M11x: Chassis High Enough Quality For Alienware Branding, Or Not?

I'm actually laughing at some of the elitist posts, some people obviously don't understand that laptops are designed and purchased to fulfill the needs of the end user. Why did i choose the M11x over the M15x? Portability is the biggest issue here, for instance: i spend a lot of time at my girlfriends place playing games whilst she watches soaps; university, taking/downloading notes and typing up essays; and lanning at my mates. The thought of purchasing the M15x did cross my mind but i realised there was no reason to spend an extra £500 on an unweildy laptop when i already had a more powerful mid-ranged PC at home. The M17x, a true desktop replacement makes even less sense in my situation - it's entirely possibly to buy both the M11x and a superior PC with a few hundred pounds worth of spare change instead of the M17x which is a testement to how overpriced laptop tech really is.

 

well chassis design wise for the m11x is too heavy for its class. its sturdy and heavy frame make a less benefits in terms of weight reduction and the purposes is a little uneccessary because i have seen thinkpad, asus, and acer laptop who does not use the frame inside style but it is still strudy and durable. i see it as an additional weight. now i measure the thickness and i'll be making a sketchup model for its dimension and the frame makes unneccessary thickness. the cooling is superb but i wish they made the m11x loss weight for the next design or the refresh of it. but alienware people really know their stuff well, 2thumbs up for them.

 

yeah, it is a bit much - although it does speak to what i was essentially referring to with the "good enough" option...

all i am suggesting is that rather than alienware eventually going the way of voodoo pc or the like, would alienware aficionado be willing to embrace an overall very well engineered product (best performance pc product in each market segment, dollar for dollar - such as the business model of the M11x presents) if that product's casing style (omg, perhaps not entirely aluminum! ) were to end up eventually being implemented across the entire alienware notebook product line.

now, in light of the newly revealed/revamped hp pavilion and envy lines, i would concede this entire point becomes moot - imho alienware now has absolutely no excuse to not be offering aluminum casing at the similar price point in order to retain its cutting edge image and remain competitive...

 

I'm pretty sure the cover is magnesium alloy and not plastic.

 

M11x? Nope, it's plastic.

 

compared to other notebook brands in this size range, it is sexy

 

Even so, it's a stretch to call it flimsy. When I read the post about it being metal I started pushing on the lid, but I wasn't able to exert enough force to make it flex without a fear of breaking it at the hinge. Must be fairly thick plastic. That said, fully metal would be preferable.

Edit: If I close the lid and then press on it I can see a very slight flex.

 

Wow, a lot of Alienware owners sure are afraid of losing their exclusive rights to owning a expensive laptop. Fear that all models will incorporate more plastic, as if this will be the trend for all other models. I for one sold my M17x and bought a M11x, why? Because I want portability, battery life, and the ability to game on the go. My M17x sat on my desk 90% of the time because it was too much of a beast to lug around daily, battery life forget it... My point is, 2 different machines fill 2 different purposes. And I don't see this as a entry level "Alienware", I see it as a high end netbook.

 

*sigh* it's not a netbook people...

Back on the actual topic and leaving out the M17x/M15x. For what it is, the M11x is still pretty well built for plastic imo.

 

The arguement is really kinda moot since it is an Alienware computer. If it's good enough for the designers, it's good enough for me. I don't ask much of it, for for the size/price/ability ratio, I havn't found anything in it's class.

Amount of plastic is fine for what it is, wieght reduction is a plus on this in my book. No need for a steel ultra portible, kind of an oxy-moron.

 

i voted "no" for the following reason

IT'S AN ALIENWARE!
It is a brand that i expect nothing less than the highest quality from. The only other computer company i hold to that standard is Apple. When Apple releases a new product i expect it to be of the highest quality. why? BECAUSE ITS APPLE! Same thing with Alienware, i expect their products to be of the highest quality because of the brand name. it is that simple. the company promotes itself as the high-end pinnacle of gaming pcs, so it has a high standard to live up to, this isn't a hewlett-packard or e-machine folks. Alienware knows the people who purchase their products are people who know about computers.

criticism levied against the build quality of the m11x is entirely justified

With all that said, there is nothing out there like the m11x. It is unique in its standing and Alienware deserves acclimation for what they have accomplished by making such a powerful small notebook.

 

Design wise definitely
Quality wise not so much when compared to other AW laptops.
It's still good but not at the same level

 

Quality sucks. period. This is what happens when a boutique shop turns into a conglomerate. Guys, we have to be honest with ourselves so that AW knows that it will be short lived before they know it. Threads like this will be read by thousands of people and it will inevitably affect their sales--unless they actually take our concerns into consideration and spend the $$ to re-do the R&D to fix the issues that people have mentioned since R1 days.