The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    m11x, m15x, m17x... metal or plastic?

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by Marcham93, Mar 14, 2010.

  1. Marcham93

    Marcham93 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    148
    Messages:
    643
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Can someone please clear this question up for me...

    I thought all three models were metal, but some one who reviewed his laptop on YouTube stated the m15x was plastic.

    So which models have plastic external casing and which have metal external casing?

    Thanks!
     
    Marcham93, Mar 14, 2010
    #1
  2. inap

    inap .........................

    Reputations:
    4,417
    Messages:
    7,827
    Likes Received:
    19
    Trophy Points:
    206
    metal case with plastic keyboard panel.
     
    inap, Mar 14, 2010
    #2
  3. impruv

    impruv Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    8
    Messages:
    382
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    magnesium alloy frame, but plastic external case I think.
     
    impruv, Mar 14, 2010
    #3
  4. Villosa

    Villosa Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    829
    Messages:
    1,306
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    56
    M17x- Magnesium chassis, aluminum casing/LCD cover
    M15x- Magnesium chassis/casing (one piece), Magnesium LCD cover
    M11x- Magnesium chassis, plastic casing
     
    Villosa, Mar 14, 2010
    #4
  5. Marcham93

    Marcham93 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    148
    Messages:
    643
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thanks! :)
     
    Marcham93, Mar 14, 2010
    #5
  6. misterb

    misterb Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    48
    Messages:
    348
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    also with a touch of awesome
     
    misterb, Mar 15, 2010
    #6
  7. tears

    tears Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    26
    Messages:
    512
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    So, out of curiosity, any ideas on how to make the M11x lighter?
     
    tears, Mar 15, 2010
    #7
  8. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

    Reputations:
    21,580
    Messages:
    35,370
    Likes Received:
    9,878
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Besides remove the heatsink? Ummm, nothing really. I think the largest weight contributor is the heatsink most likely. Cooling in this thing is awesome. Not sure how well the Sony Vaio Z fares though since it has a Core i5 and GT 330M GPU but it weighs about a pound less. Hard to gut weight out of a laptop since everything is so tightly integrated.
     
    HTWingNut, Mar 15, 2010
    #8
  9. tears

    tears Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    26
    Messages:
    512
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    The Sony Z has SSD, a weaker battery and carbon fibre panels I believe. It also has an ODD. How much of a weight savings does the CF panels do vs a regular plastic panel is something I really don't know though. It must be significant because the machine is as light as a macbook Air, but has like 2x the power and a ODD.
     
    tears, Mar 15, 2010
    #9
  10. DR650SE

    DR650SE The Whiskey Barracuda

    Reputations:
    7,383
    Messages:
    8,222
    Likes Received:
    182
    Trophy Points:
    231
    The thing is light for what it is. When it comes to that size, wieght, for me just isn't a factor. Theres no unneccesary stuff in the laptop, so a sfar as reducing wieght, theres nothing to be done.
     
    DR650SE, Mar 15, 2010
    #10