Should I avoid R1 model?

Found a brand new in the box R1 with what I believe are all the minimum specs locally on Craigs for $600.. good or bad deal? Should I hold out for a R2 or R3? I realize the SU chips in R1 are pretty weak compared to the R2/R3 chips.. but for the price, is it worth it?

This guy says it's got a 1.3ghz chip in it.

Any fast responses appreciated, I want to go buy it if it's worth it!

 

The price on a completely stock R1 (1.3ghz, 2gb ram, 160gb Hdd) was $599 before it was removed from the Alienware store. If it's truly new in box that's not a great deal but not a bad one either especially considering a new R2 starts at $999. I enjoy my R1 very much and have found very few things it struggles with. I think it's worth it. Just be warned that if the warranty is no good (though NIB it should be) the M11x has been known to have a couple common problems, namely hinges, though i think that was corrected in the newer ones. You can check the warranty status on Dell's website using the service tag found on the bottom of the machine. If you do decide to get it and it is completely stock, do yourself a favor and pick up 4gb of ram for $50 or so on newegg and give it a nice bump in performance.

 

I have an R1 model and it starts faster than my R2 with an I5. So, I sold the R2 and have been very happy with my R1, especially with the better battery life.

 

if it were me, i would buy the R1 and with a little bit of research here on this forum, you'd be able to trick out the R1 and turn it into a beast!

 

Not a great deal but not a bad one either. Stock specs are 160GB 5400RPM, 2GB RAM, and either SU4100 or SU7300, but I think they stopped using the SU4100, in either case CPU's have nearly identical performance.

Buy 4GB RAM for ~ $80 and a Momentus XT for ~ $100 and it's an awesome little performer. If you get lucky with the PLL you can software overclock, otherwise with an SLG PLL a hard mod is necessary, but simple enough for a true 1.73GHz clock, or with a little extra work, get to 2GHz.

 

A standard M11xR1 comes with a 1.3Ghz processor.
Using the standard BIOS menu settings the CPU can be over-clocked to 1.6Ghz.
This is true for most M11xR1, however, the odd one or two systems could not maintain this clock and only operated at 1.3Ghz.
Over a year later and much a do about everything, my M11xR1 is still going great.
I even have the original monitor lid without failed hinges.
Even if the hinges did fail, you can get a one time replacement outside of the standard warrenty.
CPU aside, the M11xR1 is still a great system.

 

I bought it! I talked him down to $540.

It was a new R1 with 1.3ghz cpu, 4gb of ram, 160gb HDD. Loving it so far Haven't overclocked it yet, but it runs pretty nice on it's own so far.

Thanks for all the info and help, the hinge feels VERY solid on this unit.. i'll be looking into warranty soon.

 

Congrats! Nice that it comes with 4GB RAM too. Throw in a larger/faster HDD or SSD and you're good to go! The 160GB isn't too bad, but 5400RPM is just SLOW.

 

Congratz man - nothing wrong with an R1, as many threads on here will attest.

 

thats a good deal, i got mine about 1 month ago for 599 but it only had 2g RAM and 250GB hard drive, and thats before shipping/taxes

I installed NfS Shift2 and BFBC2 already and am loving it so far. They play on medium settings and its fine for me. I haven't overclocked it yet either

 

NICE! thats a nice deal. I see the last few R1s hanging around going for more than the $599 Dell had emm listed for due to they will be the cheapest option regardless if they are a bit more.

grabbed mine new for $550 around the Christmas sale with 2Gb.

i have no buyers remorse.

 

I have a m11x r1, got it free over the internet =D
love this laptop, runs all the games on descent settings, im just having problems with BFBC2 multiplayer, drops in performance, amy help?

I've played crysis2 no problems, bartmanAA, dirt2, tf2, css, sc2, napoleon total war, also, cyris warhead, no trouble =D this machine is awesome, xcept for BFBC2
)=

 

Yea, the R1 is a good machine and plays almost anything. And not on the lowest settings either.

However, definitely go into the BIOS and turn on "overclock." In my eyes this really should have been the original clock speed as it adds little to no heat, is completely stable and barely hurts battery life. Also, if you plan on gaming all the time forget about trying to switch back and forth between discrete and integrated graphics and set the graphics in the BIOS to be only the discrete. That's how I have it set and I never have any issues. Then you can install the newest nVidia driver no problem and not have to worry about driver switching.

O, and you WILL have hinge problems. If you open and close the laptop with any regularity they will fail. Its simply a faulty design, as the hinges connect to the plastic lid and not the metal structure inside the lid around the LCD. The plastic simply can't take the stress over time.

There are two solutions, either have Dell replace the LCD and hinge with the revised design or fix it yourself by epoxying the hinge to the lid's metal structure. I expoxy'd it, and it works great. Let me know if you want to know how to do it properly.

 

erm i think i need some performance tips i have the r3 with the 540m 6gig ram and i7 and i tried out mafia 2 and it was laggy

 

Congrats! I've had my r1 since three weeks after it was released and I love it! One of the best computer purchases I've ever made.