Posted 04/19/2012 | by Paul Lilly


Dell's Alienware M11x proved it's possible to play real games on a little laptop, a concept that flies over the head of every Atom-based netbook in existence. We were so impressed with the pint-sized system's gaming prowess that we awarded it a 9/10 verdict when we reviewed the system, but that was nearly two years ago and unfortunately for fans of the M11x, Dell reportedly isn't planning to refresh it's 11-inch gamer.



That's the news The Verge heard straight from the horse's mouth (Dell), anyway. That's a shame because the M11x was truly something special and we'd love to see it upgraded with an Ivy Bridge foundation and perhaps a mobile Kepler infusion. Ultrabooks, portable as they are, can't offer the same gaming performance that a system like the M11x can.

So that's the bad news. The good news is that Dell is overhauling the M14X, M17x, and M18x for 2012, according to The Verge. All three models are being upgraded with an mSATA slot, Bluetooth 4.0, a dedicated onboard Creative Sound Blaster chip, and THX TruStudio software.

Dell's also upping the gaming ante with new GeForce 600 series and Radeon HD 7000 series discrete GPUs, and if you opt for the 18.4-inch M18x model, you can optionally configure it with two GeForce GTX 675M GPUs in SLI or two Radeon HD 7979M GPUs in CrossFire.