Possibility of an Alienware M13x?

Will Alienware ever make a M13x notebook? Preferably with switchable graphics and more focused on battery life while maintaining strong performance?

 

A baby "All-powerfull" notebook would be cute :3
But they haven't done something like this in a while, not to mention the 13in space is more competitive when it comes to pricing and AW is not so good at keeping their prices in check

 

if they can fit me an i7 (or i5) a radeon 5xxx serie and a hd screen i'd definitly get one no mather the price LOL

 

Probably when Arrandale comes up and they bring down the TDP on cards with a high shader count. GTS 250M looks promising with its 29 watts inspite of 96 shaders. If they can bring it down to a level where a 13" would keep its own thermals under control, then maybe a M13x is possible then.

 

Man, if they could pack things in there well enough, I would be all over it if it still had the horses of a 15 or 17 The heat would be the biggest issue, that and miniaturizing the powerful stuff.

 

they can do it, but it'll be the size of a 16inch notebook.

 

I was thinking about M9x Netbook Nebula Red Intel Atom ) Cannot imagine a little baby with "in your face attitude" design and LED lighting all over place

 

Intel Atom sucks even with the ION.

AMD Neo Dualcore with an HD3200 IGP and an XGP connector like the Acer Ferrari One.

 

i think i remember in 1 of the first alien network videos they said they dont really want to make lower performace laptops. aw said they are most interested in industry first like first 15.4 inch laptop with 8800M GTX in it. Since AW and dell are together and dell is already offering those types of laptops already the chance we will see a m9x or m13x is pretty unlikely.

 

this reminds me o when dell released the 1210. The very first notebook with a dedicated gpu in a 13 inch form,with a webcam, microphone and even a finger print reader. They could always take the insides of that and stick it into an alienware case...but would we want that...

 

Hell no! Im just kidding. No way I want an AW looks like that. AW in laptop world is something like Ferrari in car world ( especially Nebula Red ) I want it the way it is now.

 

13" would be nice. Sorta a macbook but a real gaming machine. Cause when i think of 13" all i can think of is a macbook. I think an m13x would really be interesting since there isn't a decent one out there. Or did i miss something?

A 13" would also somewhat moderate the desire for an external monitor. Cause when using m11x in gaming mode you most likely stick a mouse into it. Might as well stick a 22" LCD while you're at it.

The portability it boasts is more leaning towards tasks other than gaming. And prolly on plane gaming. As far as gaming is concerned m11x functions more like a macmini. At least in my experience.

But knowing alienware they'll prolly build an m13x with a size of a 15" normal laptop. Oh well. Can't have them all. Won't hurt to dream though.

 

this thread has been done before and it was a total failure

 

Yup! Way to revive it from the dead!

 

Honestly, I think they should have done this rather than the M11x. Optical Drive + more powerful processor + all around portable package= win It would bring back memories of the good ol' age of ultraportables, like the 12" Powerbook. Remember ultraportables? Back when people actually wanted useful small notebooks? Now all we got are netbooks

 

But the price differences between M15x and M13x wouldn't be much so one of the product would fall in terms of sales. IMO, it was wise for them to make 11 inch instead of 13.

 

Deja Vu...

 

it's all those asus eee 7 incher's fault. >_<

you can always plug it to an external monitor, though. which is more likely the case when you go for a full gaming mode. can't imagine someone playing with the 11" at the comfort of his room (if you're out there: you have redefined hardcore gaming to a new level.).



@doublee
exactly. a marketing strategy.

just goes to show where the loyalty of the people @ alienware lies, in the end.

 

You are so right. God knows why AW made the thing so portable. Who the hell cares if the thing is twice as big, they should've left in the optical drive. No one uses Steam anyways, right? Don't get me started on the processor. What possessed them to stuff a CULV CPU in there to give you 6-8 hours of gaming is beyond even Buzz Lightyear. They should've just made it useful... like they used to... in the "good old days".

 

You're comparing it to something completely different than what I was. Like I said, I'm talking about compact powerhouses. I used the 12" powerbook as an example, but there were plenty of others. Sure the M11x is portable, but as a gaming system, it's a shame to see it with a ULV processor. Forget about playing any modern RTS on that thing.

Although I have to give them props for innovation- the M11x really doesn't have any competitors. I'm just saying, it would have been much more useful to make it a tad bigger and give it a real processor and optical drive, while still maintaining portability. I'm not saying make it a luggable brick, just make it a little bigger to facilitate a few more much-needed features.

And don't get me started on steam, no matter how you slice it, actually OWNING a physical copy of your software will always be better than leasing it from big brother. Their online service is fantastic, but I want to actually be able to hold onto the content that I purchase. I don't want it floating around on someone else's server.

 

Are you seriously under the illusion that you need a high-end PC for RTS games? My mind's been blown anytime I've compared the M11x to my high-end Qosmio I bought a little under a year ago, and could do without those "much-needed" features if it means AW keeping their word and selling us a sub-$1000 netbook.

 

I'm a huge RTS fan, and my old computer's 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo still gave me slowdown on games like Medieval II total war and Supreme Commander (both the first and second). And my C2D was hardly "high end". Don't tell me I'm under any kind of illusion- RTS is my favorite genre, and I know what procs can and cant' handle most RTS games. That's why I upgraded to the M15x, not just for the higher end GPU, but I wanted a beefier CPU.

 

I have a simple solution if you want an 12" power house with powerful CPU. I believe they call it a Sony Viao Z.

 

Yes, but with the sony name comes the sony price

 

Well if it was that cheap to do it, I think alienware would have done it.

 

Yes, real "shame" that a laptop can hold 5.5hrs on battery watching HD movies. This laptop isn't about maxing performance, it's about compromising gaming and portability (if that wasn't plain obvious when it came out). And it does pretty well in doing that -- the battery life is pretty good, and performance wise it runs pretty much all games without stuttering on medium/high graphic details.

This was discussed over and over and over... And SU4100/7300 is quite a real processor. Overclocked on 1.7 GHz it works very well (I believe in fact so well that ASUS is selling those CPUs already OCed). I am glad it doesn't have optical drive. If I need to copy something I use WiFi, for large amounts from my computer, I use external hard drive and for playing games I use Daemon Tools etc. to make DVD images on my desktop and run from my hard drive.

About Sony Z, it does have quite good CPU but the cooling system is nowhere near the m11x. The temperatures seems quite a bit high and just makes me wonder how long it going to be before someone comes out with their cooling mod. Not saying Sony Z won't work well on with 90 C GPU, but I don't see it good in long term and justifying $2k+ cost. Just saying, IMO, it is not worth 1/3 of it's price. (What is the point of buying a powerful GPU if it can't be used?)