Considering M11X - Touchpad question

I'm considering a M11X. Basically I like to buy laptops that are somewhat future proof. I currently have a 4.5 year old MacBook and it's been very reliable. I like the M11 for the gaming ability plus how future proof the GPU is...I don't see the need for super fast i5 or i7 chip. The one thing that keeps me away from PC laptops is how the hardware interface rarely feels integrated. I have an Elitebook 15inch that has a touchpad half the size of my old Macbook. When I want to scroll down on a page on the Mac I just drag two fingers down, on the Elitebook I have to jam my finger into the side to find the scroll part of the pad and half the time it doesn't work. I like using a laptop in which the UI is second nature.

So, how good is the touchpad on the M11X? Can it do basic multitouch (nothing more than my old Macbook is needed). Is it large enough to be found by my fingers without searching for it? I'd usually just check it out in person but the Best Buys around me don't carry it. Also, how is the display compared to a 4 year old Macbook display? The Elitebooks has good resolution but atrocious brightness. It'd be great if some MacBook users could weigh in !

 

Touch pad is one of the positives on M11x, and one of the great deal on core2duo ends today.

http://dealnews.com/Alienware-M11-x...-LED-Gaming-Laptop-for-589-29-s-h/392303.html

 

Thanks! Yeah, that deal is a good one...I also saw a i5 for $700 which is an awesome price. But I'm not a student and don't work for a big corporation so I don't think I can get EPP discount. It asks me for School/staff number

 

Yeah, it is one of the best touchpads I've ever used. Second probably only to Macs...

 

In my opinion, it could be better. I don't like the buttons: they need a deep press to work, which is annoying for me. However, I rarely use them anyway. You can basically do everything without touching the buttons. Yes, you can use two fingers to scroll up, down, left and right! In addition, you can use the two finger project and autohotkey to customize even more your touchpad. M11x's touchpad has an okay finishing, but I would much prefer a flat/smooth/metal-like finishing like the ones in Macbook pro and some HPs. The display will depend on the manufacturer. In general they are Samsung, which has good brightness but somehow poor black levels (that's the one I have), or AUO. It is more difficult, but you can also get a LG. I am happy with my screen, my only complaint being the mirror effect due to those panels being too glossy.

 

It doesn't ask me anything.

 

To be honest, the touch pads pretty annoying and bad. But I'm a user whose palms and hands get sweaty for no reason so it might just be me, but if you've used a macbook touchpad and all its wonders of gestures your never going to adjust to this.

 

At checkout, it asks me for the name of "company I work for" as a required field and it says I'm in the Member Purchase Program section of the website. Is there a magic answer for the company ?

 

Thanks Cherude for the links and the feedback. Sounds like it might be manageable for me...I'm not expecting the integration to be like a Mac.

 

Yeah, its an old Mac so all I got is two finger scrolling and two finger right click. As long as I have that on the M11, I'm good.

 

I really like the touchpad on it, it doesn't stick like those other really bad plastic touchpads, and if you get the latest synaptics driver you can have the multi touch features and all. You can also change the scrolling area of the touchpad to make it larger or smaller to fit your needs, so overall I'm really happy with this touchpad and as stated above it's one of the good features on the m11x

 

I'm considering either the Core 2 Duo or the i5. How happy are you with the i5? To me, it seems like the best compromise of price, power and battery life. The i7 seems unnecessary for my CPU needs, I'm not going to be converting DVDs to QTs.

 

That is exactly why I would much prefer a flat/smooth/metal-like finishing like the ones in Macbook pro and some HPs. M11x's touchpad works great IF your fingers are not wet. Otherwise, it is annoying (at least until your fingers dry again).

 

Future proof + m11x: I can't put those two in the same sentence... neither it's hinges and especially not it's GPU. The rest of it's hardware is fine though.

The touchpad is a bit lousier than the one on MBPs. Its possible to do multi-touch gestures, but I found they'd actually work only ~60% of the time (e.g. two finger scroll) so I didn't use them at all. Also, my touchpad got "greasy" after a while but I noticed the same can happen on black MBPs (a friend of mine has it).

 

My two fingers gestures work fine almost always I would say. Are you using the native drive + the two fingers project? It is necessary to be a little careful when using both: you can't have two fingers scroll activated in both or you will have some issues. I have two fingers scroll activated in the native drive (off in the two fingers project) and two fingers tapping (as right mouse button) in the two fingers project (the native drive don't give you two fingers tapping)

I actually want my touchpad more greasy so I can move even wet fingers smoothly (eeeewwwwww! ).

 

LOL!

Yep true, greasiness on the touchpad makes it more smooth! It just also makes it looks wet, and well.... greasy I couldn't remove the grease so I tried the other thing - spreading it more! Just try to use other parts of the touchpad and the grease will come ^^. 10 finger + 10 toe gesture something... I don't remember which drivers were those, but I didn't find that scrolling that cool. The touchpad is I'd say OK, the only con being the development of the greasy spot. But truth be told, it is not of the MBP quality. On the other hand, it's WAY better than on m17x (then again, any other touchpad is...).

 

I choose the i5 because I'll be playing some RTS games and those need the CPU as you know, so it really depends on what you want, I read somewhere that the i5 consumes less power but I'm really not sure, I also like the turbo boost feature in it, so if you want something in between I'd say the i3

 

Do they give the i3 as an option?

I have one question I've been itching to ask
Can you disable the i5/i7's turbo boost in the BIOS? Is it possible?

 

yes it is

 

Hello,


Thank you for answering!



I have a theory... does battery life increase if Turbo is disabled? I have read a story of Turbo causing battery life loss, but that was between manuf. batt life and real world usage, so I don't really know to make of it.