm, especially under the left palm-rest, but it never overheats. And the fan is on or off, so it doesn't not really get louder, per se. It does move a ton of air though.,..
 
It gets warm, especially under the left palm-rest, but it never overheats. And the fan is on or off, so it doesn't not really get louder, per se. It does move a ton of air though.,..

many thanks for the input

Thanks for the comparison pics to the AAO as well to previous poster

I bought a gateway LT3103u for my moms real estate so was just getting an idea about the m11x size in comparison. The gateway has a 11.6" screen so its probably more in line with the M11x size
 
Sorry if this has been posted before but I myself just saw this the other day.

Alienware M11x vs Sony Vaio Z benchmarks with pics.

Besides being a good review, the pics show the relative size between both the laptops.

Wow, personally, I feel that this review bodes very well for the m11x. But he's right, that Sony screen is GORGEOUS. I hope the next revision of the m11x offers that screen as an option at least.
 
The screen is the biggest reason I'm not impressed with the m11x. It's like a 13" laptop with a 11" screen. :rolleyes: the 11" fools you into thinking its an ultra ultra portable when it's really a honkin 13" form factor.

On the other hand that's exactly why the new Vaio Z impresses me. What, it's SMALLER overall then the m11x yet has like 20x the CPU and nearly as good video and MUCH better (and bigger!) screen. Cost Cost Cost.... sigh
 
Sony can kiss on this. :p but seriously.. if you want a 13".. you're in the wrong market. You should get the Sony if you want the 13. The m11x is definitely not a 13" form factor.. maybe in weight.. but not a big deal to me.

cfm11x.JPG
 
Thats the one I was gonna get!!!

well at least you know what it looks like. all I had to go on was their website :) I like the "grating" or mesh looking skin too.. it was a tossup.

it has a slightly glossy sheen not seen in the pic. It's also a little easier with the fingerprints.
 
Sweet, thanks man. I think it should have come from alienware looking like that ya know?
 
That CF vinyl looks CLEAN! Definitely should have come like that from the factory. Hell, it should have been made with a CF frame and panels to lower the weight!
 
That skin does look nice. In fact, that pic is just much cleaner then the ones I made by far. I was using an my sister's Canon Rebel T1i at that. Awesome camera just have no idea how set it correctly to make good shots.
 
Just jumped in on the thread, so sorry if this was already covered, but has anyone tried using a screen protector to reduce glare?
 
Just jumped in on the thread, so sorry if this was already covered, but has anyone tried using a screen protector to reduce glare?

Dell sells one for the M11x now.

Anti-glare screen protector for M11x.

I find it funny how Dell is stocking that now. It should have been pretty apparent how reflective the M11x was when they made it. This screen should be applied right on for free really.
 
Well, I went to best buy today and had a look see at the m11x. I can say, that it is one incredible machine, its so small, the screen is gorgeous, im in total and absolute love with it, the keyboard is easy to use, it doesnt feel as cramped to me, but then again I have skinny fingers lol, Im gonna hold out for a month or two to see if itll get refreshed with a newer cpu and optimus, if not....ill bite, Im so excited, its perfect for college :D
 
I'm close to hopping on the M11x bandwagon as well. My 14" N81vp is portable enough to take around, but the battery life leaves much to be desired. From what I can tell, the 335m in the M11x is on par with the 4650 in my N81vp.

Hopefully the M11x will be refreshed with a Core iX ULV soon...
 
I don't get why they can't put a faster CPU in the m11x. The Sony Vaio Z has a thinner chassis, 330m, a regular CPU (35W) and still has a decent battery life, not to mention it's more than a pound lighter. If they are so unwilling to put a regular CPU they should at least put a low voltage one (25W). An i7-640LM (4MB, 2.13 - 2.93 GHz, 25W) would be nice, wouldn't it?
 
Well for starters, its not that they wont put a faster cpu in. The laptop was just released in its first iteration ever earlier this year. The refresh (whenever that happens) will most likely include an i5/i7.

Also, this cpu is a low power draw one.
 
Well for starters, its not that they wont put a faster cpu in. The laptop was just released in its first iteration ever earlier this year. The refresh (whenever that happens) will most likely include an i5/i7.

Also, this cpu is a low power draw one.

Even though the m11x uses a ultra-low power chip now, by moving to arrandale chips like the 640lm, they can get rid of both the integrated graphics chip and memory controller, since both are on die. Which is also the reason the 640lm is rated at 25W and not 18W.
 
Well for starters, its not that they wont put a faster cpu in. The laptop was just released in its first iteration ever earlier this year. The refresh (whenever that happens) will most likely include an i5/i7.

Also, this cpu is a low power draw one.

What do you mean? I know when the notebook was released and I can't see how this has anything to do with what I previously said. Yes, they will most likely put an iX CPU in the refresh. Also, they'll most likely put an ultra low voltage iX and not a regular or low voltage one. I'm simply wondering why that seems to be the case when, obviously, it's possible to include a faster CPU.
 
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