Alienware m11x or My desktop i mite buy

This topic has been moved from the section Opinions and Experiences to section Laptops & Notebooks by Buwish

Well, the question is, what is your planned use for either, i.e. gaming, graphic design, etc...?

I have a M11x R2. Core i7, 8gb ram, 500GB 7200rpm drive, 1gb 335Nvidia with optimus, windows 7 pro 64 bit.......So can definately make some comments about that.
From a gaming point of view it is completely awesome. Also from normal activity such as email, web etc, the battery life is almost 6 hours with nvidia optimus. Not so much for gaming, but can still game on battery for an hour.
Anyway, the idea of the m11x is portability, so not sure why you would go small if it didnt matter.
How would you be connecting an external monitor? The one i have has a Display Port and HDMI, so would have to work with that. not sure about other models.
I haven't connected it to an external monitor myself, but have heard reviews the M11x isn't so good at external displays. But that could be the older models.
The main reason i love my m11x is portability. Gaming on the couch while the girlfriend watches chick flicks   I dont have to pretend to be watching then.

Since you're only asking for opinions. I personally prefer desktop over laptop if it comes to gaming. Desktop's performance and upgrade ability are way superior than laptop if you ask me. Get me a 22"-30" monitor, a nice chair, keyboard, mouse, and headphones. I am set.

Laptop for me is mostly for youtube, web surfing, flash games, or games that doesn't require a lot of effort, msn, watching movies/shows (my favourite thing about my laptop) via HDMI on my sony bravia TV. I could never game seriously on my laptop, simply because I hate the track pad, keyboard and screen's too small for my personal taste. If I am going to use USB mouse/keyboard and a monitor why not just play on a desktop?

HOWEVER, if both computers had the same specs and price is not an issue, I would go for the laptop + external monitor + convenience, unplug go watch TV while surfing the web, etc, but for me since I can't have it all, desktop out performs laptop in performance/price ratio. If I was rich, it's another whole story ;P

EDIT: My friend has a Alienware M11X, but he bought it mostly for convenience/school/commute because he hates/can't bring his desktop back home from off campus housing without a car. So in other words, if you use your computer stationary regardless of gaming or not, the answer is pretty simple.

Thank you very much. & sorry about posting in wrong place.

yea, IMO the desktop will win hands down for gaming. besides all the arguments for the upgradable components, the laptop counterparts of desktop components are never 1 for 1. in other words, a 5770 desktop gpu ~= a 5770m laptop gpu

Its meh,desktop will last longer,as long as you steer clear of the Core 2 Duo M11x,either is good,but the desktop can be upgraded alot better