M11X Recommendation (R1 or R2)

Hi guys,
I'm new to this forum.
Which alienware do you recommend me? (battery life and heat) And is the upgrade from the C2D to the i5-i7 worth it? Will we see a big difference?
Though, my biggest concern is the heating issue. I've read that the R2 runs much more hotter but during idle, does it that run that hot? If letting my R2 on the bed, will it become very warm in idle?

Thanks!
Planning to buy an M11X tommorow.

 

R1 has slightly longer battery life, and runs slightly cooler. Not exactly deal breaking though.

 

the r1 gets better battery life than the r2. r2 has some problems with the drivers right now should be finx overtime. im not gonna lie i got the r2 cause it was the new one and money wasn't a problem for me =]

 

How is that not dealbreaking? Most people buy the thing to be able on the go, isn't battery life one of the key issues then?

 

Its all personal opinion, deal breaking to one person, not even an issue to someone else. The R1 gets around 2-3 hours of extra battery life compared with the R2. The R1 also runs about 20C cooler than the R2. It is a personal choice as to which you should get.

 

also about 200$ cheaper, if money is a factor

 

Money is not a factor

 

Well, you could also buy yourself a cooling mat.
Those should help a great deal with heat issues.
Really, the big issue is battery life.
The R1 gets 8 hours.
The R2 gets 5-6 hours.
Oh yeah, if you do get an R2, you will have to make sure to regularly check for new drivers on the Dell website.

 

Just to be clear, it not something a cooling mat can really change. The processor on the R2 will still get upwards of 70-80C when gaming, and no matter the cooling that is going to make the laptop feel a LOT hotter.

Anyway, it is something some won't even notice, and others won't be able to stand.

 

Still, a cooling mat should help.

 

I like the R2 due to the driver updates and I'm a fan of newer tech like the i7s and Optimus. I honestly never notice the heat myself, even after a few hours of gaming at a desk or an hour or two in bed. I don't OC the GPU, just the CPU to my max stable (164). Battery life, the longest I ever really need is 5 hours or so and I don't have an issue hitting that.

 

Can the heat in the R2 create some overheating after gaming too much time?

 

I'm not sure how it is with the R2, but with my past laptop gaming experiences, using a cooling pad has always noticeably helped performance.

 

Yeah, I know.
But, is there a huge difference between the performance of the C2D and the performance of the i5-i7?? I mean, I only play source games and some old games (CSS, TF2, MOHAA). Can it run them maxed out? Is the extra performance of the i5-i7 is worth the sacrifice of 2-3 hours of battery life? Do we really notice a difference (other than in games)?
Thanks in advance

 

thats not true. cooling pad does bring down the temperature. u can actually feel it when you are on the laptop that its running cooler than without.

 

source game... one example that i can give base on what i have. eg L4D2. I am running it with everything at thie highest settings with all effect turn on to the highest possible + 16QxMSAA and 16x Ani. And its still running silky smooth. Which machine i own? My signature have your answer

 

Hey, thanks for the info.
Also, does the laptop gets warm and hot on idle?
Thanks in advance

 

I haven't received mine yet(it's due tomorrow or the day after that) but it shouldn't be too warm on idle. I still suggest you get a cooling pad if your really concerned.

 

Yeah, but I'm not always going to have my cooling pad with me. Sure, for gaming, i'll get one.

 

Then get the R2. Simply for the reason that there will be continued driver support. Support like that can continually improve the performance of games, even older Source ones.

The R1 may not have any more continued driver support (although, it may not need it either)

If money was an issue, I'd say seriously consider the R1.

If not, then definitely get the R2, because for me, It's more important that my machine is still future proof and will get driver support so it can run any game I want to play, rather than have extra battery life or cooling.

For that reason alone I'd say go for the R2.

Also, considering how fast there was a revision between R1 and R2, maybe it might be worth waiting 90 days to see if there's some new R3 that makes it worth the wait.

 

when i am outside i dont often keep it idling since thats not very idealistic thing to do when you are on battery. so i cant really tell. when just surfing and checking emails i dont really feel heat from the machine. however if you play game then yes it will get warm. assuming i am not playing game just working on some documents or surfing net and checking my mails. at the end of the session i hibernate the machine. when try to touch it the machine is not hot at all. even my friend was quite amaze by it.

so far at home i am 100% on cooling pad. i do leave it idle since it will be on power and my default profile on AC is always set to high performance. with cooler on honestly i dont feel even a little heat from the machine if its idling.

 

This is one of the most suitable cooler I have seen so far http://global.coolermaster.com/products/product.php?language=en&act=detail&tbcate=1&id=6654
this is also what i have been using day 1 with my m11xR2. the dimension of the cooler is almost about the size of the laptop. get it's job done for the cooling portion. best of all if you travel, this can be use as a protector of to your M11x and you can carry it along during traveling.

PS: Do take note that this one shown doesnt seems to mention about fan. However there is a version with fan that is removable and you can place the fan anywhere on the bottom of your laptop where you think it needs most cooling. just cant find it on the website

 

Thanks a lot kopicha. +Rep