Alienware pros - cons

T-K-O

hey guys

I'm in the market for a new laptop. I want something small light and powerful. First choice is a lenovo x220 but now I am considering Alien wares M11r3.

Any experience with Alienware? Any advice or tips is greatly appreciated.

Jaafa

Overpriced as many will tell you. You can get better for cheaper in most cases.

The only exception to this would have been the M11x as it simply was, for a long while, the only laptop of its size with a decent GPU, so it was the only option. Now however their are alternatives though I'm not sure If they are available in Ireland. I think Clevo released/plan to release an 11 inch laptop with a Gt640/50m in it, no joke, and there is a couple of other brands after making laptops for this market so have a look around.

The other thing to remember is though overpriced, Alienwares because of the brand name, will hold value much longer than even a Sony Vaio for example, and thus have better resale value.

The are a good brand though in terms of build quality, and of course the aesthetics is a big plus for many.

Jarren

^^^ + 1

http://www.mysn.de/detail.asp?bestellnr=XMG-A102&userid=8A102CC52BAF45AAA36C4FADB018F4EC&KategorienOrder=010;020;010;050;010

cookie1977

I've an alienware M14x and I love it. They are highly priced but in general you do get good stuff with it. I would go with a base model from dell and buy your own upgrades such as SSD or ram etc... as they work out cheaper and you get better quality. Otherwise I think they're well worth the money. Well built with rock solid quality.

T-K-O

Thank you for the advise..

I'm kinda torn. I would prefer the x220 but the fact that the alienware comes with a cd drive and it also appears to be a solid build makes me think i need to flip a coin on this one

carbon nanotube

i got a m17x, really good machine.

cant fault it.

Jaafa

T-K-O wrote: »

Thank you for the advise..

I'm kinda torn. I would prefer the x220 but the fact that the alienware comes with a cd drive and it also appears to be a solid build makes me think i need to flip a coin on this one

The m11x doesn't have a CD drive either.

I've used my CD drive about 3 times in the last 2 years.You can get around using one, or buy and external one if you really need it.

The Gt650m in the x220 is a proper gaming card, the Gt540m in the m11x is barely above entry level, all I'd recommend is to upgrade the CPU to an i5, the ram to 4GB and you'll have a very good gaming laptop. You'll have the likes of battlefield 3 running on high settings no problem.

T-K-O

Jaafa wrote: »

The m11x doesn't have a CD drive either.

I've used my CD drive about 3 times in the last 2 years.You can get around using one, or buy and external one if you really need it.

The Gt650m in the x220 is a proper gaming card, the Gt540m in the m11x is barely above entry level, all I'd recommend is to upgrade the CPU to an i5, the ram to 4GB and you'll have a very good gaming laptop. You'll have the likes of battlefield 3 running on high settings no problem.

Thanks for the reply.. I have decided on the X220. I was going to push the boat out to an i7 and 8GB or is that overkill on a machine that size?

Overheal

Bit like a luxury car among laptops: you can probably get as good mileage and performance from cheaper models, but damnit if you aren't going to turn more heads or get a bunch of other bells and whistles. Ones we had on display in work let you customize all the LEDs coming out of the vents and they keyboard and power indicators and a bunch of other trippy sh*t.

It should also be noted the thing had a 3GB Graphics card which, even if it was a desktop card, would have been fairly significant.

Jaafa

T-K-O wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.. I have decided on the X220. I was going to push the boat out to an i7 and 8GB or is that overkill on a machine that size?

If you have money to burn then no it's not overkill, you'll certainly see a performance increase in comparison to an i5 and 4GB, in terms of gaming depending on the game, anywhere between 5-15FPS more. And also to note the CPU can't be upgraded later, not cheaply anyway.

That said personally I'd put in an SSD before upgrading the ram or CPU, as gaming wouldn't be my top priority. SSD will make it super fast to boot, reduce loading times in games, and allow programs to open almost instantly.

Is gaming a major concern for you?

EDIT: I made an error in my last post, I was refering to thr XMG R102, NOT the x220. The x220 doesn't even have a GPU. Again is gaming a concern for you?

T-K-O

Jaafa wrote: »

If you have money to burn then no it's not overkill, you'll certainly see a performance increase in comparison to an i5 and 4GB, in terms of gaming depending on the game, anywhere between 5-15FPS more. And also to note the CPU can't be upgraded later, not cheaply anyway.

That said personally I'd put in an SSD before upgrading the ram or CPU, as gaming wouldn't be my top priority. SSD will make it super fast to boot, reduce loading times in games, and allow programs to open almost instantly.

Is gaming a major concern for you?

EDIT: I made an error in my last post, I was refering to thr XMG R102, NOT the x220. The x220 doesn't even have a GPU. Again is gaming a concern for you?

Hey,

No, gaming is a not a priority for me. As it stands the alienware is slightly cheaper but maybe the 11' screen is a fraction too small. The ssd drives are quite expensive I would prefer to upgrade the CPU and get a ssd down the line.

I need a machine for work / study / play. It's a shame you cant see these guys in a store..

T-K-O

Jaafa wrote: »

If you have money to burn then no it's not overkill, you'll certainly see a performance increase in comparison to an i5 and 4GB, in terms of gaming depending on the game, anywhere between 5-15FPS more. And also to note the CPU can't be upgraded later, not cheaply anyway.

That said personally I'd put in an SSD before upgrading the ram or CPU, as gaming wouldn't be my top priority. SSD will make it super fast to boot, reduce loading times in games, and allow programs to open almost instantly.

Is gaming a major concern for you?

EDIT: I made an error in my last post, I was refering to thr XMG R102, NOT the x220. The x220 doesn't even have a GPU. Again is gaming a concern for you?

Hey,

No, gaming is a not a priority for me. As it stands the alienware is slightly cheaper but maybe the 11' screen is a fraction too small. The ssd drives are quite expensive I would prefer to upgrade the CPU and get a ssd down the line.

I need a machine for work / study / play. It's a shame you cant see these guys in a store..

Jaafa

T-K-O wrote: »

Hey,

No, gaming is a not a priority for me. As it stands the alienware is slightly cheaper but maybe the 11' screen is a fraction too small. The ssd drives are quite expensive I would prefer to upgrade the CPU and get a ssd down the line.

I need a machine for work / study / play. It's a shame you cant see these guys in a store..

Well in that case the M11x would probably do fine. The XMG would still be my first choice however as both the CPU and GPU is much more powerful than the m11x. Aftermarket SSD's 128GB is about 100 euro these days and getting cheaper. So yeah maybe upgrade CPU and buy a SSD later and install yourself, it's easy enough to do.

T-K-O

Jaafa wrote: »

Well in that case the M11x would probably do fine. The XMG would still be my first choice however as both the CPU and GPU is much more powerful than the m11x. Aftermarket SSD's 128GB is about 100 euro these days and getting cheaper. So yeah maybe upgrade CPU and buy a SSD later and install yourself, it's easy enough to do.

Xmg?

Also im curious if the Alienware is design for games but doesn't come with a DVD drive how do you play the games?

Jaafa

T-K-O wrote: »

Xmg?

Also im curious if the Alienware is design for games but doesn't come with a DVD drive how do you play the games?

The XMG Jarren posted a link to a few posts back, it was the laptop I was talking about when I said it's better than the m11x.

Most Gamers download games these days, usually off sites like Steam, it has massive sales every now and again you can pick up stuff very cheaply, out of my 15 or so games only one has a physical disk.

T-K-O

Jaafa wrote: »

T-K-O wrote: »

Xmg?

Also im curious if the Alienware is design for games but doesn't come with a DVD drive how do you play the games?

The XMG Jarren posted a link to a few posts back, it was the laptop I was talking about when I said it's better than the m11x.

Most Gamers download games these days, usually off sites like Steam, it has massive sales every now and again you can pick up stuff very cheaply, out of my 15 or so games only one has a physical disk.

That's how longs it's been since I was gaming ... That's for help, appreciated..

Occono

Yep. If you buy a Steam-dependent game on disc it even ties to your account like a download purchase, and you can download it anytime instead of installing from the disc (though that's still an option).