Alienware New Model Speculation Thread

Why is that a big give away ? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I haven't got an m11x to compair it to

 

CORE 2 DUO?????
Those photos are from a Alienware M11x R1

 

yeah but i thought the i7 was a core 2 duo with multi threading ?

my bad sorry

feel stupid now haha

 

Also if you check the warranty status of that machine: 2RC94L1


It clearly says that it was delivered on: 1/20/2010


So, that is an Alienware m11x R1

 

OMG. I haven't browse the pics. So unreliable, that site. Next time I should check before post.

 

they came back to the same manufacturier to

why did they leave flex behind flex was doing a good job

i think that aftre the area-51 m15x they would have learned that compal is a bad idea

 

Flextronics likely charges more money for higher quality work. This generation of AWs is all about cost streamlining. Performance and quality have taken a permanent back seat. Can't really blame Dell though, cuts have to be made somewhere to remain profitable.

Otherwise people ignore the benefits of higher build quality and service and instead focus on paper specs to make comparisons with other lower quality brands.

 

M14X was just confirmed, some chinese peeps got ahold of a pre-production model: Google Translate

I thought it was BS but the guy @ Alienware M14X - Powerful, yet portable (UPDATED) - Dell News and more linked to that thread.

 

That thread was linked to a few pages back. Old news at this point.

 

Kinda sick of all these repeated links and info, I want some of the gooooood stuff.

 

So, dear Joker, according to those considerations, if Dell's AW is cutting high quality work (and can't be blamed on that...) to be 'profitable', Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Mercedes, Rolex, Cartier, and others renowned makers of high quality works are NOT profitable? They sell their products without benefits…?

IMHO, AW is intentionally a distinguishable maker of real high class, state of the art boutique computers oriented toward customizable high quality (and hopefully reliable) work... It was acquired by Dell to fill this specialized boutique ‘niche’ in their line of products, maybe somewhere beside the Precision brand.

If they give up on quality and performance... they lost the niche, they lost the potentiality of profit and then… where are we the consumers (and Dell intentions) going? Toward more of those standard 'of the shelf' uncompetitive products?

It’s seems that the last ‘niche’ of competitiveness for Dell’s products will be their unique worldwide 4-5 years warranty with NBD, in-site technical service… At least until other makers start to understand the opportunities and build up their own…

just my one cent...

 

Man, the 192-bit DDR3 GT 555M is way faster than I thought.

Overclocked:



Stock:

 

Oh dear it's April and still no idea when anything will be out... Well other than E3...

 

Hi, my first post here, still I feel like I need to ask. I am a bit lost, choosing between the two systems, Precision M4600 with Quadro 2000M and M14X with what it has to offer - I guess 555M, I hoped for M15X updated with Sandy Bridge and some better video options, now I am a bit lost. I do design, use 3D software but not too much, use Adobe Creative Suit much more often, I do use a full HD 23 inches panel, but still would like the laptop screen to be color wise good quality. Touch screen options on M4600 seems great for testing purposes, but not a killer feature. I wonder in terms of performance - will I sacrifice anything if I go for M14X?

 

guys should i get the m11x r1 or wait for the r3?

 

Depends on your budget. When the m11x r3 launches, it won't be cheap.

 

Wait for the R3! It's definitely coming in ? days

My opinion on this is the following:

If you need a laptop buy one that is available now and that you know its positives and negatives.

If you don't need one right now but might need one in the near future then perhaps you might wait until you need one...given that there are so many rumors flying around.

 

is it safe to assume that the m11x r2 is gonna drop in price when the r3 comes out? i know they're phasing out the r1, so will r2 see a pretty decent drop in price?

 

Performance-wise, probably won't lose much if at all, unless you need the certified Quadro drivers.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, post again and I'll explain.

 

2 HerrKaputt, I do know what Quadro drivers mean, yet according to my conclusion based on my work process in my case mostly the shader compatibility only does matter, I mean that here both cards are DX11, Shader 5.0 and so on, so it good enough. 555M seem to have a bit faster memory bus, but I may be mistaken. I like to play games but not very intensively, super meat boy mostly)))
AM I mistaken to think that in case of M15X being also updated we would get better video options? Can one run somethin like Dead Space 2 on 555M for example, at normal fps? Also M4600 most likely will let you get 16GB of ram - is it really usable under Win 7, or 8GB is quite good? I currently have 2GB on my main machine and it is definitely too little

 

Looks like the GDDR5 is going to be on par or more powerful than the 5850...

 

I just realized something quirky. The R in R1, R2, and R3 stands for revision, correct? In that case, thinking about what a revision actually is and means, these labels don't make sense. The M11x R1, for instance, should just be the M11x. The R2 should be the R 1, and the upcoming R3 should be the R 2. Either that, or they should be V1, V2, and V3, respectively. I know that's not going to happen, and I don't actually care. It's just something I thought was amusing. ...Or does the R not stand for revision...? Maybe it stands for round, or something... Ah, well, I dunno.

 

So have i missed somthing important about the r3 ? everyone seems to be talking about it... is there any news about when its being released ?

 

nope.. last i got was chatting to a sales rep from Dell and they said end of April.

so u'd think some sort of official release from Dell would be coming up soon

 

March... m11x r3 and m14x r1 will be available...

 

The area-51 was Quanta.....Compal is actually the biggest maker of notebooks in the world. They may know a little bit about notebook design

Those companies are profitable due to the volume and margin of their lower end models. The flagship models that sell at a much lower volume often cost the companies money as they cost more to make than they sell for. The press and image that having a top model in the line up however makes up for that loss as it can bring in more money overall due to boosting lower end model sells since people will expect to see the same engineering quality in them. Think Dell bought Alienware on a whim?

 

When both overclocked no way they will be the same, the 5850 will still have a 15% lead imo

 

true i forgot about it but that still just makes alienware an other compal notebook reseller unless the m18x since it's thier flag is still being made by flex that would also explain thier delay in having it ready flex has always been slow to deliver new models

 

Compal acts as a design/engineering firm with the companies that contract them. It is not simply a rebrand like with Clevo (and the W840Di from Flex) - the results are unique designs - note

I would be very happy to see the M18x be from Flex but I am not hopeful given how long it has been now since they did a design for Alienware

 

Really? I didn't know of any "lower end" models from Rolex, Rolls Royce, Ferrari and alike...

 

I cannot answer about Dead Space 2 because I never played it. However, a 555M is a pretty decent card, so it can probably run DS2 at near-maximum settings (probably low AA though).

As for RAM, it strongly depends on what you use the laptop for. 2 GB is a bit short for Win7. My laptop (see signature) and my two desktops (home and work) use Win7 and 4 GB, and it's more than enough for typical usage (Office, web browsing, gaming, movie playing, etc). I use MATLAB (numerical computation), so RAM is never enough.

One thing that consumes a lot of RAM is the use of virtual machines like VMware, but if you used that you probably also would know the memory requirements of your work

In conclusion, I think you'll be fine with 4 GB, and 8 GB is plenty for current programs.

 

The GT 555M will max Dead Space 2 with 60fps, easily, at whatever resolution the M14x LCD runs.

 

You do realise that Rolls Royce and Ferrari are owned by other companies who have a lot of lower end models.

 

the m17x-r2 was the last one and the m17x were always out late anyway my m17 is still alive and kicking and at the rate where graphic power consumsion is going i'm gonna be fine for quite a while maybe until they come back to flex lol

has alienware used compal in the past and if so what wre the result?

 

Ferrari makes their $200k models and then the $1M models.....low end is relative haha

As far as I know they have not used Compal. They used to just do Clevo rebrands then spread to Arima (pre flextronics buy) and Quanta

From what I have gathered it has been like this:

All Powerful M17x R3 - Compal
M11x R1 and R2 - Compal

All Powerful M17x R1 and R2 - Arima/Flex
All Powerful M15x - Arima/Flex
M17 - Arima/Flex
M9700 - Arima
M9750 - Arima

Area-51 m15x - Quanta
Area-51 m17x - Quanta

Older stuff than this was Clevo rebrands? (I know at least a few models were but is further back than I am knowledgeable on)

 

Do you realize that Rolls Royce it is actually a wholly owned subsidiary of the BMW Group and that according to the EU laws, can not and do not finance profit looses of the Rolls? Take a look at the stabilty, gross margin and net profit of the RYCEF (Rolls Royce Group PLC) stocks. The sales of RR has growth continuosly, year after year, from 796 in 2005 to 2711 in 2010... They do that not by lowering the quality and reliability of the cars but by improving even more any detail of that piece of truly art...

AW has all the conditions to do the same with its unique brand and products. If they (under Dell) really want. I would not extend futher but it's almost the same with the Ferrari or Rolex, etc. cases... Nobody in todays economies finance looses of one product with others. It will be suicidal.

IMHO, AW can be even more profitable by itself just by doing the best (state of the art, boutique, etc. computers) as they are suppossed and expected to do...

 

ironically, all of the luxo/exotics (as do most automotive manufacturers, regardless of the segment/trim level) primarily use composite (plastics) for their panels now as well...

ndeed, and now that dell owns them they (thankfully) have funding to design and fabricate their very own machines from the ground up...

 

I think the reason we are seeing design compromises/steps backward from Dell is that they are trying to offer newer tech in a competitive/low priced package. The Alienware of old was able to do whatever they wanted because they charged a fortune and no one complained. Now Alienware under Dell is more of a mainstream brand and therefore cannot get too crazy on the prices. For example.....the RGBLED screen that everyone loved? That cost nearly $1k alone....nevermind the rest of the laptop

You cannot have your cake and eat it too. You either get good prices, or market leading innovative tech and designs, you wont get both, I promise.

 

So this is what the configuration options are all about... Give the consumer the opportunity to accept a "standardized" (more of 'like the others') model or... to customize their own AW Rolls Royce...
AW become famous because of the 'state of the art boutique products... They don't need to give up to this 'status' and become 'more of the same'... it's suicidal for the AW concept in first place...

 

Rolls Joyce, ferraris??? I think this thread has went way beyond topic. I love this speculation thread, therefore, please don't ruin it for all. As the mods will take action for sure.

 

Nowhere did I say they made a loss, was simply stating that they do have low end models in the company. But comparing a £300,000 car to a laptop is pretty rediculous. With AW now being owned by Dell, they want to maximise the profits from this brand and by lowering the cost of the product enables them to reach a larger market where as the Rolls has a set market and as you said is doing very well. With the quality of the m17x r3 still being considerably better than most other laptops in its bracket they are likely to significantly increase sales by competing on price against their rivals like ASUS and Sager.
I do agree with you that AW should stay as it was, but thats Dell for you.

BACK ON TOPIC
The m14x review that was posted is pretty useless without dimension/weight and battery life. Any info on the battery life, as I think a lot of people would need some decent battery life for this thing to be portable.

 

Anyways,
I my dream is for it to be around 6-7 pounds and 6h of battery life.
Now I shall go take a nap to make this dream reality...? Lol.

 

The m14x specs page says that it's about 6 lbs.

I really want that battery life though

 

i'm hoping for at least 6 hours on the M14x, considering somebody on here was able to pull of 5.5 hours on the M17x R3. 6+ hours would make it a MBP killer for me, as I need the battery life for college. Apparently the real world MBP battery life is only 5 hours, so the M17X already has me won over. However, more battery life in the M14x would be great.

 

5 hours is more than good for me, i tend to get a cord with me if anything, even tend to take my ipad instead of my latitude now, so do not plan to move my new machine aroudn a lot but well who knows, i had a project when i had to take my laptop with me everyday, that is why i am considering 15.+ top, no 17 inches, yet dream of second to none perfomance so i can use it for 3 years without feeling any need to upgrade. To tell the truth i hoped for new machines pop up on the dell usa web site today - didn't happen it is actually very sad if we don't see M15X with sandy brindge and GeForce GTX 485M inside coz that would be a killer

 

Haha ya I checked Dell this morning too, really want them to release it soon. I would buy a m15x right now if I could get 5 hours of battery out of it. Oh well, just gotta keep checking

 

The M14x better be a budget M15x (that still has a high quality screen). A well-specced model for $800 would get me to buy (and keep) one. The M11x's mediocre screen and hinge issues made me get rid of mine.

 

I'll bet you $800 that you won't see a well-specced M14x for $800. :]

 

m14x starting price will be 1099 dollars...