Alienware or Dell?

CLHC · Mar 13, 2006

http://enews.earthlink.net/article/gen?guid=20060312/4413aad0_3ca6_1552620060312-2052145936

Don't know about the rest of you fellows, but I do like Alienware's products, especially their laptops. Dell has stepped into this market after noticing the PC gamers choice of such high-end and high-priced PCs in their XPS line.

The Miami based company (Alienware) has seen sales racking up according to the link above. Their prices :huh: though are— :awman:

Anyone into Alienware?

Mini-Moder · Mar 13, 2006

2 years ago I had a terrible experience with an Alienware laptop. First it took them 4 weeks to ship and build my computer when they said it would take them 2. Upon arrival the wireless card was broken. A new one was shipped to me and I installed it. 6 days later my LCD went haywire. I sent it back to Alienware, they said it would ready to go in a week; I did not receive the laptop for another 4 weeks. All the time on the phone, they said the LCD was faulty and would be replaced. Upon arrival of the laptop, I found they had only replaced the video card. This was something I could have done myself in 15 minutes. I was pissed at that point. Then after 3 days of use, the exact same problem happened to my LCD again. I shipped it back to Alienware. After 2 weeks and no response, I called and said I wanted my money back. It took me another 2 weeks to get the office manager on the phone; they always made excuses for why he wasn't there. They said he would call back but he never did, finally had to yell at the customer service rep to put him on the phone, it went something like: "WELL GET HIM FROM HIS LUNCH AND TELL HIM TO TALK TO ME…..NOW". I ended up returning the laptop after 3 weeks in the shop. Those *******s charged a 15% restocking fee though. I do not know if they have improved there business since, I am just telling you my experience. I would definitely not do business with them ever again. I also would not ever recommend them to anyone.

:thumbsdow:thumbsdow:thumbsdow MAJOR JEERS TO ALIENWARE!!!!!!!:thumbsdow:thumbsdow:thumbsdow

CLHC · Mar 13, 2006

Your experience sounds familiar with some others I read about. Would like to hear more experiences with said company before "spending" $$$$$. That's how I do my research.

Sorry for your distaste in Alienware, and thanks for your input. Enjoy!

mdocod · Mar 13, 2006

I've been aware of their exsistance since the late 90s, and have watched their progress from the sidelines. I will continue to build my PCs in house using parts purchased from New-egg or other places, and of cource- have a mac around. (in case I want to do something serious)

Alienware- Is a premium package deal that really targets people looking for a SERIOUS PC... not just a lamo pile of semi-proprietary hardware mixed with a brand-based release of windows full of buggy extra software.

Lightraven · Mar 13, 2006

Well, I upgraded my Dell to an Alienware a few years ago. The Alienware is a more customized rig that is tweaked for game players. The case is more interesting--black with a sliding door--and there are a bunch of cooling fans that make it kinda noisy.

I had a problem with the motherboard a while back. Alienware paid a guy to come to my place and replace it. It wasn't a bad experience, really.

Then, the fans were squeaking badly for a while, but that has gone away.

Now, Windows and Internet Explorer have gotten really buggy. I attribute this to Microsoft, though, not Alienware. It didn't start out this way, it's just getting senile in its old age. It will be time to put the old racehorse out to pasture soon (can't play F.E.A.R. or any of the good new games), but I haven't decided whether to go back to Alienware. My last Dell laptop had problems, so they aren't the perfect choice.

NickelPlate · Mar 13, 2006

They're nice PCs, I've used them but IMHO they're not worth the money, ditto for the Falcon stuff. For the price of one top end Alienware or Falcon, you could build two high end PCs of your own choosing with the latest processor, video/sound card, hard drive RAM etc. Or three moderately equipped rigs. On the other hand, they look cool, the top models are assuredly the absolute best of everything and I was going to say the support is top notch but I've read many stories similiar to Mini_Modder's.

carrot · Mar 13, 2006

Just another high-end boutique PC maker to take a look at -- VoodooPC

Asus makes good machines... there was a review in MobilePC showing their laptop vs a VoodooPC laptop with supposedly the same specs -- and theirs edged out the VoodooPC, for quite a bit less money.

raggie33 · Mar 13, 2006

i wouldnt spend thast much on a pc .i rather build one my self far as a lap top i dont know how to build laptops but if i wanted one id look for a cheap one on sale i dont think a lap top would ever be good to game with.cause screen size and i doubt ya can use real great coponets cause the heat

MichiganMan · Mar 13, 2006

'Bout four years ago I bought a pretty nice Alienware for ~$2200. The salesman I placed the order with was on the phone immediately when I called to place the order, and no-where to be found by phone or email after I placed the order but before the system shipped. Mildly annoying, but the system arrived three weeks later and all was well. Then a year later the fan on the video card started failing. I called Alienware and after confirming that I was still under warranty they offerered to send me the replacement card that was retailing for $350 then. They took my credit card number as security that I would send the defective card back after installing the replacement.

The replacement never arrived. After two weeks I started emailing and calling Alienware with only vague assurances from outsourced support operators that my card was on the way. After three weeks I began to become a PITA and finally got transferred to a supervisor who provided me with a tracking number. Lo and behold, the card had been delivered a week and a half prior. To South Carolina... Calling back I got said supervisor back on the phone who proceeded to dance around whether they had actually shipped my card to the wrong address or he had just given me a random tracking number to get me off the phone. Instead he assured me that my card would be arriving in the mail within a week. It did. It worked great and I mailed back the defective card, a decidedly satisfied customer. When my CC statement came two weeks later with no charges I stopped keeping track of the USPS tracking number of the RMA'ed card, a very educational mistake for me.

A month later my next CC statement came. Suprise, a $350 charge from Alienware. I called them back and inquired why I had been charged for this warranty repair. I was informed that since they never recieved the RMA'd card for the new one they sent out, I "purchased" the new one. A supervisor happily told me that without the USPS tracking number from a month and a half prior to confirm delivery to Alienware, he couldn't help me, despite how much he wanted to, of course.

So the warranty cost me $350 bucks. To this day, I still wonder if they actually didn't recieve the defective card I shipped, or I was charged for the one sent to South Carolina.

Oh, and no, I would NEVER buy from Alienware again. Ever. Instead, I spent another $2000 at Newegg last year and hand built my newest system.

snakebite · Mar 14, 2006

MichiganMan said:
'Bout four years ago I bought a pretty nice Alienware for ~$2200. The salesman I placed the order with was on the phone immediately when I called to place the order, and no-where to be found by phone or email after I placed the order but before the system shipped. Mildly annoying, but the system arrived three weeks later and all was well. Then a year later the fan on the video card started failing. I called Alienware and after confirming that I was still under warranty they offerered to send me the replacement card that was retailing for $350 then. They took my credit card number as security that I would send the defective card back after installing the replacement.

The replacement never arrived. After two weeks I started emailing and calling Alienware with only vague assurances from outsourced support operators that my card was on the way. After three weeks I began to become a PITA and finally got transferred to a supervisor who provided me with a tracking number. Lo and behold, the card had been delivered a week and a half prior. To South Carolina... Calling back I got said supervisor back on the phone who proceeded to dance around whether they had actually shipped my card to the wrong address or he had just given me a random tracking number to get me off the phone. Instead he assured me that my card would be arriving in the mail within a week. It did. It worked great and I mailed back the defective card, a decidedly satisfied customer. When my CC statement came two weeks later with no charges I stopped keeping track of the USPS tracking number of the RMA'ed card, a very educational mistake for me.

A month later my next CC statement came. Suprise, a $350 charge from Alienware. I called them back and inquired why I had been charged for this warranty repair. I was informed that since they never recieved the RMA'd card for the new one they sent out, I "purchased" the new one. A supervisor happily told me that without the USPS tracking number from a month and a half prior to confirm delivery to Alienware, he couldn't help me, despite how much he wanted to, of course.

So the warranty cost me $350 bucks. To this day, I still wonder if they actually didn't recieve the defective card I shipped, or I was charged for the one sent to South Carolina.

Oh, and no, I would NEVER buy from Alienware again. Ever. Instead, I spent another $2000 at Newegg last year and hand built my newest system.

you didnt file a dispute with your cc issuer?
i would have!
chargebacks tend to get attention when nothing else will!
i build all my systems.i put the money in quality parts not bling.

Donovan · Mar 14, 2006

Alienware is very overpriced since it is a "boutique" pc. But they do have great performance. But I would recommend almost anything over a dell. Dells are the new "packard bell", IE they use the cheapest components in the industry. At work, we have more issues with dell than all the other pc's combined... Avoid!

As others have mentioned if your in the market for an ultra high performance desktop, then I would highly recommend that you build it yourself. It's really not that hard and you get all that experience to boot! Or get one built from a smaller clone shop nearby. Another option would be to buy a barebones or an inexpensive industry standard pc (with a good case, powersuppy, motherboard and cpu) and upgrade it with lots more ram and a fast video card.

If your in the market for a laptop, then I would go for a brand name with a good warranty. Apple (powerbook), Asus, Alienware, Voodoopc are all good choices for an ultrafast laptop.

I just recently reviewed an HP (Compaq) NW8240 laptop that was as fast as my gaming desktop! This thing had an ATI FireGL video card and an ultra high res widescreen that ran everything very well at its native resolution of 1680x1050!

Donovan · Mar 14, 2006

Funny videos about dell (um I mean smell) computer tech support:
http://www.illwillpress.com/tech.html

http://www.illwillpress.com/tech3.html

.

ABTOMAT · Mar 14, 2006

I'll say that buying a good, new laptop these days is getting harder. Most small companies, and many of the major ones, don't actually make the laptops. You think Alienware owns a factory cranking out circut boards? Nope. They call up YingYang Heavy Industries and place an order for a thousand #12's with #8 green plastic parts. Now obviously that's simplifying the process, but that's basically how it works. Even in the last few years of IBM's production of Thinkpads there were several models made entirely by a third party.

And almost no one services their own machines. The "Dell Service Center" isn't Dell at all, it's some other contract company like Unisys. Heck, in the late '90s IBM was servicing Dell laptops. under contract.

I would totally avoid Alienware since it's so overpriced and undersupported. There are also some Dell models I'd trust (mostly older designs) but none of the high-end computers. Their support sucks, too. I still have a fondness for Thinkpads (ones that were designed before the selloff) but the production quality and depot support is going downhill. At least IBM's onsite service is still IBM. Toshiba, Fujitsu, and HP (as much as a hate the company) are making decent things now. Sony Vaios are great when they're running but they've had so many bad design defects I won't touch one.

Oh yeah, if you're looking into getting a gaming PC just completely skip laptops. You get a ton more in a desktop for less money, and you can upgrade it to your heart's content whenver something gets a little outdated.

CLHC · Mar 14, 2006

I'm not in the market for a desktop but more for a "mobile" one. I do have a Dell Inspiron that I bought five/six years ago and has now gone kaputz on me six months ago.

Was just looking at the Panasonic ToughBooks (TB-73), and they "look" very interesting and "seem" to be well built. But I don't think they sell directly to individual customers. More like for government, city, and business related clientel. Other than that I don't know much about it. Then there's that IBM Lenovo that IBM doesn't build that caught my attention also.

Is there a way of "building" one's own laptop piece by piece?

carrot · Mar 14, 2006

CHC said:
Is there a way of "building" one's own laptop piece by piece?

Yep. Not very common, though, and not always easy to find parts.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/05/04/building_your_dream_notebook/index.html

http://www.daileyint.com/build/buildtoc.htm

Asus/Asustek sells a barebook, too. Looks like a decent starting point, but you can also start from an empty case.

You can get some of the components from Zipzoomfly.com (great service), but for the less common parts (WLAN chip, laptop optical drive, etc) you'll have to look elsewhere.

IlluminatingBikr · Mar 14, 2006

Dell recently acquired Alienware.

http://news.designtechnica.com/article9772.html

CLHC · Mar 14, 2006

carrot said:
Yep. Not very common, though, and not always easy to find parts.

Somehow I thought it was almost unheard of for a DIY build laptop. Thanks for those links Carrot! :wave:

MichiganMan · Mar 14, 2006

CHC said:
Is there a way of "building" one's own laptop piece by piece?

Go out and buy (or borrow, $8.99 cover price, yikes!) a copy of this months MaximumPC, the April issue. They walk you through that very adventure in one of their cover stories.

MaximumPC is an invaluable resource if you're looking to build your own system.

CLHC · Mar 14, 2006

MaximumPC huh? Will have to check that issue out.

Thanks MichiganMan!

RemingtonBPD · Mar 14, 2006

I saw the title of this thread and my first reaction was NEVER BUY DELL!!! I would never buy another Dell. The absolute worst customer service I have ever delt with. I had the computer for less than a year and had several hard drive issues. Covered under warranty, and they sent a tech out. Of course the computer was working ok when he was here, so he decided not to replace the hard drive. Well, it crapped out slightly over the warranty...now mind you the customer service line is the worst in the world, literally seeing as you only talk to people in India. So I called back again and explained the situation...no go they refused to cover itunder warranty. I would never buy another Dell for the customer service crap...I am not racist, but I would never want to talk to people in India for customer support again.

Alienware or Dell?

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