Alienware M11x R2: A Legend Reborn
by Jarred Walton on July 9, 2010 4:05 AM ESTA Worthy Update to the Original, but Not Quite Perfect
By now it should be clear that there's plenty to like with the M11x R2. It upgrades some of the most important areas relative to the original, and with Optimus in place of switchable graphics we no longer have to worry about a lack of driver updates. If you're after a small gaming laptop, there simply aren't any other compelling options right now. ASUS may change that in the near future (we've heard rumblings of a U30Jc type laptop with a faster GPU), but if you want a 13.3" or smaller laptop that can play any current game at medium details and 1366x768, there are only two options: M11x or the Sony VAIO VPCZ122GX we mentioned in the intro.
Since the GT 335M appears to be the limiting factor in gaming performance from our test results, the reasons to get the VAIO over the M11x are pretty simple. First, you may simply prefer the Sony design/aesthetics. Second, the 1600x900 default LCD on the VAIO is one item the M11x could really use; we don't know if it's a higher contrast panel or not, but the added resolution would be nice for Windows work—though gaming at 1600x900 will tax the GT 335M, let alone a lower clocked GT 330M. Third, you might want to get a laptop with an optical drive—how Sony gets a DVDR into a 13.1", 3 lbs. laptop while the 4.4 lbs. M11x goes without is a question for the philosophers. Finally, you may prefer the significantly faster i5-520M over the ULV i7-640UM. The catch is that like the original M11x, the VAIO uses switchable graphics, so driver updates are dubious at best. Oh, and while the VAIO includes RAID SSDs, the cost is $500 more than the M11x R2 we're reviewing.
Given the above list, there's no clear choice between those two laptops, but we'll side with Alienware for now if only because we prefer Optimus, driver updates, and the lower price. The list of areas where the M11x R2 falls short mirrors the above VAIO comparison. Our biggest complain—by far!—is the lackluster LCD. If Alienware had used a good panel with a high contrast ratio (and would it be too much to ask for a matte coating?), we'd be looking at a Gold Editors' Choice award. A DX11 capable GPU would be great as well, but there's no option that fills that role unless we give up Optimus or wait for the midrange NVIDIA DX11 parts to launch. It would also be nice if battery life hadn't dropped 10-25%, but perhaps that's just the sacrifice we have to make for going with Arrandale ULV.
So that gives us a few items for the M11x R3 update, whenever that comes—or for a competing product from one of the other laptop companies. First, the LCD has got to go. This chassis is big enough that if you get rid of the large bezel, a 1440x900 13.3" panel should easily fit in here. Make it a high contrast, matte LCD and I'd be in heaven. Second, GT 335M is good for 1366x768 and medium to high detail DX10 gaming. What we'd really like is something that can add DX11 to the mix at the native LCD resolution and at least medium detail. The HD 5650 at 550MHz is clearly faster than the GT 335M, but without Optimus it's difficult to recommend for an ultraportable. NVIDIA will likely push out mobile variants of the GF104/GF106 this fall, and perhaps one of those will fit the bill, but power requirements need to stay in check. Also, if we get the 1440x900 or 1600x900 panel we desire, we'd need closer to HD 5730 or GTS 350M levels of performance. While we're making changes, add in USB 3.0, dump the Fast Ethernet and give us Gigabit, and figure out a way to get eSATA and ExpressCard in there for good measure. Last, we'd like to keep pricing closer to $1000.
One of the things Acer, ASUS, and others have shown is that mass-producing a laptop and eliminating component choices can help keep prices in check. Look at the ASUS G73Jh, which packs in twice as much RAM and twice as much HDD space as the competition, along with an HD 5870, and it comes with a price tag of close to $1500. A custom Clevo W870CU with similar components will run a whopping $1900 or more! Allowing a buyer to customize the components is a nice feature, but if you choose good components to begin with it may not be necessary. If the M11x R2 only shipped with 4GB DDR3, a 500GB 7200RPM hard drive, Bluetooth, and an i7-640UM—basically our test configuration—but got the price down $100 or more, it's unlikely people would miss the ability to upgrade. There's an original M11x SKU at Best Buy for $899 that takes that approach, but you can get it just as cheap direct from Alienware. Economies of scale are supposed to reduce prices, and while the Fast Track M11x R2 saves you $20 (the cost of the Bluetooth module) it's not really a bargain.
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As it stands, the M11x comes up just short of providing everything we'd like, but it definitely deserves an award. For putting together the smallest and most potent gaming laptop we've seen, with only minor compromises, we're pleased to award the Alienware M11x R2 our Silver Editor's Choice award. Alienware has packed roughly the same performance as the initial Gateway FX P-7831 notebook into a 13" chassis that weighs half as much and provides three times the battery life. Until we get faster midrange DX11 graphics with Optimus (or an AMD equivalent), this is as good as ultraportable gaming gets. If you prefer slightly more battery life and you want switchable graphics under Linux, however, the original M11x can still satisfy your needs.
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Stokestack - Sunday, July 11, 2010 - link
"For everyone who complains about glossy displays there is someone who prefers them. I am one of those people. And if the majority disliked glossy displays the industry as a whole wouldn't use them."Not true, apparently:
http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2006/10/8022....
Glossy screens were shoved down buyers' throats by third-tier vendors at Best Buy with lies about "deeper blacks and richer colors." Sadly, so-called "leaders" like Apple followed the precedent set by plastic, fake-chromed Toshiba laptops with their tails between their legs. Most consumers, not being capable of critical thinking on these matters, accepted that. But the fact is that glossy screens suck in EVERY lighting condition. It doesn't matter if you're in a pitch-black room, because the light from the screen will illuminate YOU and create a reflection anyway.
Your "deep blacks" aren't black at all with the sheen of a reflected image overlaying them, and that's a fact. Rich colors? Which ones, the ones contained in the scene behind you?
And I hope we're not to take that strawman about matte screens being hard to keep clean seriously.
plewis00 - Monday, July 12, 2010 - link
I don't try and force my opinion on others I just tell you what I feel and how I see things. I find matte screens harder to keep clean, you may not, and frankly as you were a total asshat anyway I don't care - for all I know you can't afford an LCD and are still using a CRT. At least -some- people who came back and countered my opinion did it politely and with a modicum of decency about it stating their opinion.I have had good matte screens, I have had bad glossy screens.
And you posted ONE link to a loaded survey anyway (from Lenovo/IBM users - who have been using matte screens as long as I can remember) where the article even states the reason why we are moving to glossy screens - where's the stuff about Best Buy come from? A demo glossy unit in a store sounds like the one place I would definitely rather NOT have a glossy display (bright lights and fingerprints and smudges everywhere).
Unlike you, I'm not going to demand or ask that everyone bows down to my opinion, it was, for what it's worth an opinion. I like my M11x and if I had the choice of both displays I'd have to see both to make a decision but I don't have any complaints about the glossy finish.
Take me seriously or not - am I bothered? No. Am I more bothered about how a self-opinionated jerk gets through life without getting the crap kicked out of him? Somewhat, but probably not as much as you'd hope...
mrjminer - Friday, July 9, 2010 - link
I'm with you. This glossy phase that all manufacturers have entered is extremely annoying. I don't want a laptop that I have to position based on whether or not I have a light on, and I don't want a screen that's reflecting everything around me.I think the reason manufacturer's switched to this is because it looks better in the store. For practical purposes, though, glossy is inferior to matte.
And to the guy below that says "matte displays attract dirt and fingerprints," that claim is outright false:
1. Fingerprints barely show up on matte screens and they're almost always unnoticeable when the screen is on.
2. Matte screens attract less fingerprints than glossy? Please, let me know who manufactures the screens on the laptops you've used because I'd like to invest in their non-existent company.
3. Attract dirt / dust more than glossy screens? No. You merely spend more time cleaning off your glossy screen because you have to do so any time you accidentally give it the slightest touch.
4. Take more time to clean than glossy screens? Um... I guess if you're comparing a larger matte screen size to a smaller glossy screen size.
All of these things taken into account, matte screens need to be cleaned less and are not limited in position by the light/furniture setup.
The only practical use I see for glossy screens are for touchscreens / tablets because it avoids the push-down effect (whatever it's called) and would largely negate the possibility of damaging the screen by pressing too hard.
plewis00 - Friday, July 9, 2010 - link
If you get dirt on a matte screen and try to clean it, it smears more, whereas on a glossy it tends to come off easier - that was my point, nothing more. All my computers use glossy screens for better or worse (Dell M1530, 1750, M11x and Sony UX1XN) and I don't take issue or offence with them.The only LCD using a matte display is my TV and I do have a harder time cleaning that off - and you're right, I barely see dirt on it when it's on but knowing it's there, I find annoying.
Glossy screens don't avoid that pushdown effect (do you mean the ripple) - the only way to fix that is the glass plate on top of capacitive displays i.e. iPhones.
blyndy - Friday, July 9, 2010 - link
I'll add that I have vertical blinds behind me. I found a borrowed Macbook to be frustrating to use as the daylight leaked through the closed blinds and left glaring vertical reflections for me to have to look through.mrjminer - Saturday, July 10, 2010 - link
Oops... slight correction, #2 is supposed to read "Matte screens attract more fingerprints than glossy?" I accidentally put less :Ophreax9802 - Friday, July 9, 2010 - link
I have an R2. Can you give details on how you achieve such long battery life? Just curious, because the maximum idle time that I get is around 4 hours. If possible maybe you can do a general guide for optimizing battery life for laptops. Thanks for the good job! :)JarredWalton - Friday, July 9, 2010 - link
Use Power Saver profile first, set brightness for 60% second, disable AlienFX (on battery -- use the Go Dark option), and make sure to disable any extra crap processes (especially the rogue Dell WLAN tray icon). Doing just those items got me to nearly the listed results. Going in and halting all the additional processes/services got me the rest of the way, but that was only an extra ~20 minutes idle.JarredWalton - Friday, July 9, 2010 - link
Oh, and turn off Firewall, Windows Defender, and any Update services.FYI, the problem service with the wireless is called "DW WLAN Tray Service", as well as the WLTRAY.exe process.
koscica - Friday, July 9, 2010 - link
I am going abroad in a couple of weeks and I would like to buy M11x before I leave. Therefore my only available choices are original m11x at best buy or the fast track i5 version from alienware. Is the i5 worth 150$ extra?