What do you think?

Okay, I'm a 14 year old kid who primarily plays games on his xbox, and builds a website for his dad. Recently, my Compaq's battery decided not to hold charges, and coupled with the fact that the charger has to be in a certain position to charge, it made random power offs because of my desk shaking a little a frequent occurrence. And, since the laptop only has 1 GB of RAM, and is 3+ years, I figured it would be time to save up for a new one. Working for my parents and making my dads website and babysitting will average 50 dollars a day, for about 8 hours work, so with the money I already have, in 12 days I should have enough for the stock M11X R3: Alienware M11x Gaming Laptop Details | Dell I am getting the one all the way on the right.

Now, I do primarily game on my XBOX, but I thought that playing some games on computer might be fun, especially since I used to play Combat Arms on the computer, and it was a really good experience, gaming on a computer. What I want to know is if the stock 700 dollar one will suffice to service the following activities:

Watching movies for 3-4 hours on battery
Playing Starcraft 2, probably the first thing I would get off Steam
Runescape
Excel spreadsheets, I need these to import products to my dads website. I thought it would be nice if I could take my backpack with M11X and skateboard over to some spot and chill.
Typing up essays for school
Netflix content.

I want to do all this on the standard M11x R3, no upgrades. I know that I am pretty much certain it can breeze through all these, but I guess my whole life I've used lower quality computers, usually homebuilt with cheap parts, so a computer that is top notch would be more than ideal. Plus, every Friday me and a bunch of cousins get together and we get bored at my grandpas house, I thought this would be a good source of entertainment.

Last thing (I think). Would this bag suffice when put into a Swiss backpack, I know my backpack has a little padded folder container, but I figured it would work good for a small laptop too: Amazon.com: MobileEdge Alienware Laptop Sleeve for M11x and 11.25-Inch Netbooks (AWNS01): Computer & Accessories

Sorry for the long first post, and thank you in advance!

 

Get 3 yr warranty minimum . Good luck with savings.

 

M11x is great for transport. I enjoy having such a powerful device in such a small case as opposed to a netbook with the "atom" processor. My R2 feels like it will become completely obsolete in the gaming world in under a year. So I am having a desktop built to keep up with the times.

EDIT: I have a padded sleeve case with a zipper to transport it ($20). I throw that into a small drawstring bag which makes longboarding or biking on campus a breeze. I'll show up to class or group meetings and someone will always ask "Dude, where is your computer?"

 

You will really love the m11x really nice and plays everything run mine OC'd. As far as case's I use this one..
Amazon.com: MobileEdge Alienware Laptop Portfolio for M11x and 11.25-Inch Netbooks (AWP01): Electronics
It is much nicer in real life than in a picture. Great for on the go since you can really use the m11x while it is in the case.

 

My experience with my M11x R2 is that 4 hours is pushing it. Your battery life will diminish slightly with frequent charges, that isn't the M11x's fault, that's just how the battery technology works.

Starcraft 2 is not available on Steam. It, (as well as every 3D RTS game like it) will push your laptop to it's processor limitations. Large 8 person games will hit your framerate hard. Smaller games, not so much. You may need to play on lowered settings to get acceptable performance.

M11x will run a game like this with no problems.

M11x has Windows 7, and you can get Office for it. Dell will try to charge you up the to include Office with your purchase, I would recommend instead (if you are a student) to try and get a discounted student copy instead. The only limitation will be the screen size. It's not really an issue though, the native resolution is 1366x768

Same as above response.

I am constantly Netflixing on my M11x. It does it very well.

My whole life has been the same way. I've always used budget hardware, and low end stuff. The M11x has been the most powerful laptop I've ever used, and has met all my gaming needs. It plays most games on high settings, with only a few exceptions. Do a youtube search for "Alienware M11x" for a bunch of videos of people running games on this laptop to see how well they run.

One piece of advice though: If you go low budget on the R3, absolutely do not go low budget on the warranty/replacement plan. I know it will add a couple hundred dollars to your purchase price, but it is absolutely worth it. For a laptop like this, you want to be able to have it serviced by Dell if *anything* goes wrong. You do not want to be stuck with a broken M11x and have to pay out-of-pocket for repairs. Trust me.

If the backpack can fit 12'' notebooks then your M11x should fit. Obviously if you buy an Alienware branded case, it will be specifically designed to fit your M11x... but you'll probably spend a bit more. As with everything, do research before you buy.

 

Dang, I really like that case. Is it available in the add on section from dell.com? Because I don't want to have to pay for shipping from amazon too, just sounds like a nuisance . Because if I get that, I don't need my backpack... What about the sleeve it comes in? Would that and a backpack be enough to hold it?

 

The $699 model is the R2 in case you didn't know. It has the first gen i3 and older 335m video card compared to the Sandy Bridge i5 and i7 and 540m video card of the R3. It also has the older hinge design with the potential to break. If they do break, it is covered even after the warranty expires though.

 

I'm curious why your so adamant about that 3 yr warranty? After the second year the equipment is defunct and all the support you would get would be the stockpiles of parts Dell keeps. Most likely refurbished on top of that. Plus in another 2 years Windows 8 should be out. The only benefit I would see for a three year is if you use it for mission critical item. But we are talking about a gaming laptop here. Not a high end server.

I purposely choose 1 year as I want to modify mine *like the heatsink mod* when the time comes.


EDIT: To original posters question. Im going to go opposite.

Why the m11x? Do you specially require something that small? Or is just the battery life? Otherwise you can get more powerful and cheaper 15.6" laptops like from Asus. And there are companies I think like Lenova and HP that make "bigger" batteries for more life (sold separately of course).

(P.S. Have that sleeve, works great!)

 

He's pushing the warranty upgrade because if your laptop breaks down 3 times (or it gets too damaged to do a part swap) during your warranty period, Dell/AW will offer you either the same laptop with FREE spec upgrade or a BRAND NEW laptop upgrade (for example, R2 to R3 or R3 to M14X).

Most of the time, if you complain and push for an upgrade-replacement, you will get it. Dell/AW is very generous at throwing out upgrade-replacements to customers who have had a run in with repairs several times; I see it all the time on these boards.

Plus, if he sells it in the future, warranty in a sales listings increases the value of the laptop substantially. I would personally never buy a used laptop without a warranty; it's a major plus factor

 

Starcraft 2 will really stretch the M11X to its limits.

If you favour gaming over portability, get a M14X or M15X.

The older models have a hinge problem.

 

Are you positive? Because look at this link, Alienware M11x Gaming Laptop Details | Dell
It's 700 bucks and in the URL it says R3... Just being hopeful, haha.

 

Makes sense, but then, to me, its like you really don't own it as you cant do anything as your afraid of warranty voiding. Memory, HD, wireless, or even the heatsink mod.

 

100% positive.

Out of all of that, only a heatsink mod would void the warranty. I'm not big on extended warranties though. I think the one year is enough. Some credit card companies extend manufacturer warranties as well. My American Express card gives me an additional year of warranty after the Dell warranty is over.

 

Not true. I was told since I had a ssd versus original disc that would void it. They said they were willing to "overlook" it if I put the original HD back in.

 

Your rep doesn't know what they are talking about. Ask them why the manual includes instructions on how to replace the hard drive if it voids the warranty.

 

Look at dells warranty specs online. Mentions no modification.

 

The hard drive is considered a user replaceable part/upgrade. If you don't believe me wait until others chime in.

Edit: Almost all manufacturers let you upgrade the hard drive and it doesn't void the warranty.

 

I've sent mine off for repairs with an aftermarket Momentus XT in it and they fixed it, and I made it very clear I wanted the same hard drive back as it was aftermarket and I ran into no issues.

At OP, i_has_m11x is correct in saying the one you're currently looking at is the i3 model. I would highly recommend saving a little longer and getting the i5, which is what I currently have. Runs games beautifully!

As to transportation, I have that sleeve you posted in your original post, and I couldn't recommend it enough. Fits super snug and protects it very nicely, it's not a cheaply designed sleeve either, really high quality.

Good luck with the savings!

 

Ok guys, before I had decided on the M11X, I decided I was going to get the R3, rather than an older model to stay away from hinge issues, and keep it from becoming obsolete in the tech world so quickly. But since that is $1,000, I figured I might as well throw in an extra hundred and get a M14X, since that has a bigger screen, which was one of my concerns with the M11X, and will stay more relevant in the tech world. And, I found a $50 dollar discount on it . Oh, anyone have any other discounts?

 

PM me for my Dell/Alienware rep (providing you have a US address).

He's very generous

 

Well all I can give you is my experience when I called about the 335m crash problems. As soon as he heard I had an ssd in he mentioned that broke the warranty, but since I had the original drive and could reinstall it right then. He would overlook it.

Sending it off to a nameless repair dude who just fixes what he is told versus tech support finding out over the phone while your trying to troubleshoot something are two different things.

They even went into my system hardware and were confirming specs when they connected to my PC. Both the dude that told me this and later his manager when I was still encountering the issue with a "stock" setup.

So until Im giving official confirmation in writing from someone at DELL. Im going with what I experienced and saying you have to keep it stock for them to honor warranties. Or, at least don't sell the original hardware so you can quickly reinstall before calling tech.

 

Ram, and Harddrives are user upgradable parts for a long time with any dell laptops I purchased, unless they changed it recently.

They may ask you to put the old part back in order to get the support, but it definately doesn't mean it voids the warranty, atleast in my experience.

If they ask you to send in the system, don't even bother sending your hard drive in. One rep even suggested me to take the harddrive out when I had to send in my M90 long time ago.

 

Sadly, they were mistaken. Memory and HDD are both user replaceable items and doing so does not void the warranty. Unless of course you damage something when replacing them. It's still incumbent upon them to prove that though. Dell and AW have been allowing this for as long as I can remember. Most of the big boys do too.

 

Voodoi can i get info about the Dell Rep? My laptop has been delayed by a month .. so I was wondering if I could possibly get some discounts? Thanks!