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Am I missing something with Alienware?

T

Technoob

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jun 21, 2006
Messages
5,641
http://alienware.com/product_pages/desktop_all_default.aspx All of the "extreme" highest end gaming systems they build, including the models at almost 6thousand dollars don't even have 2 gigs of RAM. Are they doing something special I don't know about? I'm not trying to start a flamewar, just curious if they use much better components or something, because at that price, defaulting to 1gig of ram and a 160 gig HD that's not even a 10k rpm drive seems...a bit weak?
 
Paying for:

.Name
.Service

Both of which are not really that good compared to some popular boutique builders around here.
 
Second that. Now that it's Delienware, I think the name is even less of a draw than it use to be. As far as I know their tech support is still outsourced to Costa Rica and not that hot. Check out resellerratigns to see current assessments.
 
alienware makes some goot stuff but you gotta take it in the butt to get ahold of it. its pricee insanly high. the laptop my friend bought with the specs below he plans on spending maybe 100 more bucks on and paid 550 for and look at the specs. so you know that when you purchase alienware your paying for the name. but now dell owns it which is i dono yet. ill stick with finding what i need cheap.

-eMachines M6809-
-AMD Athlon 64 3200+(2.0 native 2.2 no problem)
-80GB HDD 5400RPM
-ATI mobility radeon 9600 graphics card
-DVD burner (DVD+/-RW)
-512MB DDR Ram (looking for another gig)
-15.4" widescreen LCD
-neat little stuff like 12-in-1 memory card reader, and bluetooth
-Windows XP Pro
 
Alienware is paying for the name brand, as General Crespin said... Alienware laptops are the only Alienwares worth purchasing, their desktops totally are overpriced...
 
you are buying the name of the manufacturer, and why would you pay 6thousand bucks for a new DELLIENWARE which you can build for $1500.

i still would want to get hold of their CASE though.
 
I agree that the Alienware machines have and always will be expensive.
The computers are well built and usually very solid.
You will get what you pay for........ a custom machine, fairly good service, a reasonable warranty, and awful phone waits unless you buy the ALX line.

I have two AW computers, all that is left of the original is the case of one, the case and an optical drive in the other. Ive rebuilt everything else over time. But both were excellent when purchaed.

I have been trying, however, for the past two months to buy a replacement plastic Alienhead LED thing for the front of my son's case.....a part they sell......brother.....wait 20 minutes on hold.....transfer to someone else.......20 minutes......well we gotta check that out.......we'll get back to you.......sure you will. Unfortunately thats how they work about everything......if you get a "good" computer, you're set. It's a love-hate kinda thing.

If I had it to do all over again, and of course didnt build my own stuff.....Velocity Micro or Maingear......on a lark.....VooDoo.
 
Yeah, you dont even get a reach-around for that price. What a gyp!
 
Even their laptops are not worth the price of admission. They're just painted Sager laptops which are made by Compal.
 
magoo said:
I agree that the Alienware machines have and always will be expensive.
The computers are well built and usually very solid.
You will get what you pay for........ a custom machine, fairly good service, a reasonable warranty, and awful phone waits unless you buy the ALX line.

I have two AW computers, all that is left of the original is the case of one, the case and an optical drive in the other. Ive rebuilt everything else over time. But both were excellent when purchaed.

I have been trying, however, for the past two months to buy a replacement plastic Alienhead LED thing for the front of my son's case.....a part they sell......brother.....wait 20 minutes on hold.....transfer to someone else.......20 minutes......well we gotta check that out.......we'll get back to you.......sure you will. Unfortunately thats how they work about everything......if you get a "good" computer, you're set. It's a love-hate kinda thing.

If I had it to do all over again, and of course didnt build my own stuff.....Velocity Micro or Maingear......on a lark.....VooDoo.
Click to expand...

You can usually find very simular cases of there's online. I forget who makes them but they are pretty simular pretty much exact. I do have an old alienware case I am using for my pc right now. It's not a cheiftec knockoff either (although Chieftec did make the knock off's) It has Alienware indented into the front swinging panel and it's freankin huge. I got it at Tiger Direct for 60 bucks with a 400watt power supply. It's pretty nice but easily scratches.
 
lovemyPC said:
Second that. Now that it's Delienware, I think the name is even less of a draw than it use to be. As far as I know their tech support is still outsourced to Costa Rica and not that hot. Check out resellerratigns to see current assessments.
Click to expand...


That it is, we had a few workers here who were former Alienware CR reps and they all hated the job there, crap pay (like $1200 a month or less for most apparently) and most of the people apparently really know NOTHING about computers - i mean NOTHING, i know, cause the one person we hired apparently was one of their top techs, hence why we hired them, but he lasted less then a month, and he was doing for us just basic trouble shooting.
 
rcf1987 said:
Alienware is for people who don't know how to build their own computers.
Click to expand...


Or people who simply dont want to use their time spec'n out parts, worrying about RMA's for individuals parts , or simply dont have the time to build their own system and would rather just get their computer, plug it in and go.
 
rcf1987 said:
Alienware is for people who don't know how to build their own computers.
Click to expand...

You sure about that ?

If that is the case, then I must not be able to build a pc, cuz I have an AW, and it would be the same for every other pc maker in the world. So in your book, anyone who buys a premade pc cant build there own ?...

Me thinks you dont know what you be talking about.....

I tend to go with the post below yours....

Aurora 7500 owner and loving it....

I cannot vouch for USA support, but, whenever I've had to call the UK office, I have never had to wait more than say 2 minutes to have my call taking and they are very quick with there support, I do however notice that when the UK office is closed at weekends, and you need tech support, they transfer you to the states, and the service there is poor compared to the UK, and its also staffed by people who cant speak english properly/spanish speaking personnel...

Whether that is still the case I dont know, but it was 6 months to a year ago.
 
Methinks you wasted your money if you know how to build a decent computer.

It is not secret knowledge that Alienwares are horridly overpriced products that really are not on par with their price tag...


But enjoy your overpriced, crappily watercooled hunk of plastic :D
 
me thinks you are jealous ;)

And as for your horribly overpriced, when I got this rig last june, the cpu was about £1000 whether you bought it from a store on its own or from AW, and I got the rig for £2500, which included sli 78s, which at the time retailed on the net for £450 a pop, that brings it upto roughly £1900, and for 600 more quid i get all the rest, now too me that didnt sound horribly overpriced, when considering if I were to buy all the items seperatly I would of came to roughly the same price but maybe 200-300 cheaper at most.

So horrible overpriced at the time it wasnt ;) and for those couple of hundred pounds over that I went instead of doing it myself, gives me peace of mind that for the next 3 years I have no problems with having to rma broken stuff and waiting for ages tfor it to be returned to me...

Peace of mind.
 
EVIL-SCOTSMAN said:
me thinks you are jealous ;)

And as for your horribly overpriced, when I got this rig last june, the cpu was about £1000 whether you bought it from a store on its own or from AW, and I got the rig for £2500, which included sli 78s, which at the time retailed on the net for £450 a pop, that brings it upto roughly £1900, and for 600 more quid i get all the rest, now too me that didnt sound horribly overpriced, when considering if I were to buy all the items seperatly I would of came to roughly the same price but maybe 200-300 cheaper at most.

So horrible overpriced at the time it wasnt ;) and for those couple of hundred pounds over that I went instead of doing it myself, gives me peace of mind that for the next 3 years I have no problems with having to rma broken stuff and waiting for ages tfor it to be returned to me...

Peace of mind.
Click to expand...

I enjoy building my own computers. But when I first got into this stuff I didnt know anything and wanted peace of mind too. I knew I didnt want some Gateway or Dell junk (at the time neither was any good at the high end).
So I bought Alienware. Ran like greased lightening, solid and perfect right out of the box. Man I loved that computer.
As I said above, my self built SLI rig now occupies my original Alienware case and my sons computer, also self built occupies my newer Alienware case.
People buy pre-built computers for lots of reasons.....none of them wrong.
There is absolutely no reason to think less of anyone just because they purchased a computer ready to go instead of building one from the ground up.
 
I am glad you liked it magoo, cuz i love my one, and it runs real good and problem free, although i have taken it to bits on more than 1 occasion for upgrades and cleaning etc.

I intend to do the same thing with my case, when the time comes i will dump the guts of it and rebuild but just use the case, as there cases are sweet :D
 
rcf1987 said:
Alienware is for people who don't know how to build their own computers.
Click to expand...

Actually it's quite the opposite many times. This is a myth propogated sometimes in enthusiast forums where you have a mix of a few people who really know their stuff, and many who are just learning and don't know the true demograhics of OEM PC sales. Alot of very high profile people and former tech-enthusiasts, and even high-end techs from major companies use VM-AW-ABS etc... they just have too much money and too little time to sit around and tweak a DFI bios all day. You don't have to be an in the know tech to order one of these machines.
 
I'd say it's more along the lines of "Alienware is for people that want the coolest thing there is" and not realizing cool doesn't mean much compared to the ridiculous pricetags.

But then again, look at the following and get the same reactions:

Porsche
Lamborghini
Ferrari
Rolex
etc etc

People pay such ridiculous prices because someone told them or they read someplace "that's the thing to get" and then wasted what some people in small third world countries would equate to 50 lifetimes of wages and earnings. What a total waste.

I myself and any number of people around here at this forum and many others online could build a PC for half the cost that would eat anything Alienware sells for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

It's the "name game" and their support isn't much better than... oh, wait... they are Dell now... how interesting. :)

bb
 
Well i would certainly go with VM or ABS anyday over AW. But i would have no problem going with an OEM if i were too busy to build, and now that i make myliving fixing peoples spinal health and not running a computer resellers-repair shop i find it far less apealing to monkey with machines day in and day out. I still build now and then but there will be a day soon i just don't give a damn anymore, and at that point i will definitely buy a VM or ABS machine more than likely. In other words actually building it will be limited to installing a better video card (or two) and no more for my personal machine.
 
Being one of the original Alienware pc owners, a p2 450 with the just released canopus TNT 1 and v2 sli, they were, when i bought that machine in 98, one of the best companies building them and their service was top notch. Here is a good story, my personal experience and story of them: I had just ordered my pc, and when it came in, The box was kicked in on the side and sopping wet. It was sent thru Fed-Ex. I called immediately and told them what was going on, i was then transferred to Nelson (the owner), and he walked thru the setup procedure saying "if it messes up at all, we'll take it back and send you another one.". Thankgod it was packed good, one box inside another box with peanuts, and the pc was wrapped in plastic. It worked flawlessly and was the fastest computer around florence, SC. i cant say enough about the service i recieved then other than that 2 other people went out and bought one themselves.

So atleast at one time, they had the best reliablity, performance, price, and service you could get.In fact, one of the head pc technicians for them was in the pgl season 2 and/or 3 and played against Thresh, Immortal, Makaveli and the likes. Fabian was his name. So technically, they were built by gamers for gamers. But now in 2006, i dont know. I believe, what happened was, they grew too large too fast and they are suffering from it. Now with dell owning them, i dont think they will live up to what they use to be. Sad such a great company going downhill, but time will tell with dell.
 
EVIL-SCOTSMAN said:
You sure about that ?

If that is the case, then I must not be able to build a pc, cuz I have an AW, and it would be the same for every other pc maker in the world. So in your book, anyone who buys a premade pc cant build there own ?...

Me thinks you dont know what you be talking about.....

I tend to go with the post below yours....

Aurora 7500 owner and loving it....

I cannot vouch for USA support, but, whenever I've had to call the UK office, I have never had to wait more than say 2 minutes to have my call taking and they are very quick with there support, I do however notice that when the UK office is closed at weekends, and you need tech support, they transfer you to the states, and the service there is poor compared to the UK, and its also staffed by people who cant speak english properly/spanish speaking personnel...

Whether that is still the case I dont know, but it was 6 months to a year ago.
Click to expand...

Well then I should say most of the people that buy don't know how to build a computer
 
rysher said:
you are buying the name of the manufacturer, and why would you pay 6thousand bucks for a new DELLIENWARE which you can build for $1500.

i still would want to get hold of their CASE though.
Click to expand...



For 6k I could build a rig that would make the same price Alienweird rig look like a n00b rig....



But some people actually like paying overblown $$$ just so they have bragging rights, not too mention most of those types could not build a rig and install the Os and software properly to save their life :D


Oh wait, that special alien case is what you are paying for.... :eek: :p
 
br0adband said:
I'd say it's more along the lines of "Alienware is for people that want the coolest thing there is" and not realizing cool doesn't mean much compared to the ridiculous pricetags.

But then again, look at the following and get the same reactions:

Porsche
Lamborghini
Ferrari
Rolex
etc etc

People pay such ridiculous prices because someone told them or they read someplace "that's the thing to get" and then wasted what some people in small third world countries would equate to 50 lifetimes of wages and earnings. What a total waste.

I myself and any number of people around here at this forum and many others online could build a PC for half the cost that would eat anything Alienware sells for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

It's the "name game" and their support isn't much better than... oh, wait... they are Dell now... how interesting. :)

bb
Click to expand...


That about sums it up.
 
Personally, the fact that they are a part of Dell now can only mean that support is going to improve. I have always had great support with Dell. When I had problems with my laptop I had a tech out to my house within 2-3 days. Dell would overnight replacement parts to the tech and the tech would be at my door to repair the laptop. I usually dont have to wait on hold very long at all to speak to tech support either. Dell basically rebuilt my entire laptop, the only thing in it that is from when I first got it are the processors and the screen. Everything else is less then a year old.
 
Its very interesting to read these posts anytime somebody asks a question about Alienware, VooDoo or any of the boutique builders. Same stuff everytime......I could build one, blah,blah,blah........you just have to keep in mind that not every person on the planet likes to, or knows how to put a PC together. Some people just dont have the time. So they buy one......and if they feel their hard earned dollars are well spent on an Alienware or any other brand, then so be it.

Hind-sight is very powerful.....now that I understand how to build PCs, and have the time to do so......I wouldnt want anything else, but that's where I am now. It wasnt always that way. :D
 
magoo said:
Hind-sight is very powerful.....now that I understand how to build PCs, and have the time to do so......I wouldnt want anything else, but that's where I am now. It wasnt always that way. :D
Click to expand...

QFT. I bought my current computer from Monarch, two months later I built my sister's computer, now I'll probably build my mom's computer whenever Conroe becomes readily available (or if AMD's price drops are to good to pass up). :)
 
magoo said:
Its very interesting to read these posts anytime somebody asks a question about Alienware, VooDoo or any of the boutique builders. Same stuff everytime......I could build one, blah,blah,blah........you just have to keep in mind that not every person on the planet likes to, or knows how to put a PC together. Some people just dont have the time.
Click to expand...

Let's also keep in mind that it is against the guidelines for this forum to discuss DIY options. I appreciate a good debate and I've let it slide for this thread, but let's not make it a habit, capiche? ;)
 
I had an alienware at one point (it's still sitting around, but I haven't turned it on in months), and it was just something to buy for the sake of buying pre-built once. It served me quite well for about 3 years.

Anymore I'd just go with a boutique for something that's built. Computer parts are computer parts, and the integrators are generally using exactly the same parts. You're paying for how well they integrate it and for the support.

It's very much unlike, say, cars, where each car has a different feel to it. Yeah, you can buy a mazda miata and put some work into it to make it a decent and quick vehicle, but it will never be like driving a Porsche Carrera 4, or an Aston Martin DB9.

(*deftly typed to answer a point in the debate without actually trying to further the debate so as not to anger the moderation gods*)
 
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