M11x right for me?

I know you guys probaly get this a lot but Im looking to get myself one of these. Basically getting the stock model with these specs:


Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Alienware M11x - Cosmic Black
Intel® Pentium® Dual Core Processor ULV SU4100 (1.30GHz, 2MB, 800MHz)
1 year of coverage included with your PC
No Accidental Damage Support
2048MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x1024]
250GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
No Antivirus Software

I will be using it for school work mainly with some light rts gaming. The fact thats it so portable is what got me hooked intially along with the design. So will it suit me?

 

might want to consider adding more ram for games.

 

Unforunatly it wont let unless I upgarade to an i5/i7 core. Base price btw is 750euro.

 

Just get it already! We're all M11x lovers... no one is gonna tell you no

 

True that. Im pretty much set on getting it. I wont be able to get it for about a month however....any chance of a price drop by then? or will they just keep upgarading it to keep it at the same price?

 

You will need to upgrade the ram to 4gig once you get the computer.

 

How important would that be? Like I said I only game lightly. Also I heard its difficult to find the right ram for M11x as its on a specific frequency.

 

yeah get it lol but get 4gb of ram

 

Well then how much would an extra 2gb of ram cost?

 

trust me get 4gb of ram.

 

You cannot just buy an "extra" 2GB of RAM. The RAM modules are installed in pairs. If you wanted to upgrade the RAM yourself, then you would need to buy a 4GB kit of RAM (2x 2GB modules), and get rid of the 2GB that it already comes with.

How important is 4GB? Well... every single person in this thread is suggesting that you get 4GB of RAM. Doesn't that tell you something?

 

yeah I found that out afterwards. Looks like I will have to pay somewhere in 100euro range.......

Would it be easy enough to install myself?

 

it would be easy for you to upgrade yourself

i would also say get 4 GB of Ram and if you can't afford that then buy a single 2 GB stick and upgrade it to 3 GB

2 GB of Ram is quickly becoming insufficient especially for games

 

Ok thank you. I think Ill get the M11x and buy the ram afterwards. That way I can judge if I will need more ram for the programms I will be using.

 

haha I love it

Windows xp was 256 mb to run.. but... 1 gig was nice.. even 2 gig
Windows 7, you go to any pc you see in the stores.. hit CTRL ALT DEL for task manager and see the Performance.. Look here down at the bottom of the photos for Task Manager ..see it says Memory 1.29 gb.on his M11x R2 i5 4gig ram. So, he will have about 700mb spare ( If he had a 2 gig system )

I notice every laptop that has Windows 7 I do this too it is over 1gig Memory Usage. ( Just to sit at an idle / to look at your desktop )

That's half the ram installed on the maching you want to get.

If you go over the 2 gig.. the system borrows hard drive space to put in your files the memory cant do cause its to full.. This causes lock up and lag.

Running this guys maching with 2 gig of ram and doing work and windows update starts while antivirus is updating.. I think would equil fail.

Follow me sofar?

When I game, with Windows XP on my desktop with 2 gig of ram... I see 1500 mb used .. that's 1.5 gig of my 2gig used. so for running around or zoning or what ever, when gaming.. I only have 500 mb to spare. or 1/2 a 1 gig stick to spare.So when antivirus kicks in for an update, I notice lag and have to be careful.

If I was doing this on windows 7.. I would be around 1100 for the game and 1000 for the windows.. 2100 or 2.1 gig of ram with nothig to spare. I would then want to upgrade to 4 gig ram.

So, they ( the kind folks replying to this thread ) are sugesting you to get 4 gig .. basically because it's windows 7 to start your calculations..

Hope that helps you out?

ps.. Duel channel makes ram faster.. if the memory is in pairs they work better/faster..

If you got a 2 gig system it is (1gig) (1gig) .. two slots on the motherboard under that backplate.. as seen (above that photo) I linked you above, with 1 gig in each..

* his system is 2 gig sticks each ( in the photo )

If you do a 3 gig system it's (1 gig) (2 gig) .. in the two slots. that breaks the 'duel channel' ability. Do it in pairs. get 1 stick of 2 gig, and 1 stick of 2 gig, so they are 4 gig total and duel channel.

I don't know about bartering with phone sales to get a lower price.. maybe you can sneak them to put a system with 4 gig for the same price.. even lower.

If you have a catalog there are " E-Value code : " in there.. IN USA the E-Value code for m11x i5 4gig, in the current catalog, is XXXX-DKPCMU3 .. in the search window of Dells website you type that in and it shows you the icon and you click on it and it shows its $999.

Search the website for your catalog.
Search for the deals on the advertised M11x for the e-value code.
Copy and paste it into the search window and you will see the deals.

~or call support and bartar/negociate

To change the ram.. Simply take the back cover off..have the right ram next to the pc out the package ready to go.. touch metal like a table to ground yourself out. ( some use anti-static straps for about $5.00 ) see the ram / memory sticks in the laptop.. on each side of them are metal retainer clips.. with your thumb nails.. just move those away from the ram sticks left side left.. right side right.. this will unlock the ram stick and it should pop up . Pull out that ram stick.. do the same with the other.. just pull straight out the same direction it is pointing up to.. like a gun on a ship shooting a bullet..it lifts up.. and fires out.
Repeat on the other one.. then reverse this process with the new ram / memory sticks.. make sure you see the notch on the copper/brass end is the same alignment as the slot on the motherboard.. same as the ones that came out.. push in.. push down until the two clips clip.. do the same on the other one.

Done. Have fun with your decision !

 

I believe Windows 7 has been proven to run on 512 of ram.

The thing is, like Vista, it "expands" memory usage depending on what you've got available, that's why it looks like it uses a lot more ram.

I'd agree that 4gb is optimal right now, but 2gb is "ok" if your budget is tight.

 

Here's one article about Windows 7 on 512 of memory:

How well does Windows 7 handle 512MB? | ZDNet

 

Someone needs to read up on Windows 7's memory management.

 

Just because Windows 7 has been proven to run on 512MB of RAM, does not mean that it should be run on 512MB of RAM. It will be incredibly slow and unpleasant to use due to the excessive amount of swap file usage. If this topic was about getting the most use out of aging computer hardware, then trying to get away with minimal amounts of RAM might make sense. But the poster is buying a brand new machine. Skimping on RAM will make the machine perform poorly, and result in a very disappointing experience.

The memory "expansion" that you call it is a feature called SuperFetch. It takes any unused RAM, and pre-loads your most commonly used programs into that unused memory. The idea is that when you launch one of those applications, they will load much faster than if they had to read entirely from the hard disk. If there is an application that needs to use RAM occupied by SuperFetch, then SuperFetch will release that RAM.

The key phrase there is "unused RAM". A clean Windows 7 machine will actually **USE** 700MB - 1GB just sitting there. A machine with 2GB of RAM will have only 1GB free for use for applications. This is fine if you are just browsing the web... but nobody buys an Alienware M11x to browse the web. The moment you launch a game, you will easily use much more than the 1GB of free RAM that was there. Windows will respond by using the swap file, which will make your computer feel like it takes forever to load anything. This is why 2GB is not "ok". Ideally, you don't want your computer to EVER use the swap file, for performance reasons.

You want 4GB of RAM at a minimum. It is the cheapest and most impactful upgrade you can get for your computer, if you have less than 4GB. It has a greater impact than a faster CPU, or buying an SSD.

And just so the OP knows... if you were to install 3GB of RAM, you lose dual-channel operation. Dual channel mode is when your computer can read and write to two RAM modules simultaneously, and results in performance benefits by doubling your memory bandwidth. In order for this to happen, you need two matched RAM modules (same size, same make, same model, same timings). If you install 3GB of RAM, you lose dual channel mode, because you are using two unmatched RAM modules.

 

Get 4 gigs. damn 2 gig chips retail for like 100$s+. 30-50$ upgrade off assembly

 

Get 8 gigs of ram if your going to upgrade...

 

No one is saying it should

I'm just telling him if he's on a budget, nothing wrong with going with 2gb of ram. I don't think it's too hard to upgrade later if he wants a speed boost.

Everyone is saying "YOU MUST GET 4GB OF RAM OR YOU'LL DIE", but that's simply not true, 2gb is acceptable if you're on a budget, and it's ok for him to judge personally if he wants more speed.

Then again, if he's on a budget, an m11x is not the best choice, but I think he got a discount.

Personally I would go for 4gb or more(well, I did ), but 2gb for daily usage and light gaming is not so terrible.

 

wow lot of info to go through. Thank you to everyone who posted.

Im in Ireland and I cant find any meaningful coupons or anything for the M11x.

Look the only problem I have with getting 4gb of ram straight away is that I have to buy a i5 processer at the least. It wont let me buy 4gb with the duo core.

So the base product that I want is 750 euro. To get the model with i5 and 4gb of ram is 1118euro. So you can see the problem I have.

 

If that is the case, then just get the base model for 750 Euro, and then just upgrade the RAM yourself to 4GB for 100 euro more. You can probably sell the 2GB (2x 1GB) RAM sticks that come with your M11x, and recover some of the costs.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

I thought that i would get the computer with 2mb of ram also to save money. But the more that i considered the programs that would be running the cpu vs ram upgrade saving up the extra money to buy the ram was the correct choice.

Instead think about the money you save by going with the su4100 compared to the su7300. The ram upgrade is more bang for your dollar.