Should I buy the m11x or this??

To start off, I like to state my mentality going into this whole ‘buying a new computer’ thing.

:desperation: PLEASE GOD! SOMEONE HELP ME!!! :desperation:

Ciao! Been shopping around for a new laptop for the last couple of weeks and have been constantly intrigued by the M11x but I just can’t decide if it’s worth getting it over something that could be better. Now I’m not that computer savvy, I have been using an old HP laptop that I got at Vista’s launch; dv600, 1 gig ram, 120 gig and a old processor that runs at 1.6 – 2 GHz (Can’t remember exactly) and am in dire need of a new laptop (yes, I’m aware that my lappy is disgustingly outdated).
What I need ideally is something that will allow me to play the latest games, and any new games released for a year or so (I wish my wallet would advance as quickly as technology does) such as Star Wars Old Republic, Crysis, Starcraft II, ect. As far as I know, the M11x will be able to handle these.

But what is the m11x’s 320gig HD, 4gig Ram, Intel Core i7 2.6 GHz processor compared to, say…
HP Pavilion 640gig HD, 4gig ram, Intel Core i5 2.53 GHz processor, 1gig dedicated graphics?

I live in Australia and the m11x is priced at $1700+ with the HP at $1200 (although price doesn’t bother me that much as long as I’m getting what I need).

Before anyone responds, you should know that I’m not really looking at portability (the 11” screen on the m11x does make me a tad nervous though) or difference in price, I’m simply asking which is worth it in terms of what’s under the hood (for games) and which machine will be more reliable (with things such a breaking hinges on my mind) and which will last longer on the gaming/technology scene.

I will be using this laptop for gaming, writing documents, web browsing, occasional movie watching ect.

Oh and I don’t care to hear such responses as "Get a desktop", "build your own!" or any other Laptop recommendations as that will only make things more complicated, not including the fact that I live in rural Australia where my choices are pretty limited.

Lastly (assuming you made it this far), thanks for taking out the time to read this message and I appreciate any help I can get.

Ciao!

 

Get the HP. $1700 is way too much for the M11x, especially considering that it is only going to play the games you mention moderately well at best. The purpose of the M11x is to find a good compromise between portability and power, so because you aren't looking at it for its portability, you shouldn't be looking at it at all.

 

What HP pavilion model are you looking at? I also considered getting a HP similar to the one you're thinking about before I got my M11x& boy am I glad I didn't. Yes, You're paying more for the M11x but I assure you that you will be getting you're moneys worth. Besides, a few of my friends have the newer HP models with the 1gb dedicated graphics & honestly my friend, my M11x smacks them back to the floor! Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the responses so far. Sorry I forgot the mention the model of the HP... it's the Pavillion dv6-3030tx.
Hope this helps some.

 

Well the important factor to look at is how much are you willing to spend? If the m11x is that much why not look at the m15x? If the small form factor and battery life is not what you need then dont buy the m11x. I have an m11x r1 and its pure heaven but portability and battery life was an issue for me. On the other hand i am not a fan of HP at all. They load lots of crapware and I just simply put dont like them.

The key is to list things that you want in a laptop and rank them. Put this in your budget constraint and go for it. Other gaming laptops you could look at are sager and clevo. Just my 2c. Or pennies depending on your country.

 

The i7 cpu in the m11x is not 2.6 ghz as you mentioned, but 1.2 ghz.

Since the hp is priced 500 dollars less i'd say go for it, and spend the other 500 on a netbook. This way you will have a main laptop with a decent cpu, and a netbook for your carry-around needs.

Though may I ask, what is the gpu in that hp (sry if its in your post) ? In my country hp gives weak gpu's compared to other brands. If its weaker than an ati hd 5650 i'd definitly not buy it.

 

I should clarify. I don't mind paying the extra money for the m11x as long as I know I'm getting the better of the 2 machines. What I need is something that will play games with high settings now and handle any new games for the next year or so and preferably something that will run well without any hiccups internally or externally.

As for GPU... this is where I'm not very knowledgeable. I did a google search, and from what I can tell, the GPU on the HP laptop is, and I hope this is what you're looking for...
Intel Core i5-540M CPU and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics card

If this isn't the GPU, let me know how I can find it. Cheers

 

I'm looking into gettin new laptop, and the only computer shop in my country that sells alienware, just bought the r2 model. So a 8gb, core i7640um, 500gb hdd, is about 6199 RON which is about, accordind to google, 1857.21 usd.
For this price 2170 usd which is about 1000 more RON (RON is the currency in my country, romania, europe), i could get me a MSI laptop from xotic pc in the usa (shipment, and customs country VAT included in the 2170usd), which has core i7 740 cpu (which is in a whole different league compared to the 640um in the m11x) 3 dimm slots equipped with 2gb each for 6gb of ram, 2hdd slots equipped with 320gb hdd set up in raid, 15" 1080p screen, and mobility radeon wich mops the floor with the gt335m.
Apart from that i get very powerfull camera witch shoots in 720p@30fps, but most importantly of all, i get speakers from dynaudio, wich are the best speakers you will ever find in a laptop to date.

So, for a mere 300 usd more, i get a whole lot more, with lots of option to customize (ability to put 12gb of ram in the future), or (use a ssd large hdd combo - wich i plan to do, btw)
So anyway i try to look at the m11xr2, i can't possibly see how it's worth it, even the cheaper models with 4gb of ram, and the i5 cpu model.

I recommend thus gettin the msi gx660r from xotic pcs, cause they ship worldwide, and you got yourself a laptop that will do the job with brio for years to come, for just a little bit of cash more.

 

It's worth it if your looking for portability and battery life. Your laptop will be a pain in the butt if you need to carry it around a lot. And battery life on your laptop will absolutely suck. Whereas the M11x will be in the 5-8 hrs general usage range (depending on which model). The 2 laptops are for 2 completely different customers. As mentioned above, if portability and battery life don't concern you, then you shouldn't even bother looking at the M11x, there are far more powerful systems to be had for the same price. (but not in the M11x formfactor 11")

 

Well...the processor in the m11x is weak, and the one in the hp isn't. If you want to play cpu intensive games like GTA4 you better avoid the m11x.
Not sure if you like strategy games but Empire total war for example is quite cpu intensive because of the smoke (smoke rendering is heavy work for the cpu), even with a 'normal' cpu you better end your battles ASAP because too much smoke will make your game lag.
I'm not sure which gpu is better: the ati hd 5650 or the nvidia gt335, there's quite an incomprehensive discusion for people like me in this thread about it: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...a-gt-335m-vs-ati-radeon-hd-5730-mobility.html (yes its about the 5730 but that gpu is only a bit stronger than the 5650)

If I were you i'd go for the hp, it has a better cpu, and the gpu will do just fine for now. Also, since you plan on writing documents, I suggest opting for a bigger screen, people have not been really content with the 11 inch alienware screen (ofc you can always use an external monitor). Also, I don't think the hinge issues are resolved yet. The hinge issue didn't stop many people from buying the m11x, but if you are a bit principal, I don't understand why one would pay +1000 dollars/euros on a system which has a known flaw.

But if you want to do some serious gaming with high settings on games that will be released the comming year, i'd suggest looking at the asus g51 laptops which cost around 1000 dollars (but they do tend to get a bit hot). With your budget you could also opt for the asus g73jw which will be released soon (the current g73jh has some driver issues with the gpu).
Another great gaming option is the MSI GX640. It has an ati hd 5870 gpu (like the asus g73jh) and costs quite a bit less.

 

Is the word m15x forbidden in the m11x forum D:
......................................why not get an m15x? Lol.

 

As others have said, you shouldn't even be looking at at m11x if you don't care about portability or battery life.

You mentioned limited machine availability on rural Australia - what options do you have? Are you opposed to having something shipped in?

It sounds like what you probably really want is either a 15'' (if you care somewhat about portability/battery life) or a 17'' (if you don't care at all) laptop. The HP you mentioned is an option, as is an HP Envy. I am not a big fan of MSI laptops personally (I think they are overpriced), but they are good. Clevo is definitely something you should look into. Browse around a bit, you really can't go wrong (it does help to set a price limit for yourself, otherwise the sky is the limit as far as that goes).

 

To answer the question, the DV6 (I gave my son a DV7) will not play Crysis. The M11x will play Crysis and several other games. You get what you pay for. Integrated graphics are not good. I don't care what anyone says. Much history here with integrated graphics especially when they say that they are in the 5600 ati range. Depends on what you want. The DV6 will struggle with Crysis. I have yet to have a game that I play that doesn't play well on the M11x R1 no less.

 

DO NOT GET AN HP PAVILION.

I had one of them. A couple months out of warranty, I was playing Oblivion and due to the design it got really hot...so hot as to partially un-solder the video card from the motherboard. What this means is it is a paperweight.

My father? Different version of the Pavilion, same problem. Except his motherboard completely fried. So another HP paperweight.

So again. Stay away from the Pavilion series.

 

I guess you could say the mx11 r2 is better for those looking at bettery time ? But is that battery time that big when you make use of the 335m GPU ? or is it that big because you use the laptop with the low powerd gpu ?
Because it would indeed be something if one could use the m11x r2 unplugged for 5 hours playing wow with maxed settings on native rez.

Now i see i made the comparison between it (the m11x rev2) and the msi, because i mostly plan to use the laptop as my main pc plugged to the socket all the time. Cleary so, the msi is the better choice.
And it's not even that big since it's a 15" incher.

For me the best design in a laptop chasis is a laptop chasis that is the smallest and has 2 hdd slots. The gx660r fits the profile, and also has up to date components. Because i either get as big as possible, or as small as possible. Not something in between !

And speaking of mx11r2, i heard lenovo is launching a 11 incher with a new core i7 740um ? Apart from the freq of 1.2ghz i know nothing of that cpu ?
Could that be a quad core cpu ?
Because a "quad core" core i7 740um in a 11", paired with a decent GPU, could be a potentialy deadly combination.