AlienWare - Good Or Bad

[iGuest 3]

I've been hearing lots of complaints from many sites about how Alienware computers have failing products that ship with the system, and how some problems occur while trying to get the help needed from it's 'High class customer service' and sorts. I can't really say anything good or bad about this, actually I can say, but not officially in a sense since I don't have one, but to those who do have one, have you ever ran into any problems lately? Customer service, on site help, shipping problems, etc? I'd like to know just for the benefit of knowledge I guess, and most likely it can help others about it too right?

[Jeigh1405241495 0]

I know some people with them and they love them to bits...havn't had any problems at all. but then again thats only like 3 of however many systems so who knows. For the insane prices they tack onto their products it shouldn't be an option for their quality to be anything but primo :|

[unimatrix 0]

Last couple people I've known to get Alienware systems have had some heat issues, but the same issues are being reported arcoss the board with the AMD64 chips and high end graphics boards. I suspect that Alienware's quality might beginning to slip like Dell's has in the past few years. If I were to purchase a gaming rig and spend a premium today, I'd proably go with Falcon-NorthWest https://www.falcon-nw.com/

[wutske 0]

Heat problems are a big problem nowadays, you can't realy blame alienware for that, altough for the price they ask for their high-end machines, they could use better cooling systems (like watercooling, but you'll have to maintain that).Imagine 2 6800Ultra's, a P4 D EE, 2 raptors and a 600W psu in a case that should be quiet, try keeping that cool w/o the noise from a boxed cooler.Other problems can also occur, but for $3000, support should be flawless.

[IWroteCode 0]

Well, I haven't had any first hand experience with Alienware but....I used to be an avid fan till I started looking at alternatives and I discovered what most people already know...Alienware is EXTREMELY OVERPRICED. I don't think I would buy one even if I did have the money. I bet it's more of a "social" thing - "hey look at me, I have an Alienware!" But to each his own, I mean, if you have the cash and want the bragging rights - go for it.

[iGuest 3]

All ive heard of is some heat problems from alienware but all the people i know that have alienwares say they are flawless but i for one would rather custom build a rig for less than half the price .

[STEELHED 0]

I highly advise learniong how to build your own PC, for Sooooo many reasons... Number 1) It is sooo dogon simple, a $12 book called, "Build your own PC" could save you tons of money.. Number2) Alienware is not a charity, They'll use whatever OEM or good priced hardware at the time, When you build your own, You know what you're getting exactly...! Number 3) IT IS SOOOO much cheaper... For what those ALienware systems go for, I could almost build 2 PC's that have the same specs except better hardware... Case in point, A guy from CODUO tells me he spent $4000,00 on a PC, and it still lags, Probably partly because, they claim this PC is sureproof for gamers... Nope! I know alot of that was on his 23" widescreen, about $1800,00 worth, leaving the system at about $2200,00 of which I could build the same systems for $1200,00 20" monitor included with kick butt altec lansing speakers... Plus, once youve built one PC, you only have little new things to remember when reloading, or building a new one.. No cash to pay for pure sorry tech support, no waiting to have your PC fixed... Invest in your education with PC's, and you will save, and be self sufficient... As far as heating issues, It's unreal for Alienware to be having a problem with this... A prescott pentium4 3.6GHz, is running around 158 degree's farenheit, I'm running severl PC's, a 2.8GHz, 3.2GHz, 3.0GHz, and a 3.6GHz, they're all running at around 158 with programs running, no shutdowns.. It is not the chip that is causeing the problem, the case has 80% to do with heat...PS, please ban the moron above... Thank You....

[m3ch4 0]

I highly advise learniong how to build your own PC, for Sooooo many reasons... Number 1) It is sooo dogon simple, a $12 book called, "Build your own PC" could save you tons of money.. Number2) Alienware is not a charity, They'll use whatever OEM or good priced hardware at the time, When you build your own, You know what you're getting exactly...! Number 3) IT IS SOOOO much cheaper... For what those ALienware systems go for, I could almost build 2 PC's that have the same specs except better hardware... Case in point, A guy from CODUO tells me he spent $4000,00 on a PC, and it still lags, Probably partly because, they claim this PC is sureproof for gamers... Nope! I know alot of that was on his 23" widescreen, about $1800,00 worth, leaving the system at about $2200,00 of which I could build the same systems for $1200,00 20" monitor included with kick butt altec lansing speakers... Plus, once youve built one PC, you only have little new things to remember when reloading, or building a new one.. No cash to pay for pure sorry tech support, no waiting to have your PC fixed... Invest in your education with PC's, and you will save, and be self sufficient... As far as heating issues, It's unreal for Alienware to be having a problem with this... A prescott pentium4 3.6GHz, is running around 158 degree's farenheit, I'm running severl PC's, a 2.8GHz, 3.2GHz, 3.0GHz, and a 3.6GHz, they're all running at around 158 with programs running, no shutdowns.. It is not the chip that is causeing the problem, the case has 80% to do with heat...

 

PS, please ban the moron above... Thank You....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

heh, let's leave the banning to the mods, I don't think his comments warrant a ban anyways...

 

Building your own pc is the best way to go, for sure. But if you don't have the time, and you do have a bit of cash, pre-built is decent.

 

Of course there are different levels of prebuilt...

 

There's Alienware/Northwest, which will run you up quite a bit of cash...

 

There's Dell/store-bought, which will run you a bit of cash and be decent/less-then-decent...

 

Then there's Friend-PreBuilt, which is great, becuase you get a homebrew prebuilt at base price, plus you get to put a little bit of cash in a friend's pocket. (which is always great for them =D) Hehe, since I've done this for friends I love this option the best =)

 

But back on topic...I've got a friend who owns an Alienware who swears by it, he purchased a crazy laptop off of them which looks as good as it performs. He hasn't had anyproblems with it yet, so from him to you, they're okay.

[Grafitti 0]

i also join the ranks of alienware supporters. i got my hands on one for a while once, and never had second thoughts about what i would buy if only i could afford it. heat issues are not only alienware problems, hello! just about any computer that runs a powerful P4 or equivalent is going to have issues, and not counting the dedicated graphics cards which really boost the heat factor. just get a cooling pad for $30 or less, and be happy.

[irwan6179 0]

i always love alienware product design(never own it thou) ... it's cool and standing in its own ground... i hope they will address their problem properly. i heard they are having some financial problem as Tom Nesler said from http://www.gripe2ed.com/

My guess at the explanation of this behavior is financial.  I think Alienware intended to honor their high levels of commitment to their customers but they greatly underestimated the cost of a poorly designed PC.  There are probably a lot of frustrated customers out there who are in the same boat and the sheer volume is making the whole warranty program a big money pit.
So what do they do?  Tick off some existing customers who may buy in the future or sell PCs to new customers and try to stay profitable?  With the PC market's profit margins being so thin, there is no room for error.

I remember different auto warranty programs for preventing rust.  A lot of companies died because they underestimated the cost of handling all the requests for rust compensation.

Tom Nesler

[the empty calorie 0]

I custom build computers with much better quality all around, and yet they're quite a bit less than an inferior and more expensive Alienware.Of course, all computers I build are provided and pre-installed with UNIX-like operating systems, for better reliabillity and lower cost, as well as free technical support.

[cyborgxxi 0]

Alright. Alienware - they are invading now. Yeah right - look at their computers. They look cool, flashy, compact... and cool. But did you take a look at their prices? It's awfully insane!! I got a bunch of goodies on the options/custom stuff list and it went from $1,200 to $3000-ish, even with not all the best stuff.I didn't get the DVD writer and the best warranty system (believe me, it's stupid... paying for warranty?) I probably got a bunch of RAM, CPU, and graphics card.Also, I think the most expensive piece of stuff you can get is the Windows XP disk. It's probably $200 or so there. But here, in Asia, you don't pay for it. They're all pirated, I presume.

[Killer008r 0]

For what those ALienware systems go for, I could almost build 2 PC's that have the same specs except better hardware... Case in point, A guy from CODUO tells me he spent $4000,00 on a PC, and it still lags, Probably partly because, they claim this PC is sureproof for gamers... Nope! I know alot of that was on his 23" widescreen, about $1800,00 worth, leaving the system at about $2200,00 of which I could build the same systems for $1200,00 20" monitor included with kick butt altec lansing speakers...

 

PS, please ban the moron above... Thank You....

1064321743[/snapback]

1. you could build 2 computers? True, but the thing about those two computers would be crap.

 

2. "4000,00 on a PC, and it still lags" Lag has nothing to do with the computer. Lag has to do with the connection speed of your modem/internet provider. Lag is to the time taken for a packet of data to travel between the local computer, the destination and back again. So it dosen't matter how good of a computer you have, if you have a 56k your still gona lag like hell. What your probaly thinking of is the word Choppy.

[shostako2150 0]

All I can say is that any alienware computer is definitely better than my computer lol how much they average around now?-hans

[Grafitti 0]

I think it starts at around $1,500 for their basic systems, and easily works its way up to the $5,000 mark. Definitely not a budget system, and i wouldn't go for one of their desktops. Laptops though are a different story.