Dell refreshes Alienware laptop lineup, M11x discontinued

Jos

Posts: 3,073   +97

Dell is refreshing its range of Alienware gaming laptops with new graphics chips, complete with PCI Express 3.0 support for additional bandwidth, as well as a bump in RAM and new storage options. Curiously, the company went ahead and announced the updates just a couple of weeks before Ivy Bridge's arrival, so while the freshened-up models are also getting new Core i7 processors they are still the Sandy Bridge kind.

A recent leak suggests Ivy Bridge models of the same laptops are just around the corner. In other words, if you're considering one of these, you're better off waiting until sometime after April 29 to place your order.

The other noteworthy bit about this latest refresh is the fact that Dell is leaving behind the M11x model, which attempted to bring gaming power to the 11-inch notebook form factor. Although the machine earned some positive reviews around the web, apparently it no longer fits into the Alienware lineup, with Dell explaining to The Verge that its customers prefer full-sized keyboards and built-in optical drives.

dell alienware m11x

Otherwise the M14x, M17x, and M18x are getting Nvidia GeForce 600 graphics, a minimum of 6GB of 1600MHz dual-channel RAM, and support for mSATA SSDs. The latter means you'll be able to pair an mSATA boot drive with a HDD for storage, and still get a fast and responsive machine while spending much less than you would by customizing it with larger 2.5-inch SSDs -- which is still available as an option.

The 14-inch M14x in particular packs a 2GB GeForce GT 650M GPU and up to 16GB of RAM. The 18.4-inch M18x and 17.3-inch M17x bump RAM capacity to 32GB, have dual 2.5-inch slots for storage in addition to the mSATA, and come standard with the 2GB GeForce GTX 660M. This can be upgraded to a GTX 675M or a Radeon HD 7970M, with dual SLI or CrossFire options also available with the 18.4-inch model.

Dissapointingly, Dell is still shipping these with a 1600 x 900 screen as standard, but there's a 1080p, 120Hz WLED 3D-ready display option available for an extra fee.

On the design front, the updated Alienware notebooks look and weigh the same as their predecessors. They are available right now starting at $1,099, $1,499 and $1,999 for each respective size.

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Serious gaming on an 11 inch laptop never made any sense. It's like a small tablet, except the M11x weighed a lot more than a tablet. 13.3 inch is the minimum for decent gaming experience.
 
The reviewer says the standard 900p is dissapointing?
Yeah because 1080p is sooo much bigger? Lol 900p and 1080p are basically the same resolution/very similar, (75% of the pixels) although both are behind the times and outdated.

I do agree that 900p should be the lowest ANY gaming laptop has for a resolution.
We are in 2012, right?
 
The reviewer says the standard 900p is dissapointing?
Yeah because 1080p is sooo much bigger? Lol 900p and 1080p are basically the same resolution/very similar, (75% of the pixels) although both are behind the times and outdated.

I do agree that 900p should be the lowest ANY gaming laptop has for a resolution.
We are in 2012, right?

1080p outdated?

Alright, buddy.
 
Are you serious?! I was looking for a powerful portable laptop that could handle some part-time gaming, but not weigh a ton or cost an arm and a leg. At 4.4lbs with a 5hr battery life and able to handle any game out there, what's there to complain about?! IF you're looking for high power gaming use your desktop...laptops are meant to be portable. If I do want to game on a bigger screen all I have to do is plug into a monitor, but for a guy on the go all the time, who may want to game a little every now and then, I loved the M11x. Sad to see this size go. I'll take my 1200+ bucks it costs for a 14x and fully upgrade my desktop twice over and outperform Alienware's overpriced laptops anyday.
 
Quote:

The reviewer says the standard 900p is dissapointing?
Yeah because 1080p is sooo much bigger? Lol 900p and 1080p are basically the same resolution/very similar, (75% of the pixels) although both are behind the times and outdated.
I do agree that 900p should be the lowest ANY gaming laptop has for a resolution.
We are in 2012, right?

And this is why the reviewer is a reviewer and you are not, what would your opinion be is the norm then for resolution if 1080p apparently is outdated according to you?

Let me guess 3840x1080 or some other multi monitor specification? You do realise just because some so called "Elite gamers" have multi monitor support resolution'(s) that it doesn't make it a standard, CAD designers and such have been using multi monitor resolutions for quite some time gamers are not the first to adopt it.

Also no 900p vs 1080p are worlds apart, i own both and even a 1200p monitor is way different than a 1080p one i seriously think you should expand your opinions based more on knowledge rather than an elitist perspective with nothing better to go on than deconstructive dribble.
 
good new lineup.

but unfortunatly it doesnt even compare to the Origin PC laptops. those laptops have more power capability and way cheaper. and i like the custom art on top panel.

still good none the less.
 
1200p is exactly the same at 1080p, other then being 16:10.
Saying they are much different is comical.

900p and 1080p are very similar and look very similar, have basically the same amount of usable space.

1080p and 1600p, however are worlds apart.
2560 X 1600 has been available for years.

1080p is the new standard for media which means in the PC world, its outdated.
Which is why you see articles of Intel/Microsoft releasing much higher resolutions laptops this year or next.
 
900p and 1080p are very similar and look very similar, have basically the same amount of usable space.

You're right amstech that 1600p compared to 1080p is truly 'worlds apart', but saying 900p to 1080p is basically the same is hardly accurate from my experience. In a laptop environment where you won't be dual-screening, that extra horizontal space makes a difference between zooming and squinting when having two applications snapped together. While that may not mean a lot to you, I know several including myself that would enjoy the extra horizontal space, not to mention the nice vertical bump.

Here's a great breakdown of common display resolutions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_display_standard
 
The reviewer says the standard 900p is dissapointing?
Yeah because 1080p is sooo much bigger? Lol 900p and 1080p are basically the same resolution/very similar, (75% of the pixels) although both are behind the times and outdated.

I do agree that 900p should be the lowest ANY gaming laptop has for a resolution.
We are in 2012, right?

1080p outdated?

Alright, buddy.
Of course 1080p is outdated. have you tried watching a blu ray on a large tv? it looks crap.
 
I'm pretty sure 1200p doesn't actually exist as any sort of standard... that's just a bastardization of the ratios used for video broadcast/display. "X"p, where X is 720 or 1080 can even be a bit misleading as a video with the resolution of 1280x544 would still be 720p. Computer resolutions use a different terminology outlined in that link Relic shared and really shouldn't be confused with broadcast/video resolutions.

Also, the number of pixels lost going from 1920x1080 to 1600x900 is over half a million... a considerable amount especially since it's over 1/3 of the total pixel count of 1600x900. 2560x1600 is a whole other ballgame as you guys have previously stated.
 
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