when will they release m11x r4?

im waiting on them to revise the m11x series. Im not a fan of their reflective cheapy screens or there mouse pads. any idea if they will do this?

 

Not till end of next year thats if they plan on it, excpect to see new one at E3 or CES

 

If by mousepad you mean the synaptics touchpad pointing device. .. I am content with it myself. It works fine for when I do not have anything else available. Most of the time I use an external mouse when gaming or doing other mouse-heavy activities.

I agree about the screen. It could be a LOT better. The problem is there are only three manufacturers right now which make this particular size screen. People seem to agree that the best screen in this size is on the macbook air. But even that one is not really very marvelous.

Alienware is unfortunately limited in its choices due to the sizing here. You can apply a matte screen protector to cut down on some of the reflection. But honestly it would be nicer if Alienware offered a matte screen option for the M11x.

People have surmised that we may see R4 versions when the next iteration of the intel chips are released (that being the Ivybridge line) which will shrink the current sandybridges down to 22 nanometers. Those chips should be available retail around April in 2012. Expect alienware to pick them up within a month or two of that.

So you are looking at around 5 or 6 months before any significant changes will come along. And they might not even be enough to justify a new revision. Very possibly alienware will just change the chip types offered in their sales options and that will be it.

Really the current R3's are quite good little machines with very few drawbacks. I think they could probably put a slightly more powerful cpu and gpu in them, but that would infringe on their M14x line and slightly reduce battery life.

Another possible change would be to adjust the airflow path; i think they should suck the air in on the sides or the front, and blow it out the back - like sort of a wind tunnel design instead of pulling it in the bottom of the unit. This would let people set them on any surface without worrying about overheating. But that would require a complete case re-design. So probably this is about as good as they are going to get for a longish while.

 

though with AMD's throwing of the towel the pricing of those chips might change and reflect it in the price of the system.

i hope that isn't the case.

 

My girlfriend just got a 11.6 inch Vaio and the screen is AWESOME, it makes me sad

 

Then you run some kick- games on m11x and she goes into the corner and use some web browser.

Anyways, R4 isn't coming anytime soon, R3 plays pretty much anything anyways, the screen isn't that much of a biggie unless you plan to game outside.

Can we please stop with R4 posts? R3 came out few months ago... Give it a rest already, IT IS NOT COMING ANYTIME SOON SO JUST GET A DARN R3

EDIT: Also when this comes out : http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20111028/199970/ I don't care if it voids my warranty or steals my soul, i am getting one and sticking it onto my m11x.

 

Zenstrata summed it up perfectly. They've pretty much hit the nail on the head with the R3.

The next revision will most likely keep the same or similar GPU and an Ivy Bridge CPU which will increase battery life and power by some degree. They need to differentiate the M11x from the M14x somehow, and that seems to be the ULV CPUs which keep the focus on the M11x's portability, which is one of its biggest features.

This is going by previous releases but you never know... they could surprise us with a total redesign.

 

They may keep the same GPU or just go Ivy Bridge (like stated above) or they may release a new 6-series card, no one can be positive.

 

Thanks rypac =) I am glad you mentioned what the ivybridge die shrink will mean in terms of the differences the end user will see. I had considered editing my post and putting in a bit about that, but it was already long enough, and I didn't want to make it so lengthy that people skipped over it due to 'wall-of-text' syndrome.

 

my thinking was that they load the r4's with ivy bridge and maybe, ehh, a 550m or 555m then up the m14x to a 560m and the m17's to a minimum 570m and 580m. Also, I wouldnt mind an AMD in my m11x if it brought the price down a bit. I think AMD has lost the war in terms of power and performance in this generation but they can still salvage by becoming the cheaper alternative.