Need a suggestion on what M11 to purchase

Hey guys I am looking to buy a laptop to use for school and for gaming. I came down to the m11x i don't really know much about laptops so I stumbled onto this site and i am asking what laptop what you purchase? Heres the link: Alienware M11x Laptop Details | Dell Canada
I have no idea what R1 or R2 means i am basically a laptop noob so yea. Also games I play are mainly WoW and SC2 if you can give me a idea how well the games will run that would be great! I am trying to buy the laptop today so if you guys can get back to me ASAP!

Thanks alot in advance!

 

it depends on the amount of battery life you want what games you want to play
R1=core 2 duo
R2=i5 ,i7
with the r1 you get improved battery life
with the r2 you get less battery life but a slightly better processor

 

Yea i would be playing World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2 mainly and also CoD time to time. I do use it for school so i need decent battery life.

 

Define "decent"
I know that the R2 gets about 6 hours of battery life on power saver.
The R1 gets about 8 or so hours on power saver.
As for SC2, an R2 may actually be the better choice. Though WoW and CoD will do fine with an R1.

 

well many people have problems getting wow to play good on the r2 and Cod runs fine on the r1
if those are the main games you play then i out say get the r1

 

Yea 6 hours of battery life is perfectly fine. Now what is the difference between the I7 and the I5

 

intel® Core™ i5 520UM 3M Cache, 1.066 GHZ with 1.866 GHz Max Turbo Frequency

Intel® Core™ i7 640UM 4M Cache, 1.2 GHZ with 2.266 GHz Max Turbo Frequency

The i7 offers an extra 1m of cache and clocks at a faster speed.
As for actual performance in games though, I honestly have no clue.

 

not too much they are both perform similar in game and out the i7 might be faster in windows but i think the i5 with a SSD would be much better or i7 if its in the price range

 

Oh ya guys im also confused when ordering off the dell website it is asking me what Alienfx color I want is this just the keyboard ligthing up? Also it is asking something about OS Customization what do these mean. Thanks.

 

I suggest you don't get an SSD.
They are way to expensive right now.

 

The Alien FX thing is just the default setting. You can change it to your liking when you get it.

As for the OS customization, I believe it is a custom skin for windows 7.
Nothing really special.

 

And heres what I have come up with by using your guys suggestions tell me if I should switch anything.

System Color Alienware M11x, Soft Touch Stealth Black FT

Processor Overclockable Intel® CoreTM i7 640UM (4M Cache, 2.266 GHz Max Turbo Frequency)

Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

LCD Panel 11.6-inch WideHD 1366x768 (720p) WLED

Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 800MHz

Hard Drive 320GB SATAII 7,200RPM

Video Card 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 335M

Wireless Cards Alienware M11x a/b/g/n 2x2 MIMO Wireless

Sound Options Internal High-Definition Surround Sound Audio (5.1)

WebCam 1.3MP Web Cam

 

that looks fine that is what i use

 

Basically what I chose.
It looks good in my opinion, but get other people's opinions.

As Lockon said,

Not sure if this is actually true, but I suggest you wait for other people's opinions.
The main reason why I got my M11x, was because they were doing a special promotional deal for the i7.

 

Yea im thinking of either going with the R2 with the i5 or i7. Otherwise just going r1 with Up to 4GB3 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 800Mhz and 320GB SATAII 7,200RPM

 

Ah ha!
This might be useful to you:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/505987-m11x-r1-vs-m11x-r2-core-i5-vs-m11x-r2-core-i7.html

 

so you are still right where you started if money is not a problem i would go with the i7

 

This is the config I would go for.

 

Quick question these laptops all allow me to plug them into a larger monitor correct?

 

yes but it depends on the monitor what can be plugged in r1 and r2 have different display ports

 

Oh what is the difference also I forgot to add i am looking for something that will last quite a few years.

 

The R1 offers VGA, Display Port and HDMI.
The R2 offers Display Port and HDMI.
In order to fit those newer processors in the M11x R2, the guys at Alienware had to remove the VGA port.

 

i bought mine to last a few years it is hard to say how future proof it is it depends on the model but the build quality is very good only real problem is the hinge which is covered in the warranty

 

Awww okay so what type of cable would i need to be able to use the R2 on a larger monitor

 

hdmi would work the best i think

 

an HDMI cable or a display port cable.
I myself own a monitor that has a DVI port, so what I do is I bought an HDMI cable then got a HDMI to DVI adapter.

 

Thanks alot guys i figured my best bet is go with the i5 because the difference as i read on the other thread won't affect gaming thanks alot!