Alienware is widely known for its top class gaming laptops with great performance and build quality and their nice design with very good lighting work as well. Today we take a look at Alienware M11xR3.M11x R3 has the same design as its predecessors, complete with an all-black rubberized lid that has the lighted Alienware logo, raven-black stylings on the sides, two lighted grilles on the front lip, and a sleek Alien-themed keyboard on the inside. The entire chassis has the curves of some kind of alien spaceship.Better still, the keyboard, front grilles, the Alienware name on the bezel, and the little Alien head above the keyboard can all light up in different colors of your choosing. Using the bundled Alienware AlienFX software, you can set each of these areas to illuminate in any of 20 different colors,M11x feels thick and bulky for its size. By comparison, the 11-inch HP Pavilion dm1z weighs only 3.4 pounds. However, the Alienware notebook is more than portable enough.Build quality is quite good thanks to a magnesium alloy construction combined with matte black plastics and the previously mentioned "soft touch finish" which helps make the notebook scratch resistant. The exterior of the notebook feels rock solid with just a little bit of flex on the back of the screen lid when you apply pressure. The keyboard and palmrest don't suffer from any noticeable flex even under heavy typing pressure. AlienFX software included on the M11x R3 you can set this logo to light up in a number of different ways to alert you of your battery status. I set the alien head on my original M11x to light up blue on AC power and red when it's running on battery power. This is a fantastic way to alert the user if the power cord is accidentally unplugged during a game. Two additional areas that light up on the M11x are the alien head on the back of the screen and the intake vent on the bottom of the notebook. These two areas, however, aren't configurable with the AlienFX software -- the vent uses the same lighting as the keyboard and the alien head on the screen lid is illuminated by the LCD when the laptop is running. US customers also still have the option of getting a personalized, laser-etched name plate on the bottom of the M11x R2.Speaking of the bottom of the notebook, the M11x is likewise stunning even from underneath. The bottom panel is largely flat and smooth with speaker grill holes for the downward-firing stereo speakers, the cooling fan intake, and battery meter. If you're interested in upgrading the internal components on your M11x you'll be happy to learn that all user-serviceable parts are located under a single access panel on the bottom of the notebook.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.Alienware M11x stayed reasonably cool throughout our testing. After we streamed video at full screen for 15 minutes, the keyboard measured a chilly 85 degrees Fahrenheit, the touchpad a reasonable 92 degrees, and the bottom an acceptable 97 degrees. We consider temperatures below 95 degrees comfortable for the top surface of a notebook.Alienware M11x lasted an impressive 465 minute on the LAPTOP Battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi, well above the 465 minute category average, the 6:29 provided by the ASUS 31JG, and the 3 hours offered by the ASUS G53SW. It's also a huge improvement over the 5:59 time offered by the second-generation Alienware M11x we reviewed last year.The battery is not-removable, but it's easy to tell how much juice is left, even when the notebook is off. On the bottom of the notebook sits a capacity button with five lights.The system noise from the M11x R3 has made a good impression in an idle state. With little load (internet, movies, etc.), the 11 inch subnotebook is relatively quiet, and the small cooling fan is only just noticeable. If the device has nothing to do at all, the cooling fan deactivates completely, and with the SSD hard drive the M11x R3 is then completely silent.Under a high load (3D application, PC game, etc.) the cooling fan turns up quite considerably, and all tasks are accompanied by an unpleasant high-frequency hissing. Noise sensitive users will likely start getting annoyed with the subnotebook after a short time when playing games, and it becomes noticeable that the cooling system is reaching its limits.Overall its a good laptop and you can but the latest one or just customize it and bring some solid performer components-in.
Let do some BenchMarks work..........
- Top class build Quality.
- Good battery life.
- Nice Backlit keyboard.
- USB 3.0 + DisplayPort and HDMI ports.
- Good Wimax feature.
- Nice WebCam.
- Heavy.
- Noisy.
- Screen Glare.
