Alienware M11X Questions

So I've been looking at the ultra thin and light cats to replace my Asus netbook.
I thought I'd be satisfied with a websurfer as a laptop and a powerhouse desktop at home.
But I'm starting to hate how slow all my programs and whatnot run, anyways.
I'm seriously considering the Alienware M11X...it's compact and has enough horses to game on.
Are there any other laptops I should be considering that are reasonably priced and can support some casual gaming within the 11-13" range?

ALSO, for those that have ordered the m11x, how long did it take you to receive it? And what was your ETA? I'm also in Canada, so ETAs from canadian would be awesome too!
Thanks!

 

If your looking for gaming then I don't think there is anything besides the m11x that can provide it within the 11-13" range.

 

All I can tell you for ordering for Canada for me at least. Ordered 3/8 and it shipped 3/18. Just waiting to receive it now.

 

I ordered 2/2 and got mine on 2/23, had a replacement ordered 3/3 and it has been trapped in build ever since.

 

ah, doesn't sound good! are the estimated delivery dates accurate atleast?

I'm just a little concerned about how much the su7300 will limit me. I would wait for a refresh, but wouldn't a UL i3/i5 really increase the price of the m11x greatly? Right now the m11x is priced at 929 CAD for a su7300/4gb ram/320gb 7200rpm hd.
a similarily equipped albeit larger sony viao Z series with the 330m gt+i5 is at 2k+, of course high end sony's are notoriously expensive, but so is alienware with new technology.

 

I ordered 8th this month, it's now out for delivery. So it was 2 weeks total (shipped on 19th).

 

I ordered today and the EDD is April 8th

 

I ordered February 2nd and it is out for delivery today.

Granted, I am one of the outliers in length of time.

 

I'm also really (REALLY) considering the M11x, and was previously concerned and holding off for potential ix proc and potential addition of Nvidia Optimus. After looking into it though, I've really come about face and think the current implementation of the M11x is superior (for my needs at least) and here's why.

The ix procs will boost processing power slightly, moreso on single threaded jobs as I understand it with overclocking, however there is a significant power draw increase, which will impact battery life greatly. Thus, for a slight improvement in CPU power (if your gaming, prolly not that big a deal) you are going to lose noteworthy lasting power, which is kinda the point in getting an 11 inch gaming laptop, right? Portability? If you don't care about portability and want more x's in your extreme gaming, why not bump up to a larger, stronger machine? That combined with the cost of ix processors, have me thinking that even if a refresh provided one, I would probably stick with the current core duos.

Secondly, with optimus, I got to thinking that while it may be nice to have graphics switching seamless in the background, I would also have a tinge of sadness for not having control over when my switches occur. I also like the idea of a "GO FAST NOW" button. So while I wouldn't mind an optimus refresh, I no longer care really, as either works well enough for my liking.

The only thing I really wish could be refreshed is the size, from 11 to 13. Not gonna happen I guess. =(

*waits for monies to accrue*

 

Sigh, this has been discussed to death but long story short: iX will use LESS power!

 

Huh, sorry I just joined this site and peruse a bit in offtime between jobs. Everything I had read so far lead to the ix procs using more, which made sense to me since they were being overclocked when not using both cores. There some official links / tests you could point to? Or at least a thread where it's been beaten into unanimous submission?

 

check the vaio z threads. It gets 6.5+ hours of battery life with an i5. Its the gpu that kills the battery life.

That vaio # with i5 is a 13" screen and 6 cell battery too, vs our smaller screen and larger battery. so the i series cpu's dont affect battery life really vs the su7300.

 

As compared to... what with the su7300? Are there any direct comparisons with equivalent hardware where the processors can be matched exclusively against each other? I'll look into what you mentioned, it just all sounds rumorish, when what's really needed is, "machine x runs y hours with i5, and MACHINE X runs y-1 hours with su4100/su7300"

But maybe that's exactly what Vaio z does and I just need to look into it... *vanishes*

edit: Even more so, everything I've read up till now has said something along the lines of either "ix processor will deliver more power at the cost of more power consumption" or "while tests show ix consuming more power, intel claims that it is other things in the computer (graphics card) and not the processor." So please forgive me, I know I'm being skeptical and argumentative, but again, all I've read till now has pointed one way, save for what Intel states, and they are kinda biased... I would love to see a direct comparison test performed on something with equivalent hardware otherwise.

 

Well when I talk about m11x, we're obviously talking about the ultra low voltage version of the c2d and iX.

So the c2d uses 10w TDP + the integrated gfx + chipset = 24w TDP
The ix core uses 18w TDP , but this has the chipset + IGP included.

Obviously the TDP is NOT the best measure of battery life but it can be seen as using less battery on load for sure.

 

the i5 in the viao is a max 35w tdp cpu i5 isn't it?
i haven't been keeping up too much with mobile cpus.
but that seems incredible if a normal powered mobile cpu can last longer than a UL cpu even if it's a new gen of cpus.
the su4100/7300 is only 10w tdpm. i thought for sure it was a pretty big difference in power draw. what would be the point of the UL if it wasn't?
and also, the sony viao z series uses a 330m gt, instead of a 335m gt in the m11x...that could explain it..because the 330 is noticeably slower than the 335 (i think this was the point u were trying to make when u said the GPU is what eats up the power)...but if this were the case...a i5 in a m11x refresh with iX COULD potentially still use more power compared to a su7300. because u weren't even comparing equivalent systems with the viao vs m11x.

edit...i checked notebookcheck.net 335vs330 is actually a pretty small difference. so it does look like a i5 draws considerably less power especially since it's a 35w tdp i5 in the sony. W-T-F!?

 

IX processors use more power but the chipset uses much LESS. The overall effect is that the IX uses the same amount of power or marginally lesss.

 

Mmmm! Thank you, and thanks much to the other replies. I didn't know the ix core had all of that integrated with it? That's pretty damn awesome. I'm fancifully onboard the ix bandwagon then, thanks again for the clear-up. ;D

With this in mind, and since I'm waiting for funds anyways, I think I may just hold out a bit and see if a refresh occurs in the next month or 2.

edit: I'm curious now though, if the integrated graphics is... integrated into the actual chip, does this mean processing is slower since the CPU is handling both the graphics and processing? I'm scouring for infos as I type this, very curious stuff. edit2: as in: an M11x with i5 will perform worse than current M11x when running in integrated graphics, and better when not? Or does the overclocking pretty much nullify this?

edit3: found this for anyone interested in the same way: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-clarkdale-core-i5-661,2514-4.html

 

Just cause both chips is on the same die, does not mean the CPU is used to process the IGP. That will not affect anything. And I believe I read somewhere that clock for clock the iX cpu's run like 5-10% faster than the c2d?
Look for that on the web.

 

i just don't see how the m11x is going to be cheap after a refresh with i5/i7. the main thing the m11x had going for it was the price+performance ratio.

 

that's true...i just wonder how much more it'll cost for a i5/i7 ulv processor.
i would wait for it...but i have a feeling it's going to push the cost up to 1100+ CAD instead of the 900 CAD i'd be paying right now. plus..i would be getting it NOW!!!!!! well in two weeks :S