**M11xR2 Discussion Thread

If you don't mind, let me rub it in. Some DPP get this upgrade price on top of the 10% discount. (at least mine is) But is that euro dollar or US dollar after conversion?

i7 640 CPU - US $135
4gb ram - US $45
BT - US $18

 

Besides the higher clock speed, 1MB of extra L2, (and price), is there any reason to go with the i7 over the i5?

 

Can anybody answer my question?

 

Given my history of ordering Dells, they usually arrive before, but it's more dependent on their availability of parts and then the assigned courier service.

You have to assume Dell planned for an early rush on the updated model, and had parts available for them for at least a large fraction of that rush.

 

I'm in NZ. Estimate prior to placing was 15 working days for my M11x R1. Ordered on 01/06/2010, initial date at time of purchase was 23 June, then dropped as order was confirmed to the 16th of June. Was in NZ on the 8th of June, cleared Customs and onto the courier on the 9th, and delivered to work at 0800 hours on the 10th.

9 Days is pretty decent from my point of view - esp. considering I'm at the bottom of the world.

 

haha dont be so mad about it .. im in Brazil and i paid $2055 for a R1 with C2D,4GB,500GB HDD.

 

I have that exact drive on its way to me to put in my r2. I don't want an SSD until I can get a 500gb one for about that price, so this is a good solution for the next few years and will make a nice portable drive once I do go SSD.

 

DPA is Dell Preferred Account and you can get 4% if you sign up for DPA for your order. If you already have a DPA account you cannot get the 4%. I tried.

 

That is what I have done... I ordered an Intel 160GB Gen2 SSD. Should be a great performance boost to general usage...
- Kirk200

 

Yes, i always received my systems before the edd

 

There should be a Windows 7 setting that allows you to set behavior on what to do when the laptop lid is closed... normally this is "standby"... you should be able to select "do nothing". So you may need to power on the notebook my pressing the Alien head (lid open), but then you can shut the lid and use an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor...
- Kirk200

 

USA 10%EPP 4%DPA $100 of Coupons Free Shipping

UK 6% EPP

USA 3 UK 1

I hope the football result this Saturday turns this around! And my friend in Brazil you may pay more but at least you will have the happiness of winning the world cup again

 

Correct, those are the only technical differences... but if you can afford it (I could at this time), since you can't upgrade processors later, I saw this as a bit of future proofing. I think the upgrade is worth it to me. A speed bump (and matching Turbo Boost speed bump), plus a 33% larger cache, will not hurt
- Kirk200

 

just look for an intel x25-m 160gb v2 an you will be in for a very good ride

 

I *totally* agree - get an Intel X25-M 160GB Gen2 SSD. They have awesome performance (we use them here at work in all of our notebooks). With Windows 7, they have TRIM support as well natively. Dell appears to be shipping the Intel value-add storage driver as well in the preload, so I expect to swap my 160GB HDD to the Intel 160GB Gen2 SSD w/o any issues.
- Kirk200

 

What kind of battery life can I expect for typical internet surfing no games?

 

about 8 with the new chips. On the r1 its about 6-7 hours.

 

Future-proofing laptop... with 1.2GHz dual core CPU ^^ LOL

It hurts the wallet ... I'm not sure how much cache really matters, on SU4100/SU7300 there's absolutely no difference despite 50% more cache on SU7300.

With all the discounts floating around, I'd get i7 if it could go down around $1k-$1.1k max total.

 

It can go down that much but all you would upgrade is the CPU maybe the hard drive too.

 

True in the greater scope of cia 12" notebooks future proofing with 1.2Ghz Dual core is a funny thing to say.

However in the micro world of the M11xR2 an i7 is going to give you better performance with the turbo-boost and overclocking.

Hyper-threading has a fudge factor as it depends on the processes being run.
Thus the SU7300 Overclocked and the i5-520UM may make interesting bed-fellows on some applications, however in general I would expect to see the i5 pip the overclocked SU7300.

Seeing the i3-330UM drop off the web sites pretty quick. (still in Malaysia but)

All that aside, I'm amazed the number of people considering selling their out of cool-down period (30+days) M11xR1 for an M11xR2. Guess it's a numbers 'game' for some people and maybe a different focus.

Laughingly, my M11xR1 is over spec'd for the development work I do and I haven't even stuck a SSD into it yet.

I blame Moore and his law for all this.

 

Where did you pull this number from? Even Dell admitted (I think I read it few pages back) new CPU uses more power, with the estimate of 20 mins battery life less.

 

the ac adapter is 90w against 65w ... i dont think the r2 will have the same autonomy of r1

 

Correction: this is where I found the info http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/490626-m11xr2-very-important-benchmark-info-3.html - he talked to a rep... -.-

Disregard it.

 

Dell Europe lists the m11x as special offer till 16/06/10. But it's the stock i5 offer... same components, same price

 

maybe they will raise the price...

 

then it will be one over priced piece of kit

 

Prices just went up approx NZD140(USD90) across the board for M11xR1 and M11xR2 yesterday in New Zealand.

probably just reflecting exchange rates.

 

I returned my M11x just because I still can. It was still under policy and I havent had the time to install stuff in it. And buying it a week before the R2 made me frustrated and i had to think it through. I bought my first laptop, the e1505 a week before the new inspiron 15's launched, and i was frustrated because there were better procs and gpu options after that, and it was a gift, so i just kept it. Now that I bought it myself, i guess i had the option already.

I paid Best Buy 899, 997 with tax, (approximately that price) for the R1, and I am paying only $100 more on the new one with i7 and soft touch(i dont know if that's any better or not). I think I went too impulsive in buying the R1. This is my first alienware, and the replacement for my inspiron e1505 so im pretty excited about it.

A month wait isn't that bad.

Just sharing my thoughts.

Thanks for reading.

 

I ordered a 500GB Seagate Momentus hybrid drive for the M11x.

If you insist to get a SSD, try to keep unnecessary files (like school stuff and other applications that do not require installations) on a SD card. I do that on a 32GB SD card for my mini 9 with the pitiful 16GB stock SSD. Two years worth of files and ppt only fill up half of the SD card. Yes, the SD card is twice the size of the SSD. The PATA mini card connection is too discouraging for upgrade

120GB is actually quite a lot of storage. Just think about how many different games do you play in a month. Keep the drive clean and uninstall unnecessarily programs!

 

Please tell us about the Momentus when you get it. I love the idea of a HDD/SSD hybrid. And so much cheaper than SSD. I just wonder how much battery it uses

 

add to that a possible increase in UK VAT from 17.5% to 20% on budget day 22 Jun it makes me wish I had bought one on an earlier deal...highnsight!

 

Just pulled the trigger on an R2

1 Alienware M11x, Soft Touch Stealth Black
1 Intel® Core™ i7 640UM (4M Cache, 1.2 GHZ with 2.266 GHz Max Turbo Frequency) - Overclockable
1 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 800MHz
1 Alienware M11x 90W A/C Adapter
1 11.6-inch WideHD 1366x768 (720p) WLED
1 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 335M
1 160GB SATAII 5,400RPM
1 Terra Green
1 Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
1 Integrated 10/100 Network Interface Card
1 Adobe Acrobat Reader
1 Internal High-Definition Surround Sound Audio (5.1)
1 Alienware M11x a/b/g/n 2x2 MIMO Wireless
1 Automatic Updates: On
1 1.3MP Web Cam
1 1 Year Basic Plan
1 Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
1 Alienhead 3D
1 No Internal WWAN Antenna Installed
1 Standard Nameplate

Dell EPP Members save 10% off select Alieware systems! - $114.90
Get $100 off any EPP or DellU Laptop or Desktop $999 or more with coupon! - $100.00
Order Subtotal: $934.10
Shipping and Handling Total: $0.00
Tax Total: $56.05
Total Amount: $990.15

Got free Next Day Delivery too

Should I have gotten the advanced warranty instead of basic?

 

Congrats!
You can always upgrade the warranty before it expires.

 

Does anybody know why the m11xR1 is more expensive in EPP?

 

Have no idea.

 

Exited about the R2, I have never had any problems playing SC2 with my SU7300. But GTA4 gets abit choppy after a few missions, then I have to restart it. This might run flawlessly on a i5 or i7.

But I am still VERY happy with my R1

 

I'm looking forward to people's benchmarks when they start rolling in.

 

well, it look like you didn't get built-in bluetooth. I didn't think I would need it, but it's on $18, and I prefer not to use USB dongle and waste th slot. Not to mention possible of using BT mouse later on.

I very have to disagree though, both CPU are very difference by nature. For once SU7300 doesn't scale as well like the i-series because of TurboBoost, even when both of then have speedstep. Then we have to take about normal usage, normal usage for SU7300 may be using like 40-50% CPU utilization, well, for the same usage, the i5/i7 we probaly see 20% instead. Normal usage is in general CPU dependant. Also in practical most M11xR1 probably use it OCed all the time. While i5/i7 users already have TB mode, meaning they may or may not OCed them. Then there is an Optimus power saving that could put into consideration also.

 

You guys getting this mouse with m11x?

 

That is one psyco mouse..

 

@Phantom3D: For SC2, have you run a 3v3 or 4v4? And how was the performance?

 

i did it with Ai, i dont know if it matters but i made a ton of units and it went gradually slower during midgame to late. probably 7-15fps till i wiped them all out. i guess the limit is 2v2.. I played with 7 ai, 2 zergs and expanded the creep around the map.

 

i guess that's why they called it the rat. its cool though, but there's no BT option.

 

I think I'll hold off on the discount through DPA simply because I don't like the ding opening a new line of credit can put on your score. I don't feel like losing x amount of points off my near-perfect score simply because I wanted fifty bucks off an M11x purchase.

 

I didn't opt for it. One year Advance (accidental damage coverage) for $69 at the time of configuring the M11x is very reasonable. I'm not sure you can add it on after the purchase for the same price.

Is it just me or do you guys find the way Dell hides the warranty prices annoying? Seems to be a tactic to deceive.

 

Can you get EPP and BING?

 

Well, pulled the trigger last night! i7, 4gb, 250g HDD, and the additional 59.99 accidental for a year. I ended up getting a weird discount because I tried to get the boeing discount, I think it was 12% off along with the $100 off coupon, but they guy kept saying I was getting 22% off without the coupon. Idk, it ended up being $1010 before tax, so I'm happy.

 

You shouldn't be able to get the Boeing discount any longer unless you can provide a valid Boeing email address, so you probably just got EPP

 

Nope, Bing CB was only for Dell Home and Home Office. If you go on EPP site, you are not on Home and Home Office. I assume that Bing also doesn't work on their buisness section.

 

This sounds like a case of the system being CPU limited. Unless you have a bunch of objects on the screen then it could be GPU limited. I hope that i7 will perform better. BTW, what were your settings? Thanks