Gaming Laptops Goes Mini-Me (Dell Intros Alienware M11x – The World’s First Gaming Netbook)

While Dell’s introduction of the first gaming netbook at the recent CES or Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas wasn’t necessarily the ultimate show stopper, the Alienware M11x did turn a lot of heads, especially among the gaming crowd. Having a small compact four pound gaming netbook with an 11 inch display goes against everything associated with gaming laptops, since most gaming notebooks are heavy, large and try to pack everything under the hood that a decent Gaming Desktop PC would possess. Big emphasis on try.

But a gaming netbook goes completely in the other direction, what’s up with that?

Well, actually there’s a lot to notice about this sleek powerful little device mainly because it comes from Alienware, the premier maker of gaming machines on the planet. While many serious gamers swear anything but a PC for gaming is a foolish idea; most would agree if you have to lower yourself to using a gaming laptop – it might as well be one made by Alienware. In other words, Alienware and computer gaming have become synonymous in the hearts and minds of most gamers.

In our ever increasing demand for everything mobile, perhaps a gaming netbook is only the next illogical step! Make it small, make it powerful and they will come. Right?

Not so fast.

The jury is still out on this gaming netbook which will hit the marketplace in February and sell for under $1000. Which is still expensive, considering many quality netbooks are in the $200 to $400 range. Will gamers snap up this portable gamer in order to have their games with them, no matter where they go? Judging by the popularity of such devices as the Nintendo DS, the answer could be a solid yes.

Improving those odds are the rather impressive specs featured on the Alienware M11x which sports a High Definition 11 inch display and a GT335M GPU from NVIDIA. It is capable of playing such popular games as Call of Duty (Modern Warfare 2) at 30 frames-per-second with a 1336 x 768 max resolution. Alienware is claiming even higher frames rates with benchmarks of well over 60 fps, even capable of reaching 90 fps. Battery life (as claimed by Alienware) stands at 3 or 4 hours for gaming, and up to 6 or 7 hours for general use.

The M11x also sports some other impressive specs for such a small machine: built-in Wi-Fi and webcam, multiple USB ports, HDMI-output, SD card reader and a built-in SIM card reader which will allow users to utilize their cellphone SIM card and have access to Internet services. Also, the M11x has both the NVIDIA GPU and an integrated chipset – you can switch to the less demanding graphics when not gaming to save battery life.

Of course, the M11x has all the styling and features you would expect from an Alienware gaming laptop, like those seen on the powerful M17x and M15x. With jet-black looks and multi-zone LED illumination on the keyboard, alien logo, speakers and so on… the M11x will definitely stand out when comparing netbooks. In our self-absorbed world, looks do count but what’s under the hood will be of most interest to gamers who want a small portable device for their gaming.

Alienware, as of yet, is not giving gamers the full-monty of what’s in this system but full details will come when this gaming netbook is unleashed to the public. But dedicated gamers who must have their gaming available at all times, no matter where they are, probably won’t be disappointed with the Alienware M11x, the world’s first gaming netbook.