Casual users/non-gamer owners of the m11x

Sup?

Although I'm not really a gamer, I ordered my m11x primarily because its a very compact beast machine. Its design is also great.

Although this was probably not the smartest buy as a casual gamer (I'll buy a few subscriptions of WoW here and then), I still feel really good about my purchase knowing that this little beast packs a nice punch that will handle word processing, note taking, extensive web browsing(HD videos, flash websites, threads with hundreds of pictures) really well.

Since I have this machine, I may also want to try to expand my knowledge of PCs by trying out tons of different programs that require good GPUs.

In conclusion, I do not regret buying this sub $1000 notebook with an i5 processor

Am I the only one?

 

no you are not.. im also a low casual PC gamer (im a console gamer at heart) but i do casually play crysis,tf2, and i love playing killing floor now...this little beast loads up hd streams and alot of crazy gifs super fast.. i also dont regret spending $1000 on my little i5 notebook. so far im loving it.

 

i think it would of been better if you went with the r1 for the longer battery life. i don't regret buying my r2 either =]

 

I got the i5 in fear of being out of date in a few months. The i5 was just a mere $50 more to my order so I went ahead and got it anyway.

 

I was looking into buying a netbook and wanted the most powerful one, thats how i initially stumbled across the m11x. I thought the price tag was a little high so i did some research, purchased it and have been happy since. Now I have a baby laptop, monster net book and a portable Xbox 360 all in one portable package. Loving life...

 

This is exactly me! haha. My netbook decided to die (acer, heh.) and was sick of buying crappy netbooks because they just break all the time and are as weak as a wet tissue when it comes to doing anything productive. And I wanted something as strong as a laptop but in a netbook style form, and I usually play games on my xbox 360 all the time, but now I can play them anywhere

 

I purchased the M11x because I travel a lot. My netbook met most of my travel needs: Compact, Battery Life, Plays video, & Itunes. What it lacked was the ability to play HD movies, and Skype video chat without being all choppy.

Since I travel about 1 week a month, I frequently find myself alone in hotel rooms watching crappy tv and getting bored of surfing the net. A computer that was ultra portable like a netbook but could play games, play HD video, and most importantly handle Skype Video chat fluidly.

Normally I would call myself an avid gamer, but since the birth of my son its turned into more of a casual gamer, so gaming was not #1 on the list. Being able to see my son and for him to see me and hear me was quite important. That lead me to the M11x.

Although I dont actually have it yet, Im sure I will be satisfied with my purchase.

MC

 

My M11x is almost never used for gaming LOL! I actually came to the realization that I do not enjoy gaming on laptops, although I do run the Sims 3 on the m11x while watching TV. For a while I thought I wasted money, so was going to unload mine on eBay before the value fell too much. Went out searching for the following criteria:

1) Smaller form factor - 14" would be maximum, but ideally 13.3"
2) Good battery life - 6+ hours
3) Ability to run the Sims 3 at settings that aren't craptastic

Guess what? I couldn't find anything cheaper than the m11x that met these requirements. The m11x is truly a unique system that really hit a sweet spot on the market. Really, to me the only thing that comes close to it is the new macbook, but it's $200 more with a weaker GPU. I'm sure Asus will come out with something decent soon, but overall the m11x has won me over even after I strongly considered giving it away - that almost never happens to me for tech products.

P.S. - I must say that the anti-glare screen protector went a HUGE way in swaying me to keep the m11x. The glare screen drove me nuts.

 

Absolutely, the next step for Alienware is a 13 inch laptop

 

Hey what screen protector did you end up using? I have been wanting a good one for my little rascal.

 

Same as most of you, not an avid gamer, but wanted something that was small, powerful, could play some games, had HDMI out, can watch films, download and process my photo's.

Basically, I was looking for a modern equiv of my Dell XPS M1210, which I still have and am currently using it as my web server.

I was looking for quite a while for a netbook that could do a lot of these, but none were really what I wanted. The M11x is, in the UK at least, pretty expensive and I've max'd out both the RAM and the HDD (both 3rd party), bought a case, keyboard/mouse, and it brings the total in at just over £1800. Which is more than the 27" iMac and brings it close to the entry level Mac Pro!

Coudn't be happier though, the M11x R2 is a great little machine.

- Colin

 

Just a point - a non gamer is not necessarily a casual user.

I just ordered an M11X fairly well loaded to use for work. I present some fairly sophisticated software for a living and the combination of portability, power and graphics support is something I couldn't find elsewhere.

Prior to the M11X I had to get 15"+ screened laptops to get sufficient power and graphics to present well. Those aren't the most portable and don't work well when you need to work on a trans-Atlantic or cross-country flight in coach - especially when you have someone in front of you who insists on reclining and you're sitting between Jabba the hut and a Sumo wrestler so you can't move your elbows.

Availability of integrated 3G was the kicker that clinched my pulling the trigger. I can always have access to data and communications via the laptop now, without having to pack, carry and pull out another USB device.

I've tried to mod a couple of netbooks but they could never get to the point of having enough juice to do everything I need. With the possible exception of glowing alien heads all over the place, the M11X R2 is ideally suited for my needs, and I'm a light gamer at best.

I'm glad there's a forum that's home for discussion of details for this thing. Even though it's largely gaming centric, the content is still mostly relevant for users like me. Thanks

 

Although I'm not really a gamer, I ordered my m11x primarily because its a very compact beast machine. Its design is also great.

Triple fail. If you are not a gamer then you don't need such laptop with it childish design and pretty high weight.

I personally bought it because it can game everywhere, it I were not a gamer I would never buy it…

 

I just opened my M11x this morning and have already installed my software on it, Photoshop, a few games I really like to play and Office. I'm an author and wanted a portable with great build quality and powerful and I'm very happy. I bought the R1 and overclocked it performs perfectly. I also don't think it has a childish design.

 

Yes, of course. Since *YOU* would never buy this laptop if you were a non-gamer, it automatically means that *EVERYBODY* must also do exactly the same as you or else "triple fail".

 

I have never played a game actually.
I need to have a portable HD Video platform with HDMI output and enough balls to get the job done.

I usually carry a Toughbook which is rugged and handy with both a Touchscreen and Serial ports but not that powerful.

So for me the 11x seems fairly sturdy and has decent battery life while being powerful enough to demo HD material in the field.

So now I am carrying a Macbook Pro,CF-30 and Alienware arond every day.
Crazy....for sure!

 

I used the A2G screen from Dell, but you may want to read up on some threads here before committing - it's definitely not for everyone.

 

Netbooks? I have an eeepc 701 still going... that's definitely a netbook, it's running XP Pro and even Office 2007 Ultimate. I even used it for work some times when i needed to do somthing I could not on "Locked Down" pcs.

I also have an HP mini 311, that is a large netbook with an ION GPU so it will play games. The tiny atom is OC'ed from 1.6GHz to 2.2GHz. This has become my main computer and relegated my desktop (Q6600@3GHz + GTX 260) to a games PC.


So I am expecting my M11x to take over as my main PC, do all the computing i need, watch vids and also also allow me to game while away from home. I will be spending 3-4 nights a week in hotels and want something netbook sized that can fit in a bag with my works laptop, but with more power than my mini 311.

Looking around there are alternatives but they are all 13+ inches with DVD drives etc.. So in the end I got the M11x (my daughter is bagging the 311)..

 

I think you will be very happy with your M11x. I also travel quite a bit for work (50% - 60% travel), and spend quite a bit of time in hotel rooms at night. The M11x is a great little portable gaming machine. It is small enough to the point where I can carry my work laptop and the M11x in the same laptop bag. I'd prefer to carry just the M11x and use it as my primary work laptop too, except for the fact that the clients to whom I present wouldn't take me seriously if they saw me pull out an Alienware in a conference room.

BTW - I see from your sig that your new toy is coming tomorrow . Excited?

 

Great that's exactly my worklife too

Yes very exited.. the chase, the order, the arrival, the unboxing.. like Xmas

 

Today marks a week that I've had mine and It's grown on me quite a bit. I like the little guy

I'm certainly a casual gamer but I wanted powerful netbook for other tasks (mapping, some on the road development work, sdr, etc) and this is certainly a great solution for me.

 

i'm thinking about buying my dad one for casual use. he wants to perhaps play a few games here and there, but he really uses it for web browsing and email. though, i really love the HDMI out that it has because we use Slingbox to broadcast television to our second home, and i'd like to use the HDMI output rather than the current VGA out from his asus 1005-HA (which is still an excellent netbook).

 

Seriously get him a Mac. I hate all things apple but since my dad got one I have not had any more support calls.

Having played with mine for a day 9now being reset to factory setting) I will be content for this to be a casual gaming netbook that will meet 80% of my gaming needs. My previous netbook met 20% of my gaming needs.

 

Same here. I was shopping the MacBook Air and a few other thin and lights, and I heard the CES announcement that Dell made with the M11x, and I just had to get the machine! Kinda wish i was a bit more patient since I really didn't plan on buying a notebook untill June ( So that way I could have gotten an R2). So yeah, being able to game on a machine is really nice. The only downside that I can think of is the weight, but I'll grin and bear it.

 

Interesting. I would think that people looking for thin-and-light place an emphasis on portability, form factor, and design. The typical candidates are ones like the MacBook Air, Dell Adamo, and HP Envy 13.

The Alienware M11x seems to be more of a gaming machine that happens to be portable, and sacrifices weight to do it.

 

Another factor that is real for me is SEEING the screen in the first place.
It is a sad reality that I have a tough time these days using the M11x with its tiny High-Res screen.....for me.
Getting old sucks!

I can use the MacBook 13" screens with my glasses on or off without issue but the M11x forces me to remove the glasses to use it.

Not a problem for everyone but may be later.

 

I don't think the M11x is all that heavy. I also don't have a problem with the screen resolution. I wear contact lenses and don't have issues with it. The M11x is a portable powerhouse.

 

I was seeking things in this order:

• Power (Both CPU and GPU)
• Battery life
• Portability
• Weight

I walk around a lot on campus, so that kills any chances of me getting a laptop over 14 inches. Ideally I'd LOVE to get a Sony Vaio Z, but I really don't have the funds to support buying a PC that expensive...yet.

That said, the HP Envy 13 is expensive, weak, and has crap battery life for the $1500 HP was asking for it, the Dell Adamo has as much power as this laptop does....on integrated, and the MacBook Air is the only one on the list with decent battery life, graphics performance (granted is nowhere near a 335m). With student discounts, the Air and Adamo weren't bad deals at all, but they didn't have very strong GPUs now did they?

So yeah, the M11x is the only computer out there that can be had for a reasonable price, actually performs well on most tasks, has a small footprint, and I can pwn n00bs on team Fortress, even using the craptastic touchpad, and stuck on the train.

 

i am also a soft gamer. my favorite games are a few years old now and i'm sure could run fine on a lower spec system. i think the hard core gamers go for the m15x/m17x and us softies go for the m11x no way i would play Call of Duty against the m15x/m17x crowd i would stand no chance.

 

OK have had my M11X-R2 for a little over a month and it's been everything I'd hoped it would be. Good horsepower, portable (can actually use it on a plane in a coach seat), integrated wireless broadband (awesome), acceptable graphics to present the material I need to. Portable and enough battery (ability to user swap would be better though).

Tried the netbook route with an Asus S101 souped up with extra memory and storage. Still couldn't hit the mark with the Atom and weak graphics so it ended up as a supplemental unit at best.

I've been lucky enough not to have any of the issues such as the hinge problem. Got the 4 year "i broke it like a dumb@$$" warranty so not overly concerned there.

The M11x hits all marks on my list. I shut down the glowing alien crap (except for back-lit keyboard). I have a skin on it so the alien head doesn't stand out and I have no concern about whether it looks professional enough. This is an ideal machine for a road warrior that needs some horsepower. I'd buy it again - in fact it'll be the machine of choice for all of my new hires as well. And I don't play game 1 on it.

Only thing close I've found as an alternative are some of the smaller Lenovos but every one I found was still missing one aspect or another.