M11x as a business laptop?

I was thinking about getting a lenovo x201, mostly for work/business use. However, I do game occasionally, so I thought it would be nice to try the m11x. However, the x201 doesn't use the slower UM processor, so I'm kind of rethinking this.

I'm currently using a 1yr old netbook with the atom processor in it, and it's just wayyy too slow and bogs down after I get a few apps running. Very unacceptable.

For business/work I have quite a few apps open at a time, but I don't do any video encoding or anything. It's just a lot of web-browsers, office/excel, chat programs, email, etc etc. I will usually have around 12 apps running at any one time.

How will the m11x (with the new i5/i7) do in this category? Obviously it's not going to be as fast as the x201, but am I going to even notice a difference?

*EDIT* Also, I forgot to ask what brand of SSD does the m11x comes with, and does it support TRIM?

 

If you have a lot of idle apps open at once, RAM makes the most difference. I would personally stick to 4Gb minimum these days.

 

I have a m11x with 4 gig ram and regularly have outlook, excel, word, internet and messenger all open at once with no issues at all. With the new processors it should be a breeze.

 

even the 2coreduo can do what you want with no problems at all. I have the su7300 and haven't experienced any slow down in real life experience.

 

A business man wielding a Alienware, is a business man I wanna do business with.

 

amen to that.

 

You'll have no problems with those applications on the m11x. If you use any sort of stat modeling programs or whatnot you may want something with a faster processor. If the most intensive thing you're using is office, no problem. As others stated, make sure you have at least 4gb of ram.

 

Exactly. Dam I would give him more money for what he needs just for having it.

 

It should be a Samsung, and it should support TRIM. You know though, Dell maintains their mask of plausible deniability, and you will never know beforehand just exactly what you're getting. Still, it should be the Samsung.

 

Definitely.

It would be nice to use for conferences since it's smaller and lighter than my current business book and I can hop onto CS or something between but that fugly logo on the lid kills it. You can shut the lights off, right?

With the lights off and some sort of case covering the logo it might be doable.

I see they have a nice portfolio case for it but that too has the fugly logo on it.

This actually might work pretty well: http://www.gearzap.com/smartedge-dell-mini-12-book-style-leather-case.html

Any experience with these?

It'd be great if you could get a leather Franklin portfolio or something to carry it in and hide it's goofy styling.

 

i dont think its a good idea use the m11x for business, the screen will be the makor problem ... the envy will do better work.

 

screen resolution (considering the screen size) is about as good as you will get if you want that footprint, and the footprint is really nice for travel (if you're doing work on the plane the m11x will fit nicely on the tray table).

If you're at work and need higher resolution hooking up a monitor is an easy affair.

 

I am personally not sure if I want to use flashy laptop for business. It'd be fine if you use it in secured indoor area most of time though.

 

a 13.3 screen will do a better job for sure !

 

Totally Agree

 

Thanks for the responses guys.

The screen actually won't be an issue (unless were talking about something different than size?). My current netbook is an 11.6" Gateway, and I actually think the size is a great balance between portability and productivity. Now whenever I have a 13" in my lap, it just seems too big, especially when in tight spaces.

I just wanted to make sure the processor is up to snuff. The netbook I have is 2gb of RAM, with an atom equivilant processor, and it's a pure dog in windows 7. Just didn't want to make that mistake again.

 

I am 99% sure that a CULV will give a Atom, a run for it's money in all matters except for battery life

 

I plan on using the M11x mostly for school. It's a business school with stuck up professors and students. Originally I was thinking about spray paint the machine but i probably won't be able to resell it.

I ordered a custom skin from invisibledefenders.com which looks like this without the alien head. It arrived within a week. Now I am just waiting for Dell to ship the computer and amazon to send the Momentus hybrid drive =(

 

I use the 11x for business, I use it to program automation controls in the field.

I think it is the best notebook I have used for what I am doing.

As far as what ppl think, Cause I'm using an Alienware notebook...I could give a flip.

 

Thats correct.

I think that FelipY2K didn't mean the resoultion, but rather the quality of the screen.

Let's face it: the screen is like a mirror even in a normal lighted room due to the glossy finish and the very very low brightness. The contrast isn't very good as well.

The screen might be the only deal-killer.

 

daudi81, as long as you are ok with the looks and glowy parts of an alienware notebook in a professional environment I would think it should be fine.

 

Well, most of the glow can be shut off. I'd reccomend the r2, black. the rubber matte look is a little mroe pro than the sparkle of the r1 fancy, but flashy paint job.

then cover the LCD alienhead and you are done.

 

The laptop is a solid piece of hardware. For business I generally prefer something a little bigger, maybe around 13 inches. Even if you don't have a problem looking at 11" screen, your co-worker & client might. (If you are not in the type of work that have to share your work like that, I guess it's fine) If gaming isn't a big deal, getting something w/ no discrete GPU at all will yield even more battery life.

May be that work in you case, and a few. In theory, it shouldn't matter. You pay for it, it's your and it shouldn't be anyone concern what laptop you use to get the job done, as long as the job is done. In reality, when your co-worker see your laptop w/ alien head on it, he maybe just give a look and simply ignore it and in time, it doesn't matter. Well, your business partners and your boss may not as they may perceive as unprofessional.

 

I actually run my own business from home - so no coworkers or anything. Nobody to bother me about the looks, except my wife, but who cares, lol. But I do sometimes go on small trips to conferences etc, and/or run to the local university to work instead of at home (less distractions).

There's just nothing out there that has everything the m11x does: the lenovo x201 has the processing power, but can't game very well. I was looking at the sony Z series, but it's a 13.1". The m11x is the right size, can game, just needed to make sure the processor can keep up with my every-day tasks.

 

BTW - How long does dell usually take to get a custom one out? It says ship date is 7/9/10 if I ordered today - is that usually accurate? I know there are the express ones, but I want the i7 and SSD.

 

My R1 took like 3 weeks, then almost a month and a half for the replacement. The r2 came in 6.5 DAYS.

 

Most people say you'll get it earlier than the estimated delivery date. After titanic struggles with Dell sales reps and other dell employees, my order was placed on 6/11/10. Somehow I got the same 7/9/10 EDD as you do. I guess they are way ahead in assembly schedule.

 

I would think a person wielding another Thinkpad or Macbook Pro, is just another suit. A person with a little "uomffp" to actually be able to think independantly, and bring something to the table, is a skill I would value higher.

The whole idea of business laptops needing to have some minimalistic sleek look, that matches their suits, or whatever. It's not very creative or impressive to just blend in, I think.

 

I am not disagreeing with you, but you seem to mis-factor something here. There is a line between creativity and insanity. We all know what Alienware is and what it's about. The problem isn't the Alienware notebook, it's the Alien head. If you go to your client and he doesn't know the Alienware brand, he will most likely think you are into UFO & paranormal activities and stuff. I rather carry pink laptop w/ Hello Kitty head(at least that people will think of design choices). And that would be cool, a Hello Kitty laptop that is a solid gamine machine. Arkward, but cool.

 

Yeah, personally I'd put a sticker or something over the head (a sticker of your business or if you could get your business card attached, that would be cool). The alien head is a little too goofy in a non-tech business office setting IMO.

 

The anti-glare screen protector works surprisingly well and it makes the computer usable outdoors.

 

Well I think it all comes down to the classification of the system really. Alienware is a "Gaming" computer. Big logo, flashy design, high performance. In some corporate environments it would be like driving a tricked out Japanese sports car to work. But as daudi81 has said he runs his business from home so it really just comes down to personal preference.

The only other thing I would worry about with an M11x as a "business laptop" is the size. You may want to travel to best buy or somewhere that has one and make sure it is comfortable for you to use. Especially so if it is going to be your main system. If you are going to be doing a lot of work looking at text or in a spread sheet I would pay special attention to the screen (both size and resolution) and keyboard (is it comfortable to type on).

daudi81, you mentioned the size of the M11x "11in" vs the Vaio Z "13in". Believe it or not the Vaio Z and M11x are close to the same size ( overhead comparison pic)

M11x: 11.7" x 8.7" x 1.2"
Vaio Z: 12.36" x 8.27" x 1.29"

There is a descent comparison of the systems here on NBR ( m11x_vs_Sony_Vaio_Z_i5 Comparison and benchmarks). He seemed to prefer the M11x to the Vaio Z.

 

I think it's a bit extreme to call it "insanity".
I don't think a alien logo immediately makes people look like crazy Ufo-type extremists. It's out of the ordinary, but it's not as extreme as you are portraying it.

Even a very conservative business, I think people will not go that far, to judge a persons mental state on the logo of his laptop. Most people who are not gamers probably wouldn't know what it meant, and would look more at the flashing LEDs, which the user can disable, if distracting in a business meeting with dempered light!


Obviously the discussion can not be further discussed, because we can not generalise about all the different business ethics in the world in all the worlds companies. Some poeple would love it, others would hate it, some others would be indifferent.

My whole point was just that, if I was a boss, and one of my employees had an Alienware I would consider it a positive thing, simply because it would be different from the other brainless suits. That's all!

 

Make sure, double check the screen size also. M11x have larger bazel than neccessary, thus screen seem smaller. I find the keyboard seem to be fine eventhough the keys are slightly smaller than normal keyboard(well built though), except for arrow keys, it's significantly small. May not be a good keyboard for game if you need that, but productivity wise, this shouldn't be a problem as people most likely use mouse a lots more then arrow keys.

 

the screen is not that big a deal unless you work on massive Excel sheets

for Word and Powerpoint it should be fine

My old M17x with the lights off looked all business - it was too freaking heavy, I took it to a conference with me when Mass Effect 2 came out (I was not going to wait a whole week to play it). Apart from nearly breaking my back (when combined with teh 10 lb travel weight of my work provided laptop), it really drove home the need for a single light notebook that could fill both roles.

 

Ok, I just got done messing with my wife's Asus 14" laptop. I looked it up and it looks like it has a C2D T6400 processor in it (4gb ram, etc). I ran all my apps on it and it did everything perfectly. I'm not going to use this, because it's my wifes, and 14" is too big, plus it's almost 6lbs.

So I guess my question is, will these new low voltage i5/i7 cpu's hang with the T6400 processor in the Asus machine? If so, there's really no reason I shouldn't get the m11x then.

 

Hi,

I m using it as business everyday, it runs pretty well, fast to load, and with 8 GIG of ram, plenty of RAM to make it run vmware, applications, and "big" software application for security.

The design is not shocking at all, on the contrary it drags lot of positive attention from everyone.

I m sometimes on the move, and honesty whether on the train, or on the plane, the size is perfect ! Not to mention the autonomy of this baby, it can last for 5 hours and more without the Nvidia Gpu on which is enough for business, even if you want to watch a movie.

My only complain is the glossy screen, can t wait to buy the new security filter from 3M that were shown at infosec !

Have phun.
Cheers.

- Black M11X R1 - 8 GIG RAM - US VERSION - 500 HD - Fast GPRS - Windows 7 Ultimate - B

 

for a business laptop, I would recommend Asus' UL30vt, more conservative design, 4 gig DDR3, and has the SU7300 processor from the M11xR1. The GPU is a GT210 (vs M11x's GT335) which isn't as good for gaming, but supposedly sports a 11 hour battery life and costs $600 from amazon.com....

if you are primarily using it for work, then the GPU probably isn't as important battery life, and i5/i7 processors will be overkill for basic office work.

 

I only have seen the gold filters. Is that what you were talking about?

 

I agree the I5/7 is overkill for these uses. It sounds like you only casually game, and the benchmark threads show no difference in FPS in some games and <10 difference on others, which is pretty much nothing. As for having a dozen applications open at once, CPU does not matter. Open applications like Excel constantly take up RAM, not CPU, so it's RAM that matters. Both version of the M11X are configurable with the same amount of RAM. (Go with 4gb of ram.) I'd save the $150-$300 you'd spend on the I5/7 and go with the SU7300 (then put that $150-300 in a fund for your next laptop ). You'll get more battery life out of the SU7300 also.

 

I guess that the styling is very subjective. I quite like it (I have an M15x, but they look pretty similar). If you close the lid and tilt the back of the m11x upwards, it looks like the bonnet of a car.

Anyway, I am pretty sure that the lights can be turned off, but I'm not sure about the alienhead on the back of it, which may make it a bit distracting. However, if you get a portfolio case, like you mentioned, it would negate that need.

 

You can turn all lights off except the alienhead on the rear of LCD. You cannot turn this off as it uses the light from the LCD unlike the m1x which has its own light source.

I prefer the look of the m11x to my m15x but the m15x is growing on me (its so big for a 15")