alienware ultrabook

do you guys think Dell would make a 13" alienware ultrabook with these specs + amd /nvidia gpu?

http://www.ausbt.com.au/the-ultrabooks-are-coming-super-thin-laptops-for-travellers

 

I don't believe so, thin and light doesn't really sit well with Alienware's design philosophy not to mention that the m11x has yet to be hotly contested from elsewhere and that the newly released m14x isn't going anywhere soon, they might slim the latter down a bit though, who knows?

 

My m14x with an i7 gets hot enough, you wont to put even worse cooling in it? Not gonna happen. Basically it sounds like a Alienware Air?

It might be possible if you had a m11x i7 in there and really low end graphic option if not just intel 3000 integrated, in which place they'd never do because the whole point of the alienware line is to game and that couldn't game at all.,

 

nah...the 14x fills that niche well enough

 

Sure, Dell sells the Latitude 13/Vostro V13/V130.

If a laptop that small was ever made, it would have integrated graphics, and would not be worth of the Alienware name. IF it had discreet graphics it would be throttled all the time to the point where it wouldn't be useful in any sort of gaming environment.

Point in case? Ultrabooks are meant for computing on the go, not gaming on the go. Need the lightest gaming notebook? Look at an M11x or an Acer TimelineX.

 

An Alienware ultrabook could work. Imagine an ultrabook like the Asus Zenbook and add a docking station with a swappable GPU, cooling, ports. Why wouldn't it work?

The ultrabooks out now can keep up with moderate gaming as it is, but when you need max specs, your docking station is there. I would love to see it made out of Carbon Fiber.

 

The only way an AW ultrabook could work is if AW jumped on the external GPU bandwagon.

 

An Alienware Ultrabook? Gee, that's like an oxymoron. Alienware Ultrabook... meh! Is that like a "high-performance" moped?

Small keyboard, small screen, small performance... big price... massive failure.

If you want that kind of thing, just buy a $199 Google tablet for web surfing and spend the money saved on better CPU/GPU in the beast.

 

That would be the case: ultrabooks do suck. Follow Fox's advice and get a nice tablet if you need portability (although the market is saturated with crappy ones so be careful/selective). "Portability" in case of ultrabooks/tablets simply means browsing the net and reading some ebooks and nothing more anyway.

 

The mind set of going thin help portability really bug me, I just dun get it. It's not like it is going into the jean pocket or something. Going light I can understand..

 

Big, bold and bad is always best for enthusiasts. Thin and light is akin to arming troops with BB guns.

 

Talking tablets, Nokia is supposed to release a new one in Q4 designed in a similar way to N9, meaning a single piece of (black) polycarbonate body. IMO N9's design matches/complements black AW laptops quite fine (I own two black N9s) so it seems this new tablet will prolly too.

If you don't know how N9 looks like (I am not really sure if it's available in the US), here's a picture:


More pics here.

 

Let's stick to high performance gaming systems, shall we?

 

See, let's take a look at the M11x as an "ultrabook" with dGPU and ULV CPU. It's still rather thick as it has to properly cool all the components, so it will never be thin as an ultrabook. And M11x never featured a real gaming GPU, GT335M and GT540M aren't even close to mid/high end dGPU, and it was not MXM, so forget about Alienware ultrabook.

 

the M11x was more of a super powered netbook than an ultrabook.

 

The only half decent tablet out there, in my opinion; is the Samsung Series 7 Slate.

Has a full OS (Win 7), and can hook up to a docking station and bluetooth/USB keyboard to play moderate games at moderate game-play.
It has integrated graphics, so it works okay... I don't own one... But I'm drooling over getting one shipped from the US, much cheaper (I want it for Photoshop sketching, it is a pressure sensitive tablet to 512 levels, a portable Cintiq of sorts)...

The M11X is a real beast though. I can't imagine Dell pumping out a new model (different sized) computer for a while...

 

the slates pretty cool, but Microsofts Windows 8 surface (high end model) will be the first true tablet PC.

a 10.1 inch tablet with a full Windows 8 OS and office, large amounts of memory, a usb 3.0, an i5 processor, and a built in stand, all in a package almost as thin as an Ipad and less than a pound and a half, and the screen protector is also the keyboard.

Its the nail in the coffin for netbooks. Hell, its better than a lot of full laptops.



It won't be able to do serious gaming by any means, but apparently it will be able to do light stuff like TF2, and the civ series.

 

Apple's new MacBook Pro shows that it would be possible for Alienware to make an ultra-thin Ultrabook. It's .71" thick with a 650M. They could meet a 14" size and stay under the .86" required thickness if they follow Apple's design. The next M14x should be a huge upgrade. In fact, Alienware could do with a slimming across the board and still keep comparable video cards, other manufacturers have proved it.

 

But, the question is, comparable to what? A single 650M is not really all that powerful. A 1080p screen, Extreme CPU and 7970M or 680M GPU in something that meets the Ultrabook design standard is not possible. There is not enough space for the parts to fit, cooling would be next to impossible and the screen would be too small to be usable. For some, even the M18x screen is too small, LOL.

There's no way to have a truly high performance system in an Ultrabook form factor. The size alone is the antithesis of "high performance" computing. In concept and design, an Ultrabook is the paradigm of compromise. Historically, Alienware systems haven't been geared toward compromise and I hope they never go that direction any more than they already have. The already offer a more than adequate compromise of performance for smaller size in the M14x. A best practice for any business is to focus on what you do well and nail it, rather than to get off in left field with things that are only distractions from what is core to success.

It would be counterintuitive for Alienware to offer something as mundane and unexciting as an Ultrabook. Plus, there are plenty of excellent options already available from Dell in an Ultrabook, so I really don't see any legitimate business reason for them to make a product that would directly compete for sales against a product they already offer.

Dell Inspiron and XPS Ultrabooks

 

Its more than possible if we can engineer the correct parts.

13inch Ultraportable.

Ditch the Hard Drive and Optical Drive.
Invest in some experimental SD Card storage for games.
Use ULV Ivybridge processors to conserve battery life and cooling.

Fit an HD 7970m card in the machine.

This is not as far fetched as you think.

 

hope for the m11xr4/tablet right here?

Dell XPS Duo 12 - Laptops - CNET Reviews

 

It would still be too small, too expensive and represent a tremendous compromise. Small form factor, power conservation and battery life doesn't fit with "high performance" systems. It would be "not as crappy" but still not as good as a real gaming system. Seems better to just buy a real gaming beast that will last a long time and be upgradeable instead of an expensive, disposable, faster-than-normal netbook. If there is a reason or a need to, then buy something inexpensive, thin and light that won't be a major loss if it gets broken or stolen.

 

I think alot of people would buy a alienware ultrabook type thing not for gaming, but for the brand.

Most of us know that you can get a better spec laptop for less, but we buy alienware for the looks, lights, and warranty.
I would have no problem shelling out extra for a alienware branded ultrabook or tablet even if it couldnt game at high specs.

 

Nothing wrong with that opinion. Still not sure it would make good sense for Dell from a business/overhead perspective to sell something that would divert a portion of sales from their existing products, but I can see why some folks would feel that way. At least you have realistic expectations on how it would perform and would not end up disappointed. If I had a reason to own something like an Ultrabook, it would be kind of nice to have the Alienware look and feel minus the performance. I don't know how much extra I would be willing to spend. I guess I just have a hard time relating to the concept because a small, thin and light computer is so unappealing to me.

 

If the Ultraportable featured MXM slots for upgradeable GPU's then I beg to differ friend.

At the moment I'm currently on a Precision with the measly i5 2520m Processor and M8900 (HD 6970 Drivers).

I can play all my games maxed at 1366 x 768 and because of this I no longer feel the want for a desktop.
Why would I?
Greater performance for no real noticeable gain yet the complete sacrifice of portability? I'll pass.

Gaming is 90% GPU driven and even with the Sandy Bridge i7 2637m Processor from the M11x R3 last year Im sure you'd be able to play every game of this year on Ultra settings with the likes of a HD 7970m alongside it on a resolution of 1080p.

This M13x Ultraportable would replace the M14x and offer the design refresh their product line needs yet it would not impose on any of the rest of Dell/ Alienware's range. It would be on the path of a smaller, slimmer system to "keep up" so to speak with the compact trend of technology.
A solid business move.

A "real" gaming system?
13 incher with an HD 7970m would offer as good a gaming experience in laptop terms as you could achieve at the moment without expanding into the realms of larger machines.
The experience would be real as well as fully enjoyable.

The whole notion of degradative comparison compared to "real" anything has never sat with me.
Its personal perspective/ opinion - nothing more.

The M13x Ultraportable.
Edge to Edge 1080p display
Interchangeable GPU's of HD 7970m or greater.
Full size keyboard
Killer wifi.
9 Cell battery.

Fully possible.

 

No need to beg... and no problem with holding a different view.

If you like small, single-GPU computers there is nothing wrong with that. Unless or until someone actually agrees that it makes sense and decides to build what you are wanting, it's only a wish. It also has to sell, and unless a company has reason to believe they will make good money on it, it would be cost prohibitive to produce as a niche product. I still think cooling is going to be problematic with an ultrabook design spec. It is a big enough challenge to keep smaller laptops from running hot. Forcing 2 pounds of sand into a 1 pound bag, something has to give. What do you think they might use to keep the system from melting down that would fit into the space confines of an ultrabook spec? If it's not thin and light, then it's going to be a smaller laptop, not an ultrabook.

And a 13" edge-to-edge 1080p display would be a real challenge for some people to deal with. Any resolution lower than 1080p really sucks, but fitting that many pixels into such a tiny screen makes my eyes hurt just thinking about it.

 

personally I would consider it a waste to game with a 7970/680 on a 13 inch screen. 15 is the lowest I would go on a gaming laptop.

 

I'm pretty sure that it is absolutely impossible to fit something the likes of a 7970m into a 13" form factor, especially at ultrabook thickness. Firstly the card would have absolutely no cooling so either the thickness goes up or we build it into an aluminium case so the entire body of the machine acts as a heat sink, but I'm pretty sure the card would overheat.

Next would be the size issue, an MxM card is roughly the size of a third of my MBP 13" s screen, so fitting a motherboard, MxM port, MxM card and battery would be insanely difficult, and not only that, the machine is still missing storage options unless they are baked onto the motherboard.

Personally I don't believe its possible, at least not under the 13" form factor, but under the 15" form factor though I think it could be done although that would disqualify it from being an ultrabook.

 

M11x proved it could combine power and portability and satisfied a large number of users including myself. The Clevo W110ER has shown users want a powerful compact machine, and feasible to fit similar guts of an M14x into a smaller form factor. A 12-13" with 1600x900 screen, GT 650m (GDDR5 PLEASE!), and powerful 35W dual core would fit the bill. Heck even make it with mSATA only or something to help save on space. They'd have to rethink the M14x considering it has the GT 650m and 1600x900 screen as well, but they have a quad core option and could use a 665m or something (doesn't exist... yet), plus standard 2.5" drives and maybe mSATA in addition to differentiate itself.

 

The new razer blade just got announced. still .88 inches thick in an aluminum chassis with an awesome 17 inch 1080p matte screen, anti ghosting keyboard, and an improved switchblade UI all still under 7 lbs.
The new one will have a 564 GB hybrid SSD HDD hard drive, a quad core i7, 8gigs of 1600 MHz ram, and a Nvidia GTX 660 graphics card, with a battery life (non gaming) of 6 hours and a 2-3 hour gaming battery life. the price is also several hundred dollars lower than the first one and they will be giving people who bought the first one a 500 dollar coupon on this one as a thank you for helping them to break into the gaming laptop market. And it still comes with a Razer orchi blade edition mouse which can be used wireless or with a wire.

I think this proves that at least medium rage (not high end) gaming laptop can at least be thin, best get to scratching your heads AW designers. People love portability and power.

 

$2500 for 17" 1080p, 500GB HDD + 64GB SSD Cache drive, 8GB DDR3 1600, GTX 660. Drop the damn Razer UI and drop the price $500 and I might be sold. But yes, mid range thin and light is definitely possible with latest tech. AW should follow suit and show Razer how it really should be done.

 

I went on the AW site, and configured an m17x as close as I could to the new razer. It came in at almost 2 grand.

The blade might be overpriced, but at least that extra 500 dollars will get you a machine that is less than half as thick, several pounds lighter, and a machine that lasts several hours longer than the m17x. its display is also matte and the chassis is aluminum. Which is something the m17x can't say.

Now if you put a few hundred dollars more into the m17x you can get a 7970/680, giant amounts of ram and hard drive space etc... and an all around better machine. But at the mid range power level, I say the blade has it beat.

 

Well, get rid of their UI, drop the price $300, and it'd likely sell like hotcakes.

 

It already does. The first batch of the original sold out in under 30 minutes, and it was the same the next 4 times they got new ones in.

One big reason for them being so expensive compared to other brands is because since Razer is new to the PC market they don't get the same deals on mass ordered parts that companies like dell, asus, and clevo do.

 

Well they never announced how many they sold. Selling out does not mean they sold a lot. I have a feeling it was a few hundred to be honest, not several thousands. If anything I felt like they were creating artificial demand, or at least appearance that they were in high demand.

 

Don't think so. Not Alienware's thing(and should not be i think), i personally do not like throwing away performance for portability but that's just me.

 

The razer blade is closer to a multimedia laptop than anything else, it should play most games on mid settings, a few on high, but nothing current on ultra. After configuring the m17x to the blade's specs I got round 1800, and alienware is usually considered overpriced.

Personally I think its a little shady that razer never released its sales figures.

 

Gaming laptop is still considered an oxymoron by desktop enthusiasts (I myself prefer the term Desktop Replacement) so I imagine that the creation of a "gaming ultrabook" would be looked down upon even more than the concept of mobile gaming currently is. I don't get why people hate the concept of gaming laptops so much, you can just pick up your entire rig and take it with you. I would find a 13" screen to be too small anyway, and a 1080P screen would make it unusable for the basic uses of an ultrabook.

 

Desktop people snoot at laptops because they are never as powerful as their desktop counterparts. The only laptop that is truly desktop powerful, is the m18x, but the thing is, a two grand desktop is still as powerful as a 5 grand m18x. The price and performance difference is too much for a lot of enthusiasts to stomach. A lot of serious desktop gamers also build their own rigs and see people who don't do the same as somehow inferior.

 

Desktops are fine for folks that don't mind being tethered to a single spot. I was a desktop PC gamer for years and going back to that just doesn't appeal to me any more. I'd love to build myself a new desktop monster, but just cannot justify spending $2-3k on something stationary. I'd rather spend an extra $1-2k on something that goes everywhere I go, and the M18x is definitely the ticket. It eliminates the need for anything else for me.

After getting used to the power, the thought of using a mediocre machine has become rather repulsive to me. That's why the mere notion of an Alienware Ultrabook seems so bizarre and counter-intuitive. The first thing that pops to mind is "Why?" since my M18x travels extremely well, performs extremely well, and does everything else I ask it to do extremely well. It's only my opinion, but spending money for anything in addition to it is just a waste of money.

I've used my mini9 probably 3 hours in the last couple of years and find no compelling reason to turn it on. Even though it does an excellent job as a netbook, there's no need for it. It's kind of like, why eat pop-tarts when you have a decadent cherry cheesecake waiting to be savored.

 

I've always imagined being an engineer at Alienware and coming up with a (better) competitor to the Razer Blade.

I'd imagine it'd be about an inch thick in a 17" form factor, not "ultraportable" thin but the extra bit allows for a larger battery and superior cooling. Single HDD bay and an mSATA slot, so you can have a HDD with an SSD cache, or have two SSDs. Full power i7 mobile quads coupled with a top end GPU (680M most likely) soldered onto the motherboard to reduce space usage. Cooling it would require engineering a cooling system superior to anything currently existing in laptops, but it's possible; use elongated heatsinks to compensate for the reduced thickness, with large (but thin) fans. The GPU would likely require two heatsinks and fans just for it (CPU has its own heatsink and fan of course). Throw in a 1080p IPS panel, preferably matte, using a similar structure to the MBP Retina to decrease screen thickness if possible. The DVD/BR drive would be dropped, of course, to make room for components/battery. If you had all of that, I actually think people would pay $2500-$3000 for it (with a 680M on board).

Ideally there would be a smaller 15" model too. It'd retain everything from the bigger system except it'd step down the GPU to a 670M or 660M, and drop down to a single heatsink and fan to cool the GPU. The price would ideally be around the $1800-$2000 for such a machine.

If Alienware engineers put a lot of effort (and money) into their designs, they could definitely make the M17x and M14x considerably thinner and lighter by improving cooling design and dropping the DVD/BR drive. If the new Blade can manage a 660M in a chassis that's 0.88" thick, then imagine what Alienware could manage.

The biggest point I'm trying to make is that it's entirely possible to make a no-compromise gaming notebook in this day and age. The new Blade is pretty damn close with a 660M, although it's still just a little too expensive for the specs and a little too weak. If a company like Alienware were to put the time, effort and money into it, we could have a 670M or even a 680M in a laptop that's an inch thick.

That all said, I can see Mr. Fox's point, that it seems like a terrible idea to have a less powerful machine just because it's thinner and lighter. But soon, we could well see a machine that meets ultraportable specifications with a top end mobile GPU. And although it might not be a dual GPU monster like the M18x, I doubt many people would pass up the added portability. I wouldn't. (But only if it was a top end GPU.)

 

one inch thick seems to be the goal for a truly powerful 17 inch lappy to achieve.

I would like to see a happy medium, and for AW to have two lines at the same time. One like their current one that focus's on power and one that's more about portability.

Line A: m14x, m17x, m18x.

Line B: n15z, n17z

Line A keeps what the three current models have. powerful specs in large chassis that are "portable" but often heavy and bulky. These large chassis models can be upgraded and you can store oodles of ram, and storage in them.

Line B is a whole different direction. Power is still important, especially in the 17 inch one, but they are far more portable. Thinner, lighter, and sleeker. These machines wouldn't really be upgradable, and wouldn't have the near obnoxious amount of ram and storage capabilities line A does, but they would still be capable of packing a nice punch.

 

For a second there it sounded like you were describing an M17x.

One of the things I don't understand about an Alienware ultrabook is how you could preserve the look of an alienware system in such a small form factor. The front speakers/vents and angular design would need to be either shrunk to a different shape or removed altogether. The added quality of the Klipsch speakers and Creative and sound card would most likely be removed to conserve space, and weight.
Would you get a full keyboard with command keys and number pad or a boring non-back lit chiclet style keyboard. Would you really get an Alienware or would you get a rubberized generic ultrabook, with Alienware logos on it?

 

@ EviLCorsaiR - Good points, but from a macro perspective only. There's a lot of unfounded tech there to meet all that criteria.

Those powerful CPU's and GPU's soldered to the mainboard would be a bad idea, even to reduce thickness. You do that, then you completely limit upgradeability, and the cost to replace your motherboard should anything go wrong would probably cost nearly the price of a new system.

The Blade is still a proof of concept that they are having early adopters pay for dearly. I'd be quite agitated if I bought a $2800 laptop only to have it replaced by a much better version 6 months later that should have been the tech in it from the beginning, and offering it for $300 less. If anyone can do it right, Alienware can because they've been doing it for a long time. But considering their history I don't think they have a lick of interest in making anything thin and light. They're meant to be gaming monsters not Macbook wannabe's.

To be honest I would be much more interested in seeing a 12-13" Alienware ultrabook pushing the limits of that form factor than a 17" which is already bigger and unwieldly even if they do shave a half inch off it and reduce weight by 1lbs.

 

like the thickness of Alienware's laptops.
Call me old fashioned, but to me, thickness = strength and sturdiness.

Plus, with the hardware inside, they need that thickness for cooling.
My M11X heats up a fair bit sometimes, when on my lap. I can't imagine how hot it would be without that extra thickness.

The only way I can see an ultraportable working is if a mSata drive is used, a single GPU and the exhaustion system used for the new windows slate, how it has the cut slit all around.
along with a ULV CPU.

Again, the same as the M11x, people shouldn't expect great things from it, but still enough to get you by.

I'm all for this, would be interesting. I'm not all that keen on thin laptops, but if the design was strong enough, I'd contemplate getting one.


Alienware/Dell does need to revamp the design, in my opinion. They still look sweet, but something new is always good.

 

All good points, Brother HT. And, I think that is one of the primary reasons they have been so successful. They aren't for everyone, of course. If they were to move away from the reason for their success, they would lose tons of business forever. From a business perspective, it's always a smart move to do what you do best. While I agree they do have what it takes to make a powerful Ultrabook, it would be a big business risk and potentially a distraction from building gaming monsters. I'm guessing a large segment of their clientele, and the wannabe clientele that want one but don't want to spend any money, don't have a lick of interest in buying an Ultrabook. And, I think a lot of the folks that would love an Ultrabook of the caliber Alienware is capable of delivering are in the "hater camp" and would not buy one. I think it's almost a catch-22 dilemma.

 

Very Likely Mr. Fox (every time I read your name it reminds me of this movie, lol). I have no clue why Alienware quit the M11x as it seemed quite successful, however it was far from thin and light. But it was compact and light enough to be very portable. I thought the R3 was an excellent choice of components and was really looking for an answer to the Clevo W110ER from AW using the latest Kepler GPU and Ivy Bridge CPU.

In any case this is probably all just a dream for any of us hoping for such a laptop. Perhaps Dell can "trial" such a machine as an XPS release first and see how it fares and build on it from there.

 

If Razer can stick a backlit keyboard in the Blade, I'm pretty sure AW can manage it. As for whether it's a chiclet style or similar to the current design...that'd depend on how much space each design would take up.

The design might not translate well either, as you say. And they'd have to do some engineering work with the speakers to design a pair of good quality to stick in an inch thick chassis.

Yes, the tech is unfounded, which is why it'd take a company as big as Dell to put it through their engineering department and find a way to do it.

The CPU would not need to be soldered, just the GPU. Unfortunately soldering the GPU on would most likely be a necessity to save space in all dimensions.

Everyone who bought the first Blade, if they knew anything about tech, should have realised that it'd be replaced in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

Not to mention Razer is giving first gen Blade owners $500 off - and then, if the owners decided to take that offer on, could probably make back almost all of that by selling their first gen Blade. Seems fairly reasonable to me.

As for being a MacBook wannabe, don't you see the appeal of having something similar to the Blade but with a top end GPU? Of course the 17" version would not be the ONLY version, there would be smaller ones as well - I suggested a 15" version, they could easily make a 13" version too.

 

I laughed at this.
Travels well? I assume you have your own form of transport?
Try taking it on a plane journey or even that of a train alongside other essential luggage and then get back to me.

Then there's the concern of carrying about a 2 and a half grand machine wherever you go.
The M18x is portable in most minimal sense, if that.

An Alienware Ultraportable instead of an Ultrabook with an interchangeable GPU slot would be a mobile gamer's dream.
The M11x was an awesome machine if only a little too small.
Bump it up to 12 or 13 to include a full sized keyboard as well and it would be a success.

 

My M18x travels fine on a plane or train journey, even amongst other essential luggage. I fail to see what your problem with that is.

The M18x is portable in a "desktop replacement" sense, i.e. it's not meant to be taken out all the time to work or classes or the such. It's portable for moving over long distance journeys, or from room to room in a house.

The Alienware ultraportable would carry the same concern of carrying an expensive machine, as well. The difference is it'd be far easier to carry around for "everyday" use.