ChewieTobbacca's Alienware M11x Review

Chewie - Thanks for your detailed review. I'm glad an early unit got to you. I was hoping to do a nice review, but I guess I'll just be benching it with many different games now since your review covered most of the bases!

 

Street Fighter IV Benchmark

1366 x 768 - all settings on highest - AF x16
Min FPS: 42
Average: 59
Max: >60 (vsync was on)

Starcraft 2 Beta
Ultra setting saw FPS ~27-30 on average, dips to 22 or so
High setting saw FPS ~30-33 on average, dips to 25 or so

But it's an RTS so anything ~30 is fine!

 

awesome! just what I wanted to hear...thanks for the quick response!

 

Hey chewie, you wouldn't happen to play STO would you? I'm hoping to see how well the m11x can handle it.

 

+rep to you sir! As TF2 is probably the main game I'm considering to play on this laptop. This and CSS =)
But I'm still considering if I should pay $500 more for this over the Asus ul30vt =(
Anyone want to convince me?

 

Is that with the cpu and gpu overclocked?

 

The UL30VT's G210/G310 won't be playing TF2 or CSS very well

 

GPU is stock. CPU is overclocked

Nope I don't sorry

 

Thanks man.

 

how was the experience with sc2 beta on the m11x? this is the main game ill be playing (loving it btw haha)

i wanted to cancel but it was to late and they built my m11x already, i wanted to get the sony z instead but anyways

its it enjoyable to play on the m11x, are the units and stuff too small and stuff?

and how do you feel about the appearance of the m11x overall? it seems rather bulky and square to me . the sony z appeals to me more, gah i wish i couldve canceled it sooner but i kinda don't want to return it as well D=

 

result !! finally some sc2 benchs !! are these your benchs ? was this avg during a large battle ?

 

Hey Chewie, if don't mind, could you play Starcraft 2 with the cpu at stock?

I don't want to put you out.

 

Actually, reviews show that it plays fine but obviously slightly less fps.

From a review:

 

awesome about SC2.. wonder if the CPU is bottlenecking it in the game or if a GPU OC will improve it much =)

 

Did you buy the disk version of SF4, or is there a direct to disk / steam version?

Hey, you could have bought a USB DVD drive I did at Best Buy today- Little $60 Toshiba

 

SF4 benchmark is available for free as a download.

 

In regards to WOW, one of my sons plays the heck out of it and the newer versions use more GPU and play smoother as a result (if you have a dedicated GPU). Here is some CPU perspective though using CPU hungry MAME- it renders 3D games through the CPU.

1. HP 2010 with Duron X2 dual core 2ghz plays WOW smoothly, but MAME 3D games (DOA & NFL Blitz) like a slide show. The HP has the ATI 3200.

2. SU7300 (UL50 at Best Buy was test unit) played complex 3D games (DOA & NFL Blitz) smoothly at 1.3ghz, so logic suggests at 1.6ghz and a 335m, WOW should be no problem UL50 uses integrated HD4500.

@seven- Thanks THAT explains the sudden SF4 publicity

 

At what resolution?

Without any specifics I can't take 50-60 fps at face value on a very clearly inferior gpu

 

At native of the 30vt so 1366x768? I think it's because source is CPU heavy and the asus oc's to 1.73 and it oc's the 210 a bit as well

 

Yes, source is pretty heavily CPU dependent, but TF2 @ 1.6 GHz + GT335M stock doesn't get average 50-60 on all high, unless this guy was doing all his benchmarking indoors or he's tweaked his settings somehow. An OC'd G310M is still going to be far below a GT 330M, much less a GT 335M.

I'm doing mine in the demanding areas... outdoor areas and areas with water for instance.

What good is 50-60 fps if you're standing around in the spawn room right?

Granted, I'll let other users do more in-depth benching, since I can only do cursory benches w/ quick Fraps captures, but 50-60 is pretty big difference for negligible differences in CPU, unless the guy is running it at lower resolutions

 

chewie,

how was the experience with sc2 beta on the m11x? this is the main game ill be playing (loving it btw haha)

i wanted to cancel but it was to late and they built my m11x already, i wanted to get the sony z instead but anyways

its it enjoyable to play on the m11x, are the units and stuff too small and stuff?

and how do you feel about the appearance of the m11x overall? it seems rather bulky and square to me . the sony z appeals to me more, gah i wish i couldve canceled it sooner but i kinda don't want to return it as well D=

 

Funny, having run an M15x briefly here and awaiting delivery of an M17x, I still want one of these. They have the same kind of cool appeal a Vespa or a BMW Mini has (in the States that is)...

Such a HUGE marketing tool for AW but great for the consumer too!

 

I didn't get too long of a time with the SC2 beta (possessive cd-key owners!) but at Ultra settings (1366x768), the game flowed pretty well. The drops in FPS mainly seemed to occur when scrolling around the screen at a quick pace.

Unit sizes weren't too small - granted, they are going to be a lot smaller than SC1 due to resolution, but I thought it was manageable.

Blizzard provides 4 pre-set levels of performance, and I only tested high and ultra, and high was very smooth. Again, as an RTS though, the FPS counter didn't matter as much, and was very playable.

It is a bit of a square, but it's not really bulky. Take a look at my comparison with a 15.6" - this is definitely deeper than a netbook, but not very wide.

The Z is a very nice machine, just a bit too expensive for my tastes though... especially since I have a powerful desktop at home, if I need power, I'd just sit at a desk

I think that's what appealed a lot to me.

It has power, and it has portability, and best of all, it's affordable.

I would totally get into a 15-17" gaming notebook if it weren't for the fact that I already have a powerful desktop at home to use if I needed that power (a 30" 2560x1600 screen helps too ) so this happened to hit all the criteria that I listed, and I expect in a year or two to see more of these on the market from various manufacturers!

 

Thanks anyway.

 

What a fantastic review! Very well done. Makes me want one of them over the crummy m17x I currently have.

 

ill trade you

 

Chewie my friend, could you do me a solid and take a picture of the barrel for the charging cable? Just to see what kind of adapter I would need for an external powerpack.

 

chewietobbacca beautiful review! it is members like urself that built this forums reputation. and yes the z is a nice machine but i fear its ability to overclock is very limited due to very poor cooling. i believe if both systems where maxed out you would see better fps with the m11x for half the price but thats just my opinion

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIbdAyvtlEU

3:40 mark

UL30VT plays CS:S just fine .

 

once you overclock gpu with evga precision do you need to leave it running?

 

@ahanslot I asked this here it was answered by chewie if you want to read his response.

but, yup you gotta have it running =)

 

How're you finding the size of the screen with the games you have tried and how is the glare after a couple of days general use?

also cheers for the stellar review

 

I second that glare question. Some pics show that there are really strong reflections on the screen, how does that affect everyday usage? Is there any chance to use it outdoors? I hope the display is bright enough to overcome the glare-ness...

 

How would the M11x handle intensive CAD modeling programs and FEA?

I've always been told that they are almost entirely dependent on graphics cards, but I'm not sure.

My current laptop has a C2D P8700 (2.53GHz I think) with 8GB of RAM (it's an SXPS1340).

Would the M11x be a step up, or a step down from this?

 

Wow, sweet review ChewieTobbacca. I've been looking around for a netbook replacement for my decrepit inspiron 1520.

Something that can play 720p and output 1080p videos.

Last more than 20mins away from the mains (7hours on the samsung was quite a shock).

and most importantly play the one game that the my PS3 and my mates 360 can't handle. Dragon Age Origins.

I read that you had the option to benchmark it, and it'd be the dealmaker/breaker for me if it could. (higher setting would be a bonus, but I think the high pixel density could keep things looking sharp, if not pretty).

I heard from a computer-science guy at uni that a SSD would really help with the battery and general performance when the CPU is at stock clock.

Any new would be great. Thanks!

 

Désolé c'est un site internet Anglais.

Sorry this is an English website.

 

sorry to be ot but i just gave away my 1520 to my mum, to get the m11x. were like net twins...

kakeashi did a few vids, one of DAO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgSOwzMLPvo
no fraps , but he describes settings. i remember someone saying it lags a bit in the cut scenes more than anything. pretty sure theres another vid with fraps out there but i cant find it sorry.

 

I think what he's trying to say is that he has used his m11x for watching videos on an external 1080 p screen, with his cpu oc'd to 1.6 ghz and it has performed pretty well.

 

I know exactly what he is saying, but this is an English website, and he can't speak English, so unfortunately he will have to find himself a French Notebook Review website. It's in the rules if you want to speak in another language you must provide an English translation within the same post, and at the end of his post he clearly states he's sorry for the French, and that he doesn't speak English.

 

Well actually he's saying that his m11x has been performing well without oc'ing and watching video's at 1080 without the need of the Nvidia graphic card and he's asking us how he can put pictures and videos in this forum for us to see?

So basicly he's trying to be helpful and he apologised that his english isn't up to par to none existing.

So I don't understand why you need to be rude, if you can understand him and tell him "it's an english website".

 

@nono10r
Apparaintement votre post est déja disparu, mais sans soucis parce que je vous aidera.

Normalement c'est trés facile pour mettre votre photo's online avec tinypic.com et pour les video's... Simplement créer un nouveau compte au youtube et télécharger. Après vous pouvez mettre votre youtubie lien ici.

Bonne chance!

"Apparently your post has been deleted, but don't worry I'll help you out. It's quite easy to put your pictures online through tinypic.com and for the video's.... you just need to create a new youtube account and upload. After that you just need to put the youtube link here

Good luck!"

 

Nono's post was deleted because he couldn't provide an English translation of what he said within his post. Check the forum rules for info on this. I suggest you edit your post and provide an English translation of what you said to keep the mods happy or it will be deleted too.

Back on topic, @ ChewieTobbacca thanks for the nice review, +rep.

 

Thanks for reminding them Crylo of the forum rules.

Crylo is correct. Now if nono is here and posting, he certainly does understand or is translating every post.

Lets get back on topic please. Thanks.

 

hello everybody, sorry to be bored with my french I just wanted to make you enjoy the videos and pictures of the m11x jai is your forum and just wanted super participate miles vai excuse me find a French forum easier for me.

 

mais c'est pas déja trop tard vous comprenez mon explique? Alors essayez mettre les photo's et video's ici.


"but it's not yet too late did you understand my explanation? Try putting the pics and video's here."

 

Gentlemen, how about you continue your French language class in your own mailboxes and stop littering this thread?

 

m11x on screen pioneer kuro 62pouces.MTS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQpKjquUwJ8

 

http://fr.tinypic.com/a/1vvja/3:)

 

Sick pictures indeed.

 

why is everybody so rude? I posted my translation in the post? And this is still a forum right? I was posting in general so he would post the pics and video's online for us all to see.

Which he did.