Alienware M11xr3 Laptop Review - Dashing Laptop
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.
