AW M11X R3 speculation

[blackjellognomes]

I'm gonna be picking up a new laptop next year, and I'm definitely looking for a sub-$1000 mobile gaming machine. By "mobile", I mean 11-13" and capable of 6+ hrs with wifi on. So I know it's a bit early for me to be shopping around, but that's what I did. The best fit that I've found is the AW M11X... which still seems to need some work. The R1 seems a outdated with it's C2D, but the R2's heat and battery life are issues for me (closer to 5 hrs from what I've heard). Not to mention that I can find the R1 for $300 less.

SO I'm really eager for a refresh. I think the best I can expect is:
- released Q3 2011 (maybe announced at CES 2011)
- dual-core CULV SB/Llano w/ option for quad-core
- 1333 / 1600 DDR3 RAM
- ??? GPU; def DX11, and unless AMD produces some Optimus equivalent, I think AW will stick with Nvidia
- same battery life as R1 for dual-core models (~6.5 hours while browsing @ 50% brightness), otherwise you might as well get a laptop with a full voltage CPU; R2-like battery life for quad-core models
- still under 5 lbs
- same form factor ("fat," no dvd drive), but with USB 3.0
- hopefully a 12.1" WLED screen (and renamed m12x?), still 1366x768 res, but better quality (please); i can't see a 13.3" fitting, without removing the webcam or the AW logo (both unlikely), nor do i see AW spending more $$$ to produce a new, larger chassis

Despite the lack of DX11 in the current M11X lineup, I don't see the R3 being released before Q3 2011 due to the already premature R2 release and the relatively short time the R2 has been on the market. Also, SB and Llano are reasons for AW to wait; there's no point releasing another i5/i7 M11X, right? And I think AW engineers would need some time to work out the GPU and screen.

Thoughts? If I'm expecting too much, maybe I'd be better off picking up an R1 (which is still selling for cheap!). Sorry for the lengthy post.

 

[cliffmidnite]

The longer you wait, will always bring something better. It just depends on how soon you want a new laptop. I bought an m11x r1 a couple months back and love it. I got it for $563 after a 20% epp discount. sometimes dell outlet has 20% off on their refurbs and they come with the same 1 year warranty or you can get an extended warranty on refurbs too. I thought about getting the r2 model, but went with the cheapest price and grabbed the c2d model. I enabled the factory oc on the cpu from day one. The SU7300 is a pretty decent processor. There are only a couple games that become cpu bottlenecked and the majority of your games hit the gpu bottleneck. Honestly, I thought I would do more gaming on this, but about 80% of the time, I'm using it for other things. I easily get 6 hours battery on full brightness, and its rather cool sitting on my lap without gaming. I usually get the latest and greatest, but this ended up being perfect for me. I will take the money I saved this go around to put toward another lappy in the future. Unless you have actually had an m11x in hand, don't buy to much into the negatives. no dx11, not that big of a deal to me at this point, I doubt i'll miss much eye candy. the power, size, battery, of this one make it perfect for me. yes, i'd love a 12-13" in the same form factor, a new gpu, cpu, etc..but this thing is still AWESOME the way it is. I can take notes for hours, and play games between classes, and its all in a package that sits comfortably on my lap. I hate big laptops. I could never go above 14" and thats even pushing it. This fit the bill perfectly and its probably the best option for what you want as of now just as your research has pointed out to you.

 

[blackjellognomes]

YAY first response! And a good rundown, thanks. I understand your points, but I'm still hesitant to get an R1 for a few reasons. First, I'd be using this as a desktop replacement, probably for about four years (with an external display and speakers and stuff). And in light of that, I worry about the proc. If only it wasn't soldered! Secondly, I have to disagree with the "The longer you wait, will always bring something better" mentality. The statement itself is true, but in specific cases like this, I don't think it's as applicable. Some upgrades will be more worthwhile than others. If I were awaiting the R2 release, then yes, that would make sense, because the R2 was a rather insignificant upgrade (imo). But with SB coming out, I think it'd be worth the wait.
Btw, as a I'll be a college freshman next year, I don't think I'd have the funds for a second laptop before I graduate. (I should be working on apps right now.)

How do you feel it handles multitasking? (Are you using 4GB?) And does OCing the proc reduce battery life significantly? Sorry for all the questions, haha.

 

[cliffmidnite]

YAY first response! And a good rundown, thanks. I understand your points, but I'm still hesitant to get an R1 for a few reasons. First, I'd be using this as a desktop replacement, probably for about four years (with an external display and speakers and stuff). And in light of that, I worry about the proc. If only it wasn't soldered! Secondly, I have to disagree with the "The longer you wait, will always bring something better" mentality. The statement itself is true, but in specific cases like this, I don't think it's as applicable. Some upgrades will be more worthwhile than others. If I were awaiting the R2 release, then yes, that would make sense, because the R2 was a rather insignificant upgrade (imo). But with SB coming out, I think it'd be worth the wait.
Btw, as a I'll be a college freshman next year, I don't think I'd have the funds for a second laptop before I graduate. (I should be working on apps right now.)

How do you feel it handles multitasking? (Are you using 4GB?) And does OCing the proc reduce battery life significantly? Sorry for all the questions, haha.

Sorry for the delayed response. I personally haven't noticed any additional battery drain, however, I didn't use the laptop much before I did the overclock. I do still get 6 hours with the overclock. I also installed a seagate momentus xt 500gb. Those are said to draw a bit more power due to being 7200 rpm and having the hybrid ssd drive. If you plan to use this lappie for 4 years or so, than it might start to feel dated as newer games come out that have more cpu intensive tasks. The su7300 is pretty good with multitasking though. I really don't ever feel any lag in day to day tasks due to the cpu. I have an overclocked Q9550 at 3781mhz on my desktop, and I really don't notice much difference at all. Obviously if I am playing gta iv or encoding video, I see differences due to cpu. I have 4gb ram in my m11x as you had asked. As I did my research for my purchase, I did find one other laptop that I was so close to buying and that was the Acer Timeline X 4820tg http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115851

The only thing that stopped my was the 14" screen size. I wanted something that wasn't quite as wide. They both have nearly the same depth and the acer is thinner. They also have hybrid graphics, a beastly cpu compared to su7300 and said to have phenomenal battery life. This would be a great portable and awesome desktop replacement. The reality is though, that you aren't going to get monster cpu performance in an ultra portable, for the power draw, the su7300 is great, and it holds its own pretty well. It looks like sandy bridge may debut at CES. I doubt we would see an implementation till at least June. You never know, it could be sooner. There have been times for me though, when I was excited about a new cpu/gpu coming coming to market, but then the product they put the chips in, isn't in the form factor I like. If you are not in a hurry, see what sandy bridge brings. There are a couple things I would have liked to change in my m11x, but the form factor ended up selling me in the end and once I got it in hand, I found it to be rather powerful. The nice thing, is that my investment wasn't too high, and I know I can get a reasonable resale value, the next time I trade up.

 

[blackjellognomes]

If I pick it up, I'll have it OC'ed full time, too, so it's nice to know that I can still get 6 hours. Looks like we have really similar tastes in laptops; I was thinking about getting that XT drive for the M11X, AND I was checking out the 13" 3820TG, too. It sucks that that laptop isn't available in the US. Apparently it has all the 4820TG's hardware minus the ODD, and uses the extra room for a really effective cooling system. But the cost of importing it and slapping on a US keyboard makes the M11X seem like a better buy.
I guess the big unknown, if I really want the M11X, is what games I'll be playing in 4 years... maybe I'll still be playing Source games
But I think I will wait; I've still got my desktop for another 7 or so months.
Thanks for all the help.

 

[cliffmidnite]

That 3820tg is slick! I didn't even know it existed. I found one on tigerdirect canada, with us keyboard layout. http/www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6946907&CatId=4938

it comes with i3-370 2.4ghz. The benchies are about double the su7300. Thats definately a lappie I would be interested in. I can't believe they aren't selling that in the U.S. It would be a great competitor. There really is only a small margin of games bottlenecked by the cpu on the m11x. GTA IV, bad company 2, metro 2033, and they are only by a bit. All are still playable. You can still get 30 frames in all but gta iv. I still play gta iv rather well even when it dips to the lower 20's. the Crysis series is a couple years old now, but I still seem to play it more than most of my games. I get atleast 35-40 on Warhead. all the modern warfares run great, I play dirt 2 on it often. For such a modest gpu, it does really great at native resolution, and for the screen size, 1280x768 really has no quality difference and adds a few frames. forum.notebookreview.com has quite the cult following on the alienware boards. If you read some of the m11x posts on there, you can get a better feels of peoples personal experiences. If they don't do a refresh anytime soon, a US bound 3820tg would probably what I would grab instead by the time you are ready to purchase or you could just grab one of tigerdirect canada.

 

[blackjellognomes]

Best answer selected by blackjellognomes.

 

[blackjellognomes]

Wow, great find. All of the other models I found use a 6-cell battery. Thanks for everything, cliff.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar