Sort of OT: Alienware

  • Thread starter Thread starter redTed
  • Start date Start date
R

redTed

Just how good are these machines and the Alien support ?
I'm seriously tempted as they look so cool and the components are all top
notch, as they should be for the price.
So if anyone has experience with one and the ATI 9800XT or similar, I'd love
to hear what you think.
 
Sean said:
why not put together a similiar system together yourself and save some
money?
Click to expand...

Agreed. With a bit of effort you can produce a similar specced machine that
looks however you want, probably for less. I know that Alienware mess with
things like BIOS (certainly on the A7N8X motherboard) which does NOT appeal
to me.

Ben
 
Hype Hype Hype, build one... they 'mess' round with too much stuff, that fits THEIR idea of a well built system. These are for
people with more money than they need, to claim bragging rights... blah blah... I have heard that the support is good, but as you
say, for that price..................
 
Ben Pope said:
Agreed. With a bit of effort you can produce a similar specced machine that
looks however you want, probably for less. I know that Alienware mess with
things like BIOS (certainly on the A7N8X motherboard) which does NOT appeal
to me.
Click to expand...

All valid points that I'm aware of..thanks . But I would still like an
answer from somebody on here who has real experience with Alienware. I'm not
being rude, just need to know what the PC's and company itself are like.
Anyone ?
 
Hype Hype Hype, build one... they 'mess' round with too much stuff, that fits THEIR idea of a well built system. These are for
people with more money than they need, to claim bragging rights... blah blah... I have heard that the support is good, but as you
say, for that price..................
Click to expand...

They do have some very cool cases. They cost more than Dell, Compaq,
Gateway, etc - but yoiu get better parts too. If you want some real
power and don't want to build your own box, you would probably be
pleased with the Alienware offereings. They have been around for a
while - which says quite a bit.


Enjoy,

Tim Wisner www.wisner.us

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
- William Pitt (the Younger)
 
JAD said:
Hype Hype Hype, build one... they 'mess' round with too much stuff, that fits THEIR idea of
Click to expand...
a well built system. These are for
people with more money than they need, to claim bragging rights... blah blah... I have heard
Click to expand...
that the support is good, but as you
say, for that price..................
Click to expand...

For that price, I could probably build two computers and still have enough left over for lunch.

Jon
 
True, if you wanted the performance of a custom system, but don't want to
build one, Alien Ware is the cream of the crop. However, there is no way in
hell i'd spend THAT much money for their systems. They're about 75% above
the retail cost of the computer parts.


Tim W. said:
They do have some very cool cases. They cost more than Dell, Compaq,
Gateway, etc - but yoiu get better parts too. If you want some real
power and don't want to build your own box, you would probably be
pleased with the Alienware offereings. They have been around for a
while - which says quite a bit.


Enjoy,

Tim Wisner www.wisner.us

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the
Click to expand...
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
 
I just compared the parts to the total cost (exact same parts) and it
came up almost $2000 cheaper to build my own... oh and I'm really
bored..

Sean said:
True, if you wanted the performance of a custom system, but don't want to
build one, Alien Ware is the cream of the crop. However, there is no way in
hell i'd spend THAT much money for their systems. They're about 75% above
the retail cost of the computer parts.


Click to expand...
 
Just how good are these machines and the Alien support ?
Click to expand...


Although the machines are pretty good, for the amount
of money they cost, you could save a LOT by building yourself
or buying elsewhere ....I have no idea where they get this
reputation of GOOD Support .... their support is absolutely
horrendous ....not just their phone tech support ... their email
support, and their website online support ....

I ordered one of their high powered machines this year ... it
came soon enough, and was more or less useless for almost
3 months. After several phone calls to their tech support, and
attempts to get it resolved by email (with no answers) .... I finally
got pissed and posted on their website about their useless tech
support, and pointed out how I had just bought a $3500.00 doorstop
from them .....that got some attention, and I received an email from
someone ... who called me within 2 minutes ... did a couple quick
tests, and said "your motherboard is dead, I will ship you another
overnight and arrange onsite tech to install it" ... sure enuf, the onsite
tech called the next day, made an appoint to come out the next day
for the install ..... then, nothing .... didnt hear from em for a week.
Finally tech showed up, installed the mobo (mildly wrong I might add,
but no biggie just no heatsink compound/or pad .. and power led not
connected) .... powered the system on, and one of the orig problems
I complained about, the black screen, constant beeping and flashing
a message
Warning, the Radeon 9800 power connector is not connected ....
which takes several power on/offs, sometimes open the case, disconnect,
reconnect, etc. before it goes away ..... eventually, I get it to boot up,
onsite tech says "looks okay" and leaves ....

After another month, I still cannot get my brand new Seagate SATA
harddrive to be recognized in the bios ...(and, I also have a almost
the same age Micron computer with the same motherboard, and it
recognizes the sata drive instantly so I know the prob isnt the harddrive)
Call tech support back, the guy tries a couple things, says "we need to
flash your bios" (system came with 1003) .... tells me what files to
download from where ... and tells me step by step what to do ...
after several attempts .... the flash still wouldnt go ....(system locked
up during every attempt) ... the tech says "I have to do some checking,
I promise I will call you back first thing tommorrow morning to continue
this issue" and hangs up ...

Two days later, no call back ... so I call their tech support again ....
this tech tells me, he has to check with the earlier tech who was working
this issue .... puts me on hold, comes back in a couple mins .. tells me
that the orig tech will absolutely, positively call me back in ONE hour ...
two weeks later ... still no call back ... so, after checking this newsgroup
for any tips daily on this motherboard I saw a post saying for bios flashes
that wont go through .. try downloading ASUS UPDATE and flashing with
that ... so I download it ... install bios 1007 with it ... flash takes
right
away .....system comes right up, and I am now off and running with the
SATA drive .....(with no apparent problems)

So, other than the occassional "Radeon power connector is disconnected"
message on the occassional reboot .... everything is working fine.

Prior to this pc, I had bought 3 Micron computers .. and their tech
support was MOST excellent ... too bad they sold the business.
Last time I checked the buyers website, they dont even sell AMD
based systems anymore. :(

Sorry for the long post ... but you asked! :)
 
Sorry for the top post. I didn't want to waste your time scrolling all the
way down and I won't snip the message.

Thanks for the info. You're in the U.S., I take it. I suppose if Alienware
support is bad in it's own country, it won't be too clever here in the U.K
either.
I have built my last 2 PC's and, I must say, they've been reliable and fast.
I think , this time, I was just after something that looked a bit special.
Cheers.
 
Just how good are these machines and the Alien support ?
I'm seriously tempted as they look so cool and the components are all top
notch, as they should be for the price.
So if anyone has experience with one and the ATI 9800XT or similar, I'd love
to hear what you think.
Click to expand...

Easy to build a better system.... but if you have no experince in
buildings, then go for it.

Their case isn't that good... its a matter of opinion thou... Its
kinda cool... but it also doesn't DO it for me. (Yes, my case lights
up too).
 
There are lots of custom cases on the market now that look as good or better
is that is your main item.
I'd also look at going with a XPC small form factor case like those from
Shuttle if you want something that looks different.
 
WOW, there are sure alot of naysayers here :)

Well, I purchased an Alienware Area 51 in August 2002. Here is my review
from Rellerratings.com:

9/25/02 9:22 PM
I purchased my Alienware Area-51 through our local Best Buy. It took 10 days
(just as advertised) to receive my PC. Unfortunately, my PC did not work out
of the box. I had to call Tech Support the day I got my PC, who promptly
sent out a replacement video card. 3 days later a tech came to my house and
swapped the video card. This still did not fix my problems. So on day 4, I
shipped my PC back to Alienware. This was a very painless process. A little
over 2 weeks later, I got my PC back and all is well. Other than some
confusion between the depot department and customer service, I give
Alienware tech support high marks. I highly recommend

You can find this review under the username LinkRS


Despite the snafu, I still think that compared to other vendors (like
COUGH, HACK Dell..) the tech support is top-notch. They are available
24-hours a day, 7 days a week and is based in the USA. All of my problems
were handled promptly and courteously, and to my satisfaction. I would
highly recommend Alienware. When people mention that you could build a
comparable (maybe even better) PC yourself for less money, they are right.
What you have to weigh in on is your time and the convenience factor. If
you buy all high-end parts (which is what Alienware uses) and run into any
problems, you are going to have a handful of tech-support departments to
deal with. More than likely they will just blame another component in your
PC, and not solve your problem (my experience). If you buy an Alienware (or
other boutique brand) you have 1 stop for tech support. The other issue is
time. On some occasions I have put a whole PC together in around 8 hours
(hardware install, software load, configuration etc...), and other times it
has taken 2 or 3 days (configuration issues, compatibility problems,
etc...). To me it was worth the extra money to not have to deal with these
things. Count me as a positive review for an Alienware PC! Good luck with
your decision.


--
Rich S.
"Life is a beach, then you play Volleyball (or DOAX)!"
Author of Polyhedral Dice for Pocket PC
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/link_rs
Handango: http://tinyurl.com/2vsj8
 
snip
Despite the snafu, I still think that compared to other vendors (like
COUGH, HACK Dell..) the tech support is top-notch. They are available
24-hours a day, 7 days a week and is based in the USA. All of my problems
were handled promptly and courteously, and to my satisfaction. I would
highly recommend Alienware. When people mention that you could build a
comparable (maybe even better) PC yourself for less money, they are right.
What you have to weigh in on is your time and the convenience factor. If
you buy all high-end parts (which is what Alienware uses) and run into any
problems, you are going to have a handful of tech-support departments to
deal with. More than likely they will just blame another component in your
PC, and not solve your problem (my experience). If you buy an Alienware (or
other boutique brand) you have 1 stop for tech support. The other issue is
time. On some occasions I have put a whole PC together in around 8 hours
(hardware install, software load, configuration etc...), and other times it
has taken 2 or 3 days (configuration issues, compatibility problems,
etc...). To me it was worth the extra money to not have to deal with these
things. Count me as a positive review for an Alienware PC! Good luck with
your decision.
Click to expand...
Nice to hear a positive view. Thanks.
How's the performance of the PC ?
 
Hi :),

The performance is still outstanding after almost 2 years. I replaced the
Geforce 4 Ti 4600 with a Radeon 97000 last March, and have not had any
problems playing any current game (knock on wood!). This is the fastest PC
I have ever owned, and didn't come with all of the extra stuff loaded that
companies like Dell and Gateway pre-install. Alienware will also benchmark
your new PC and includes a print-out with its benchmark scores in your
manual. Oh, yeah the manual is customized to you as opposed to the generic
ones you get with other brands. In case you can't tell, I really like
Alienware! Hope this helps, and good luck!

Rich S.
 
I replaced the
Geforce 4 Ti 4600 with a Radeon 97000 last March
Click to expand...

Less than a year and you had to upgrade....how much did you pay?(if you don't mind saying). Aliens boxes are fast and tested,,,but
for the cash....I'll build 2 of my own.
 
Aliens boxes are fast and tested,,,but
for the cash....I'll build 2 of my own.
Click to expand...

I was curious and went to the Alienware web site. I spec'd out a nice
machine at $2240. I then went to Newegg and priced out components as
close as I could get to the Alienware, many of the parts identical.
The parts from Newegg cost right at $1700. What you get from
Alienware for the extra $500 is worth nothing to some of us, and
priceless to others.


Enjoy,

Tim Wisner www.wisner.us

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
- William Pitt (the Younger)
 
Hi JAD,

First off, I did not HAVE to replace my video card. At that point in the
game my GeForce 4 Ti was more than adequate except for 3DMark03. I chose to
upgrade my video card because I had the funds to do so, and I purchased my
Radeon 9700 Pro right the $100 price drop. Now remember my Alienware PC is
an August '02 model, but here is the configuration and price (Best Buy):

Custom Area-51
Intel D850EMV2 MB
Pentium 4 2.26 GHz (533 MHz bus)
512 MB of PC1066 (Rambus RDRAM) Very Expensive!!
Western Digital 120GB Special Edition HDD (8 MB Cache)
GeForce 4 Ti 4600 128 MB DDR (Fastest card they had at the time of my order)
16X DVD-ROM
Plextor Plexwriter 40/12/40 CD-RW Drive
Alienware Dragon Full-Tower Case (Blue)
Best Buy 3 yr Extended Warranty

Total: $2400.00 (a little less, but this included tax, but shipping was
free)

I had (prior to making the purchase) totaled up the parts individually. Not
including shipping the parts by themselves would have cost around $1800
through mail order, but $2600 if I had bought them off the shelf! So, not
counting tax I paid ~$300 more for my PC, but that got me a pre-built and
tweaked system with a 1-stop tech-support. It was worth the extra money to
me. Now remember that these prices are August 2002 prices, many of these
parts would cost much less today. Not to mention that even some high-end
parts are cheaper today then they were back then. In 1997 I decided to
build a top-end system which included a very fast (at the time) Intel
Pentium II 266 MHz at $988 and a Matrox Millennium II at $300 with a Voodoo
2 SLI ~$650. This bit alone was about $2000 and was not all the parts
needed. So don't forget to take prices at the time into consideration.

This configuration did not include a NIC or a Soundcard, as I already had a
NIC and a Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum eX. Since the original purchase I
have added the following aftermarket components:

Western Digital 80 GB HDD (from previous PC)
5 port USB 2.0 PCI card ( $50 system only came with 2 USB 2.0 ports)
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 128 MB($299 with $100 instant off)
Liteon LDW-411S (DVD-Writer) ($120)

Prior to this PC purchase I have almost always bought a new graphics card
about every 6 months, and now I have had my Radeon for around 10 months now,
and no reason to upgrade. I will more than likely end up getting a new PC
in '05 (when my BB warranty has expired), but have not decided if I am going
to build or buy. With our first baby on the way, my PC tinkering time is
about to become much more valuable, as such I will probably buy again. I,
for one, will definably look up Alienware again.


--
Rich S.
"Life is a beach, then you play Volleyball (or DOAX)!"
Author of Polyhedral Dice for Pocket PC
Homepage: http://www.geocities.com/link_rs
Handango: http://tinyurl.com/2vsj8

JAD said:
I replaced the

Less than a year and you had to upgrade....how much did you pay?(if you
Click to expand...
don't mind saying). Aliens boxes are fast and tested,,,but
 
Back
Top