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Gamer-approved laptop recommendation thread

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D

dLMN8R

Member
This is the gaming "netbook" that Alienware/Dell announced at CES.

$800 model:
Intel® Pentium™ SU4100 1.3GHz (2MB Cache) (dual-core CPU)
2GB ram
160GB 5400RPM hard drive (ew)
1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 335M
11.6-inch WideHD 1366x768 (720p) WLED
4.3 lbs (or so, can't find the exact weight at the moment)

$100 more for a Core 2 Duo, $50 more for 4GB ram, etc. etc.


IGN Gear review: http://gear.ign.com/articles/106/1065816p1.html
We were most surprised by the M11x's ability to run Mass Effect 2 with every visual effect turned on and resolution set to maximum (1366 x 768). Not only did Mass Effect 2 run at maxed out specs, but it consistently ran above the industry standard of 30 frames-per-second. The average framerate for Mass Effect 2 at max specs on our M11x was around 45 frames-per-second, although at times it reached up to 50 or 60 frames per second.
Click to expand...
Using the integrated chipset, we were able to up to 7 or 8 hours of battery life for regular laptop use, while gaming on the NVIDIA GT 335 reduced the battery life to only 3 or 4 hours.
Click to expand...

Another review with actual benchmarks: http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews.php?reviewid=924&pageid=1
To test the M11x battery life we used the laptop in three different scenarios. In each the Windows 7 power profile was set to balanced and all on-board devices were enabled as was all system lighting.

In the first test we performed standard tasks such as surfing the net, speaking on MSN, watching YouTube content, emailing and typing in Word. With all these activities taking place and the Intel GPU enabled we achieved a battery life of 5 hours and 46 minutes, unheard off on previous Alienware machines.

Next we switched to the GeForce GPU, enabled HD acceleration and began watching a 1080p file which was being scaled down to the LCD resolution. In this scenario the machine gave us nearly four hours of use, more than enough to watch any recent movie... possibly even two.

Finally we began gaming in full screen mode, the most demanding task likely to be performed on the M11x. The system gave us 2 hours and 5 minutes of life in this task, far more than we would expect from a high performance system.
Click to expand...
Both of those reviews were done on a $1100 configuration, but apparently the $800 model would only be 10-15% slower in games. The differences in CPU, ram, and HDD are pretty minor from what I can tell - the GPU is the strong point here, and that's the same no matter the configuration.

Damned impressive! I'm surprised they actually pulled it off.


What I'm most excited about is when other manufacturers start using this GPU, and give Alienware some competition. For now, though, it looks like Alienware has an exclusive on the chip.
 
D

Doytch

Member
What's the GT335 based on? And I'm guessing the Nvidia are going to fill the 3xx series with strictly mobile chips now that Fermi is a 4xx?

Fake edit: Google says the 240M/9700M GTS
 
N

NeoUltima

Member
Meh, my laptop can't even run ME1 even though it fairly meets the recommended reqs. Fucking thing keeps overheating. Must buy cooling pad or fans(but it gets so hot so fast I'm not even sure that will do the job).
 
B

BravoSuperStar

Member
Usually I would be the first to de-ride Alienware, but damned if this isn't worth at least considering. Are they actually shipping yet?
 
A

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
for whatever reason even though it can be quite pretty i've found that me is really not taxing at all
 
A

Alucrid

Banned
Damn me hopping on that Mac bandwagon. :lol

Pretty nice, when I have a job next year I'll be checking this out.
 
E

Einbroch

Banned
I really can't get over the new design approach that Alienware has taken. It looks plastic-y and cheap.

But who really cares when you get a great gaming netbook for 800 bucks?

The screen size is a little disheartening, though.
 
F

Fredescu

Member
AstroLad said:
for whatever reason even though it can be quite pretty i've found that me is really not taxing at all
Click to expand...
I've found this too. With everything maxed I rarely drop below 60fps at 1920x1200. There are much more taxing games out there than ME2.
 
P

Pancakes

hot, steaming, as melted butter slips into the cracks, drizzled with sticky sweet syrup OH GOD
May have to check this out. I'm still using a 2005 Dell inspirion :(.
 
U

user_nat

THE WORDS! They'll drift away without the _!
Somewhat surprised it could run ME2 perfectly, since that CPU is below minimum specs for the game.

edit: oh, the reviews were from the higher model.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
It's nice in lots of aspects, but falls apart quickly with more demanding games.

As K. Jack said in the other thread, it's for a specific audience, and definitely not me. Sure beats the pants off a 9400M though, and the battery life + GPU power is nice (for a laptop its size)! :)
 
D

dLMN8R

Member
Einbroch said:
I really can't get over the new design approach that Alienware has taken. It looks plastic-y and cheap.

But who really cares when you get a great gaming netbook for 800 bucks?

The screen size is a little disheartening, though.
Click to expand...
A 11-12" screen is probably enough for me. From what I've read, it's such a great screen to look at, so you'd get over the size pretty quickly in favor of just sitting a little closer to it. I would definitely want to see one in person though to get a feel for the size and weight before buyone one.

Maybe there's a chance these will show up in Best Buy or another retailer? Would be nice.


user_nat said:
Somewhat surprised it could run ME2 perfectly, since that CPU is below minimum specs for the game.

edit: oh, the reviews were from the higher model.
Click to expand...
As is always with CPU specs, it's complicated. That CPU is most definitely not below the minimum specs - chip frequency isn't the ultimate signifier anymore. It's all about the architecture, and in this case, I assume it's good enough.

From benchmarks I've seen elsewhere, there would be around 10-15% performance difference between the $800 model's P4 and a Core 2 Duo.


SuperEnemyCrab said:
Usually I would be the first to de-ride Alienware, but damned if this isn't worth at least considering. Are they actually shipping yet?
Click to expand...
Preorders started, they say they're shipping March 1st.
 
C

ChoklitReign

Member
What the hell? I paid $1500 for my Dell laptop and it can't even play ME1 in 720p. The Alienware even has better battery life. I wish I had this.
 
C

careful

Member
So this is Alienware exclusive? Too bad. $800 doesn't sound too unreasonable, but with their history of ridiculous prices, I'm just automatically assuming another vendor would sell this thing for $500.

Vestal said:
GLOSSY SCREEN *PUKE*

I made the mistake 2 years back of buying a laptop with a glossy screen, NEVER AGAIN!
Click to expand...
This too. They should always give the option for matte finish.
 
Vestal

Vestal

Gold Member
GLOSSY SCREEN *PUKE*

I made the mistake 2 years back of buying a laptop with a glossy screen, NEVER AGAIN!
 
C

Calcaneus

Member
NeoUltima said:
Meh, my laptop can't even run ME1 even though it fairly meets the recommended reqs. Fucking thing keeps overheating. Must buy cooling pad or fans(but it gets so hot so fast I'm not even sure that will do the job).
Click to expand...
I have the same problem running Mass Effect 1 on my laptop. I just gave up and I'm saving it for when I get a better machine.
 
M

Mudkips

Banned
Keep in mind that the SU4100 is essentially a Core 2 Duo severely underclocked.

It's got a 10 W TDP (compared to 30-40 W for the higher performance CPUs), so this is where the battery life comes from.

If I remember correctly, The GT300 series is just the ol' GT200 series rebadged and on a 40 nm process. Assuming they're reliable (and I wouldn't trust Nvidia on this front for a long while...), they should be on par with the latest mobile ATi options. Fermi will kick off the GT400 naming scheme.
 
Psy-Phi

Psy-Phi

Member
KuwabaraTheMan said:
I was just commenting on the fact that Dell laptops, in general, are pretty much shit. At least in my experience.
Click to expand...
I understand, but Dell owns Alienware, and has since 2006.

Dell Laptops are fine, just not for gaming. But then, they're not designed for gaming. Except some of their XPS line. But that went the way of the dinosaur when they acquired Alienware.
 
K

Kadey

Mrs. Harvey
Being able to run Crysis level games on a small laptop has been my dream. Goodbye network ummm I mean netbook. Hello Alienware once again.
 
D

dLMN8R

Member
Kadey said:
Being able to run Crysis level games on a small laptop has been my dream. Goodbye network. Hello Alienware once again.
Click to expand...
Speaking of which, I haven't actually seen Crysis benchmarks on this thing. Would be interesting to see how it handles the game at medium/high details.
 
H

hurahn

Neo Member
Einbroch said:
I really can't get over the new design approach that Alienware has taken. It looks plastic-y and cheap.

But who really cares when you get a great gaming netbook for 800 bucks?

The screen size is a little disheartening, though.
Click to expand...

Well that's their netbook. The laptops have aluminum cases.
 
R

Rezbit

Member
I would love to get one of these; trouble is I am in Australia and the markup is huge. $1600AU!! That's about $1400US. Super shit!

Wonder if it's the sort of thing you could import. I imagine shipping would cost heaps.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
Doytch said:
What's the GT335 based on? And I'm guessing the Nvidia are going to fill the 3xx series with strictly mobile chips now that Fermi is a 4xx?

Fake edit: Google says the 240M/9700M GTS
Click to expand...

Its their DX10.1 (GT212?) chip but this version comes with a wopping 72 shaders which impressive for any notebook chip, nevermind one the size of two DVD cases. The processor can be OCed to 1.6ghz through the BIOS really easily and since most games are CPU limited you should so damn near linear performance gains. So fee free to add 20% on top of all those results.


The CPU upgrade definitely doesn't justify a $100 price hike but considering that's where your major bottleneck is going to lie, its hard to pass up any extra CPU performance, you want as much as you can get. If its confirmed the Pentium chip can also be OCed to 1.6ghz, then yes, by all means, save yourself the $100.

Its a damn impressive machine the only (major) snag is that Dell have decided to convert dollars to pounds at almost 1:1 making it a much worse deal in the UK. Honestly, since this sort of power in this form factor is completely unprecedented I'd have expected it to retail around the $1500-$2000 mark and it would have still sold well at that price as well, at $850 for the 4GB model its a heck of a deal.

Dell seem to be stepping it up as of late, their Zino HDs are damn awesome tiny little low power HTPC machines.
 
W

Wired

Member
Rezbit said:
I would love to get one of these; trouble is I am in Australia and the markup is huge. $1600AU!! That's about $1400US. Super shit!

Wonder if it's the sort of thing you could import. I imagine shipping would cost heaps.
Click to expand...

Probably not $600 though
 
P

Pandaman

Everything is moe to me
my laptop [bought last summer]:
$950[CAD] HP laptop, a battery of undetermined length: mass effect 2 @ 720P @ 40+fps

4GB ram
2.19GHz AMD ZM82 ultra
ati 4650 w/ 1gig DDR3 ram
500gig HDD
15.6" screen
768P
Curing cancer optional.

I think alienware is still a tad overpriced. >_>
 
S

spwolf

Member
Pandaman said:
my laptop [bought last summer]:
$950 HP laptop, a battery of undetermined length: mass effect 2 @ 720P @ 40+fps

4GB ram
2.19GHz AMD ZM82 ultra
ati 4650 w/ 1gig DDR3 ram
500gig HDD
15.6" screen
768P
Curing cancer optional.

I think alienware is still a tad overpriced. >_>
Click to expand...

your latop is big, heavy and can game for 50 minutes before your battery goes bye bye.

ultra portables (which is correct name) are always more expensive than big laptops because it is a lot bigger technical feat to cram everything in small shell, cool it and still make it work properly.
 
J

Jangocube

Banned
Pretty sweet laptop.

I'm looking for for a netbook/laptop right now, and while this one is nice, I have to have a CD/DVD drive. Bummer this doesn't have one.
 
V

vesp

Member
I'd consider buying one of these when one of those dell coupon stacking for 30-40% off price situations comes up.

500-600 dollars for the c2d model would be my sweet spot.

Not quite sure what i'd do with it, but i'd be tempted.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
Cat in the Hat said:
yep, not a good deal.
Click to expand...

Go find me a better specced 11.6" (or smaller) laptop, you can even have a budget of $2000 and I guarantee the graphics chip won't even offer 1/3 of the performance of the base $800 model. It may not be for you but for the market its targeted at this is pretty much the deal of the century, its delivering an unprecedented amount of performance for the form factor all whist knocking a good 50% off the usual market rate.

A machine like this has never existed before, and Dell are offering the first attempt at the segment at under $1000, that's super cheap compared to general market trends.


Pandaman said:
my laptop [bought last summer]:
$950[CAD] HP laptop, a battery of undetermined length: mass effect 2 @ 720P @ 40+fps

4GB ram
2.19GHz AMD ZM82 ultra
ati 4650 w/ 1gig DDR3 ram
500gig HDD
15.6" screen
768P
Curing cancer optional.

I think alienware is still a tad overpriced. >_>
Click to expand...

What the hell are you doing comparing it to a machine more than twice its size with a tiny mere fraction of the battery life? Way to miss the point.

P.S. The graphics chip in this machine is actually faster than your 4650 chip and once you use the BIOS OCing option, the CPU won't be too far off in performance either. Now tell me how exactly this machine is overpriced?
 
Z

Zinthar

Member
That's pretty incredible if you need gaming performance on the go, but sadly a red Alienware laptop is no good in a business setting.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
Jamesfrom818 said:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002Q8HK7K/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Doesn't quite have the oomph of the Alienware though
Click to expand...

In terms of gaming performance its no where near, there's pretty much an order of magnitude difference. Its also much larger. I really don't understand the absolute need for an optical drive, I mean how often do you burn movies on the go? Just rip all your media and install all your games to the HDD at home and be on your way. An optical drive just adds unnecessary bulk.
 
P

Pandaman

Everything is moe to me
spwolf said:
your latop is big, heavy and can game for 50 minutes before your battery goes bye bye.

ultra portables (which is correct name) are always more expensive than big laptops because it is a lot bigger technical feat to cram everything in small shell, cool it and still make it work properly.
Click to expand...
i'm still not seeing the grand motivation in spending $200~ and dropping some performance in order to cut 2 pounds of weight.

does it still have a DVD drive? or atleast a ST card reader of some sort?

What the hell are you doing comparing it to a machine more than twice its size with a tiny mere fraction of the battery life? Way to miss the point.
Click to expand...
im amazed so many people know my machines battery life better then I do.

P.S. The graphics chip in this machine is actually faster than your 4650 chip
Click to expand...
notebook check put it slightly below the 250M, which is the same ballbark as mine.

and once you use the BIOS OCing option, the CPU won't be too far off in performance either. Now tell me how exactly this machine is overpriced?
Click to expand...
because it costs more then its novelty or performance would other befit and at that cost compares roughly to a machine thats been on the market for a year.

oh boy, a gaming laptop thats... erm. slightly smaller but not the extent that its functionally more portable for the average user who doesn't have a purse, erm, yay? I applaud its existance in concept but they have work to do still IMO.
 
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