What's so bad about alienware laptops?

[poop_987]

I hear a lot of people saying that Alienware laptops are bad, but they don't give a good reason for why they're bad.

 

But there wre some reasons I heard for why they are bad:

 

-Overpriced (I don't think it's overpriced anymore. Especially with the new models)

-Thermal issues (This issue was know with the sky lake models, but I heard they fixed it with the kaby lake models)

 

-Bad customer service (other brands have this same problem. also, this isn't a big problem to me.)

 

Can someone explain why people don't like Alienware laptops?

 

Because, I might be getting one with a 120Hz screen. I have tried looking for other laptops, either they're actually overpriced or have a pretty bad design.

[Bananasplit_00]

Price is the main thing. Their newer stuff is better 

[Billy_Mays]

People don't like buying prebuilts

[Moress]

1 minute ago, Billy_Mays said:

People don't like buying prebuilts

yepp, we all build our own laptops. Solder the CPU and everthing...


Read the post before commenting.

[Nuluvius]

Just now, Moress said:

yepp, we all build our own laptops. Solder the CPU and everthing...


Read the post before commenting.

I think that you may have missed the point. Have a look at the Clevo chassis for example...

 

In any event, current Alienware build quality is garbage and they have made it harder to upgrade, customise and maintain.

[Moress]

4 minutes ago, Nuluvius said:

I think that you may have missed the point. Have a look at the Clevo chassis for example...

I've never once seen someone post about building their laptop. The person I quoted wasn't talking about using a Clevo

Do agree with the second line though

[poop_987]

8 minutes ago, Nuluvius said:

I think that you may have missed the point. Have a look at the Clevo chassis for example.

Yeah, but what about the cpu, the gpu, psu, etc.

 

I don't think it's possible to buy these parts for laptops

[Billy_Mays]

15 minutes ago, Moress said:

yepp, we all build our own laptops. Solder the CPU and everthing...


Read the post before commenting.

I was joking I don't know all of the emote patterns

[Himommies]

10 minutes ago, MSM_15 said:

Yeah, but what about the cpu, the gpu, psu, etc.

 

I don't think it's possible to buy these parts for laptops

When most pepole talk about this I Imagine there referring to Ram and storage

[Droidbot]

12 minutes ago, MSM_15 said:

Yeah, but what about the cpu, the gpu, psu, etc.

 

I don't think it's possible to buy these parts for laptops

It is, for the most part. 

 

Broadwell and later are soldered to the PCB, so you'll need to get a premade mobo or a desktop mobo, like some Clevo chassis. 

GPU is mounted by the MXM socket, and GPUs are quite common for these. Eurocom for example offers upgrade kits for some of their older laptops so they can get them up to speed with the latest GPU upgrades. Machines that came with Fermi GPUs can be upgraded to Kepler 680M, 7970M, etc. 

PSU is just general - 330W bricks are common as well. 

22 minutes ago, Nuluvius said:

In any event, current Alienware build quality is garbage and they have made it harder to upgrade, customise and maintain.

IMHO this is incorrect as hell. 

Alienware is as good as ever. Their laptops feel solid, well built. Ask any reviewer or owner. 

The 'Alienware is shit' is just almost a meme at this point. 

 

Their machines run cool, are easy to maintain, and you can upgrade your machine in the future quite easily. 

The mid-2013 Alienware 17 can be upgraded with a fucking 1070, and yet '''lol no upgrades'''

[Nuluvius]

13 minutes ago, Droidbot said:

IMHO this is incorrect as hell. 

 

[poop_987]

So, Should I still buy an Alienware laptop?

[Mira Yurizaki]

9 minutes ago, MSM_15 said:

So, Should I still buy an Alienware laptop?

You shouldn't avoid them. But that doesn't mean you should buy them.

 

Look at other options too and see what works best for you.

[poop_987]

1 hour ago, M.Yurizaki said:

You shouldn't avoid them. But that doesn't mean you should buy them.

 

Look at other options too and see what works best for you.

Well, I did!

 

MSI: too much bloatware and the c00l r3d dr4g0n design doesn't match my taste.

 

Razer: way too overpriced compared to other laptops, runs pretty hot and doesn't provide 120Hz screens

 

Aorus: Can't even buy it, seriously it's not available!

 

Asus: sometimes have thermal issues, battery life is very disappointing and the design doesn't match my taste.

 

Acer: quality control issues, outdated drivers and doesn't provide 120Hz screens.

[Mira Yurizaki]

5 minutes ago, MSM_15 said:

Well, I did!

 

MSI: too much bloatware and the c00l r3d dr4g0n design doesn't match my taste.

 

Razer: way too overpriced compared to other laptops, runs pretty hot and doesn't provide 120Hz screens

 

Aorus: Can't even buy it, seriously it's not available!

 

Asus: sometimes have thermal issues, battery life is very disappointing and the design doesn't match my taste.

 

Acer: quality control issues, outdated drivers and doesn't provide 120Hz screens.

So while I don't own an Alienware, I have handled it a bit at the local Fry's. I didn't see any immediate issues with build quality. Honestly I think Dell stepped up their game after they went private again. Otherwise I've had an XPS 13 and currently use an Inspiron 15 7559. I've had zero issues with either (the "had" on the XPS 13 was because I wasn't meeting my use case requirements so I sold it).

 

Dell's do come with their usual Dell branded bloatware and the obligatory anti-virus trial, but you're spending maybe 20 minutes removing them.

 

As for battery life since you mentioned it, they're also getting competitive. At least with the XPS and some of the higher end Inspirons. I think Alienware floats around the "expected" category.

[Amaranth]

3 hours ago, Nuluvius said:

In any event, current Alienware build quality is garbage and they have made it harder to upgrade, customise and maintain.

 

Firstly, Alienware is far from unique when it comes to using BGA chips, something that is more due to the current fetish for thin and light machines than anything else, so I hardly think that it's fair to single them out when 99% of the gaming laptops on the market, for better or for worse, also use soldered parts.

 

Plus the warranty is forgiving enough that you *can* open your laptop up and modify it without voiding your coverage, something that few companies allow, and the machines are designed to be as easy to work on and access the internals.

 

Secondly, have you used any Alienware laptops recently? Because even among people who dislike them they're generally put among the best-built laptops of this generation. Aside from the thermal issues with the early 6XXX laptops, something that has been fixed, there haven't been any major issues and even if you did get a system that ran hot a repaste would fix that because the underlying cooling system was good.

[poop_987]

Right now, I can get an Alienware laptop that has i7-7700k, gtx 1070 and 120Hz screen for $1690!!

[Amaranth]

13 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Dell's do come with their usual Dell branded bloatware and the obligatory anti-virus trial, but you're spending maybe 20 minutes removing them.

 

Alienwares actually don't include that by default, at least not if you order off the website, and are generally bloat free aside from things like the 'Dell Updater' (and while I personally don't like this some people find it useful).

[Mira Yurizaki]

7 minutes ago, Amaranth said:

Plus the warranty is forgiving enough that you *can* open your laptop up and modify it without voiding your coverage, something that few companies allow, and the machines are designed to be as easy to work on and access the internals.

I also want to add to this. Dell is very friendly at DIY work, as long as you don't actually break the laptop. They have publicly available tech docs on how to break into their computers to make repairs or upgrades. Like the laptop I have. It's literally one screw that holds the bottom plate in (well, and some plastic tabs). And it's not a "access only RAM" or "access only the drives". It's "access the whole damn computer."

 

And there was one time I had to call in for warranty support to fix a broken screen. They sent someone over to do the repair work.

[Falkentyne]

There are only 2 problems with Alienware laptops.

 

1) the EXTREMELY incompetent and downright sometimes DANGEROUS Dell techs that BREAK stuff in your laptop when they come to your house to service them with the premium warranty.  This is starting to be a big problem if you read notebookreview forums.

 

2) the badly balanced crappy Tripod heatsink design, which causes core temperature differences, which are made worse by improperly sized thermal VRM pads.  Those are the main issues, which usually require you do a repaste and rebalance or bend the heatpipes slightly, or buy and cut some properly sized thermal pads to avoid the balance issue.

[poop_987]

5 minutes ago, Falkentyne said:

2) the badly balanced crappy Tripod heatsink design, which causes core temperature differences, which are made worse by improperly sized thermal VRM pads.  Those are the main issues, which usually require you do a repaste and rebalance or bend the heatpipes slightly, or buy and cut some properly sized thermal pads to avoid the balance issue.

But I heard they fixed it with the kaby lake models... But I'm not 100% sure about that.

[Pendragon]

1 minute ago, MSM_15 said:

Snip

Its better. Still not perfect. Which still requires disassembly to achieve 

[poop_987]

Well, are there any good alternatives? (120Hz is a must for me)

[Mira Yurizaki]

8 minutes ago, MSM_15 said:

(120Hz is a must for me)

No, because this a feature that's only found in gamer builds.

 

You might find something from a Clevo reseller like Sager.

[poop_987]

9 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

You might find something from a Clevo reseller like Sager.

Alright, thanks for the help.

 

I might check out Asus's upcoming AMD laptop that has 120Hz.

 

I really need that 120Hz for competitive games.