Is AW ever going to release another laptop under 14" ?

Title says it all really.
Now I know most AW are basically desktop replacements and cried a bit when I heard they would stop manufacturing the M11X, basically the M14X is as big if not thicker than most 15" gaming laptops and I need something a bit smaller.
Would love to see a new 12"/13" model but I guess my dreams are shattered

 

We'll never know for sure. They could be doing it next year for all we know.

I do agree with you. The AW 14 is pretty thick for a 14" laptop. But it's a gaming laptop, not a business or work laptop.

 

Perhaps that's why they are not making any M11x

 

y410p is thinner than the AW 14..it's a multimedia laptop, but the specs are very similar, what's the deal?

 

I can only speculate... I don't own either of those. If I had to guess, I'd say it has to do with cooling.

 

yeah, but you can also add a second fan in the ultrabay of the y410p from my understanding

 

Probably not. There is no financial incentive for them to bother doing that. You can already buy an XPS Ultrabook with better features and performance that is similar to an Alienware 14. The Alienware 14 is thick because it should be. Going thin and light simply introduces too many functional limitations and demands compromises that are incompatible with the concept of a "high performance gaming system" when you stop and think about it. There is no way to effectively manage thermals and incorporate feature-rich hardware with such a tiny amount space to work with. When you pare things down to work with what little wiggle room is left you end up with a mediocre product from an enthusiast's perspective. All you would end up with is an ordinary high-end Ultrabook with an Alienware aesthetic theme.

If you want to own the best of the best in an Ultrabook form factor, the new XPS lineup is probably the ultimate option compared to anything available elsewhere in the industry. There is nothing else available anywhere that is made as well, and they blow away the competition with warranty and service. These are absolutely gorgeous machines, built like a brick house (machined aluminum lid and base, Corning Gorilla Glass and carbon fiber bottom cover) and perform as well or better than one can reasonably expect from such a small package. The QHD+ (3800x1200) displays are also extremely nice. I seriously doubt that they will produce an Alienware that competes with a product they already offer. That would be a silly business move on their part. The new XPS line matches or exceeds the looks, quality and performance of the MacBook product line for those that want to stick with Windows.

 

Specs are comparable (750M SLI vs 765M is close depending on optimization), quality is not. The Alienware runs much cooler and is far better built.

 

Far better built is accurate. I have not been impressed by anything offered by Lenovo. I have had many ThinkPads over the years and IBM used to make some impressive machines. I still use a ThinkPad 8 to 14 hours for work every day (T430). All I can say is, I am glad it wasn't my money...

 

With Razer showing us a thinner more compact laptop is doable it's a shame it has such a poor screen.

 

There was a thread some time ago on ideastorm about this, our product team reviewed it but they never let us know their decisions
I loved the m11x, it's a great machine but I agree with Mr. Fox about the XPS Ultrabooks having better performance than it.

 

I think with the way things are going tech wise, we could have a slim, sleak "netbook" again.

Ditch the hdds and opt for a pair of msata drives. Really you could ditch the gpu all together... the intel hd4600 is pretty powerfull. I know that ditching the gpu will pretty much make the little guy not much more powerfull than anything else on the market, but I think it could still make a pretty fine machine.

Think of it, dual msata, 10+ hour battery life, 1080p screen, gaming on low-med settings anywhere you want just like you could with the m11x.

Though I am still holding out for a tablet to come out.

 

Just get an entry level Inspiron 3000 and put and Alien decal on the lid, then you will have the functional equivalent of that. Performance has already tanked to historically low levels with Haswell and Secure Flash to prevent us from unlocking the BIOS. Honestly, I cannot imagine anyone intentionally wanting to see that get worse by hoping that they offer more mediocre garbage. They need to concentrate intently on making truly extreme performance products like the M18xR1/R2 and M17xR2/R3/R4 and forget about this thin and light trash.

There is plenty of that to go around in the saturated Ultrabook market from Dell, HP, Razor, Asus, MSI, Acer... I think we would be far better off without contaminating the Alienware gene pool with that sort of yuppie virus.

This is terribly important and they need to pay attention. They cannot be distracted. If they have another repeat performance like they did with the Haswell product line it is not going to end well. No true enthusiast wants to spend thousands of dollars on something shiny and new that only gets it teeth knocked out by products that are 2 or 3 years old.

 

M11x was a great product, i had all 3 revisions. It was great at that time, because ultra-books were not in picture and consumers wanted slim and portable laptops. As such it was surprise and a big seller.

Right now whole scenario has changed, ultra-books are in picture and profits are non existence. What will Alienware achieve by releasing another M11x, that is not already available ?

Like brother fox said, Alienware needs to focus on current lineup and make sure to bring something of similar caliber to M18xR2 and not drop the ball like AW18.

 

You said it.

It will be ridiculous if the M18x R2 can outperform two generations.

 

Not any more ridiculous than the present day ability of the M18xR1 to outperform the latest and greatest. Just think what it will look like if (when?) the M18x R1 with a simple GPU upgrade can outperform an 18 and an 18R2.

It would be really nice for the record-breaking extreme performance of the M18xR1 and M18xR2 to not turn out to be a really excellent engineering accident that they are careful to avoid going forward.

 

True, I hadn't thought of that. I suppose my statement goes for both the R1 and R2.

Come on, Alienware!

 

Well I'm glad of my R1/2 project.

One thing that I have never understand is why people want paper sheets laptops, cell phones, tablets, etc. Why the obsession on making everything more and more thin??. The only reason I want a M11x is to use it for my car, like a carputer.

 

yeah they are making phones as big as a tablet and a tablet as big as a phone, i don't get it, i thought about getting a smaller laptop for traveling, but when you look down to it, 1/2" of less thickness and a couple of pounds does not even make a difference if you are carrying around a suitcase/backpcak/luggage, people are just tricked into thinking that is what they need but honestly i rather not sacrifice power/cooling, yes laptops are supposed to be mobile but when does a 15" 6-7lb powerhouse become "not mobile"

 

Yup, that's just silly stuff. I don't get it either. It's not much fun having a little tiny, anemic machine that does a half-heinied job at everything when you are used to having good, great or awesome performance. It almost seems like there is a fetish for mediocrity with some of this pursuit.

 

A lot of people just don't care. I have a friend that will buy a new laptop every year or two that is mediocre at gaming, and then complain about performance until he buys another. He has spend $3K or more in the past 5 years on laptops that overheat, are underpowered, and fail quickly from the abuse. He could pick up a decent gaming laptop every other year and sell his old machine to help pay for it, but instead he has a pile of junky laptops that are falling apart and collect dust. Why he chooses to buy junk laptops repeatedly instead of good laptops occasionally is beyond me.

 

I know someone who do the exact same thing and every time he buys other "cheap" laptop for gaming he say "Next time I will buy a Alienware, because this thing sucks!" amazing is that I can still play the games that he wants to play, and more, and I bought mine back in 2009.

 

Same here... the old M17xR2 with 4870M CrossFire is still kicking and it plays games as well as most of the crappy little bargain crackerbox "gaming laptops" with 720p and 900p screens that the haters are so excited about. They always snort about Alienware being too expense, but when you do the math and look at the serious mileage you can get from these SLI and CrossFire monsters they are actually cheaper in the long run. Factor in that these machines can handle 580M SLI, 680M SLI, 780M SLI and 6990M CF and 7970M CF upgrades, they are even more affordable than their one-shot disposable toy machines.

 

with integrated graphics getting better and better (heard the new HD can play quite a few games) I don't see why they can't bring out something...but agreed...demand probably wont be that high...although I know Id buy something like that over an equivalent Toshiba/acer business laptop simply because I will care/love for it more