M11x R4 - speculations

What do you think the next update of the M11x (nothing official yet) will bring , what you would like to see , what you don't like about the R3 and previous models and would like to see in the new one, when do you think it will be released, any news you might have heard, etc ..

I have had my eye on the M11x for a while , since the R1 , was very close to buying the R3, and still am ... but since the price for the one i want ( i7 and 8gb RAM) is a little high for my price range and my desktop is pretty much enough for what i need right now , i decided to wait for the next update and see what comes out. The R3 is , from what i could figure out in the reviews and benchmarks i've read, very good , looks and workmanship are very good , processor power vs battery life is very well balanced, graphics performance good to very good.

The thing that i would like to see in a R4 is a better display . And maybe better wireless and some updates for the processor and graphics card (those can't make a huge difference from what is right now , correct me if i'm wrong , i'm not very informed here). The display doesn't seem that good , this from what i've read and seen in some videos , it doesn't cover very well the RGB range and is a bit greyish and the colours are a little washed out.

So that is it for me, a better display will make me buy it for sure. Hope it will be done on the new revision. Although it's not sure when we can expect it, it might be a while. If i'm optimistic, i would say in the first half of 2012.

 

The screen is a big one for an upgrade, newer GPU could be a possibility as well.

 

GPU would be good as the current one is only maybe a little above medium, but , for me, is not that important ,as i'm going to play mainly Football Manager on it, and maybe some SC2 and Diablo 3 casually, don't think shooters or other "heavy" games are suited to play on this display size for a long time, so the current graphics card would be suited in my case.

 

There is no news at all about an Alienware M11x R4. Dell or Alienware haven't ever mentioned the possibility of an Alienware M11x R4.

However, given how popular the Alienware M11x series is, an M11x R4 it will probably exist at some point. My guess is that it will have:
* Intel Ivy Bridge generation Core i5/i7 CPU
* nVidia 6-series GPU (will not use AMD, because nVidia has a superior auto GPU-switching technology)
* Support USB 3.0 and SATA3 (6Gbps)
* Use a chipset that supports Intel Smart Response Technology (SSD caching)

Hopefully, it will also include a better LCD display panel as well. The MacBook Air 11.6" uses an LCD panel with superior image quality than what you can find in an Alienware M11x; so there are manufacturers out there making better LCD panels.

 

My guesses that I'm pretty sure about:

* Ivy bridge equivalent of the i5/i7 CPUs.
* USB 3.0 support
* Same GPU (Unless Dell was willing to spend more money on a better GPU)

Guesses that I'm not too sure about:

* New or same old screen (although since it's been 4 revisions into the product's cycle, it just feels like it's about time for a better screen).

 

Matte screen option is needed desperately, and maybe a bump in CPU( Ivy Bridge ?) and GPU.

 

If they had a matte IPS panel, I will be a very happy panda.

 

one thing i REALLY want is if they do a complete redeign: how about switching the Harddrive and RAM positions? The RAM gets so annoyingly hot on my WASD hand when i play certain games (Im looking at you The Witcher)

 

Agreed with the positioning. I don't understand why they placed everything the way they did, so that the wasd side (where my hand is all the time) gets hot, while the other side stays a lot cooler.

 

If anything, the sides should be switched. Anyway, to be fairly realistic, I'm sure we can all expect some CPU upgrades. The screen has been something everyone's been screaming at them for a while so they might change it. But then yet, it's Dell we're talking about here...

 

I don't think that it will exist.

 

i know, at least OFFER the new screen upgrade, all the other M series laptops have screen upgrades

 

That's still my most fervent wish. I'm sitting outside on my deck right now and hate, hate, hate this glossy garbage panel. My gf's MBA panel puts this thing to shame.

 

Is there a chance for the M11x this late spring/early summer??

 

Its not going to happen.

The underlying hardware components available today (CPU and GPU) have not changed at all since the release of the M11x R3. We need to wait for next-gen Intel CPUs and nVidia GPUs before we even have a chance at an Alienware M11x R4, and those will not be ready for a spring / early summer laptop product launch.

 

Ivy based mobile laptops should come out around june/july (my guess) so maybe around that time with nvidia 6xx series GPU's.

I plan on getting a R4 if it has Ivy and Kepler in it. (I would love to have a 28nm gpu and 22nm cpu in my m11x)

 

Guys, until official word from Dell, please use this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...14x-r2-m18x-r2-coming-speculation-thread.html

Thank you