11" Screen in a 12" Chassis

This still bugs me. I have had my m11xr2 since this past summer and I am still bothered by the fact that their is an enormously large amount of wasted space as far as screen real estate is concerned. It is a 12" chassis hands down, my laptop case (sumo) even says 12" in the inside and it fits rather tight. It just angers me that Alienware couldn't put a 12" screen where one should be even when the biggest gripe from people turned away from the m11x is that 11" is too small. What are your thoughts?

 

It isn't the first time. Check out the Dell XPS M1210.

It's a pretty old notebook (according to the review date 1/1/1900!), but it was a 12.1'' in a 13.3'' chassis.

 

the m11x has an 11.6 inch screen. not 11 inches.

 

Yeah, I would have been happy if the m11x used the same screen size as the XPS m1210. I was hoping they'd bump it up just a bit for the last revision. I'm fairly comfortable with the one on my 1210 (that laptop has held up well over the last 5 years - it's still truckin!)

Someone on this forum said it was not 'mathematically possible' to have put any larger of a screen in the m11x. However I can't find the post, and don't remember what, if any, info was used to back that statement up.

 

Thanks for the clarification, but its still least .5" smaller than it should be considering the size of the chassis

 

I'm just going off the massive amount of boarder around the actual screen. I could see the argument that it would decrease battery life, but that's why they have brightness controls.

 

Does half an inch really even matter? Maybe Dell didn't use a 12.1" screen because it costs more, or maybe the original prototype fit the 11.6" screen perfectly, but they had to expand the size of the laptop to be able to fit everything that they wanted in there and to be able to cool all of it properly. Whatever the reasoning is, I don't mind that there is an 11.6" screen instead of a 12.1" screen. Besides, M11x sounds better than M12x.

 

Maybe it's supposed to have a large screen bevel to fit in with the design it's larger cousins?

 

I'm not really too hung up on the screen size differences. yeah, I used to have a 12.1" with the same footprint as the m11x, but as far as screen real estate goes, the 11.6" (1366x768=1.049 MP) actually has more pixels than the standard 12.1" screens (1280x800=1.024 MP)

plus I look at it more on these terms; I'm happy my 12" chasis can hold a 15" laptops GPU

 

12" screens are pretty much a thing of the past since they were mostly 16:10 and everything now is unfortunately 16:9

Since if it did exist it would be the exact same resolution....does it really matter?! It is not like the keyboard would get bigger

 

Exactly. Not sure why this would bother anyone, but if it really bothered you, you should not have purchased it. Do a search before purchasing next time? In fact, I think it's perfectly well spaced. 0.4" *wasted*? Really?

 

Yes, and keep in mind the 11.6" and 12.1" screen measurements are diagonal measurements. The difference in length of these two screens horizontally is around 0.4"

 

I think they should have also fit a 12.1" screen in there. Heck there's even room almost for a 13.3". With a little finagling they could have made it an M13x and had room for a better GPU. But no, they HAD to waste all that bezel space for the ALIENWARE logo.

 

A 16:9 13.3' panel would be too wide for the M11x even without bezels. I guess the reason for the large lower bezel is because Dell had to make the chassis deeper to fit everything. There is no free space anywhere in the chassis.

 

Do the math dude....tired of hearing people complain about this topic

It is quite easy geometry actually. Since the M11x lid is 11.25" edge to edge (outside edges) the largest 16:9 screen diagonal is 12.9". Keep in mind that is with NO bezel (which is on how many laptops in the world? Oh ya, NONE)

Now let's compare the dimensions of a 12.1"and 11.6" screens when both are 16:9 (because all laptops are now). I will throw in 13.3" just for kicks to further silence that stupidity

11.6"
W: 10.11"
H: 5.68"

12.1"
W: 10.54"
H: 5.93"

13.3"
W: 11.59
H: 6.52

So while I will concede that a 12.1" would have been possible but would that minuscule gain (about the width of a dime....) have been worth dell possibly hiking up the price since it is now a 12" and not a 11". Keep in mind the 11.6", 12.1" and 13.3" would ALL be the exact same resolution....(1366x768). A 13.3" however is plainly out of the question and would be unnecessary given the M14x and M15x. Having a laptop at every single size is not good strategy, it is a waste of time as they will kill each others sales. And the ONLY thing that would be gained by a bigger model would be an optical drive as the space would not afford enough additional cooling to make higher power components a possibility (See the Asus UL30Vt and UL80Vt as examples of this).

 

My point was from the beginning they should have gone slightly larger to fit a 13" screen. Depth and thickness wouldn't have been affected really, only width by less than an inch and possibly offer a slightly more powerful GPU and possibly CPU. You bring up the Asus, but don't forget about the Acer TimelineX 3820TG (regular mobile CPU and 5650) and the Sony Vaio Z (regular mobile CPU and 330m), both which are 13", about 1" wider, thinner, and weigh the same as the M11x. I also wondered why they didn't offer the SU9600 also, but that's all water under the bridge.

Considering the previous versions were m11x/m15x/m17x, now with the M14x/M18x though, I wouldn't doubt if they phased out the M11x in favor of an M12x.

 

If you want to point out waste then keep in mind that a 13" with 1366 rez is a huge waste. My baby sitter has a 15" laptop with 1366 which is even more wasteful.

I would not want any larger screen unless the rez can also be larger.

In my opinion anyone buying the m14x with 1366 is not making a smart choice. They should opt for the 1440 option because eventhough they will likely game at 1366 its nice to have more rez for other stuff.

I have actually seen 17" laptops with 1366 rez.

 

I've always been an advocate for higher resolutions also. I think 13" and smaller 1366x768 is fine. Plus with a mid-range GPU it will let you run games at native resolution without sacrifice to image or performance.

For desktop work though I want as large a resolution as I can get. But since the M11x and M14x are gaming machines with mid-range GPU's I can understand.

 

I think it's all a marketing ploy by Alienware. Now I'm going to be assuming that the M14x was a concept Alienware had thought of around the beginning of the M11x, they just didn't know are what time / with which components they were going to fit the M14x with. I say this because I believe in the end, they wanted to follow HP's transition of the Envy 15 to the 14, as that is their most direct competition.

11-12'' notebooks are strictly defined as "ultraportables" because the are small, thin, light and have long battery life, but aren't small enough to be considered netbooks. 13'' is starting to get into the territory of the more "mainstream" notebooks that are at 13.3'' to 14''. At 13.3'' or 14'', these notebooks are no longer strictly considered "ultraportables", but rather "small-sized notebooks with mainstream performance", often times described as just smaller-sized notebooks.

Releasing an ultraportable gaming notebook is something unheard of. We've always been accustomed to 14-16'' notebooks being capable of decent gaming, while retaining portability and average battery life and 17'' notebooks being used as DTR's. A gaming ultraportable is much more eyebrow raising than a small gaming notebook; good battery life and gaming potential seems too good to be true at first thought.

The whole idea of the m11x would have to be reworked if you wanted to bump up the screen size; a ULV CPU in a mainstream sized notebook would get dirty looks from most people, "I don't care about the battery life, for the same price I could get this CPU" . . . etc). This would then require, the addition of a normal CPU and not a ULV, potentially then a larger battery if you want to retain that "ultraportable battery life claim" and maybe an additional fan/different cooling system to accommodate the more powerful CPU. At that point, might as well toy around with the idea of a higher resolution screen. The notebook would gain significant thickness and weight as a result.

As you can see, this notebook now resembles too much of a normal 14''-15.6'' notebook, just packed into a smaller chassis. It would end up costing more than a comparable 15.6'' notebook, just for the ~1'' less of LCD. I think a true 12'' screen is the maximum Alienware is willing to fit in without clashing with their other lineup of notebooks.

 

Agreed. The screen chassis is cheap and the humongous bezel adds to that tremendously.

 

Well help is one the way in the form of a new chassis.

While I cannot gurantee this, one thing I am certain of based on experience with product design (which btw is no more than anyone here) is that R3 is the end of the line for this case.

No one whats to buy the R3 at full price because there is nothing new and exciting about it largely due its chassis.

Whatever comes next insofar as an m11x or m12x hopefully will have your display complaints addressed in the new chassis.

Btw, I am so certain that this current case will be replaced I will take bets on it.

 

i would like the new m11x to have an improved case (if there is a new one) but i usualy dont buy computers on how they look, i get them for the hardware. although the current m11x design is quite good in my opinion.

 

Why do you care so much about the chassis? The M11x design looks fine, it's what is inside that counts.

 

I like the m11x design.
I have an R2 as you would gather from any comments I have made I love it.

Technology devices do change though and this case is due for one. The m17x has a new case and this one will too I am just saying this change is whats up next.

I beleive its time for Dell to move on though from this case design to get purchases from me in the future.

 

this is true, they should change the case a bit. but i wouldnt hope for anything thinner. the cooling needs to be sufficient.

 

That's not why most people buy an Alienware...

 

Actually it is....aside from Clevo that many people have not heard of before and therefore do not trust, Alienware is one of the only places where you can get a laptop with a top tier video card. Even the XPS line only has mid range GPUs in it

 

New tech devices have always gotten smaller and faster and I expect Dell to do the same with the m11x.

For anyone to say to Dell, who is listening, "all is fine just keep changing processors and I am happy", you are cheating yourself and will soon be all by yourself as an owner of Alienware stuff.

I expect a new chassis with more edge to edge screen design, slightly thinner, stuff like that which is that much to ask.

 

People don't buy Alienwares for the hardware it offers?

 

So you honestly believe that if Alienware put their component in a plain chassis, no bling, just a basic plastic/metal enclosure that they'd sell as many as they do?

I can't recall how many times I've heard or read people say "but it's an Alienware" referring to the styling and the bling bling.

There's been numerous competitors to the M15x and M17x that cost less for same or better hardware, but people choose Alienware because of "how it looks".

 

I like how my M11x looks, but I still would have bought it if it was plain looking. No other 11" or 12" has the gaming power that the M11x has. For the most part, no other manufacturer matches the gaming ability that each Alienware model offers. I think that the looks are part of the package that people consider, but performance is the most important factor.

 

How it looks, bigger brand, better support. And very seldom does a competitor (aside from Clevo) offer comparable hardware. Asus does from time to time but their designs are generally poor (bad quality). Toshiba has also a couple times but they tend to fail harder than Asus

 

Are you people saying this package is just that good that you need nothing new from it ever ?
While every device ever created has changed, tweaked in the next version you folks are saying "I don't want improvements such as less display besel, thinner, cooler, faster etc."

Make's me think I bought myself into the wrong group. I expected more here.

 

Certain things cannot be tweaked because of physical limitations, such as the chassis size. You can't fit a 470m GTX into the M11x and expect to even stay cool, let alone physically fit in the notebook. I wish it could though. . .

 

I'm late to the thread, but I have to agree with the original poster. I think it's a part of the Alienware design aesthetic. I remember when my M15x arrived that I was a little shocked at the 'wasted' space around the screen due to the design of the enclosure.

I got used to it pretty quick and it wasn't a big deal when the M11x arrived as a result. It really is a love it or hate it thing.

 

Just to throw it out there, the 12.1" screen in 8.13% larger which is a pretty decent gain considering right now all that is there is some glossy black.

 

Right, that's it. If it were near the edge, well, it's best they can do, but when there's only plastic, seems like a waste.