Here we go again - Thinking about selling my ASUS 1215n for an M11X

Hey guys,

last time I was here, I was in an awful debacle with Dell and their seriously flawed Dell Studio XPS16.

Here we are about a year later and i've had my hands on a cute little netbook that i've had since October 2010. It's got Optimus and is highly portable/light with really good battery and the outer design is pretty awesome.

Now i'm a huge gamer and sadly this netbook cannot cut it. I've noticed that the ION2 is pretty much a GT310M and only has 16 CUDA cores vs the 72 in the 335M with the M11x and in almost every way the M11x is superior and more powerful (even illuminated keyboard!).

However my biggest gripe with the Alienware is the DESIGN. It looks like a child designed it and is in no way subtle or sleek or classy. It's very "show-offy" which really doesn't click with my personality but it is a very capable laptop which is why i'm eyeing it.

Anyway are there any of you who think this laptop is a bit.. much on the design side of things?

What's the ABSOLUTE cheapest I can get one of these? I don't remind refurbished, etc.

 

You can get a base c2d model over the phone for about 499 now.

 

How do I do it? Is it the R2 version? thanks for your quick reply!

 

C2D= R1.
Ask if you can get the EPP/Student discount.
Someone else on the forums said they gave it to them over the phone.

 

want "classy"? I suppose it would help to not use the lighting... have a look at one in person with lights off. It does make a diff!

 

I have the R2 core i5, but if I was in your situation I would FOR SURE get an R1 for 500$. Pretty sweet deal considering it can play most all of the games on the market, and play them well.

Also, the commenter above is correct about it being less "show-offy" with the lights turned off, or just leaving the keyboard lit with white lighting. I am sure the black would be less noticeable too, than the lunar shadow.

 

I bought an R1 from the outlet for 540.00 with a 15% coupon before Xmas. Had a crack in the upper right corner on the screen protector. They sent me a new R2 as a replacement. I believe in the outlet store, full warranty from them.

 

My main concern of R1 vs R2 is the Optimus/Auto-Graphics switching which my netbook is currently capable of. As far as i'm aware, the R2 does this and the R1 does not. I'm thinking about waiting until R3 hits, that way I can get some R2's from the outlet

 

Well, the design of the Alienware is intentional. It intentionally looks aggressive and flashy, and is often called the "Camero" design. See pic below.

Look familiar?​

When you're talking about gaming laptops under 14", you really have two options: Sony Vaio Z (13.3" 3.5lb $1800), or the Alienware M11x (11.6" 4.5lb $500 - $1200). If you really care about laptop appearance, and are willing to pay for it, then the Sony Vaio Z is likely going to be something you will like.

But if you want cheap (and I'm sensing that you do), then your only option at the moment is the Alienware M11x.

 

I get the aggression but this isn't exactly high end gaming notebook ala G73. I'm probably going to put electrical tape over the "ALIENWARE" reflective name or something

And yes i'm after cheap. I don't wanna commit too much money to a laptop. The last time I dealt with Dell, they left a bad taste in my mouth but they did have really nice customer service.

 

Well, the Alienware M11x is specifically intended to be a portable gaming laptop, not a laptop with high performance. I have seen other threads where posters want a laptop with awesome GPU power, awesome CPU power, tons of RAM, lots of disk performance, etc, and then they ask whether the Alienware M11x is a good laptop for them. And all I say to them is that "If the word 'portable' wasn't one of the first words out of your mouth, then don't buy the Alienware M11x."

And you're cheap - ok. If you want a cheap portable gaming laptop under 14", then there is no other choice than the Alienware M11x. If you just want a cheap gaming laptop and are willing to carry around larger machines, then there are PLENTY of better choices out there that will give you more gaming power. Specifically, look at Acer laptops, Asus laptops. They tend to have inexpensive laptops for the amount of power they can cram into a laptop chassis.

 

i came from a 1201n that i paod $500 for...

only paid $550 for my M11x. its not even a contest how much better this thing is for the money. so glad i got this lil guy!

 

I think to me it looks a little like this. I'm sitting here waiting on mine to fly in anytime now.




Chris

 

The "Camaro" guys are gonna have a fit with that spelling

Note: the word "ALIENWARE" is a lighted portion of the LCD panel and can be turned off. Like I said, go see one in person with lights off for a better idea.

Edit for picture...


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

if you get this computer, definitively you will get an improve in performance due to the 335m (compared to your 310m), you should look for an R2 model for better performance but if you get a core2duo R1 it should be fine, you can play almost all the games right now, i dont know about the games of this year, but i think yes. In the other hand there is the hinges issue, some users have it, i dont have any problem with this laptop, all is running ok.

If you want an 11.6 gaming computer, the m11x its for you, in gaming terms you wont be dissapointed. IF you want more info about all the games this baby can run: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/462632-m11xr1-r2-gaming-discussion-thread.html or just wait and get the R3 some rumors say that it solves the hinge mayor issue of this laptop.

 

Just the fact that it's keyboard lights up is worth the extra $50. It's a feature I wish more laptops had. Such a useful addition.

 

The design is a wee bit garrish, mostly due, imo to the protruding front lip. However, I don't think it looks childish. What is or is not classy is for each of us to decide. If you want to tone things down a bit I would suggest considering either an r2 in soft touch black or either revision in lunar silver. The glossy black of the r1 accentuates the aggressive look you seem adverse to.

Imo lunar silver with a soft green lighting scheme (labels off) looks quite classy, while the soft touch black with only white keyboard back lit is as mild as you can get with an aw.

 

Have you seen the M11x in person? I mean you probably won't love the design when you actually see it but I think it looks much more extreme in photos. With that said, you could get it and hate how it looks. Even if that's true, you'll only hate it until you fire up your first few games.

 

Get the Lunar Shadow, it looks classy and better in person than in pictures online, the Cosmic Blk will make the m11x look aggressive and it is a fingerprint/smudges heaven and it will bother you. The people recommending the cosmic blk over lunar shadow are people that never own a lunar shadow or seen one in person before.

Get the M11x base config @ $550 and it will still be powerful than the Asus 1215n/Vx6 with 2gb of ram, core2duo su7300>atom d525 and gt 335m> Ion 2. Additionally, you get the pretty lights that you can control, more than 6 hours of battery life and a way better touchpad than the 1215n/vx6 (I know because i owned and returned both)

 

Darn, I just ordered mine last night and got the Cosmic Blk. I hate fingerprints too. I'm constantly wiping off my IPad. Do they make a case or anything I can put on the outside to avoid fingerprint heaven???

 

Don't sweat it, cosmic black looks great! Keep a small microfibre cloth handy and you'll be fine.

Edit: If you keep it in a tight fitting laptop bag while on the go much of the fingerprints will wipe off. I haven't seen a cover for it.

 

You might still be able to cancel it, try calling

 

I wish I had been given the choice of Cosmic Black on my r2 build. But there was only lunar shadow or stealth black soft touch. I want to put a skin on it and did not know how well a skin would stick to the soft touch. I also have no idea how well that soft touch would wear. So lunar shadow for me.. I already have a skin picked out just want to see how well it looks and runs before ordering the skin.

Chris