Alienware M11x vs Sony Vaio Z i5 Comparison and benchmarks

Personally I would go for the alienware, but I do wish they offered a 1600x900 screen for it.

 

Its an 11.6 inch screen
I think that would be pushing it even for me!

 

Just to clarify, i'm referring to the sony Z. The m11x has 1 drive bay and you can put anything you want.

 

Imagine if the m11x was an m13x and had the same form factor, but with the Envy 13" screen, or the macbookpro 13" screen.. that's my only wish And of course a 1600x900 resolution.

 

If they could do that and bring it in with an i series CPU and everything else the same for $1300-$1500 I'd buy 2, day one. (if they can build it without any screen gaps this time and possibly a matte screen)

 

No one has ordered a Z with SSD+optical then replace the optical with a 2.5" HDD/SSD yet. It is possible, but you would need some brackets and covers. There is a HDD-only version that has no proprietary SSD and replace the optical with a regular 2.5" HDD, sold outside of US. There are at least two users here that have replaced those with Intel X25M.

Technically, the proprietary SSD is replaceable and is pretty easily accessible, but you just have to buy the exact same size SSD from Sony.

 

I have run WoW on the m11x... it is pretty much unplayable in a 25 man raid during combat even on the lowest setting. I haven't tried it with the overclock, so I can't say for sure if that would have made it playable. Running around in dal is no problem.

I can say for sure that the vaio Z will run WoW in a 25 man raid. Average about 25 fps during aoe heavy fights.

 

Okay okay. An m13x with a 13" OLED screen/intel i7 quad core/1TB SSD with trim and an nvidia m360 with no heat or fan issues with a 4 hour battery on full brightness while gaming for $999. Is that so much to ask??

 

Try to buy today. Talk with sony agent and ask for $200 discount. He return with $100 discount + free express shipping. I say no and ask him and his manager to think abt it and call me tomorrow. They say ok & will think abt it.

 

Is that with an SSD? or with a standard HDD? I'd be willing to bet you'd see a decent performance boost with an SSD in WoW...

 

What price did you pay for each of these configurations? Since price is the biggest factor in many people's decisions of what to buy it would be great to know that. I know the m11x is cheaper for sure, just want to know how much you paid for the VAIO Z that was put up against the m11x.

Awesome job on the comparison review, people love these kinds of comparisons.

 

@Andrew:

Thanks! I originally posted this in the alienware forum because a number of people were deciding between the two systems.

I'm in Canada, and there were no discounts available for the m11x when i ordered it on Feb. 3rd, and paid $1149 + tax. The Sony Vaio Z was eligible for sony's "march madness" discount ($200 off) and I paid $1799 + tax at a sony store.

 

Great, thanks for the info, so that's a $650 price differential and about 35% cheaper for the m11x. Pretty substantial and considering you gave the nod to the m11x that makes it an easier decision to opt for the "cheap" laptop of the two.

 

It was a touch decision on my part. My main bias for a notebook is gaming. I don't do any development on it, i save that for my desktop. For the most part if i want to game i like to kick back on my sofa in the living room with my laptop to play games because the last thing i want to do is sit at a desk after working at one all day. I also travel a fair bit and portability is another factor for me.

That being said notebook gamers are picky, and everyone has their nit-picky things about them. I suspect it's because there is always a trade off of some sort. For me, the screen is a big deal (particularily black levels), and that was what made the Z so hard to give up. For 3-4 years i gamed on a Compal 15" with an incredible CCFL screen.

When LED backlit technology took hold, it was kind of an end to good black levels in notebooks for all but the high end ones, which took me a long time to realize, and accept.

The other nitpicky thing with me is heat control. I get very nervous when i see GPU temperatures approach 90 degrees celcius after a short gaming session as they did with the Z. It's even more of a deal breaker than the screen to be honest. The fan is another one, and with the alienware even when the fan kicks in to high now and then, it's not obtrusive at all. The sony sounds like a plane taking off (at a lower volume obviously).

I wish alienware had offered a better screen even as an upgrade. I've gone through a number of notebooks in the last year trying to replace that Compal, and i feel that this m11x is simply the best suited portable gaming notebook on the market today.

 

Interesting first post.

I would like NBR to get the Sony Z in for review.

I don't visit the Alienware forum so this is the first i'm reading about the M11X having screen gaps.
Also, i noticed in this review that they pointed out that it had a weakness around the hinge. None of this was noted in this review but may be the OP never had any of these issues and they are not commonplace at all.

I don't like the looks of the M11X but naturally it might appeal to those who game, i don't game.

I much prefer the overall package that the Z1 provides and also the much better display.

Edited to add:
I do think though that the M11X is very good value for money.

 

Keep in mind that Sony's gpus are usually underclocked.

 

I think a lot of people have been saying this since Aug. 2008 when the C2D was first revealed....it's been a year and half now and Core i7 Z has replaced C2D Z and, well, we haven't seen any review yet. In fact, this site only reviewed two Sony laptops last year, the last one was CS in June '09 -- which was replaced by CW probably two months after the review..

I wouldn't keep my hope high on a Z review here anytime soon. If I had not known better, I would assume this site is blackballed by Sony. It seems that Sony Z is doing pretty well with the very limited reviews available now anyway.

 

Doesn't the M11x start at $800?

 

I think the problem is simply that unless Sony, or some Sony reseller (are there any?) decides to send NBR a review unit, a review won't happen unless one of the NBR reviewers (or some intrepid buyer) buys their own unit and reviews it, as was done here. The fact that the Z costs so much in the first place also makes it hard to do/justify the second option.

 

Jerry mentioned before that the Sony person that worked with this site left the company (I think it was not retirement, but I can't remember) so the relationship has not been fully rebuilt.

I don't think this site ever worked with a particular reseller to get a particular brand, except in situation where you have a whitebook rebranded by a particular reseller, such as PortableOne laptops, which were rebranded Asus whitebook.

By the way, there are plenty user reviews for the Z, even the new ones. Just head down to the Sony section. I think Rachel was looking specifically for the site reviewers, though.

 

That is my dream laptop. *Drool*.

 

Yep.

I don't think the OP was cross-shopping the two but happened to have both of them in his possession and decided to compare them with the obvious caveats in mind.

Price/Size/Looks/Battery Life, etc difference are all everyone that reads this board should already be well aware of.

Great review and perspective.

 

The spec on the 11mx is good, betterthan the Asus N10J I had, bt alienware laptops are just so ugly, the m11x is an ugly brick, they really should take note and sort out the look not just the hardware inside...

 

Just would like to point out that when comparing the prices of the two machines, you are comparing sony's SSD with M11's Hdd, which is not a very fair fight...

 

Hmm, interesting comparison.
I need to buy a laptop by mid april, and these two are high on my list (others being those upcoming 13"/14" asus/acer models next month with similar specifications, which I am reluctant to wait for because I have no machine of my own at the moment, desktop or laptop).
Sony Z has everything for me, and looking at the OP, the performance in say Mass Effect 2 seems satisfactory. The only thing which causes concern is the fan noise, and this looks like a dealbreaker.
On the other hand, the main thing putting me off the m11x is the aesthetics. Personally I would feel embarassed to use a laptop like that in public, and would resort to covering it in skins/stickers (specifically over all the 'alien' logos).

 

I think you owe it to yourself to check out a Z in person about the noise before you completely cross it off the list.

I have used Sony's 13" line since 2004 when they first introduced the Pentium-M VGN-S and I know the higher pitch fan in this line (which evolves to VPC-Z and VPC-S series in the current Core i incarnation) maybe more annoying than a fan that has lower frequency hum. Still, it is very quiet, a Japanese review measured the noise level of Z to be 40dB under load, which is like the ambient noise in a quiet room.

So you really should check it out in person to see whether the higher pitch annoys you or not. I think most of the users in Sony section do not find it a bother, particular those people playing the true acid test of a gaming rig -- flight simulation -- they definitely cannot hear the fan when they turn on the in-game engine sound.

 

Having had the luxury of comparing the two side by side, i can say unequivocally that the m11x fan was much less noticeable to the ear. Frequency of the noise is important to point out as you can have two different noises at the same decibel level, but different frequencies that have a very different effect on the human observer.

I've said it before and i'll say it again notebooks (with gaming intent) are a trade off. At this point in time you can't have everything. Sure i'd love a 3 pound notebook with an OLED 13" display and a 3dmark score of 20k with no noise or heat issues and a 20 hour battery life. It just doesn't exist yet.

As unbiased as i can be i will say that (aesthetics and price aside) if your primary use for a laptop is work, and secondary use is gaming, i think the sony Z is the winner. If most/all of your time is spent gaming, i really feel like the alienware is the better choice between the two, which i base mainly on heat/fan control and performance.

 

I've had a look at the z instore, though that was one of the previous models 5 months ago - will probably go again soon to see the newer model.
The only other one I am keenly following is that acer 3820tg, which looks like a decent boost over the m11x performance wise, yet far cheaper than the sony. Possible sacrifices - build quality and screen quality.
Anyway I don't want to derail this thread from the two laptops in the title.

I just had a thought - if the z had an average screen, would I value it as highly? I think that is the main draw of that machine (for me at least).
Plus I'd rather get a fully featured m11x, than a half-specced out vaio z (cutting all the fancy options to keep the cost reasonable).

 

Well, other than the GPU, a full featured m11x still has less features than the lowest speced Sony Z. I understand the screen is a big draw to a lot of people, myself included, but like I said before you just have to need those extra features to justify the price (or maybe you absolutely cannot live without one of Z's features, but I doubt that).

For mobile gaming, unless you are primarily interested in CPU-intensive games, such as hard-core flight simulations or some RTS games, I don't think Z will give you the most bang of the buck.

 

Unnamed01's mini comparison!

Sony Z = Great performance, Sleek and sexy.

M11x = Great performance, Better gaming ability, Better bang for buck, Ugly...very ugly + Cost of looking silly.

Tough choice.

 

a) it's not *that* ugly.. I've seen a LOT worse - depends on your opinion I guess..
b) Can't say I've ever taken into consideration how a laptop "looks" when deciding on whether or not I want to purchase it - for me it's all about how well it "works". And lately - about the size as I'm *really* over the 15" form factor..

Sony Z *is* a nice laptop - but I'd wait a year or two until the price comes down to a more realistic level.

 

Funny, when i first saw an alienware notebook i thought "ugly" as well. Then they started growing on me. When i first held the m11x i really was blown away by the quality and workmanship. While the Z feels a lot more delicate, it is certainly sexy and well built as well. Definitely more professional.

 

Imo, the Silver M11x looks alot more mature/professional than the black one does.

Yet, I also very much prefer the sophistication and class of the Z, but the looks/screen aren't worth 700-1k more dollars to me.

In the end, both are very nice machines, and I had a hard time choosing. In the end I went for the best bang-for-the-buck as I find it hard to justify paying 2k+ for any sort of computer these days.

 

The silver M11x is actually pretty good looking, though not on the level of the Z. The price makes the M11x the much better option if you ask me. You can get two M11x's for the price of one Z.

 

Good analysis, OP.

I guess it's all about preferences. I went with the Z because it is superior in aspects that are crucial to me:
- weight - it's more than 2 pounds lighter (when you include external DVD)
- battery life - I travel across the Atlantic often and Z can give me almost 8hrs (I have the extended battery)

Also there were some minor bonuses that I appreciate
- internal DVD - minor, but still improvement on portability
- processor - I'm a developer - although I'm not running brute force on RSA's or anything all that demanding, so it's more of a 'feel good' thing that my stuff compiles 3 seconds faster
- looks

Other than that, you can get m11x with upgrades (SSD and such) that make it have almost the same specs as the Z.
On the other hand - if you go try to build your m11x with Z's specs you'll quickly get to Z's price. While Z is more expensive, I know what I'm paying for.

With ssd, win7 pro, ext DVD and GPS you'll get an m11x for $1900 . It will have a better gpu and more service (1 year) but the Z's got better CPU, battery life, display and portability. So I'd say price-wise they are the same.

That said, I still think that m11x is a great piece of technology and kudos to Alienware for coming out with this machine before anything comparable was out there!

 

Laptopmag said the M11X was a good looking laptop. I guess beauty is really in the eye of the beholder and each to their own.

Their Z review, i question their battery life tests and wonder if they actually could have got a better score by 1) turning the ambient display sensor of 2) turning the backlit keyboard of 3) making sure it is set at least to balanced mode in the vaio control centre. It seems to be set on high performance for some systems. I'm not talking about W7's power management here either.

They made comments that the Z had no wwan, you can get wwan on other lines. I notice that they did not list that as a negative for the M11X.

 

I agree, it's kind of pointless to discuss the looks of each laptop (that said alienware rocks! ). m11x comes with (optional) WWAN. ( screenshot)

 

I own both the new Z and the M11x and I appreciate and agree with your review. I however am likely going to eBay my M11x and keep the Z. I do kind of love them both - I just need to find a way to justify keeping both

What makes the Z a keeper for me is the fact that it: 1) The Z overclocks very very well (to the point I can get the M11x's stock GPU performance), 2) the Z's screen is soooo much better, and 3) I can get 2 SSD/HDD in the Z and only one in the M11x. My Z currently has the stock 256 SSD and an Intel X25 160GB SSD for the system drive. The second drive requires the removal of the optical drive - which the M11x doesn't have anyways.

 

I should hope so seeing as its over twice the cost of an M11X

I was considering these two machines but at £1400-£1800 for Z compared to the £709 I paid for my M11x I'll put up with the inferior screen. I'd have paid upto another £100 for a better screen option as it is the weakest part of the M11x in my opinion. I know the SU7300 CPU is no speed demon but its perfectly adequate for most PC use & gaming needs and a massive jump from the Atom processors in Netbooks.

 

I was also put off by the M11X (or any Alienware) styling coming from sleak VAIO TR/TT/TZ machines but the M11X does look much better than photos represent. All my non-pc sazzy work collegues think it looks fantastic.

For me its the screen that dissapoints slightly but paying another £600+ for the VAIO minimum spec is a price too far considering I picked up my M11X with SU7300 in the UK for £709 after discounts & with a tactX mouse. Already fitted my 80GB Intel X25-M in it & super fast in operation. Don't intend to do video rendering on this so the C2D CPU at 1.6-1.7GHz is just fine.

I am keeping a look out for any M11X specific anti-glare screen protectors to try out. Seen the EXIM SPOC but waiting for feedback from someone before I buy.

 

Can u link me to a software that can overclock the Z. I just bought one yesterday .. i5 & 256gb SSD metallic black. Love love love it. Ran BF Bad Company 2 with native setting (1600x900) at Low/Med. Its liquid smooth.. Although it is low setting, the black level of the screen makes it shine. In fact I can hardly tell a diff between my AW m15x setting at Med and low (texture high) on the Z.

 

What about fan noise? I'd prefer the semi-matt screen of the Z and I think that the M11x is too deep for it's screen size (the bezel looks like it could actually take a 4:3 screen or 5:4). The weight difference is also noticeable. But I'm afraid of the noise the buzzing fan can make. Saw some videos on the YouTube and am pretty worried about this.

 

For anyone trying to compare laptop screens based on specifications alone - it's next to impossible. There are two main parts to the LCD, that being the backlight (CCFL, WLED, RGBLED) and filter (TN - used on most notebooks, VA and IPS).

Information on the backlight is readily available but almost no-one tells you the quality of the filter. Since the filter is the part that determines black level, contrast and colour accuracy it's really the most important part of what makes a screen visually appealing. The backlight affects the majority power draw, maximum brightness, profile (thickness) and maximum colour saturation (how strong the colours look).

It's unfortunate that while reading the notebook specs it will tell you what to expect in terms of maximum brightness, power draw and profile.. You get absolutely no indication of how the screen really looks in person

 

Very true, even for external monitors it can be hard to find that information.

 

Hi there,

Was just wondering how you managed to get the Alienware so cheap with a mouse as well?

Thanks very much in advance!

 

delluniversity.com has discounts if you are a student but otherwise watch for coupons.

NVM, I think you meant UK

 

There was the free mouse & CPU upgrade offer plus a discount of around £100 about 2-3 weeks after launch from Dell UK direct. Think the offers gone now.

 

Someone in the Sony forum who owns both posted some overclocking results for both models.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=473593

I think the M11X is exceptional value and Dell/Alienware seems to have got things right here.

 

I was actually also considering Sony Z before i got my m11x BUT in Sweden the only Z model i can order cost 3 times as much as M11X so i simply forgot about it. Its just to much money for a laptop. sure it has i5 CPU and a nice 240 SSD but even if these are removed from the table (actually you cant configure the laptop so buyers dont have a choice) it will still be much much more expensive.

In any case this is a nice review so thanks for that. Just wanted to bring in the prince into the calculation.

I know in US prices are quiet good for electronics but in EU countries (Sweden) its just ridiculous how high it is for some brands/products (SONY).

 

Notebookcheck.net has released the Sony Z review.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPCZ11X9E-B-Notebook.28704.0.html
Looks like they pretty much had the same likes and reservations as i did.

Interestingly, they also list the m11x as the only real competitor.