Have a m17x, wanting an 11x...info please!

Hey guys! So, I bought a M17xR3 in May of this year, but I have since realized I need something portable! I was originally thinking of selling the 17x and buying a tablet for school and next fall building a desktop gaming rig.

However, I have decided against both of those ideas(except I still want to sell my 17x) because the 11xR3 is perfectly good for class notes and such and I simply don't play anything on PC that I need a powerhouse for. At the most, I play MMOs on PC, everything else goes to the 360. I mainly want to play Guild Wars 2.

My questions are: How well does the current maxed out 11xR3 game? And also..does it have the awful Optimus and driver issues that my 17x had and if so, is there a fix for them? I fixed my 17x via modded bios and drivers.

 

So far there are no issues with my R3 as far as performance issues go. Optimus is awesome. No problems there.

If you are going to go with the R3 I suggest two things. Go for the 1GB GPU model because 2GB is pointless and don't get more than 8GB RAM.

(I have the 2GB model because mine was a free replacement)

from experience in the college note taking setting I love my 11x. Everyone else is jealous of my powerhouse that fits in "my pocket."

 

I am also looking to play guild wars 2 One of arena nets staff owns an m11x r1 and is able to play the game on that, so it will obviously be fine on the R3.

 

R3 is awesome, in every sense of the word. Trounces my old r1 (my r3 is a replacement). I had a few issues with Optimus initially, which I fixed pretty quickly, but on a fresh install on a ssd, it worked straight away, no fiddling required.

 

Awesome guys! Sounds great! Good to hear that the Optimus issues don't happen as badly on the 11x. I got locked out of everything on my 17x because it wouldn't switch to the Nvidia GPU properly(yes, I know how to whitelist the programs ;P). Anyways, it seems like the little 11x is just right for me. Thanks for the quick and helpful responses!

 

The M11xR3 is an awesome little machine. I still regret getting rid of my old M17xR2 because I really miss the screen size, but the power they packed into this thing is impressive. I've not had any issues with it and it turns heads for sure.

 

You thought what I did Glad to see you're thinking ahead. I bought a 17" gaming laptop maxxed to the max (Extreme and overclocked) thinking it would be great for both school and gaming. What was I thinking... it lasted ~1 hour on battery yet my classes were 1 1/2 hrs some 3 hours so I had to be plugged in. Since outlets were scarce and I had to be plugged in for each class that didn't make me feel welcome when others would bring in a laptop with a dead battery and I'd hear other students say "take the outlet from the guy who uses it all the time it's not fair". Then the fans turning on sounded like a hair dryer no one wanted to be around me. It weighed 13+ lbs for the whole setup (case, wires, brick), toting it around all day plus the size was difficult to use on the small desks and balance a book. Talk about the worst possible laptop for school.

I find the m11x perfect for school. It is more portable than you think, almost as portable as my netbook. Very well built (metal case), no more issues with all the 1024 x 768 stuff you'll come across (and 720p), fan noise is quieter than my netbook when not gaming and under stress/load as loud as any other laptop. Battery life, I get 4 hours. Optimus I would say it's pretty much been flawless. I'm impressed how games play and how high the settings can be but I'm not actually someone that cares too much about playing at max settings.

I'm a photographer and movie editor, and that's the main reason I purchased it. In that regard I wish the screen didn't change so fast if you flip it up/down. It has a mirror finish, hard to see in classrooms with the blinds open. I wish the blacks were more black (if I fix that, then I wish the whites were more white). To Dells defense no one makes a high quality 11.6" screen so it is what it is. FYI I calibrated the screen, it has a noticeable blue/cyan cast straight from the factory but that's normal for LED backlit screens. I do think it perfect for college with it's full size keyboad & trackpad, battery life, and portability and excellent for gaming. Most of the games I play can be done at max settings. So far, in the 15 years I've been using PC desktops and laptops the m11x is easily #1 as the best thing I've ever purchased. Portable as a netbook, powerful as a gaming laptop (combined with the smaller screen), quiet, good battery life, my netbook was annoying with a 600 pixel height so many things are 768 pixels tall or 720p which the m11x handles easily. The trackpad on the m11x is full size and extremely powerful combined with all the commands it can do (delete the Synaptics software it comes with and download the newest. The new has so many features and commands that all work with the m11x touchpad it's amazing). Lastly, the lighting I thought was a bit of a hoax but I've come to absolutely love it after seeing how much easier it is see and utilize. Granted, I don't think it needs 5 independent zones for lighting but oh well.