TypeGaming, Media, Gaming UltraportableProcessor NameIntel Core i5-2537MOperating SystemMicrosoft Windows 7 Home PremiumProcessor Speed1.4 GHzRAM4 GBWeight3.3 lbScreen Size11.6 inchesScreen Size TypewidescreenGraphics CardnVidia GeForce GT 540M2nd Graphics CardIntel HD Graphics 3000Storage Capacity (as Tested)500 GBNetworking Options802.11nMore
The Alienware M11xr3 ($1,099 direct) is the next in the company's line of 11-inch gaming laptops. Last year the Alienware M11x ($1,175 direct, 4 stars) turned heads with its netbook-sized design outfitted with gaming-grade Nvidia Optimus technology. This year's model upgrades to a second-generation Intel Core i5 CPU, a more powerful Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics chipset, and more ways to connect to your favorite games online via Wi-Fi and WiMAX, which is why it's our Editors' Choice for portable gaming laptops.
Design
Design-wise, Alienware is not known for its subtlety. And sure enough, the M11xr3 sports glowing blue LEDs (can also be configured with Astral Aqua, Mars Red, Nova Yellow, Terra Green, and Plasma Purple lighting). Between that, the backlit keyboard, and glowing Alienware logo and grills on the bottom front of the chassis, you won't have any trouble finding this laptop in the dark. The rest of the M11xr3 is coated in a soft rubberized textured material over its Steath Black magnesium frame. The interior has a textured plastic design along the palm rest, which offers a comfortable amount of friction when typing. The trackpad has a smoother textured pattern, and has a slight depression to distinguish it from the palm rest.
The 11-inch widescreen displays in 1,366 by 768 resolution, which is enough to take in a game or movie, but leaves little room for multitasking. Unfortunately, like the previous M11x, the M11xr3 suffers from the same glare problem, which becomes more noticeable when gaming under bright fluorescents. Being that this laptop is netbook-sized, the keyboard smaller than the full-sized ones you'd see on 14-inch laptops like the Samsung QX410-J01 ($829.99 street, 4 stars) and Asus U41JF-A1 ($857 street, 4.5 stars). For me, the tighter typing experience was easy to get used to. The M11xr3 is heavier than your typical 11-inch screen laptop weighing 4.47 pounds, whereas the Lenovo ThinkPad X120e ($580 direct, 4 stars) weighs all of 3.3 pounds. The increased weight is understandable, as the M11xr3 is packed with more internal hardware.
Features
The M11xr3 doesn't have an optical drive. With the rise of digital downloads and Steam accounts (which comes pre-installed) one is hardly needed, especially, when it comes equipped with WiMAX (a wireless technology that offers similar coverage not unlike that of 3G and 4G smartphones) and Wi-Fi to connect you to your downloads and MMOs when you're without an Ethernet port to jack into. The M11xr3 also comes with a DisplayPort, HDMI, Ethernet, 3-in-1 card reader (MMC, SD, MS/Pro), two USB 3.0 ports, one USB 2.0 port, and FireWire. The USB 3.0 ports will come in handy if you ever run out of space on the 500GB 7,200rpm hard drive, as it can provide faster data transfer speeds when hooked up to a USB 3.0 external hard drive. Also, the DisplayPort, HDMI, and WiDi 2.0 a wireless display technology that allows you to stream your computer's content to an HDTV (provided you have the Netgear Push2TV receiver), all allow you to hook up to an external monitor, so when you're at home gaming you don't have to limit yourself to the 11-inch screen.
Performance
The M11xr3 comes fitted with a 1.4GHz Intel Core i5-2537M (1.4GHz) second-generation, dual-core CPU. It's a low-voltage processor, which eats up less battery life compared with the standard-voltage ones. There's also 4 GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics chipset. On our PCMark Vantage (6,183) and Cinebench R11.5 (1.69), it fared better on the former rather than the latter when compared against other laptops with similar CPU power. It beat out the MSI FX420-001US's ($800 street, 4 stars) 5,913 PCMark score, though, not by much. But it couldn't best the MSI Fx420's Cinebench score of 2.6. Other results in our time-based image and video encoding test, like Photoshop CS5 (5 minutes 23 seconds) and Handbrake (3:33) showed that the M11xr3 couldn't quite compete against the MSI FX420 and HP Envy 14-1210NR ($999.99 list, 4 stars). But processing power isn't supposed to be the M11xr3's forte—gaming is.
In 3DMark 06 (8,652 Medium Quality and 6,500 Hight Quality) it bested the MSI FX420 and HP Envy 14 by at least 1,000 points in Medium Quality settings and a few hundred at High Quality settins . In our Crysis DirectX 10 gaming test the M11xr3 was able to play it at 55.6fps on 1,024 by 768 resolution. In Lost Planet 2 (DirectX 9) it played at 39.9fps (1,024 by 768) and 20.6fps (High Quality). However, it should be noted that when I was playing Portal on my desk, the M11xr3's temperature reached 98 degrees, as measured on the underside of the laptop with a Fluke Thermometer. So if you regularly put your laptop on you're, um, lap, then you may want to consider getting one of those lap desks—unless you like the idea of toasted skin syndrome.
The M11xr3 features a 63Wh battery and combined with the low-volt CPU an dNvidia's Optimus technology, which automatically turns off the discrete GPU when performing non-3D related tasks and utilizes the integrated graphics instead, it managed a battery life of 8 hours 3 minutes.. Other laptops with discrete graphics did not manage as well, like the MSI FX420 (5:18), HP 14-1210NR (4:30), and Samsung QX410-J01 (6:27). The only laptop that was able to best the M11xr3 was the Asus U41JF, which lasted only 16 minutes more.
Alienware no doubt rules the portable gaming laptop space, and it has had little competition (unless you count Razer's Switchblade prototype). The only laptops that come close are in the ultraportable category, like the Asus U41JF-A1. However, the Alienware M11xr3 caters to a niche crowd and while it may not offer the best performance in every test, it excels in the areas that matter most: Portability, gaming, and battery life. That's why it earns our Editors' Choice in the portable gaming laptop category.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Alienware M11xr3 with several other laptops side by side.
• Alienware M11xr3
• HP Pavilion dv7-6143cl
• Asus Eee PC 1015B
• Samsung Chromebook Series 5
• Toshiba Tecra R850-S8540
• more
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