Alienware M11x Ultra-Light Gaming Notebook Review

Performance Summary: The Alienware M11x performed well in our testing. CULV-based notebooks don't offer the same kind of performance of more powerful, larger notebooks, but they make up for it with better mobility and longer battery life. In our benchmarks, the Alienware M11x performed somewhere in between the Asus UL80vt, which is based on the same Core 2 Duo SU7300 processor, and the Asus U30Jc, which is equipped with the more powerful Core i3-350M. The M11x, however, excels in the gaming tests, where its NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M comes into play.

We really like the Alienware M11x. While it doesn't excel in any one category versus true ultra-portable or dedicated gaming notebooks, it's combination of an ultra-portable form factor and gaming-class components make the M11x appealing on a number of different levels. It's not the fastest notebook, nor does it offer the best battery life, but it is good enough in so many categories that the M11x can almost be considered a jack-of-all-trades type machine.

We particularly like the M11x's form factor, and fit and finish. It's relatively powerful GeForce GT 335M GPU is also plus, and battery life is very good for a machine with this much power. The M11x's screen wasn't the best we have seen, but it is perfectly acceptable and shouldn't deter anyone from using the system. If it had an optical drive, a higher-quality LCD and employed NVIDIA's Optimus technology, the M11x would be darn near perfect in our opinion (though we hear Optimus should be coming to the M11x soon). As it stands now, the Alienware M11x is still a great product, and we would have no problem recommending it to anyone in the market for a truly mobile gaming machine, that can easily double as an ultra-portable workhorse.