With the M11x , Dell and Alienware gave the reality the smallest gambling laptop , andwe wish it a lot . So why change it ? To include the two things we ’ve all been waiting for : Optimus and i5 / i7 CPUs .
https://gizmodo.com/alienware-m11x-review-gamings-new-featherweight-divisi-5504364
Price and Configuration
The theoretical account we test came complete with a 1.2GHz Core i7 - 640UM CPU ( Turbo to 2.66GHz , Overclockable to 166MHz charabanc ) , 4 GB DDR3 RAM ( 800 megahertz ) , and a 500 GB SATAII 7,200RPM intemperate parkway . This manakin , complete with Windows 7 Premium and Bluetooth , will set you back $ 1,319 , though the nucleotide manikin including an i5 C.P.U. starts at $ 949 . The older Core 2 twosome modeling are also available , starting from $ 799 . Customizations include 2 - 8 GB of RAM and 160GB-500 GB laborious drive or a 256 GB whole state private road . All models now send with the NVidia GT 335 M with Optimus .
Design Changes
If you put the M11x and M11xR2 side by side , it would be almost impossible to say the difference . The only real difference in the esthetical design is alternatively of the glossy black coating , the R2 can have a black matte polish , which both look and feel more appropriate for the laptop computer . Like any PC of this size of it , the last thing you want is to go forth ceaseless fingerprint just from carrying it around .
Aesthetics apart , the only other change is that Dell ’s done off with the VGA port , which mean no more impressing the class with Powerpoints straight off through your laptop . All the other port stay ( 3 USB , HDMI , Ethernet , FireWire , DisplayPort and a retentivity placard reviewer ) , but this is still a letdown . VGA may be old tech , but it ’s still widely used nationwide .
Otherwise , the R2 is identical to the M11x on the exterior . The video display has n’t been ameliorate . It still feel an column inch too low and way of life too reflective . All of the keys on the rightfulness , admit the arrow keys , still feel too small as well .
Performance
With the M11x , Brian enjoin usthat it ’s really two computer in one because of the switchable graphics . With Optimus , that all goes out … sort of . As Brian noted , Optimus is the automatonlike switch between structured and distinct graphic , and indeed it does exactly that . The problem is that in practice , Optimus is n’t as good as antecedently account .
On my Gateway EC1437u , I can stream 720p videos from Youtube without slowdown , all through integrated graphics . On the M11xR2 , any video above 360p will activate the discrete graphics , even though the i7 mainframe is far more powerful than the Core 2 Duo in my Gateway . ( Discrete graphics are n’t necessary . )
This lack of optimisation dig battery life when bunk various app when it does n’t altogether increase performance .
I operate two main benchmarks and essay both with integrated and distinct graphics enabled , and compared them to our scotch from our benchmarks on the M11x .
Testing with GeekBench , the R2 fare much good than the M11x , thanks to the i7 CPU , earn as much as 700 point more than the original model . While the M11x was no stick-in-the-mud when it come to everyday computing , the R2 works and feels faster , even though the toilsome drive and RAM are the same .
The PCMark Vantage trial ease up me some fuss . At first , I ran the tests in triplicate and averaged the rafts , but they were n’t high enough compared to the integrated GPU score for gambling and music , though everything else was significantly higher except for the HDD . Then I fiddle around with the Optimus preferences in the NVidia mastery panel , and these were the outcome .
What seems to have bump is that the default setting for the GPU when running PCMark Vantage is to simply not turn tail at all , which is why the play musical score was so depleted . But when I alter the preferences to wedge the GPU to run , it ’s almost as if it make up one’s mind to take over all of the trial and every score , except for gaming and music , lour because of it .
This may seem like a petty side note , but in reality , it ’s grounds that NVidia take to update their drivers . A complex of the PCMark Vantage scotch would plausibly be more precise , but because I could n’t make a consummate scenario for proper grading ( and I wonder if such a affair exists given finicky Optimus tech ) , these will have to do .
The bigger problems with the M11xR2 manifest in actual play . With the drivers at hand , half the games I set out to test just did n’t work , including Batman : Arkham Asylum , Metro 2033 and Shattered Horizon . Others , like Left 4 Dead 2 , Crysis Warhead and Far Cry 2 worked fine . Ultimately I did get all of the game to hightail it after installing beta GPU drivers , which involved far more than the typical gamer who does n’t desire to build their own equipage would want to do .
Alienware is n’t really to blame here , though they are building and selling the production . NVidia ’s had enough time to get their drivers done properly already , and users are bound the get frustrated just render to get a biz to go .
Once I did get the game to go , just as with the M11x , most ran smoothly at intermediate graphics configurations . Some games , like Batman and leave 4 numb 2 , could turn tail on gamy and even very high-pitched scene without incident , easily kick 60 frames per secondly . But do n’t ask to function Crysis all - out . Even with the rise from i7 , and even with overclocking , the 3D - chewing boost to the R2 is minimum when compared to the M11x .
Battery Life
There ’s no listed battery life for the M11xR2 — a bad sign — though Dell rated the M11x at 8.5 hours , and we got that down to 6 hours 7 minutes on integrated computer graphic and between 2.5 and 3 hours with distinct graphics . With Optimus , the battery should last as long as the good a non - Optimus machine can muster , though in reality Optimus turns on and off look on the app at hand , so barrage fire life jumps up and down depend on what you ’re doing . This was of path true in the past ( watching Hulu all day will run out the battery faster than word processing ) , but with the GPU running every time it guess it ’s needed , stamp battery life can well go down the toilet .
With the M11x , I was stuck on it for over six hours . With the R2 , I got 5 hours 12 transactions in stock use , meaning web - browsing , word processing , picture editing and the casual Youtube clip , which is still decent , but clearly worse than the M11x . Gaming also fared tough , where the battery lasted around 2 hour 15 minutes , look on the biz .
Battery life is also expected to be worse because the i7 chip is not as efficient as the aged Core 2 duad , which Intel and Dell have had more time to play around with and make more tycoon effective .
A Message for the Future
The M11xR2 does n’t improve performance enough for anyone to warrant switching from the original to the latest revisal of Dell ’s mini game machine . certain , i5 / i7 is more powerful , and Optimus is more commodious , but these are minor benefits that barely influence performance . So why the hell would anyone care to buy this when they could find a good spate on the older model ?
Put simply , software updates . Optimus is still a impertinent technology , one that will get better over time . For anyone looking to grease one’s palms a portable gaming laptop with decent electric battery life , the R2 at least has some room for melioration because NVidia will continue to support Optimus , meaning that soon it should n’t make the mistake of activating the GPU for 480p or even 720p video if the integrated computer graphic can handle it , nor will benchmarks have wonky grudge because Optimus trigger incorrectly .
The life of this model will last significantly longer than the original M11x , and even though users may get less battery biography and only a minimal performance boost today , the promise of future reenforcement makes it worthwhile .
Better CPU
Matte finish looks great
Optimus ! But it still needs mickle of work
Battery life sentence is worse , but not importantly
The screen , keyboard and weight have n’t improved
Gaming performance improvement is minimal
UPDATE : Upon further examination at the passport from NVidia , that the tested hardware may be defective , I determine that instead the software drivers from Dell in fact cause down bench mark account and stopped a large number of game from properly run , as well as a phone number of program . I was sent uncertified drivers from NVidia , set to release too soon next month , and had no difficulty . All of the game I test which did n’t work originally run dead .
After re - running all the benchmark , the GeekBench scores remain the same and the PCMark Vantage scores matched the top score found on the chart above . However , it is clear that a small number of current M11xR2 owners have had some number one wood difficulty , which has for the second been remedied by using NVidia ’s beta drivers , as well as a few codification hack . These drivers do n’t fix everything . If you late purchased or plan on purchasing an M11xR2 , your system may ship with wrong driver , but within the next calendar month NVidia will release an update that I can reassert will get all of the current faulty drivers .
I do want to make one stop clean about the difference between the original M11x and the M11xR2 , specifically about Optimus . An Optimus - establish microcomputer is like a car with an automatonlike transmission : it is n’t as efficient , does n’t have as good gas gas mileage , but it ’s way more convenient for day-after-day use . Overall performance may stick out slightly , but it ’s a price we give for comfort station . And while some gamers want total , right-down control over everything , the Optimus software program suite accommodates those user too . But unless you nonplus to a full manual PC , there will always be a price to yield , pocket-sized as it may be .
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