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When it was introduced in early 2010, the Alienware M11x was pitched to performance computing enthusiasts as the fastest gaming laptop for its size on the market. The product has been updated twice since, with the 3rd revision (hence R3) based on the Intel ‘Sandy Bridge’ mobile processors. Performance computing is what we’re all about at Overclockers.com, so courtesy of Dell we have reviewed one of these units: is it really a portable yet competent gaming machine?
I like fast, solid, well-built machines, so I was keen to review the M11x. Throughout this review, I’ll be comparing aspects of the Alienware M11x-R3 notebook to my two portable machines:
My 2 year-old Packard Bell netbook (AMD Athlon L110, 2 GB RAM, ATi X1270 graphics, 11.6 inch 1366 x 768 screen)
My 1 year-old Lenovo W510 laptop (Intel i7-720QM, 8 GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro FX880M graphics, 15.6 inch 1920 x 1080 screen)
While, of course, the Alienware doesn’t aim to compete directly with either of these units, if the M11x is what it sets out to be, then it should comprise the best features of the solid and fast workhorse (the Lenovo) and the portable netbook with longer battery life (the Packard Bell).
The review unit, while a UK spec’ model, should be not too dissimilar from what you can get on the other side of the pond or elsewhere in the world.
Specifications and First Impressions
The machine arrived in an attractive, yet not too flashy, black box; inside the laptop was wrapped in a thin cloth case, which is a nice alternative to a plastic wrap, and held snugly in some black foam. As well as the laptop, the package includes recovery disks, power adapter, an Alienware sticker and a user manual. I opened the package while some friends were visiting: while the styling seemed to quite impress the guys, the girls were far from convinced. My better half softened towards it once she realised the whole thing could light up in bright hot pink, however.
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The review unit specifications are as follows:
CPU: Intel Core i7-2617M CPU @ 1.5 GHz. Dual core with hyperthreading and turbo boost up to 2.6 GHz.
RAM: 4 GB of DDR3, 1333 MHz.
Graphics: 2 GB NVIDIA GT 540 M plus Intel HD graphics.
Hard Disk: 256 GB Samsung PM810 Solid State Drive.
Screen: 11.6 inches with a native resolution of 1366 x 768
Battery: 8 Cell, 63 Wh
Other Features: Integrated 2.0 MP webcam (1600 x 1200 max. resolution)
Connectivity: 3 x USB 3.0 ports, 1 x HDMI, 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x multi-format card reader.
Audio: Klipsch speakers, plus microphone and headphone ports, fed by a Realtek HD Audio chip
Networking: Realtek Gigabit Ethernet, Intel WiFi Link 1000 802.11 b/g/n wireless
Although the unit came with Windows 7 Home Premium, I upgraded to Service Pack 1 before running the benchmarks.
There are various other specifications available: US readers have the choice of a 1.2 GHz i3-330UM CPU as an alternative to the i7; UK customers can choose an i5-2537 (1.4 GHz, turbo boost to 2.3 GHz) or i3-357 (1.3 GHz) as alternatives. As supplied, this unit comes in at a cool £1559 in the UK (at the time of writing), although nearly a third of this price is due to the SSD. The US market gets it a fair bit cheaper at $1719 (or, bizarrely, for $1669 with 8 GB RAM…). [Yes, that's right: $700 to $800 cheaper in the US.]