Happy owners reviews for a change.. please!

I still haven't decide on which notebook I'll buy (m11x or vaio z) and gaming is a major issue for me, the notebook has got to handle a little bit of gaming.. and the only thing the m11x has going for it it's the fact that its supose to be more reliable while gaming and all I see and read is problems..
So.. of all the things I read I'm still not sure.. does the R2 get playable FPS rates during a 10/25man raid (WoW) with at least med settings?
Or its based on luck? Some can play it and some cant?
I know that usually ppl that are satisfied with they machine don't even look at forums, but ppl that are still deciding come here for help and reading awsome things in a critic review and coming here and only reading about problems.. its driving me crazy! lol
I need an on the go notebook that would handle a little bit of gaming once in a while and from all I'm reading I'm a bit scared of making a wrong choice with the m11x.
Please, if you are happy with your machine, post a comment..

 

Love it

You get only what you are paying for, and ultraportable gaming laptop.

Look at this way, you shouldn't expect a 11" mini laptop to play like your core i7 580GTX $2000 desktop at home.
And you shouldn't expect to take your Core i7 580GTX $2000 desktop anywhere and everywhere with you... even a "gaming" laptop can't get a third of this battery.

It's exactly what I knew I was buying, a netbook on pure caffeine, I can take and game anywhere. You can play games, maybe not at 1080p maxed settings, but you can play them.

If someone is really looking for a hardcore gaming rig and wants to stick with Alienware, look into the m15x.

 

I just got an R2 about a month ago. VERY happy with it! I play primarily WoW on it. I have it set to ultra-settings and run 10-man raids with no problems. I get about 60fps in ICC.

My specs are I5 (OC'ed to 160), 4GB of RAM and 250GB HD.

 

Big Fan of my Mx11 too, the fact that it can play most anything out there and get 6hrs of battery is pretty amazing. Still love the color change back lit keyboard too.. Runs 3D modelling software no prob, not the fastest rendering, but not too bad either..

 

Never regretted buying my M11x r2- I've had it for a good few months now.
It CAN play everything I throw at it which nice playable fps.
I'm afraid I'm not a WOW junkie, so I can't comment on that, but there are threads on these forums of players playing it with close to max settings on raids with a bit of tweaking.

I got the R2 as I wanted a budgeted -£1k gaming laptop with portability.

I got my R2, i7,4g Ram, 500GB HD for £949 (With £20 shipping which I couldn't get away with)

But all in all I'm very happy with my laptop. <3

 

Just for a laugh, I hooked my M11xR1 SU7300 up to a 50" Full-HD Panasonic plasma via HDMI.

Then ran up Crysis in DX9 mode and max'd out the screen size, with the game settings on high, sound on medium and moderate GPU over-clocking.

I just wanted to see what the graphics looked like in Full-HD on a large Plasma screen. I know I should have really used DX 10.1 for the look, but hay.

Then I just continued playing the game. Anyway after an hour and the clink of spent cartridges still ringing in my ears (pumped the sound through the TV to a Yamaha sound system) I was quite amazed.

No break down in graphics or sound.

Normally use a 24" IPS monitor in game mode via DisplayPort or HDMI. (Colors are less accurate in game mode, but response is faster, so the specs say)

A few days ago I watched two DVDs simultaneously via two 24" monitors. One via DisplayPort and the other via HDMI. No problems.

My keyboard is blue. I like that.

So there you go, a few happy thoughts.

 

For me, I decided against all grain of common sense and bought the M11x R1. I say this because I had the chance to buy a nice HP dv6 with 3 year warranty for a bit less than the standard M11x. I took the jump knowing the hinge problems etc and have not regretted it so far. I am a casual gamer and only really play Modern Warfare (and Black Ops once the whole CPU guzzling issue has been completely fixed) and Warcraft III so I can't comment on WoW. But I feel a deep sense of satisfaction knowing I can take the M11x out for a day and come home at the end of the day and play some awesome games, all on one machine. Who needs a netbook?

 

The m11x R2 is a great value for money laptop. You are getting all the bells and whistles of a full size laptop on a portable machine.

Games run perfectly fine, currently I am playing star craft 2, MW2, bad company 2(punk buster issue), black ops.

No regrets so far. 100% recommended.

 

Dude, this little bit of kit is the best bit of tech I have ever bought and I have bought ALOT of tech. It constantly surprises me at how versitile it is, I have gone for every upg I can think of for it other than 8gb ram as i'd wouldn't ever need it. With guys like Kopicha, unclewebb and many many more, this machine and this forum just keep giving. I was running Metro 2033 last night for the first time, ok I've had 5 months of changing drivers and adjusting just about everything I can (but I love to do it and learn). But with throttlestop, the latest drivers, GPU o/c and 166fsb. It was an amazing experiace hooked upto my samsung 46in HDTV @720p running at 35 - 40fps on very high details on Directx 10. So blinding that I didn't actually go to bed and am now lagging like a Bast4rd at work :-/

nough said. Get it.

 

Can't comment on the WoW (don't play it) neither the Z (don't have it). I'm a VERY happy user of the m11x R1, stable OCed since the very 1st minute, does most everything flawlessly, and yes it's mine only all-purpose working machine. The Z might have higher scores, esp the CPU, but is less capable in most games and is doublely priced.

Another thing, I've got a broken hinge. A call, less than 36 hr, it was repaired with a new (better) screen right in my house.

Hope this will help.

 

I've been very impressed thus far with the machine, pretty much any game I've popped in has run at an acceptably high level (note for quite a few modern games you won't be cracking any ultra settings too often).

Just make sure you get the extended warranty, as I'm about four months in at this point and I can see some signs of hinge damage on my R2.

 

I am more satisfied with the Alienware M11x R2 than I have been with any other laptop I have ever owned. It's the smallest and most portable machine that feeds my PC gaming addiction without making any serious compromises. I would easily recommend this laptop to anyone who considered buying it.

You need to remember that the "problems" you read about in these forums come from a very skewed segment of the overall population. The people in these forums are typically tech-saavy and highly enthusiastic about their laptop gear. When there is a problem, then the people with problems complain loudly. The people without problems don't post - they are too busy playing games on their Alienware M11x to write posts that say that everything is working as it should.

So, go ahead and get the Alienware M11x. It has more GPU power than the Sony Vaio Z, and is almost half the price. I'm pretty confident that you will be very happy with your purchase. If you are nervous about broken hinges or anything breaking down, then get an extended 3-year warranty with your laptop.

 

Of all the notebooks I've ever owned, hands down this is my favorite. I've had dedicated gaming laptops that were anything but portable. I've had about a dozen business class notebooks that were very ho-hum. I've had a handful of Macs over the years going back to the Powerbook as well and for me these have been the standard in terms of battery life, great displays and build quality.

My R2 quickly supplanted my 13" MacBook Pro for everything - work and play - except photo and video editing/encoding. I was pretty sure that an 11.6" panel was going to be too small for me, but it didn't take any time to get used to it or the 92% keyboard. I was a bit concerned about it's "gamer" aesthetics at work and on-site, but most of the Mac-heads I work with think it's pretty sick looking. Some of the clients I present to often inquire about whether I'd recommend it as they're all trying to go smaller nowadays.

 

I have the M11x (R1) and absolutely love it! Quite Honestly - if it weren't for the potential hinge issue this would be my all time favorite laptop! I hate worrying about "what if" but darned if this isn't an awesome little machine! I am learning to live with it!

 

2 extra things to note:

I'll comment on the hinge problems, on my R1 that i owned and now my R2, I have no hinge problems. Owned m11x since June/Julyish

Secondly, as mentioned, this a support forum, so when you read a few posts a day about problems, keep in mind, there are thousands of these units sold, and it's received awards out the butt! This is a support forum, so almost everyone posting, is posting about a problem!

 

I have an M11x R2 i7 w/4GB RAM and the 500GB HDD.

I've owned it for a few months now, and while I think I'll always miss my 12in PowerBook G4 and 15in MacBook Pro ... for what I need its a nice little machine.

Really my only complaints with my M11x are complaints I have with Windows (yes even windows 7) so I'd have the same issues with a HP, Sony or whatever.

Oh except for the complaint that when I have time to play WoW, my wife has seemingly just decided that she needs not only the dual displays on the Mac Mini, the one on her HP laptop, and mine on the M11x for whatever homework assignment she is working on.

 

I too own an R1 and I have had no hinge problems. I've even dropped it off the edge of my bed on the carpet, nothing broken. I got mine back in May and I love it. It's the first laptop I've ever owned, although I've had numerous desktops in the past. (non-Alienware)

 

I can't really think of a better notebook than the m11x. The combination of price, portability and power beats anything else on the market. I've already had to have one issue fixed, but the next-day on-site service is awesome... typically only business customers have gotten that type of service.

I play Starcraft II on ultra settings and BFBC2 with all settings maxed -- both run flawlessly.

 

Absolutely LOVE the M11x R2.
I came from a 17 inch HP laptop, which is pretty big.
I thought I would have problems getting used to the 11.6 inch screen, but I got used it to it in less than a few minutes of even using it.

Like others have said, don't expect a hardcore gaming power house laptop to run everything at the highest settings, it's more for the portability and battery. I still use this bad boy to run SC2 with medium to ultra settings and it runs fine. I can run L4D2 also on the highest settings and still play.

Buy it and enjoy it.

 

I have had my R1 since April; bought from Best Buy. I've upgraded the HDD with a hybrid SSD (super easy).

I play WoW almost daily. 25man ICC on low/med settings here. I am constantly pulling top heals as a DISC priest in my guild runs. Marrowgar and Sindragosa fights are a non issue for me.

I also have set my video bios setting to Discreet, that way I can run with the latest video drivers. I don't have any use for the Intel GPU at all.

I love this thing. I can't wait for the next best device in this form factor to come out.

 

This is the best laptop I've ever gotten my hands on out of all laptos I've used through my entire life. I use it even more than my custom built desktop because I keep going all around the place!

 

Most versatile computer I've owned. I flog it daily.

 

BFBC2 settings maxed? I can't believe that, mine wont go higher than medium without large fps drops. Same spec as yours, i7

 

I love mine.

 

I love it too!! Gonna play my NFS Hot Pursuit on it!

 

I like mine. I'd consider the Z, but Sony service isn't exactly great for the Vaio lineup, it's expensive, the Z is a bit more fragile than the M11x, and it's a b1tch to swap parts out when you want to update RAM and such.... :-|
I never had an hinge problem, but I did have to get the screen swapped because the keyboard scratched it. Aside form that, no problems. Dell has good service that you can count on without fail.

I'd get an R2 though just for the ease of updated drivers though.

If both options were the same price I'd go for the Z for the full power CPU, better screen (1080p on a 13"?!?!?!), and the lightness, but since the M11x with an i7 and SSD is still significantly cheaper than a Z, get the M11x, unless you really need the CPU power.

 

Love mine, no regrets buying this thing. Had the hinges break 2 times, but still the best laptop I have owned.

 

Lol... you should try to own a decent laptop then, man.

 

The last laptop I owned was a IBM think pad that ran windows 3.1, it had a black and white screen also

 

My Welsh Corgi loves the power brick on the m11x because it's warm. He fell asleep on it once lol

 

You could probably consider that a deadly weapon if it's heavy enough.

 

haha nice! I saw one of those in the basement of my old job in Michigan. It was thicker than the cooling pad I have my m11x on (there are fans in it) Not to go off topic, but I still have my Dell Optiplex Gs in all its beige glory

 

Maybe I missed something? I don't think I checked AA and AF because I could never turn those on with my old laptop...

I was also playing with the CPU and GPU overclock listed in my sig.

 

Thank you for all the reply, its very nice to see happy owners for a change!

The problem is that I can't get a machine with possible hinges problems or possible screen scratch because of the keyboard, I'm buying the notebook in the US but I'm only staying there for 3 months so.. if I get any problem after that I don't know if alienware will be able to attend to my problems here in Brazil.

Another thing is that I know that the price if quite diferent between those two models, but I don't mind investing in something that will meet my expectations.. only thing holding me back in the vaio is the video card and the fear that it may not get playable fps in a few games..

But anyways.. I'll probably end up getting the alienware.. it was, after all, designed for gamers... but oh man why couldn't they have made it a little bit lighter or putted a optical driver in there? sigh..

 

I am afraid you can't have everything ! In something so small, it will be impossible to put an optical drive with a big graphics card. Also, the weight of it makes me think they actually built it out of something substantial. Some notebooks feel like it's made from paper...

 

proud owner of an r2 since august. love it

 

i'm happy, i'm loving my R2

Nox

 

Almost one month with mine, and I love it, not many problems, well, is my first computer (both laptop and desktop) capable of moderate gaming, I have a lot of games, some in CD/DVD and a lot from steam, and I have yet to find a game that does not run almost maxed out...

Size is great, the style and looks is awesome, all my family want the keyboard lights in they laptops, reflective screen is ok with me, my other laptop (that I have for work, can´t even run Halo 1) is a Dell Inspiron 1525, and it has the same kind of screen, and I have that for 2 years, so the glare/reflections problem is not longer an issue with me...

I got a 12 month plan to pay it, the price was decent, there was an Asus laptop around the same price and same power (larger screen) but I needed to give all the money right away, and for my that was not an option...

Battery life is around 3 hours (non gaming) but with max bright, all FX Lights on, online, etc. and is perfect for me, my Dell laptops was max. 2hours, and now is less than 50min of battery life (it has now almost 60% battery wear)

The sound is great, from all my laptops (around 5 in my life) this is the one with better quality and is way louder than all laptops I have ever used...

The size is perfect, very portable, gaming on the 11.6" screen is great, you don´t miss anything...

And of course there is always the external screen option (I have a 32" HDTV 1080p Samsung, for the consoles)

 

i got MOH, and if i turn down the shadow quality, it runs smoothly on all high settings. very fun on MP.