My possible laptop

Hey guys, i am thinking about getting an Alienware m11x laptop for 1,099$ AUS

Now for some lifeless specs:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.3GHz
GPU: 1GB NVIDIA GT 335M
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Memory: 4GBs of DDR3 Memory
Hard Drive: 500GB SATA II
Other Features: Bluetooth Module, WWAN Port
MSRP: $1,099


i think it sounds like a good rig and most people have said it runs games such as Crysis, Mass Effect 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum at high graphics and other games such as mw2 at mid-low graphics. most of the games dont suffer very severe frame rate drops in high movement zones aswell.The keyboard is approximately the same size as a logitech G15 and most of the keys are the same, the only ifference is the addition of a right shift button next to the arrow keys.

Quoted from http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/23/alienware-m11x-review/ : " VGA, a powered USB port for charging other devices, Ethernet, HDMI, DisplayPort, a card reader and a four-pin FireWire jack line the left side, while the right sports a mic jack, dual heaphone ports, two more USB ports, and a vast expanse of glossy black plastic. Only a power port graces the back, but on the bottom you'll find a fairly large fan, a battery meter, and a little Alienware plaque commemorating your purchase. The M11x is also quite heavy for a smaller machine at 4.5 pounds -- that's as much as, say, the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and you can certainly feel its heft when you hold it."

the track pad is really well designed aswell with really good grip the usual two buttons i plan on getting seperate mouse. It has a 4.5 hour battery charge but the battery is intergrated into the underside and cannot be removed, which means on long flights (like the one im going on to JAPAN!!!!) i wont be able to bring three or four batterys with me .




The many LED's on the m11x can be changed to a hole variety of colours or two different colours or flashing colours (watch out epileptics). As you can see if you have been bothered to read this far i am quite well researched and please post feedback critiscism (Sgt. Pepper ive already heard your views on alienware and am expecting some rage [thats good tho])

thanks for reading

For what you're paying, it isn't awful...except for the processor. 1.3 ghz, even in a dual core, isn't enough these days. You should really look to see if you can find a similar model with a better processor. Look for at least a dual core clocked at 2 ghz.

And seriously, do you really need a laptop? Buy a desktop, you'll get at least 50% more for your money. I spent as much as you and got a 2.67ghz quad core, 1TB HDD, and basically the same in all other specs, and this was like 4 months ago, prices have gone down. (Plus since mine's a desktop, I can upgrade it)

And IDK where you live, but I somehow doubt you're going to get a laptop onto an airplane these days.

well my mum was planning on buying me a laptop anyway, and she wants me to decide which one, she is also going to use it for marking uni students work (she teaches) and i can take laptops onto the plane i am taking (i checked) plus i dont have room for another desktop at my house and my current desktop is good enough for pretty much anything at the moment

thanks very much for the reply though

Why can't you get a laptop on an airplane?

Yes, i agree with everything Greezy said. Especially the desktop part.

I never hear anyone mention that a good keyboard and mouse are also very important when playing FPS games. And a laptop has a very small keyboard which you can't position in an angle of your screen.

Eraserhead wrote:Why can't you get a laptop on an airplane?

Yes, i agree with everything Greezy said. Especially the desktop part.

I never hear anyone mention that a good keyboard and mouse are also very important when playing FPS games. And a laptop has a very small keyboard which you can't position in an angle of your screen.

All my gaming is done on my laptop. The keyboard is exactly the same size as my friends 1337 gaming keyboard that cost probably over a hundred dollars.

@Mortelle-Corteau: Specs are nice except for... 1.3ghz dual core?! If you want to keep on gaming in the future (non-source) and perform some real tasks like HD gaming/photo/video/audio-editing you would be way better off with at least a 2.0ghz dual core (2.5~3.0 is what I would buy these days). Again, Alienware is overhyped and most importantly; overpriced. I have about the same specs in my HP (only 2.0ghz dual and 512mb nvidia) and it cost me less then the alienware you are planning to buy.

@Young Greezy: Why not? I dont see the harm for it. Ow well, I only travel by train because I get claustrophobic in a plain. Something with flying up in the sky without a place for my legs (I'm Dutch -> tall), not being able to get off or to spread my legs...

@Eraserhead: My laptop keyboard is fullsized (comes with a numpad and everything) and I have been playing on it ever since I got it. Friends of mine do the same, in fact I can hardly write anymore on a traditional keyboard due to the keys being so big and hard.

Well here in north america, the general rule for bringing stuff on planes now is no metal whatsoever. It's kind of overboard, but I could understand why they wouldn't want a laptop. The capabilities of a laptop in a terrorist situation are pretty big, and ever since 9/11, they don't take any risks in north america at all.

And a funny story about this no metal thing, a couple years ago, there was a highly publicized story about an airline here kicking an 80 year old lady off the plane for having knitting needles. (Could be a deadly weapon, ya know?)

Knitting needles are very dangerous don't you ever forget Young man Greezy!

I know Pepper, i love typing on my latptop too. The keys are flatter and seem to need less pressure. What i meant was is that i like to tilt my keyboard a bit so that's not directly in the same line with my monitor. Just like you see with ergonomic keyboards. I tilt it about 5 degrees i think so my left wrist is less strained because the WASD keys are on that side.

@Greezy: I guess you're right. I mean, who knows what could happen? Someone could hack into the fligth control system by Wi-Fi and control the plane with a custom Source Mod...

@Eraser, I have it flat (still an upwards angle due to the model) and let my wrist rest on the area next to the touchpad. Only when I take it with me in bed to watch movies I will have somethign bitween it so the ventilation doesn't get blocked (blocked ventilation = HOT = BSOD to prevent overheating)

thanks for all the replies.
i checked my comps specs yesterday and guess what my comp only has 2.5ghz processor..... i think i must have got it wrong....

plus im definetly getting a laptop soo i am really just looking around for the right one.

also in Australia we arent so paranoid you can use laptops on a plane you can take pens which can be pointier then a knitting needle. Although we probably will be in 1-2 years cos somthing is bound to happen.

No offence, but Australia equals ban everything that has blood, violance or adult humour in it. Also, how about we enable party mode for a day, just for fun?

Sgt Pepper wrote:No offence, but Australia equals ban everything that has blood, violance or adult humour in it. Also, how about we enable party mode for a day, just for fun?

All servers are temporarily forced into Birthday mode on TF2's birthday. :3

Sgt Pepper wrote:Also, how about we enable party mode for a day, just for fun?

I was toying with the idea of enabling party mode on member's birthdays and did it on one day but some people were complaining it was giving them lag.

jameless wrote:

Sgt Pepper wrote:Also, how about we enable party mode for a day, just for fun?

I was toying with the idea of enabling party mode on member's birthdays and did it on one day but some people were complaining it was giving them lag.

Too bad since I missed it the last time
Maybe we can enable it on the VIP server for fun during on of those quirky 4 on 4 arena matches :p

It's very simple to enable/disable so one day when we are playing together we can have a little fun with it again. We can turn it off again if someone starts mentioning lag from it.

holy crap, my post got hijacked!!!!!!!!!!!! nah i dont really care

Mortelle-Corteau wrote:holy crap, my post got hijacked!!!!!!!!!!!! nah i dont really care

Hey! Don't hijack our already hijacked post! This is unacceptable.

lol, who wants this post to end up as a post where we discuss hijacking

I do! Come to think if of it, we hi-jack a lot of post on this forum xD

So how's the weather in Australia right now? Here it's very sunny but a little chilly compared to normal.

its raining and i blameAmerica (dunno why) maybe cos YOU STOLE OUR SUN JAMES

Man I don't understand the weather this year. In like 49 of the 50 american states, they had snowstorms somewhere. Here in Toronto, Canada, it snowed heavily like...ONCE. And it melted within three days. Such a shitty winter.

Over here we don't have winter. 29 degrees celcius the whole year.

Eraserhead wrote:Over here we don't have winter. 29 degrees celcius the whole year.

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh -.-
I hate summers, they always gets too hot (28~32 degrees celsius) and people want to go swiming...
I CANT SWIM DAMMIT!

What I do all summer:
-BBQ (without Nico on it) on my own BBQ because I have bought one last year (I also bought myself a coffee maker back then xD )
-Take my laptop outside, music loud, screen bright, wifi stable at 1~2 bars and a cold Iki beer next to my gear.
-Curse at the sun for making my screen hard to read.
-Check my armpits every 10 minutes when in public to make sure that sweaty smell isn't mine.
-Sleep with bottles of water in my bed so I can pass away the heat to something (really works!).
-While inside and the heat gets too much, put my feet in a bucket of cold water (really works!).
-Take cold showers althouh I always do that due to my head being all fuzzy when I wake up xD
-Hope that my friends have a nice vacation abroad while I am stuck int his hellhole -.-