Looking for a ultra portable gaming Laptop <14"

[Boyiee]

Looks like the laptop thread isn't getting as much attention as it used to, and there is no reason for me to hijack someone elses thread, so here goes.

I just sold my 17inch G73JH, which I loveeeeeed, but it was just too big to bring to classes. I'm looking for a laptop that can play WoW well, as well as some of my steam folder reasonably well. I don't mind playing on non-ultrahigh settings, but I don't want to have a shitty experience either.

I've been looking at the alienware m11x and the dell XPS 14. Both are almost identical in price with the builds I made, around 1400-1500 with the 3yr accidental warranty. Portability is a must, I've never had a laptop smaller than 17inch, the smallest I've ever held was an OLD 15inch, so I don't know if the 14inch is small enough or not. It has to be able to handle some games at work, which it seems both can do well. I have over 100gb of steam games but I'll probably only play singleplayer ones like fallout/cod sp/ME2/Metro. As for playing wow well, pretty much everything but raiding smoothly. Leveling/Questing/Achieves/BG and 5mans.

One other question, if I went with the xps, should I stick with the i7-740? I think thats what my g73 had, or should I drop to the i5 models? The difference between both laptops is pretty much, 11inch vs 14inch+1333ram+true i7 processor.

Thanks.

[sruon]

Avoid i5 on laptops, they're only dual-cores.

[Boyiee]

the m11x is the ulv i7 I think, it's good but the xps14 has a real one which would outperform it... that and it has 1333 ram. Gpu's are very similar... it's really about the extra portability vs. the slightly better performance...

But having never owned something smaller than 17inch, and never using either of these models, I don't really know which to pull the trigger on.

[Kerberoz]

ultra portable

gaming

Pick one. Are you actually going to play games on the move? Cheaper to get a godly desktop + cheap notebook than to get a *cough* "gaming" laptop.

[Gredival]

m11x has problems with WoW last I checked (should check it yourself see if it's still an issue, I just remember a big thread on WoW in the m11x forum of Notebook Review), but iirc it was something related to the gpu not the cpu.

All my negative experience with my own m11x has to do with nVidia's terrible driver support moreso than anything to do with the laptop itself. The only gaming I do at school is SC2, which runs just fine on medium settings.

The processor is really not that bad; if you are afraid it will be slow get an SSD (cheaper to do it yourself after you get the laptop; Alienware warranty lets you service ram and HDD yourself). The increases from an SSD in terms of portable use are much more dramatic than the increases you'd get with a better CPU. Your bottleneck will almost always be the GPU.

But I've also heard another model with sandy bridge might be coming soon, if you want to hold off.

[Boyiee]

Pick one. Are you actually going to play games on the move? Cheaper to get a godly desktop + cheap notebook than to get a *cough* "gaming" laptop.

I'm not looking for a desktop, I know thats cheaper, and I have a godly one already. Yes, I play games at work. The laptop is specifically for when I'm not home, to use for class and while at work.

But I've also heard another model with sandy bridge might be coming soon, if you want to hold off.

I've heard that too but it looks like it could be a while. The thing is if I wait for new technology, i'll be waiting forever, so not sure how badly I want to wait.

The other issue is, isn't the ram 800mhz? Not much of an upgrade, the xps14 at least gets 133mhz with its i7. One major selling point on the m11 is the battery life though, is it really as good as everyone says? The xps14 doesn't come close.

[Gredival]

Technically, no. But effectively, yes.

The ram that comes in the m11x r2 is DDR3-1333 (PC3-10700), but I believe that the ULV CPU doesn't run the ram at max speed at stock. I remember hearing that the RAM scales up if it's overclocked, but I'm not sure. Overclocking on the r2 is imprecise though. You have a set of multipliers you can set the CPU to, but if you go too high for your specific CPU it'll be unstable. Mine doesn't go anywhere near the max preset, I can go about halfway up the preset list. I generally leave the OC off, and turn it on if I know I'm going to play.

The battery life on mine seems to be better than average though (I get 6:40~ or so, including boot up). Most r2 owners report about 5hrs. Comparatively the r1 got around 7-8 on average without very much tweaking at all. But I'm also pretty conscious about how much power I use though -- I stay on lowest brightness, I don't OC while on battery, turn off the Alienware lights. I have no idea what the XPS 14 gets, but I find that I can usually spend my entire day away from an outlet no problem. I don't play games without plugging in (burning the battery that fast is pretty bad for long-term battery longevity)

EDIT: Another issue you might want to be aware of is that a lot of people say their laptop hinges are misaligned and it causes the keyboard to touch the screen. Alienware covers damage from this defect under warranty, including LCD replacement, but it could be a hassle. In severe cases people report the case starts to show physical wear and tear from the hinge pressure. Mine's not nearly so severe, and I use a static cling screen protector anyway, so it hasn't been an issue for me.

[Boyiee]

The overclockable mention in all the reviews isn't as good as it seems then. Playing around on HP's website I built an Envy14 for just a little less than the m11x. About 40$ less for the i7-720, and pretty much same specs elsewhere (one 4gb stick so I can add a 2nd on my own time).

But like I said, I don't know how "portable" 14inches is. I can see that the 11 for sure is, but it's a close one here.

edit: found a 300$ off coupon for the envy 14...

Spoiler: show

# Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
# Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Quad Core processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
# 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 Graphics [HDMI] - For Quad Core Processors
# 4GB DDR3 System Memory (1 Dimm)
# 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
# No Additional Office Software
# 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++
# 14.5" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Infinity LED Display (1366x768)
# SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support (Slot Load)

compared to

Spoiler: show

System Color Alienware M11x, Soft Touch Stealth Black P2STBHN [224-8847]
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit) AW7HP6E [420-6436][420-9691][421-0092][421-1400]
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 640UM (4M Cache, 1.2 GHZ with 2.266 GHz Max Turbo Frequency) - Overclockable I7640UM [313-9774]
Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 800MHz 2GB [317-4705]
Power Adapters Alienware M11x 90W A/C Adapter 90W [330-9945]
LCD 11.6-inch WideHD 1366x768 (720p) WLED NWANBLK [320-1467]
Video Card 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 335M 1GBNIV [320-9857]
Hard Drive 320GB SATAII 7,200RPM

damnit lol

So 11inch ends up being 1498.99 before tax, needs 2sticks of 4gb memory upgrade after purchase... 14inch ends up being 1369.58 with tax, needs 1 4gb stick. Hopefully bestbuy has a 14inch in stock so I can see how big it really is.

[Gredival]

The m11x is actually deceptively heavy for it's size (it's pretty thick). But it's worlds different from when I used to have my 17" which I eventually stopped carrying to class because of the hassle. Weight-wise I would not be surprised if the difference between the m11x and the Envy is smaller than you imagine.

I'll say this though. I love my m11x, but those upgrades in specs for the loss of 3 inches of portability, I would probably have gone with the Envy. (I'm assuming the Envy has switchable graphics, like most laptops, right?)

EDIT: Just saw your edit.

Try look around coupons for the m11x too or see if you can claim EPP from your employer or Dell U from an alma mater; when I got mine there was a leaked Dell coupon for Boeing that was 20% off. Combined with EPP/Dell University, I got my m11x for a little over $850 before tax. If you offered me an Envy for that much when I ordered my m11x, I would have jumped on it. But I wouldn't have taken the m11x at 1.5k either

While I had legitimate uses of the coupon (uncle worked at Boeing) and EPP (my law school is an EPP affiliate), I didn't need to verify jack when I ordered (by phone). And I know plenty people got away using that coupon so much so that Dell stopped honoring it without a @boeing.com email

[Boyiee]

In my cart I've got the Envy @1497.26 with tax/shipping etc having the coupon applied. Thats also with the 740QM cpu, I could drop 100$ by going to the 720. Thats also with 1 stick of 4gb ram so I can add a 2nd when I get it for cheaper.

The m11x is sitting in the cart at 1498.99 BEFORE TAX with only 2gb of ram, needing me to add 2 sticks of 4gb when i get it (if I go that route).

edit: lol being an m11x owner and not wanting to pay that much for an m11x pretty much just sold the envy for me. Thanks.

[Gredival]

Np, but I don't understand how you are all the way up to 1.5k on the m11x without also upping the HDD/RAM. Without even using EPP, on Dell.com the m11x with just the i7 should only be like $1100~... You should be able to get that down to under $1000 easily with EPP.

Also the r1 (the Core2Duo model) is on sale today for $600 for CyberMonday. I would REALLY consider jumping on that with a net savings of $800. I know a Core2Duo seems underpowered compared to the i7 line, but I don't think the CPU is the a bottleneck for this machine -- I haven't heard from anyone with an r1 that the Core2Duo is what's holding them back.

But I also don't know how frugal you are.

[Boyiee]

The 3yr accidental is about 210$, that's pretty much whats spiking the price if anything.

I didn't see that c2d deal, that could probably run wow/fallout/etc just fine, plus it should have insane battery life.

[Gredival]

I'm assuming you've got the equivalent warranty selected on the Envy, and if that's the case yeah I'd say go with the Envy. The $300 coupon putting them at the same price point is definitely the deal maker here (btw check if you can get Bing Cash Back; it works on HP sometimes).

[Boyiee]

I was just looking on big actually and didn't see it.

That c2d m11 would run my main game at work, wow, fine, as well as being more portable. With 1yr accidental and a few upgrades/changes it comes to like 800ish before tax/shipping whatever. For about 1150 total before the protection plan and some pretty high spec choices, I don't think I can turn down the envy though. I just hope 14inches isn't too big for me. I was fine carrying the 17inch to class honestly, it just felt/seemed/looked awkward lol. I'm sure 14 will be fine. Really appreciate the help, I was almost sold on the m11x at that price.

Now for a backpack!

[Gredival]

Going with Newegg parts, you can keep the C2D under the 1.2k mark while still getting the 3yr along with 8GB of ram and an SSD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-543-_-Product (220 for OCZ agility SSD)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-342-_-Product (124 for 8GB Gskill)

The parts that come in the machine aren't trash either. The HDD is definitely suitable to be reused (it's a WesternDigital Scorpio) and the RAM could probably be sold for a few bucks (Samsung).

But I don't think the Envy is a bad deal at all. The luxury of extra ram, an SSD, and $300 vs. a more future proof CPU.

Were your concerns about portability are merely that 17" looked really awkward? I would have figured lugging around a G73 was just cumbersome. In my personal experience, classrooms are littered with 13" - 15" Macbooks, so the Envy should fit fine. If anything the Alienware would stand out more because of its design, even if it's smaller.