The popularity of ultra-portable 11.6in notebooks has surged in recent years, but arguably none are as interesting as the Dell Alienware M11x.Dubbed the "most powerful 11in gaming laptop in the universe", the M11x touts a hardware specification that no other 11.6in system can match.But that isn't to say there's no room for improvement. At launch, Dell's mobile gaming powerhouse arrived absent of two up-and-coming technologies that most gamers would crave; namely Intel's Core 2010 processors and NVIDIA's Optimus graphics.If the lack of such features had you sitting on the fence, you're likely to be swayed by this second-generation model.It may look a lot like the Alienware M11x first unveiled in January, but the Rev. 2 iteration is packing a couple of noteworthy surprises.
Design
Measuring 285.7mm x 233.3mm x 32.7mm, it's still a chunky little beast, but it's now finished in a matte-black or silver coating that's both better looking and more resilient than the glossy finish of old.
The front lip is still menacingly angled, whilst the rest of the system remains blocky and robust-looking.
As far as aesthetics are concerned, buyers are likely to be divided. For the gaming crowd, an 11.6in notebook with sharp lines and a built-in light show (more on that later) is Christmas come early. For everybody else, it's likely to come across as gaudy.
But get past the brash exterior and there's plenty to like. The Alienware M11x is solidly built, shows practically no sign of flex in its rigid main body, and despite measuring 32.7mm thick from front to back, it manages to keep weight down to a reasonable 2kg.
That's a little heavier than most other 11.6in systems, but then this frankly isn't anything like most other 11.6in systems.
Specification and upgrades
Whilst the first-generation M11x arrived armed with an ageing Core 2 processor, the second revision is available with a choice of two more-potent alternatives; a 1.06GHz Intel Core i5 520UM or a 1.20GHz Intel Core i7 640UM. Both of which feature integrated Intel HD graphics.
A useful upgrade, but pricing has increased from £789 for a Core 2 model, to £879 and £1,059 for the Core i5 and Core i7 systems, respectively.
Included in the base specification is 2GB of DDR3 memory, a 250GB 7,200rpm hard disk, an 11.6in 1,366x768 LCD display and a discrete 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M graphics card.
The latter, working in tandem with the CPU's integrated Intel HD graphics, cleverly kicks in only when needed through NVIDIA Optimus technology. In theory, limiting the use of the power-hungry GeForce GPU should help prolong battery life.
An impressive collection of hardware in a system of this size, and it's rounded off nicely by a 1.3 megapixel webcam, FireWire, Ethernet and USB connectivity, a three-in-one card reader, stereo speakers and both DisplayPort and HDMI output. VGA, unfortunately, doesn't make the cut.
Up to 8GB of RAM, a 256GB solid-state drive and Bluetooth make up some of Dell's available upgrade options, but the DIY crowd will be pleased to know that end-user upgrades are also well catered for.
The base of the M11x is as eye-catching as the lid, if not more so.
Here you'll find a silver plate that, for US customers at least, can be laser-etched with an engraving of your choice. There's also a useful one-touch battery status indicator that lets you know how much juice you have left whether or not the system is powered on.
An LED-illuminated fan is tasked with keeping the hot-running innards in check, and though it sounds ominous, it's actually near-silent during regular use and only becomes a distraction during demanding tasks such as 3D gaming.
Last but not least, eight small screws allow for the chassis backplate to be completely removed.
Been wondering where the M11x battery is? That's it, sitting inside the body of the beast. That of course rules out simple on-the-go battery changes, but replacement batteries are easy to fit.
Similarly, the hard disk, wireless card and memory modules can all be easily swapped out with ease by the owner.
On paper, it has almost everything you'd want from a powerful 11.6in notebook. But what's it like to use?
Keyboard and trackpad
Before we cover the keyboard and trackpad, let's expand on that built-in light show we mentioned earlier.
The M11x features five coloured zones - the Alienware logo, the power button, the status indicators, the keyboard and the front headlights - all of which can be backlit in a colour of your choice.
Colours are controlled through Dell's easy-to-use control panel, and can be set independently for each zone and made to change when running on battery power. It's completely inelegant, surplus to requirements, and yet immensely entertaining. Mouse over the above image to see how it looks lit up in red, blue and green.
Nothing wrong with a bit of fun, and there's not a lot wrong with the M11x keyboard and trackpad, too.
Though the keyboard looks almost entirely flat, each individual key is slightly curved to create a more comfortable experience. It seems to be working, too, as the well-sized and well-spaced keys are excellent in use; providing a shallow bounce and very little noise.
The pedantic in us would point out that the smooth surface can feel slippery at times, and we'd prefer larger up-down-left-right arrows keys, but hey, how many 11.6in notebooks offer a backlit keyboard with literally no flex and comfortable keys adorned in a space-age font?
The trackpad, meanwhile, is a mixed bag. It's suitably large and finished with a nice textured surface, but gestures are limited to one-finger scrolling and pinch to zoom. The buttons, too, aren't quite perfect. Our review sample had trouble registering presses of the left mouse button - we've been having to go back and press the button more firmly. A minor annoyance, but an annoyance nonetheless.
If you're thinking solely in terms of your next Modern Warfare frag, the WASD keys are comfortable to use and USB ports can be found on both sides of the chassis for your external gaming mouse.
Ports and software
There's plenty of room for connectivity options, but the system's right edge keeps it simple with three audio connectors - two headphone jacks and a microphone input - as well as a duo of USB 2.0 ports.
The busier left edge features a Kensington Lock slot, DisplayPort and HDMI output, a third USB 2.0 port, 10/100 Ethernet, a media card reader, a SIM card slot that currently serves no function for UK consumers, and FireWire.
That's almost everything covered, but we had hoped the second revision of this premium notebook would up the ante by including USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet.
The loss of VGA connectivity may be an issue for some users, and there's also no integrated optical drive. An external solution is available as a £61 optional extra, but if you're eyeing up the M11x as a mobile gaming rig, now might be a good time to start buying digitally-distributed titles.
Display, sound and heat
11.6in notebook displays have a tendency to be average at best. Fortunately, the panel used in the Alienware M11x is better than most, albeit still far from perfect.
Horizontal viewing angles are decent, but vertical viewing angles are poor. Black levels appear to be good, colours are reproduced accurately enough, but overall contrast feels lacking.
And, whilst the 1,366x768 resolution helps the desktop feel both spacious and sharp, the overall package is let down by an incredibly-glossy surface. That, combined with a large glossy bezel, ensures you spend more time looking at your own reflection than the on-screen image.
Performance
There aren't many sub-13in gaming notebooks on the market, and direct competitors to the Dell Alienware M11x are few and far between.
Nonetheless, we'll include comparison numbers for a few other interesting systems; the 11.6in Dell Inspiron M101z with integrated AMD Radeon HD 4225 graphics, the 15.6in Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15 with a Core i5 430M processor and an out-and-out gaming beast in the form of the 17in ASUS RoG G73JH.
The ASUS machine is certain to offer the best overall performance, but we're eager to see how well the Alienware M11x balances performance and battery life in a highly-portable 11.6in form factor.
For the purpose of our review Dell provided an upgraded M11x equipped with 4GB of DDR3 memory, a 256GB solid-state drive and integrated Bluetooth connectivity. Useful upgrades, but this specific configuration comes at a jaw-dropping cost of £1,494.
Here's a detailed look at the key specifications of our comparison notebooks, as well as a brief rundown of the benchmarks we use.
| Comparison systems | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laptop | Dell Alienware M11x | Dell Inspiron M101z | Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15 | ASUS RoG G73JH |
| Processor | Intel Core i5 520UM (1.06GHz, 3MB L3 cache, dual-core) | AMD Athlon II Neo K325 (1.30GHz, 2MB L2 cache, dual-core) | Intel Core i5 430M (2.26GHz, 3MB L3 cache, dual-core) | Intel Core i7 720QM (1.60GHz, 6MB L3 cache, quad-core) |
| Memory | 4GB DDR3 | 4GB DDR3 | 4GB DDR3 | 8GB DDR3 |
| Graphics | Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT335M 1GB | AMD ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4225 | Intel HD Graphics | AMD ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1GB |
| Graphics driver | Intel 8.15.10.2182 + NVIDIA Verde 257.30 | AMD ATI Catalyst 10.7 | Intel 8.15.10.2057 | ATI Catalyst 10.6 |
| Display | 11.6in - 1,366x768 | 11.6in - 1,366x768 | 15.6in - 1,366x768 | 17.in - 1,920x1,080 |
| Battery | 6 cell, 63Whr | 6 cell, 56Whr | 6 cell, 48Whr | 8 cell, 75Whr |
| Weight | 2,010g (including battery) | 1,572g (including battery) | 2,476g (including battery) | 3,912g (including battery) |
| Wireless | Dell DW1520 (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth 2.1 | Broadcom WLAN (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth 2.1 | Intel WiFi Link 1000 (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth 2.1 | Atheros AR9285 (802.11bgn) and Bluetooth 2.1 |
| Disk drive | Samsung 256GB PM800 SSD | Seagate Momentus 320GB HDD, 7,200RPM, 16MB cache | Seagate Momentus 320GB HDD, 5,400RPM, 8MB cache | 2x Seagate Momentus 500GB HDDs, 7,200RPM, 16MB cache |
| Optical drive | None | None | DVD-RW | Blu-ray/DVD RW combo |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit |
| General Benchmarks | ||||
| Geekbench 2.1.6 | A cross-platform benchmark used to measure memory and processor performance. Run using high-performance mode. | |||
| Cinebench 11.5 | Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible. Run using high-performance mode. | |||
| 3DMark06 | A PC benchmark used to test the DirectX 9 performance of a system's graphics card. Run using high-performance mode. | |||
| Battery test | In order to measure battery life, we run the notebook on balanced power settings and loop a 720p movie trailer, measuring the time taken to hibernate. | |||
| Power consumption | Using balanced power settings, we record mains power draw whilst playing back a 720p movie trailer. | |||
| GPU Benchmarks (Alienware M11x only) | ||||
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | DX9, 1,366x768 | |||
| Colin McRae: DiRT 2 | DX11, 1,366x768 | |||
CPU performance
The ultra-low-voltage Core i5 520UM processor is quick, but its modest 1.2GHz frequency clearly isn't a match for the more power hungry parts used in larger systems.
The standard-voltage 2.26GHz Core i5 430M processor in the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge 15, for example, shows a 63 per cent performance advantage in Cinebench.
Nonetheless, the M11x - when equipped with a quick solid-state drive - feels very responsive during everyday use. We've never used an 11.6in notebook as snappy as this.
Battery life and power consumption
With the NVIDIA GPU being used to decode a 720p movie file, power consumption is kept to a reasonable 28 watts.
The M11x's balancing act appears to be paying dividends, as battery life is almost on par with the far less powerful AMD Nile platform in the similarly-sized Inspiron M101z.
Using the NVIDIA GPU whilst looping our high-def video, the notebook managed to run for 3 hours and 18 minutes. Not a bad return, and when using the system for light web browsing and email - both of which don't require the discrete GPU - we were able to eke out over five hours of use from a single charge in battery-saving mode.
Gaming performance
How potent is NVIDIA's GeForce GT 335M GPU? Judging by 3DMark06, it offers roughly half the performance of a 1GB AMD ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870.
It's by no means the quickest mobile GPU, and it lacks DirectX 11 support, too. But can it enable 3D gaming in an 11.6in form factor?
If you're playing Modern Warfare 2, it certainly can.
To see how well the M11x copes with different levels of image quality, we run the game with varying amounts of anti-aliasing and texture quality.
The frame rate's just about acceptable at most settings, but a silky-smooth experience is only available with no anti-aliasing and ultra-low quality settings.
DiRT 2 can't be run in DX11 on a GeForce GT 335M GPU, but it still demands a certain level of graphical grunt in trimmed-down DX9 mode.
Here's where the M11x hits a stumbling block. It may be the world's most powerful 11.6in gaming notebook, but it doesn't empower the end user to game with high-quality settings at the system's native 1,366x768 resolution.
3D gaming is certainly doable, but you'll need to sacrifice resolution or image quality in order to maintain a stutter-free frame rate.
Sound output, as you might expect, is very tinny and lacking depth, but the M11x surprises with high volume and its ability to retain clarity.
What's particularly enjoyable is the fact that our review sample - equipped with a 256GB solid-state drive - is practically silent during light use. The internal fan only becomes audible when the system is tasked; by playing 3D games, for example.
Given the choice of internal components, we were expecting heat to be an issue. The fact that said issue never arose is testament to Dell's design. Whilst gaming, the notebook stayed cool to the touch and showed no signs of becoming uncomfortably warm. Pushing it further, we ran the GPU-busting Furmark stress test for a full ten minutes and recorded a modest GPU temperature of just 66°C.
The system's cooling is obviously doing a decent job during gaming, as evidenced by the large amounts of hot air being rapidly exhausted from a rear vent.
