Thinking of buying either a R1 M11X or Inspirion 15R need advice

Hello fellow users i'm newly registered and looking for some helpful advice from fellow members.

Dell/Alienware is selling there M11x R1 model for £449 and from the spec sheet it sounds quite a good deal. But there is a second choice I could get the 15R which has a i3 Intel 2.0 Ghz 4Gb of RAM and a nvidia 525m which has clouded the option of choice.
The main reasons why I was going for the m11x was because of the price as I have a limited budget and it's small enough for me to use for my studies at college and yet have enough power to have some gaming.
The games I mainly play is Starcraft 2, Total war series and Garrys mod if the m11x can play these games on rough about medium settings it's enough for me.
Any help and advice from the community would be helpful and I of course would be thankful.

 

choosing between those 2 i'd say the 15R I own a M11x R2 and 15R the 15r is faster than my m11x R2. so to compare it to a R1 hands down the 15r is the better choice.

 

Thanks could you tell me what the 15R is like in terms of weight and battery life as since i'll be using my new laptop in college for study.

 

the 15r is my wifes she never has complained of the weight and the battery with high setting all power saving off gets at least 2.5 hrs never tried to see how far it could go with any saving options. my m11x r2 gets about 3.5 on high settings also but the 15r is faster and does have a optical drive. i bought a15r for my nephew for college and he loves it. I would only recommend the m11x if you go r2 or r3. i wouldnt use a r1 for college as your main machine, the 15r is just a better machine compared to that one.

 

Using the M11X R1 is a superb choice for college and gaming. You can't find a better system in its class. How can you not recommend this rig for college with its power and battery life?

 

Beside the fact that getting people the right machine is my business...Easy a R1 is OLD tech a new 15R has a sandy bridge based cpu in the 600 dollar range if you have to choose in that price range then the 15R is the better choice if you can get a R2 for 599 like i did then i might say that but a r1 no chance! The M11x is great i own one but i own the 15R also and it is more practical to use day in and out.

 

With the standard 6-cell battery you are only able to squeeze out four hours. With the M11X, an easy seven hours. You would have to go for the 9-cell battery in order to even come close to the M11X's battery life. Also, the graphics card is a Intel® HD Graphics card which will have issues in the next year or two with newly released games. If you wanted to match the M11X in terms of battery life, the additional 9-cell battery would bump up the cost to $629.98. And you would still have the Intel HD Graphics card. Not to mention, your stuck with 3GB memory.

 

Thanks for the advice guys but i'm gonna go with the 15R as it has a I series intel cpu and the GPU is stronger as well though i'll keep checking to see if the m11x r2 comes up cheap arounf the £650 mark and if it does i might jumop for one

 

I think you made the right choice for a school laptop

and the 15R for $624.99 would have 4gb ram and a radeon 6470m 512mb card and i3-2310m.

and the 2nd gen i series intel graphics are not bad and the cpu's are better then what is in the R2's even Compare Intel® Products,

anyhow enjoy and good luck in school.

 

If size & battery matter not, and if you get a good video card, the 15R sounds decent to me. Let us know how it turns out. I have the R1 and it's a little powerhouse. Everything they say about the battery is true, but every once in a while the Core 2 Duo 1.6 shows its relative slowness.

 

The m11x can be OC'd and pushed to great limits. Then the 15r is not a netbook size so to compare is hard. Look for coupons for the Dell Outlet site, got my m11xR2 for 540.00 and love the thing use it on the road every day.

 

Just so "capability" is realistic... if you are using a 3yo system currently the M11x will not feel like some downgrade even though its not the fastest thing around. To put it another way, its got more spec than desktop replacement systems did just a few years ago.

I use the R1 as a primary and this means mostly for work and I dont have any issues. Dabble with pic edits and a few games. If you are a HEAVY cpu user or need mega graphics power you likely will find shortcomings in many of the offerings from AW or other brands. Other than video editing there isnt much obvious downside in this price range compared to others for most people.

As for school: get as much system for your money as you can afford. Screw gaming or bling factor. To me this means storage and screen size! Unless planning to have external screen I recommend 14" minimum to reduce possible eye strain. The big exception to that is battery life - but then I'm too old to have taken a laptop to class. I can sure see the 6hrs being handy for a day out in classes.

None of this matters though, the decision has already been made.

 

Thanks for the advice guys gonna wait till august so that i have a bigger budget cause me mate has just got his 15R and he said that for gaming it struggles and i read that the nvidia 525m is not that hot to be honest the m11x was attractive due to that it's small as a netbook or about the same size but has way way more power than a netbook cause netbooks to me are a waste I had one and I ended up giving it to my fiance.
What is this dell outlet is it a website that sells refurbished laptops or something.
I was also considering if to just wait and buy a XPS 15