TEARDOWN: Alienware's M11x Gaming Netbook
Opened up and photographed in cold, harsh lighting. Just how we like it!
Alienware's new M11x gaming laptop has attracted a lot of attention since it launched in January of this year. The 11.6-inch display together with a $799 price tag means the notebook is nearly netbook-sized. It weighs under 4.5 lbs, boasts a 4.5-hour battery life and packs Nvidia's GT335M.
So what does a notebook like that look like when you crack it open and examine the insides? Well the folks at tech163 were kind enough to tear one apart and photograph the results. How sweet!
We've included just a few but things get a whole lot more interesting so click on through to tech163 and see for yourselves.
34
Comments
Read more
Crysis 2: Lower System Req, Better Graphics
- Nvidia Pulls Linux, BSD, Solaris Drivers Due to Bug
- Dell Announces Vostro 3000 Series With Nehalem
- VIDEO: Freescale's $200 Chromium Tablet
- AMD: Developers Use PhysX Only For The Cash
- Newegg Confirms Counterfeit Core i7s Shipped
- Nvidia Benchmarks GTX 480 Against Radeon 5870
- Google: Chrome OS 'Business Edition' for 2011
- Ubisoft's Internet DRM Servers Are Under Attack
- QOTD: Is Internet Access a Fundamental Right?
Unannounced Dell All-in-One Shows Up at Walmart
- Blizzard: World of Warcraft Not for Consoles
- Samsung Shows How Super AMOLED is Better
- Ubisoft Revive DRM Servers After DDoS Attack
- Nvidia is Looking Forward to Fight Intel in Court
- Report: Windows 7 SP1 Release Pushed to Q4'10
- LEAK: Dell's Mini 5 MID Specs Confirmed
- MSI Ships 2 AMD Netbooks With Radeon HD3200
- New Harddrives May Force Windows XP Upgrades
- How Jobs Threatened Sun's CEO: I'll Just Sue You
See more
Ads
Latest news
Sponsored
Must-see
Forum
Others
Ads
Send me all the parts and I will post pictures if I can put it all back together.
hope they pack with i5 intel ~
hope they pack with i5 intel ~
Why an i5?
i would not consider this a netbook
Alright before anyone asks YES this can play Crysis.
i would not consider this a netbook
And I suppose there's a reason behind this? Don't post an opinion if you're not going to support it.
When will this be for sale? & Do you think they´ll keep the price at 799?
I am looking to buy me a notebook size 14 inch but this one looks so much better at a reasonable higer price
@nusgos
http://www.dell.com/content/produc [...] dhs&~ck=mn
hmm... from Dell's website (http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/alienware-m11x/pd.aspx?refid=alienware-m11x&cs=19&s=dhs)
seems like... M11x comes with either SU4100 (1.3G) or SU7300 (1.3G)
I know it comes with 11.6" screen and no internal optical drive... but with SU4100/SU7300 as CPU.. it is hard for me to take it as a netbook. It is more like an ultra-portable laptop to me.
hmm..... even Dell itself calls it a laptop not netbook.
"The Alienware M11x redefines the gaming capabilities of a truly portable laptop "
(http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/alienware-m11x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn)
Anyway... with 720p playback and GT335M it seems like a nice gaming laptop for somebody who needs to go around and also would like to enjoy his/her games on the road.
and of course... enjoying 720P movies on the road with >4hr battery life is another plus...
In reality, it's a $1,000 laptop.
If you want to game, you'll really want the dual core processor (+100), 4GB of RAM (+50), and 250GB hard drive (+50).
Maybe the 160GB hard drive will be enough, but you're still looking at $950, and you won't be able to easily play any game that requires a disc (Steam FTW?)
In reality, it's a $1,000 laptop.
If you want to game, you'll really want the dual core processor (+100), 4GB of RAM (+50), and 250GB hard drive (+50).
Maybe the 160GB hard drive will be enough, but you're still looking at $950, and you won't be able to easily play any game that requires a disc (Steam FTW?)
a disk is not required, all you have to do is copy whatever is on the disk to a thumbdrive and install... same as on a netbook, as long as you own the media/game you are fine
In reality, it's a $1,000 laptop. If you want to game, you'll really want the dual core processor (+100), 4GB of RAM (+50), and 250GB hard drive (+50). Maybe the 160GB hard drive will be enough, but you're still looking at $950, and you won't be able to easily play any game that requires a disc (Steam FTW?)
it already runs with 2 x 2 gb ram
also you can backup the games dvd-rom to the hdd easily
the 250gb hdd is a good ponit but i will buy another 2.5" 160gb usb-hdd
the hdd space is fine
im running 640gb, and using about 80gb, with 3 versions of crysis, and 2 of Battlefield (2,2exp.) on it, plus all the dodgy MS office (which takes up a fiar bit)...so its enough for gaming, just not storing movies (of any quality) on
NETBOOK = no optical drive
NOTEBOOK = optical drive
Screen size doesn't matter... how hard is that definition to get?
the ONLY difference between the 2 offered cpus is cache size and VT
Are those speakers on the underside?
It looks good but when will we see some benchmarks.
Alright before anyone asks YES this can play Crysis.
What those people realize is that just about any video card with the past six yearsish can play crysis , play it well? Not so much...Dumbasses and their stupid meme's
What I don't understand is why it didn't come pre-loaded with the i5-520UM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_ [...] B_32_nm.29
Its $48 a box of a thousand cheaper, it has only 8 more watts total thermal envelope, and with the built in turbo technology it will bin up to 1.6 gigahertz with both cores still active. Add in that its more powerful clock for clock, and its a better processor than the SU4100 and SU7300.
The i5's for mobile machines were announced at CES this year just like the M11x, and Dell had to know that the i5 would be available long ago (if manufacturers didn't know that the chips were coming out in advance, how could they come to market so quickly with them, HP and Sony had i5 stuff on tap within weeks of the CES announcement).
So, again, why are we having to live with the SU4100 and SU7300 again?
I really hate seeing OEMs using rebadged 2xx cards. It looks tacky, especially something so low on the treadmill as a 335.
they didn't put a i5 because the SU4100 and SU7300 are 10W parts and i5 is a 35W part. battery life would have taken a dive. several sites are reporting 8+ hours on integrated graphics and close to 4 on the GT335. an i5 would probably halve that. It's not meant to be a desktop replacement- no need for a more powerful processor. I'd rather have the battery life myself.
Also, the screen is 1366x768. You don't need as powerful a video card to play on this laptop as you do a 19x12, obviously.
they didn't put a i5 because the SU4100 and SU7300 are 10W parts and i5 is a 35W part. battery life would have taken a dive. several sites are reporting 8+ hours on integrated graphics and close to 4 on the GT335. an i5 would probably halve that. It's not meant to be a desktop replacement- no need for a more powerful processor. I'd rather have the battery life myself.Also, the screen is 1366x768. You don't need as powerful a video card to play on this laptop as you do a 19x12, obviously.
Actually Arrandale does have SKU's that go down to 18W. A slightly better heatsink and fan would handle the extra 8W easily. Why Dell chose to use mediocre processors is weird.
i would not consider this a netbook
And I suppose there's a reason behind this? Don't post an opinion if you're not going to support it.
I dono, how about the whole point of a NETbook being that it is just powerful enough to run the NET!? they don't call them SMALLbooks, or LIGHTbooks.
there is no reason you couldn't have a 17" netbook if you wanted. "oh, they are all small, that must be what a netbook means even though if I spent 5 secs thinking about the name it would be clear that that's not the case."
NETBOOK = no optical driveNOTEBOOK = optical driveScreen size doesn't matter... how hard is that definition to get?
omfg COME ON! I normally don't care about marketing terms, but this is just silliness.
Actually Arrandale does have SKU's that go down to 18W. A slightly better heatsink and fan would handle the extra 8W easily. Why Dell chose to use mediocre processors is weird.
Didn't see that in the link provided. is it a speedstep thing? Does CULV have speedstep? I actually think the SU4100 and SU7300 are not as underpowered as people believe. I had an atom N270 netbook- what killed me wasn't processor performance- it was the resolution.
I actually was considering a m11x for awhile.
I was hoping that I could put in a P9900 in it (28W, 2.8GHz, 6MB), and underclock it a bit while throwing voltage down as much as I could, but then I realized that the ULV's use a different socket. =(
And how about 1920x1080 instead?
Netbook or notebook? Ultracompact notebook.
I actually was considering a m11x for awhile.I was hoping that I could put in a P9900 in it (28W, 2.8GHz, 6MB), and underclock it a bit while throwing voltage down as much as I could, but then I realized that the ULV's use a different socket. =(And how about 1920x1080 instead?
You'd never be able to keep a P9900 cool in a form factor so small. It would overheat constantly. There's a reason all of these 11.6" notebooks are using CULV- there's no way to cool anything much more powerful. 28W=almost 3 times the heat dissipation needed.
hello i a PRO at asking stupid questions but can any one upgrade the cpu from a core 2 duo to a quad???
If you looked through all of the photos on the provided link, you would eventually notice the system board with the heat-sinks/pipes removed, and the CPU is soldered in place. Meaning if you go on Dell's laptop customize page and click upgrade CPU, the whole system board is changed to upgrade the CPU. Unless if you can unsolder a CPU and solder a new one in place.. you might as well cram in a better fan into the poor laptop as well...