GIG.AD

AWESOME!
This laptop just keeps on getting better and from better from every new update.
Thanks

Veridian3

Hi, the speakers (at least the ones in my review sample) are decent. They offer good clarity and do not sound tinny etc. Part of the reason they sound so good is that they do lack a little on the volume front... but I would rather have decent sounding music at an ok volume than loud distorted sound.

Veridian3

I'm afraid I dont have a DisplayPort capable screen to test this with.

It is possible to run 1920x1080 on an external display and have the laptop display on at the same time though. I just had that working when testing CSS.

Veridian3

As far as I am aware, this does not void your warranty. Think of it this way... why would Alienware include a feature in a system that risks damage and voids the warranty?

Answer... they wouldnt. OC away and have fun.

Veridian3

I have to say, that would be my advice too (speaking as a consumer).

Veridian3

Idle/Video use is near silent... you cant hear it over the game movie when at stock and OC.

Load, the fan does spin up but I dont have a db meter to get an exact reading... what I can say is atm I have an open desktop system containing 5570 and Cooler Master TX3 sitting on idle next to the M11x and they are drowning out the laptop by some way.

Veridian3

Ok, I think that answers all the outstanding questions for now... will check back later.

Just want to make 2 points first...

1) The resuts in the article are 100% accurate and repeatable. The results in this thread have not gone through the same process (single runs rather than 3, averaged). I am happy that they are fine but just wanted to point out that basically they are single runs of gameplay with fraps recording so could have the odd random peak or fall that wouldnt necessarily happen when you are gaming.

2) The OC on the review sample is 1.6GHz... as far as I know, the CPU will be OC higher on the retail models so you can expect slightly better performance in CPU limited areas.

Aeoric

VERY nice. Thx for doing that test!

And how is Crysis looking ? (acid test)

Veridian3

See post 105...

Aeoric

I was wondering how it handled Crysis (or other more demanding games that it seems to handle effortlessly at 1366x768 on an external monitor at higher resolutions - was it playable at 1440x1050, 1920x1080 etc..

Btw - thanks so much for taking the time to do those benchmarks

yankees61789

Hello, Veridian3

If you could test out any of these games Fallout 3, Bioshock 1/2 it would be much appreciated. If not do you have a general idea on how they will run?

Thanks

GIG.AD

I think the M11x should have no problems running those games at high settings.
It's all a guess but from seeing that it could handle pretty much every game tried on it I'm speculating Fallout 3 and Bioshock 2 should have no problems getting good framerates.
But actual numbers would be nice!
I'm so excited about this laptop, finally a AW that is portable,looks awesome,and relatively cheap that does not sacrifice performance.
Wish it came with i5/i7 CPU's but I think in about 6 months we will see a refresh with new i core UM(low voltage 18W CPU's) or maybe I'm just dreaming, but I'm sure well see a refresh at some point.
For now with the current CPU's OC'ing nicely this still is a kickass system.
Can't wait to get one!

Trusteft

This is just me talking, but I think you are asking a bit too much of Veridian. Asking him to test every game you like at specific settings, resolution and details is just too much IMO.
If game X runs at Y fps at 720, then just take a guess how it will run at Z resolution.

The system can run Crysis, which means it can run every single PC game out there, but you will have to lower resolution and/or details depending on how demanding the game is.
Don't abuse the good nature of V with so many requests. It is just rude.

__________________
Formerly BlueMak

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

PHILIP1193

Hi,
Thanks for the awesome in-depth review, I think the forum discussion here is almost as helpful as the review given all the additional information in.

I think this is a question which no one else has asked, which is….

When you overclock the CPU, would this be viable as a permanent overclock? How much impact does it have on battery life, as although I know its useful for gaming I’d ideally run it all the time even when on the battery just in windows. I noticed from the screen shots the CPU-Z voltage was lower when overclocked 1.000V > 0.900V meaning it shouldn’t have too much impact?

Any tests or feedback you could give would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Phil

Veridian3

Hi guys, just wanted to let you know that my time with the M11x is nearing the end... like all review samples it has to be returned and so I wont be able to run any further tests. General questions I can still answer though.

Not sure if me not being able to test makes it easier or harder on you guys while you wait for your orders to be delivered

craig5320

I think Stu deserves a round of applause for all these questions he's answered over the last week.

*claps*

__________________

HardwareHeaven on Facebook

scumonkee

just like the other, i want to say thank you for the review. sorry for my bad english

Aeoric

I said up front I was asking a lot, and acknowledge that. So far Hardware Heaven is one of only a small handful of sites that offers a real review based on having the product - and Veridian is the only reviewer to actively respond to questions.

Sure - everyone will want to know how it handles games that they play, my question was bigger picture though - and (I thought, at least) a valid one.

The M11x seems to handle the demanding games unbelievably well at it's native resolution (1366x768). This is all well and good for the gamer on the move - however - when said gamer gets home, and has access to a larger external monitor and thus higher resolutions, are they going to intentionally keep playing on an 11" screen or want to play it on a big screen ?

Assuming there is some credibility in the question, then the next logical step would be to wonder how this phenomenal laptop (for its size bracket, that has aced all the tests at its native resolution) handles playing those same demanding games at higher resolutions. Perhaps taking a mid-range (say 1440x1024 for example) resolution and 1920x1080 or 1920x1200, and seeing how the laptop performs.

If it can still handle Bioshock or Crysis well at the mid-range res, but suffers at the high-res, I would think that this is a vital piece of information that I'm 100% certain (because I've looked and looked) no other site offers and will make a HUGE difference to whether some people opt to purchase the model.

Whereas I realize he gains no direct personal benefit from making a product more/less appealing to a prospective buyer, he *is* a reviewer, and his reviews are some of the factors that the general public use to influence their decisions to buy (that *is* his role). Providing a statistic that the potential buyers are looking for (to influence their decision making) and that no other site currently offers would, in my opinion at least, round off an incredibly well rounded and informative review and just be another feather in his cap!

I realize that his time is valuable, and that he is very graciously offering answers where no-one else is (making this site/reviewer even more valuable to the community at large).

Thanks again for all your efforts, time and answers Veridian. Great review and I love the site.

Trusteft

You can play the game at the same resolution even on your huge external monitor.
If you want to get a laptop that can play all games fluently at 1920x1200, then this is not it.
If gaming at home and a big external monitor happens so often that you need to find out how games play at that resolution, then if I were you I would invest in another system or an extra desktop PC.

__________________
Formerly BlueMak

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
This is slavery, not to speak one's thought. [Euripides-The Phoenician Women (c.411-409 B.C.)] http://www.macedonia.info/FALLACIESANDFACTS.htm Sic semper tyrannis.

Aeoric

I already have a desktop PC capable of playing at high res.

No offence, but is it unreasonable to want to know if the M11x is capable of playing some games beyond it's native res ?

Let's say I am a gamer on the move and bought this thing, but I sometimes like going to a lan party and don't want to lug my desktop if I don't have to, or that I'm visiting my friend in another part of the country - he has a spare large monitor that I can use if I come to visit and we can team up on a game..

As I said in my first post, I know it's not a desktop replacement. I'm just interested to know what its limits are - surely that's not out of the bounds of reason to look for in a review.

CloWor

i second that

*claps*

one last thing, would it possible to see a picture of the options in the bios for the graphics cards. as i would like to run linux, and im not sure how it will handle the binary switch that allows to go between the integrated and discreet, it would be helpful to know what settings are available in the bios.

Chainsofatlas

I just wanted to say thank you to Veridian for the review and for the all the questions answered. I think it was far beyond what any other reviewer would do, and has put any fears about the M11x well and truly to bed. Thanks again veridian

GIG.AD

Yes, great job Veridian!
This site helped ease some doubts about this laptop and it's sad to see that you have to return it but just one last question to Veridian.
Would you buy this laptop if you had a chance?
Again thanks for all the hard work put in and this site is my new home for anything to do with PC's/laptops.
I'm so glad I found this site!

Veridian3

Thanks everyone, always happy to help (goes for any review we do, not just the M11x)...

As for higher resolutions, i hope the CSS results give some sort of idea of what it is capable of. I've taken note of the different opinions for future 11" articles (most other latop reviews we do higher res testing by default).

darkamikaze

bravo sir! it's amazing how much you actually answered lol

but now.. it's all about the wait for the product to arrive!
thanks HH and Veridian(sc)?

teflonsheep

Thanks for all the hard work! I just have two questions regarding the screen:

How are the black levels? Does the black look black or more like a greyish shade?

How do the viewing angles seem to you?

Thanks in advance!

GIG.AD

I have read that the screen is excellent, nice and vibrant, not sure on how it displays black levels

aznguyen316

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Veridian3

Black levels are good. A simple example is the steam icon on the desktop... it looks very black compared to the standard blue win 7 desktop.

Viewing angles are average-good, nothing out of the ordinary anyway... horizontal is more forgiving than vertical on this model.

teflonsheep

Thanks much for the response. If you ever get the chance, it might be interesting to set the background to solid black and see how black and uniform it is particularly from bottom to top.

There are some LEDs that have a really bad bottom up light bleed diffusion that makes the bottom part of the screen really milky grey, but the top black.

Thanks again.