Alienware New Model Speculation Thread

Gawd! That's not 'till June! Naw!

 

That's a shame, SB was supposed to be out and about by February so Alienware will miss a lot of the upgraders if they announce right in the middle of the year (as expect a delay after that before people receive laptops). Need to release specs or risk losing some potential customers

 

If they wait that long to announce there will be immediate availability. They took a while to announce the M17x R1 but had no problem filling orders for it if I remember correctly. The R2 however had a decent wait time once ordered

 

I'm confused. I hear reports of April for the m11x r3 and June. Which one is it? I need a new portable laptop for college.

 

June seems a tad late, when we already have rumors of AMD 7000 by Q1 2012 maybe even late 2011. But then again the whole sandybridge mix up probabaly set everybody back time wise.

 

It seems like theres a lot of sources pointing to an April R3 announcement... so if that's the case, we can probably expect to see the M14x and M18x in June.

If the R3 isn't getting that many spec bumps then it probably isn't worth making a stink over.

It would be nice to have the R3 out in April... I'm still working with Dell to set up the exchange for my M11x R1 that keeps breaking... so maybe I'll drag it out a bit.

Quick question for y'all: If I were to agree on a system is there any sort of 30-day period like there is if I bought a new one? Say they send me an R2 and then a week later the R3 drops - would I have any options?

 

Reviewing Dell's return policy, it looks like you have 21 days to send it back, along w/ the risk of incurring a 15% 'restocking' fee.

Dell Terms of Sale, License Agreements & Policies | Dell

But, supposedly if you are just returning for a replacement, there should be no restocking fee (kind of like just getting store credit). Sounds like that would be the case for you since it'd be 'replacement for your replacement' so to speak.

I'm supposed to get the R2 in a couple of days, and may do that if the new version is released before the 21 days are up. I think the new processors are well worth it, in terms of power and increased battery life.

 

I've seen the policy for new machines, but this will be an RMA replacement for a machine that's failed after it's fourth repair.

I'm curious if I have any window of time once I've received a replacement system?

Thanks though!

 

I still firmly believe we will see either the M11 or M14 (or both) next month.

June is way too far to be releasing new models when the competition is/will dominating the market until then.

 

Curious about the M11x-R3... it does seem a tad low in terms of CPU specs, but then that's always been something of a criticism. Considering that we might see a better GPU pushing the same resolution with an upgraded CPU and SB, the gains would be in line with the move from the R1 to the R2, but exceeding it (before TS, etc). It's about what I expected, nothing to be dismayed at.

 

Completely off topic, but potentially relevant

Does anybody else get gibberish when they access this?:
Dell News and more - All about Dell - News, Tips, Tricks, Secrets, and more...

The Eric g. site

 

Definitely gibberish

 

I guess i want to see how the weight difference compared to the m11x R3 and m14x and i shall decide.. i just want it to be released ASAP each day seems to be getting a bit closer

 

Is there any competition for the M11x? If yes, which make/model? I might buy such a laptop this year and would like to know

 

currently tryin to sink a deal for an m11x on craigslist. hope I made the right decision about not waiting...

 

It'll be painful to wait longer than April for the M18x. The longer the wait, the greater the risk of me jumping ship to something else.

 

crap， just ordered a dell xps 15 and now heard that m14x is coming out。。。

 

Oh, I just meant that people who want a SB laptop and don't want to wait are going to purchase similar laptops. If someone wants an M11X-R3 comparison, they'll have to go with a bigger screen but close weight, however for the M14X...(see below)

For example, if someone wants a M14X but can't wait, they can get everything the M14X offers under 1k from the Sager 5160 (SB-i5, 1080, nVidia gt540m w/optimus, 5hrs battery, 320gb, 4gb ram, usb 3.0, weight is near-same...for under 1k USD).

Like me, many laptop purchasers are very impatient and can't wait for months.

 

Sony Vaio Z and Acer Aspire 3820T are competitors.

AMD Llano will likely bring at least a couple of more.

 

You still got 21 days return policy.
You can use that.

 

Downside is that there will be no CPU overclocking on the R3. And ThrottleStop will not be able to help the Turbo Boost like on the R2. Basically, what you see is what you get (1.4 GHz, 1.5 GHz, 1.6 GHz).

 

though i would like to see how it performs on intensive games etc and if there's any improvement over the R2.

 

There could be something at IDF on April 13th right?

or is IDF only for Intel to show of their stuff? I don't follow these things too closely, lol.

 

Sony Vaio Z series
Sony Vaio S Series
Some bland Acer stuff
Even the MacBook Air 13.3", if you're willing to sacrifice gaming performance for portability.

The Alienware M11x R3 will be announced when it is announced.

* People predicted it would definitely be announced by Holiday 2010. They were wrong.
* People then predicted it would be announced by CES 2011. They were wrong.
* People then predicted it would DEFINITELY be announced in March 2011, based on hearsay from some-guy-who-works-at-Dell(ChrisM)-said-blah-blah-blah. They have one more week before they are wrong.
* Now, people are saying it will be announced in April 2011.

So far, M11x R3 predictors are 0-for-3. Who knows... maybe it will be announced in April 2011, which would make those people 1-for-4 (even a broken clock is right twice a day).

But my recommendation would be to ignore rumors, and just want for Dell / Alienware to make an official announcement. Because otherwise, you're waiting on vaporware.

 

No one has any choice in the matter.

 

That's true, I forgot about no TS. If there is no over-clocking as well, then the improvements are meaningless. Ah well, more reason to love on my R2 with an 8700 3dmark06 score (not the best I know, but respectable). Now if I could ever get the guts up to do the pin mod on my R1...

This in the end, is the really only meaningful way to look at it!

 

You are right - of course nobody has a choice in the matter.

But every day, you see people trying to piece together little clues as to whether Model_XYZ or Revision_123 will be out by a certain date. And that's fine - it's harmless fun.

The problem I have is that other people reading these threads re-read the same speculation and same date predictions over and over, and start believing them to actually have any sort of basis (an effect Stephen Colbert called " wikiality").

And then those people start making actual real world purchasing decisions (buy now, or wait?) based on the wikiality of these release dates. A lot of people are unable to see the difference between official product announcements (which is real evidence and fact, from official sources authorized to talk about this stuff) versus enthusiastic forum members who are just having some fun.

 

It gives me something to do. Honestly, if I couldn't speculate then I'd go crazy. I know I like to make real world purchasing decisions based on this info. I can't sum it up, but it's probably because the prospect of buying my dream lappy--filling out the specs and tricking myself into believing I can afford it--will always be better than the reality of the product; the novelty of an item will never go away if you don't own it.

 

Have you guys seen, how cheap GTX 470M SLI is now? In the Clevo X7200 it's now just +$345 over the single GTX 460M.

It's obviously to clear stock, but it would be great if Dell used SLI 470M as the base config in the M18x.

 

The Sandy Bridge CPUs are faster than the previous generation, and they have higher frequencies (1.4-1.6 GHz), so I believe they will hold up well against overclocked R2 + ThrottleStop. And Sandy Bridge comes with other improvements as well, better battery life being one of them. So newer technology is not meaningless, although I agree Intel removing overclocking is quite sad.

It's possible that Intel will release newer mobile chipsets later in the year that allows for better BCLK overclocking (based on Z68 chipset), but I don't think Alienware is waiting for that.

I am more interested in what GPU they will use. Hopefully a very overclock friendly one.

April can't come fast enough. Speculation is exciting for some of us.

 

The main problem is that the PLL circuitry is in the chipset itself and not a separate clock source. As such Intel has integrated it so that the PCIe as well as blck are off the same clock source, and only one of those likes to be overclocked

 

Do you suppose that 1080p will be an option for the display of an M14x, or is that too small a screen to support that resolution?

 

I don't know of any 14" laptop that has a full 1080p screen.

The problem would be that Alienware / Dell would have a hard time finding parts from display suppliers.

 

You never know
The idea of Alienware fittinng a 1080p screen on to a 14" chassis isn't to far fetched. I mean they created the freakin M11x!
Admittedly my "argument" has a plethora of holes in it.

 

... but I kind of do know. You don't need to wait for the M14x to come out to know that it won't have a 1080p screen.

How do I know this? Because no display manufacturer makes 14" 1080p panels. Samsung, AUO, LG... none of them make that panel. If nobody makes that panel, it won't show up in a Dell / Alienware laptop.

And Dell / Alienware wouldn't contract out to have it custom-made for them either, because that's not the way Dell does business. They are not a custom shop. That is not Dell. Del intentionally gets their supply of commodity parts from multiple vendors, so that they can drive production costs down. The hard drive, memory, display, and keyboard come from multiple different suppliers throughout the lifetime of a Dell laptop model. That is how they have always done business, and it will not change just for an Alienware M14x.


multiple vendors They intentionally get multiple vendors to supply them with commodity components,

 

Thanks for the tips. The Z is too expensive for me, and I don't like Acer. Macs are a no-no.

The S is a good suggestion though -- weighs the same as the M11x, but it is larger and slightly more powerful. I'll have to figure out whether I want an 11.6-inch or a 13-inch laptop.

Am I correct in assuming that there is no other sub-13-inch laptop which is gaming-capable?

 

There are the Asus UL30 series, they are pretty similar to the M11x in spec but weaker for 3D and imho not as good build quality (I have a UL80Vt to compare directly to)

 

You are correct - there isn't really a sub-13" laptop that is gaming capable. That is why the Alienware M11x is so popular.

The next step up to gaming-capable machines are 13.3" laptops... most of which have weaker GPUs than the M11x, which means lower gaming performance.

 

I've been researching for weeks on a 13" and under gaming laptop and there are only two choices:

Alienware M11x 11"
Acer TimelineX 3820TG 13.3"


the acer performs better because it has a regular i5 and a 6550m that can OC to ~10k 3dmark06

I'm getting one of these but I want to know what the M11x R3 GPU is before I choose lol.

 

Not at all. The Sony Vaio Z has a 13" 1080p screen option.

There most likely won't be one though. It's not impossible, but it's far from standardized, and would therefore cost too much.

 

Now don't you go underestimating the clever people that figured out the enhancements for the R1/R2 like Unclewebb and Throttlestop.

It's possible that something could be discovered with the newer systems, too

 

There's also the Sony Vaio S which has a more powerful CPU (it has a regular i7 sandy Bridge) , GPU, and batter battery life in the process. It is also a 13 inch laptop with a CD drive. Personally I wouldn't touch an Acer with a 39.5 pole.

 

Yeah, it's possible something could be discovered. But I believe Unclewebb himself thinks all thermal controls for Turbo Boost are set at hardware level on Sandy Bridge CPUs. It means Turbo Boost is only meaningful for very short duration tasks, and rather pointless otherwise. Together with Intels BCLK castrated chipset, what can one do?

 

The GT 555M would be huffing and puffing gaming at 1080p. The card might be able to run playable FPS at that res, but if I were interested in an M14x I'd opt for the 1600x900 to be surer that I'd have better gaming at native res.

 

This. High res is great, but in something like the M14x, which, if not being designed to be portable, it is at least an aspect to which the design team would be paying particular attention.

You have a bigger screen, you have lower framerates, and lower battery life. Both of these wouldn't work for a portable gaming machine.

I've been thinking recently that I'm going to pick up an M11x-like machine at some point. I have a ridiculously powerful desktop, so I only really need something small that will get by playing the newest games, even if it's at the lowest settings. I was originally going to pick up an M11x-R2 in the outlet, but I'm going to wait for the R3, and the 14x, before I make up my mind.

 

Well, just because you order a 1080 screen doesn't mean you have to play all your games at that res... You wouldn't necessarily be forced to choose it, either, if you wanted the most battery life.

 

But who wants to see things blurry?

 

Yeah, but then again, if you bought an Acer, then you'd have to own an Acer.

I've been... less than impressed with laptops from generic Taiwanese manufacturers like Asus and Acer. On paper, they have great specs for the price you pay. But I've been less than impressed with build quality, finish, keyboard feel, bland design, and screen quality from the Acer and Asus laptops that I've owned.

They have felt like cheaply built laptops with bland design created by nerdy electrical engineers from Taiwan, because that's exactly what they are. Even the Acer Ferrari laptop had the same problem - except it was a cheaply built laptop with bland design that happened to have a Ferrari logo slapped on it.

 

That makes me wonder... How would the GT 555M (192-bit, 1.5GB GDDR5) at 1600x900 compare to say, a GTX 485M or HD 6970M at 1920x1080?

 

Alienware's laptops first hopped on the Sandy Bridge bandwagon when the company's top-of-the-line M17x got Intel's second-gen Core processors, and now it appears the more budget-conscious M11x may get some Sandy Bridge love too. According to Dell News and more -- who correctly foretold the 3D screen on the M17x R3 before its January debut, among other things -- the littlest alien laptop is getting your choice of Core i5-2537M, Core i7-2617M, and Core i7-2657M chips ranging in speeds from 1.4GHz to 2.7GHz. Accompanying the new silicon is an optional 750GB HDD (up from 640GB) and an upgrade from 800MHz to speedy 1333MHz RAM. And, to keep you gaming wherever you please, the company will offer optional 3g, LTE, and WiMAX radios as well. Unfortunately, one minor detail didn't make it out -- how much will the extra goodies cost?

original link
Alienware M11x R3 specs leaked, brings Sandy Bridge to your next LAN party? -- Engadget