Alienware M11x R3: Portable Powerhouse
by Dustin Sklavos on July 22, 2011 1:15 AM ESTConclusion: An Ultraportable Demon
When Jarred reviewed the Alienware M11x R2, he was so pleased with it that he did the most sensible thing he could: compiled a wish list for the next generation model. Improved connectivity, a better screen, and DirectX 11-class graphics. There was no excuse for omission of gigabit ethernet in the R2, but there wasn't a good, power-optimized DX11 solution on hand at the time either. In upgrading the M11x, Alienware has fixed everything that matters and bolstered everything else. Gigabit ethernet, Bluetooth 3.0 as an optional upgrade, USB 3.0, and the improved NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M all work alongside the shiny new Sandy Bridge low voltage processor to provide the most gaming performance per square inch one could conceivably pack into a modern laptop.
Well, almost everything's been fixed. The screen continues to be a major sore spot for the M11x R3, and if anything, it's only gotten worse. While Alienware seems to have gunned for netbook-of-the-year with the M11x's design, the 11.6" screen seems like more of a formality than a legitimately practical decision. The bezel's huge, and could easily accommodate at least a 12.1" screen or better. The move to a 12" screen also brings IPS technology to the table; if Lenovo can pack that into their ThinkPad X201, we don't see why Dell can't source those screens for a premium piece of kit like the M11x. Of course, then it's not the M11x, it's the M12x, but we'd be willing to increment the model number by one if it means a vast improvement on the one part of the M11x that most desperately needs attention.
Since most of our requests have been addressed by the M11x R3, it seems only fitting to continue looking Alienware's gift horse in the mouth and asking for more. My wish list includes three things. The first is the obvious one: improving that screen. My second is one that I think has a better shot of happening, and that's an inclusion of an mSATA SSD as a system drive alongside the 2.5" HDD for storage. Like a lot of you I'm a big proponent of mSATA becoming fairly universal in modern notebooks: even if the notebook doesn't ship with an mSATA SSD, the option would be greatly appreciated.
My third request is going to extend to the M11x R3's big brother, the M14x. While having the intakes on the bottom of the notebook is fine for land monsters like the M17x and M18x, notebooks as small as these two should be usable on the user's lap, period. I don't like having that intake someplace where it can be easily blocked off, and the "wind tunnel" style cooling that Intel pioneered and Toshiba employs with their Tecra R840 and Portege R830 looks like the kind of redesign the M11x and M14x desperately need. Understanding the inside of the M11x is pretty cramped to begin with, finding some way to improve the cooling system to further reduce noise and allow the notebook to better be used as an actual laptop would still be appreciated.
As for the M11x R3 itself? Well, the M11x R2 was an Editor's Choice Silver winner, and certainly easy enough to recommend. Everything is up (except the pricetag for a decent configuration), and you're still not going to find a more portable gaming solution. It should be a shoo-in for Editor's Choice again, but in the process of updating everything Alienware still left one of the most grievous problems with the M11x untouched...again. In fact, it was worse than untouched, it was actually exacerbated. The panel in our review unit has defied the odds and is somehow worse than its predecessors in every metric but brightness. Jarred's gone back and forth over things like this before, and unfortunately I have to agree with him: the first time is forgivable, but we're on the R3 and the screen is still dire.
The R3 is easy to recommend over the R2. It's absolutely worth the money, definitely the best one Alienware's released thus far, and an easy sell for the portable gamer. The $999 stock configuration can easily be left unchanged; the i5-2537M isn't too much slower than the i7-2617M, 4GB of DDR3 is enough to game, the 320GB 7200-RPM hard drive is on the smallish side but still decent, and adding an additional 1GB of video memory to the GT 540M is a waste. So while the base price has gone up over time, the actual cost of getting a good configuration seems to have dropped. If you were interested in the M11x, the R3 is awesome.
But we can't reward complacency. Our biggest gripe with the previous two has only gotten worse with time. Fix the screen, Alienware, and you've probably got a Silver award in your future. Tweak the cooling and you'll go Gold.
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DanNeely - Saturday, July 23, 2011 - link
60hz is 17ms per frame; once response times dropped below that level they ceased to be anything except bogostats used by marketing people.GraveUypo - Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - link
are you serious? really? god. this is even worse than the "humans can't tell apart more than 30fps so there's no point to it" argument. i had to register just to reply to this.if you have a "17ms" monitor, by the time the screen is fully set on a frame, it already has to transition into the next, so it'll be showing blends of two neighbouring frames ALL THE TIME. you'll NEVER get a crisp picture on ANY moving/changing picture.
and yes, responses are still very much relevant. try reading movie credits on a LCD panel then on a plasma panel (or even play games on them) and you'll see how obvious the frame lag is on LCDs.
heck, i always thought gears of war 2 had heavy motion blur on it until i played it on my plasma tv. picture was so clear on moving scenes i thought the game was missing some shaders.
anyways, response times will be irrelevant when those transitions are all under 0,5ms. with 5ms it just hit the spot where it's usable (yes, 2ms is a lot better but still not quite there yet).
Snotling - Friday, July 22, 2011 - link
Whatever the manufacturer, finding a laptop with a good display is a challenge... basically there isn't much incentive for them to try any harder much the opposite:people buy the display by the inch, not by the pixel count. (sometimes the pixel count is not even easily available in the product description)
Contrast and color information is basic at best in any spec sheet.
People don't care because they don't realize that even word processors and spreadsheets need visible LINES of display space to be useful (stupid 16:9 ratio doesn't help... more inches, less workspace)
We're losing the battle
Madcatatlas - Friday, July 22, 2011 - link
Where did the bigger Alienware and Clevo laptop reviews go? the ones sporting 6970ms and 6990m?These small laptops are no good for even light gaming. Gives a man a headache.
ph0masta - Friday, July 22, 2011 - link
Good machine for the size, but you can still buy a faster notebook with full 1080p screen at 15-17" from Digital Storm, for around the same price.CZroe - Friday, July 22, 2011 - link
I've owned an M11x r1 for over a year and now own an r3. I wanted to point out that the indicator strip has changed (was almost impossible to see Caos or WiFi status LEDs before), though that likely happened during the r2's life, and the rubberized texture is new to the r3. The WiFi toggle doesn't actually toggle anything anymore, it just launches a software dialog with check boxes for WiFi, Blueooth, and Mobile Broadband.It takes a Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth 3.0 adapter, which can be added by the user if the cable is present internally (mine was). The r1 and r2 used a DW365 BT 2.1 adapter that conneted directly (no cable needed).
The left USB port remained powered when the r1 was off or asleep as long as the battery had over 10% charge. I used this feature all the time to charge othe devices without running my notebook dead nearly as fast as if I booted, so I was disappointed to find that it usually doesn't work on the r3 (different between asleep and off). Oh well. Reviewers often misinterpreted it and reported that the notebook only had one "powered" USB port, which was untrue, so maybe they got rid of the feature and I'm only able to charge when it's not fully asleep or something.
The article seems to be saying that it would take a 12.1" panel size bump to consider a good IPS panel but the 11.6" MacBook Air has obviously sourced one. Also, the MBA has an unexpectedly large bezel, just like the M11x. Now that they got rid of the discrete GPU in the refresh with a backlit keyboard, it's even less comparable and I'd no longer consider it in comparison to the M11x.
I was able to compare the r1 and r3's audio side-by-side and the new "Klipsch" speakers sound very different. I'm somewhat hard-of-hearing, so I'll just assume that the quality was better, but the volume was notably lower. It was already frustratingly low for me the first time. Looking inside, they look identical. One of the two is still placed almost in the center, but I don't expect much stereo separation in such a small chassis anyway. I am disappointed that this article didn't touch on the strange Sound Blaster software configuration option. Most people would love an explanation of that! They ask $20 to add what, exactly, to the integrated sound? Is it just a software EAX wrapper? Has Creative joined those they can't beat?
I didn't see any mention of the dual microphones in the display. They should help with noise canceling in a crounded room. They are both farther away from the webcam than the single mic on the r1/r2, but the dimensions are otherwise identical. The webcam/mic cut in the official Green Onion Supply AG2 anti-glare filter/screen protector no longer suffices, so I had to use a hole punch to make two holes. I also spoke with the creators of Invisible Defenders and they supposedly updated their templates, but I don't see the change on their site.
I can suggest a couple more changes for the future than the article suggests. Make the touch pad as large as will fit, like Apple does, and stop truncating keys like the shift key just to keep from shifting the arrow keys down. There is no reason for the keyboard to be perfectly rectangular. The M14x has them shifted down and there is obviously plenty of open space in the palm-rest area. The tiny rear rubber feet always come off eventually and they have remained unchanged. I had problems with the palmrest rubber bumpers as well (holds the screen above the keys when closed). The keyboard backlighting us not needed when the display is closed, so they should be hard-wired to turn off and save batter when closed, the same as the backlight. Of course, this is when you set the lid sensor to "do nothing." At least it doesn't interrupt a manual sleep and hard-lock it like the M11x r1 did if you closed it before it finished entering sleep (obviously, it was doing SOMETHING).
I also want to mention that the DW375 BT module doesn't seem to have improved range at all. I still sometimes find that I am operating my BT Razer Orochi mouse too far away on the same lapboard as the notebook, which is annoying (mouse pointer stutters and lags until you get closer). Gaming on battery power with "balanced" settings isn't always great. For instance, the initial GlaDOS encounter in Portal 2 gets really choppy unless you are plugged in and set to high performance, but the rest of that particular game seems fine so you may find yourself doing it anyway.
That's it for now. I still love the notebook and will put it to good use.
Guspaz - Friday, July 22, 2011 - link
Dell has been shilling the software SoundBlaster stuff for years; I had the same option on my Inspiron 9400 (e1705 in the US) when I bought it four or five years ago. It's just as you say: all it really does of worth is emulate EAX in software, as well as providing a DirectSound3D to OpenAL wrapper, which lets older games use surround audio (and EAX) on Vista or 7.This is of limited use, since modern games tend not to use EAX (environmental audio is normally handled by the game's sound engine itself), and support Vista/7's native 3D audio API.
EAX stopped being relevant when Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 came out seven years ago, and both did all their audio processing internally.
CZroe - Friday, July 22, 2011 - link
Thanks. I know is that it wasn't available for the M11x back when I bought my r1 but is is available for the r3.seapeople - Saturday, July 23, 2011 - link
Macbook's (including the Air) use TN panels.The issue here is that there are good TN panels, mediocre TN panels, and BAAAAAAAAAAD TN panels. My experience suggests the following:
Good TN panels generally go on stand alone monitors (which are in turn considered poor compared to much more expensive IPS panels).
Mediocre TN panels are usually the best we get on laptops (i.e., anything apple, or some of the higher resolution upgrade options on Dell, etc).
BAAAAAAAAAAD TN panels are what we get standard on pretty much every laptop made today, usually at 1366x768. Actually, if your panel is 1366x768, there's probably a 99% chance it's a bad one, because most of the better quality TN panels are also higher resolution. In fact, it may have been literally impossible for Alienware to source a better quality TN panel at the 1366x768 resolution, without working out some exorbitantly expensive deal. Since they probably did not want to increase the resolution since this is a gaming laptop, I bet this is why we are stuck with a horrible panel.
Beenthere - Friday, July 22, 2011 - link
I was considering the M11x but it's too ugly and only available with an InHell CPU. If it was better looking and available with an AMD A8-3530mx I'd be seriously interested.