Solved! Thinking about getting a m11x

[iolas]

With a student discount, I have the price in my cart at 845 plus tax and shipping.
The config is with the base $799 version core 2 duo...I have the ram upgraded to 4gb and the HDD up to the 250GB 7200RPM and bluetooth.
I've been wanting a small laptop to carry around campus and this seems like it will fit the bill and allow me to play most games on it.
I don't have to worry about playing new stuff to the very max as I have my desktop for that. Would something else be better along these lines?
Note: portability and battery life are a big issue for me.

 

[ghost_florian]

I would get the HP Envy 14 if I were your. It's got all the new specs and it's far more elegant. Mind you, the M11x is not compact.. it's small, but it's thick.
The Envy 14 is 999.99$, and it's got an i3, 320GB HDD, 4 GB Ram and ATI 5650 on it and an 8 Cell Battery. It's a bit larger than an m11x, and a bit pricier, but personally I would chose it. And to spend 850$ for a core2duo machine...that's not good.

http/www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&series_name=ENVY14_series&a1=Category&v1=ENVY

This is the link for the HP envy.


You could also get a Macbook, the white one. It's got a 13 inch display, 2.4 Ghz Core2Duo ( the only negative), 10h battery ( or so they say), an Nvidia 320M gpu, 250GB hdd, 2 gigs ram( you can upgrade this later if you want to, but hardware tends to perform better on Macs), and it's 999 as well, but you get a student discount of about 13% or so. It's as portable as it gets, and the battery is excellent.


So, if you want power+ looks , go for the HP, if you want looks+ portability, go for the Macbook.

 

[iolas]

While I like the envy, the m11x gets almost twice the battery life when not gaming.
And, I'm not a mac fan.
I could have the m11x with same specs but an i5 quad for 1090, but then the battery life goes down a few hours, and I really don't see it being that much better than the coreduo until the majority of games utilize four cores or more. And by that time I will have my comp sci degree making enough cash to buy whatever.

 

[buwish]

For general usage though, I think that you'll be much happerier with a new chip, i.e. and i5 or even and i7. However, if you'll be out of school in a few years and you think that you can stand a c2d for the time being, go for it.

What is you max budget?

 

[iolas]

I'd prefer to stay under a grand.

 

[ghost_florian]

You didn't say you weren't a mac fan.
8.5 Hours is BS, even a netbook doesn't last that long. Only the core i5/i7 models have an integrated intel media acc., which they use when you're not doing too much stuff.
Let me ask you some other questions: do you have your desktop nearby( as in your college room ), and the second one: how long do you plan to keep your laptop?

 

[iolas]

I live an hour away from campus. At my house I have a very powerful desktop...AMD 955, ATI 5850, 4GB ram, etc...
I plan to keep the laptop around 2-3 years.

 

[ghost_florian]

I personally don't think that core2duo low voltage will last you 2-3 years. My 1-year old core2duo laptop with dedicated gpu has trouble doing some things.
If you live 1 hour away from campus, do you think that you'll NEED a portable gaming machine for the hours you're in campus? And what sort of gaming will you do on a 12inch screen ? It's worth thinking about.

 

[iolas]

I see what you mean. I don't know if I would be gaming that much, but it's a nice feature to have. I'll probably start gaming a lot more when The old republic mmo comes out though. Also, from what I've read, the m11x excells because of the gpu(335) as most games utilize the gpu a lot more than the cpu. Thus, when games make the core2duo obsolete, then the gpu this has will probably be crap also.

 

[ghost_florian]

Take a look at this one:

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220770

14 inch, 1gb ddr3 video from nvidia, core i5 and 500gb of hdd.

Here's a review:
http/www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5786&p=2


And it has nVidia's Optimus. 4 hours of battery life is pretty good, for this sort of machine. And you know you;ll have all the powerhouse you'll need in the future.

 

[iolas]

The 310 is vastly inferior to the 335. And the optimus is not a huge deal as there is a button to switch in the first gen m11x. The envy would be better than that asus as it has the ati equiv of the 335.

 

[iolas]

Well, I found a better student deal with dell where I can get the same one I posted in the original post for 800 with tax and shipping. I think I may pull the trigger....i just hope they don't come out with an m13x or something soon and the core2duo m11xs fall even more in price.

 

[duk3]

You seem to be already decided on the m11x.
However, I might look into getting a $300 netbook and spending the other $700 on a more capable desktop for gaming.

 

[iolas]

You seem to be already decided on the m11x.
However, I might look into getting a $300 netbook and spending the other $700 on a more capable desktop for gaming.

I already have a gaming desktop that I built back in june.

 

[ghost_florian]

Well, good luck with the m11x then Hope you tell us your impressions.
I would still have gone with the envy
As for the m13x, I don't think that will happen. Because there's not much of a price difference between the m11x and the m15x (between the core models, that is), and if they pull out an m13x, people won't buy the 11x any more.

 

[iolas]

I ended up buying it...I'll post my reviews when it gets here on the 4th.