Alienware M11x was well-received by gamers upon its announcement. Many were willing to trade off optical drive for an ultra-portable gaming laptop, even if it meant dealing with an 11-inch screen. But when it hit stores, gamers were adamant to embracing its cramped keyboard. This forced Alienware to phase out M11x, replacing it with the larger M14x – a 14-inch gaming laptop with a more ergonomic keyboard, increased battery life, and an additional optical drive. But if you’re looking to buy an 11-inch form factor, Maingear picks up where Alienware left off with Pulse 11 gaming laptop.
Maingear Pulse 11 is a travel-friendly laptop with an 11.6-inch screen. It may be small but it’s packed with sound hardware that make it suitable for gaming. It has a 1366 x 769 LED-backlit display, NVIDIA GeForce GT650M with 2GB RAM for graphics, Intel GMA HD GPU, HDMI-out 1.4a, USB 3.0, and THX TruStudio Pro Sound for audio optimization. It could handle up to 16GB of dual-channel DDR3 RAM and most importantly, is going to be powered by Ivy Bridge. Gaming laptop Pulse 11 will start shipping on June 3. Price starts at $1099 for a Core i5 model with 8GB RAM and 320GB HDD. It’ll be one of the first Ivy Bridge-powered gaming laptops available in the market.
Last week, Lenovo announced three Ivy Bridge-powered computers with prices ranging from $549 to $1200. Namely, they are IdeaCentre A720 AIO, IdeaPad Y480, and ThinkPad Edge E430. IdeaPad Y480 will be available beginning this week, followed by ThinkPad Edge E430 in May and IdeaCentre A720 in June. This July, Apple might launch Macs powered by Ivy too. The processor is capable of supporting Retina Display so we’re looking forward to Macs with the same high-resolution display as the new iPad.
