Buying an M11x, need some input please!

Hi, I've been looking at purchasing an Alienware M11x. I'm active duty USAF who will be deploying to the desert early next year for three months, so I wanted to make sure I have a good, portable gaming rig. I also travel a lot stateside and stay in hotels, so I think it's a good investment. The screen seems small, but I think I'd get use to it. When I game at home, I have a 22inch monitor.

I'm looking to make my purchase on Black Friday or Cyber Monday to save as much money as possible. I also heard about buying Dell/Alienware computers through AAFES which offers around a 20% discount. Does anyone know if this discount can can be used with whatever sales/coupons Alienware offers for Black Friday/Cyber Monday?

This is the system I am going to configure. If anyone has any advice, I'd be glad to hear it. I'm under the impression things won't change until November.
-i5 w/ gt540m 1gb. I considered the i7 upgrade, but it's bundled with the 2gb 540m version, and I can't imagine anything using more than 1gb unless it's an external monitor and the i7 isn't even quad core. ($200 seems pricey. Maybe if the upgrade becomes like $125 with the sale/discounts it would be worth it) or am I wrong here and the gpu and cpu both worth the extra money?
-4gb ram - planning to buy two 4gb sticks (8gb total) sticks from Newegg.
-320gb HDD - planning to buy a 500gb - 750gb HDD from Newegg. I was considering an SSD, but i plan on stocking up on a lot of games and movies for my trip downrange, unless I can get a 500gb one cheap, then it may not be enough. Are SSDs really that much before running games, movies, music, browsing the web, etc?
-internal bluetooth upgrade.
-killer wireless-n 1103 wifi card. I would like to try to get the best range possible for wifi and hopefully the fastest internet from the router available. I heard the stock card is fairly weak, and I figured it's only $30 ($80 total) more than the Intel 6250 card that is available one tier below the killer card. Being able to monitor internet traffic and delegate bandwith to certain programs seems pretty nifty.

I'm also hoping to find a decently sized case that can hold the laptop, charger, my logitech mx518 mouse, N52 speed pad, and a usb headset (i need to buy one during this time too). And still not be too big but still durable. I may buy a different mouse and speedpad if anyone has suggestions. I currently use those for my desktop setup.

Is a anti-glare screen protecotr advised? I heard it makes the screen a little grainy, but I heard the screen is really glarey in the sun or any light. I also heard the the keyboard touches the screen so something would be good to have, even it's not anti-glare. Or has this issue been fixed in the r3 models?

Thanks for reading this, any input is appreciated. I'd like to get things done right.
-Ryan

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/606025-deevus-quick-guide-buying-your-m11x.html

Most of your questions are in there like the CPU and GPU ones.

The killer wireless is very good from reviews I hear but the 62xx intel ones are very good as well.

Do you use Bluetooth? If so I'd get the internal one. I love mine.

Always buy aftermarket items like the hard drive and RAM they are a lot cheaper.

 

Also, you probably won't need to upgrade the RAM. 4 gb is more than enough for gaming, I got 8 gb in my r1 model and havn't gone over 50 percent memory usage ever

 

Thanks, DeeVu. I read your guide too and it provided some good information.

 

If you get an M11x, you definitely want to get the BEST processor you can. The process is a low voltage Core i7 so it's underpowered right out of the gate for gaming. You want every ounce of power you can get.

There was a review done (I don't recall the URL) that did a performance test between 4GB of DDR on the M11x and 8 GB... there is little to no gaming performance boost from having 8 GB of memory. You will be able to multi-task a little smoother in Windows 7... but I would not shell out a lot of money on 8GB memory.

I may get some flak for this, but I don't think SSD is worth the price point right now. I have a 500 GB hard drive, and with music and steam games, it's almost full. I can't imagine having less than that. From what I understand from SSD, is that it's faster than a typical hard drive because it has no moving parts. It also uses less energy and battery life than a typical hard drive. I don't think it's worth the money for how much dell is charging though (that's just my .02)

I actually got this for 20 bucks when I built my M11x and to be honest, I haven't used it that much. It's good if you use wireless mice/headsets or need to sync to your phone or something. I figured it would be better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

I have heard nothing but GOOD things about these high performance wireless cards. All the people I know that have gotten them say they rock. It's almost impossible to find them on your own, so if you can afford it I would go for it.

I have an old 15'' Alienware laptop bag that I used for my M9700 and it works great. The M11x comes with a velvet sleeve, and you can also get a protective case for it. If you go through Dell, you're going to pay a little more but you'll be able to rest easy knowing it was designed to fit your laptop exactly. (if you go 3rd party, be ready for somethign that may not fit)

The screen on the M11x is very "glassy" and an anti-glare cover may be something you need. I have never found the glare to be all that bad. I it's really sunny outside and my window is up, sometimes I need to tilt the screen slightly forward to get rid of the glare. It's such a little thing that I don't even notice it. In 99% of the conditions I've used my M11x, I don't notice the glare at all. That's just me though.

No problem All I can say is this... put your order in ASAP if you are deploying soon. It often takes them up to 10 days to build/ship your order. (took them a week and a half to build and ship mine) - It's generally a very fast process, but you don't wanna be in a situation where you're leaving the country without your laptop.

The M11x is the best, most portable gaming laptop that I've ever owned. A lot of people ask me if this is a good laptop, and I tell them it absolutely is.... if your expectations are reasonable. I think a lot of people buy this laptop and expect quad-core performance, and are disappointed. This laptop is really kind of an underdog, but it will impress you with what it can do. There haven't been any games that won't run on this thing, and I enjoy pushing it to the limits to see what it can do.

If you do go with the M11x, I think you will enjoy it.

 

Thanks, darkdomino. I understand the limitations of the laptop. Even if I had to run everything on low settings, I think I would be fine with it. I was always under the impression that you don't really need more than 4gb of ram for gaming too. On my desktop, I have 6gb just because of the triple channel technology. Although, I saw 8gb 2x4gbs ram kits on Newegg for $50, so it's not too expensive, but it all adds it. I like the idea of the extra juice from the i7, but I just don't like how it's bundled with the 2gb gpu.