What's your reaction when people recommend alienware?

[Exploded117]

I don't care. Just don't go bragging about it on any tech forums.

[bry.yyyy]

[Shroomster]

I don't mind it especially regarding the laptops. Dell is a really nice OEM, but the really nice stuff is in the business grade lines.

[trag1c]

My bro bought one that lasted him 4+ years (its still going) I bought one last year and now its dead.... So now I bash dell and alienware every chance I get....so yeah 

[CloakedHalo]

I try to show them better options for the price but if that doesn't dissuade them, I let them do what they want with their money.

[EpicAdom]

Tear

[Pomfinator]

If it's a desktop, I go ballistic.  Laptop, ehhh debatable, gaming laptops in general don't have very good price/performance anyway.

 

On a side note I saw someone with an M11x today, so goofy when everyone else and their mom uses the MBPr in my uni.

[yttrium]

I had an Alienware, it was okay.  Overpriced, but actually performed quite well.  I just sold it and bought myself an x99 rig.  It was a lot better value and much more enjoyable to build than just ordering a computer.  I might be a bit of a Dell fanboy, I have an XPS 13 which I love, am about to order a Dell 4k monitor, and I had the Alienware.  I guess I just trust them.  Dell is by no means a bad company, the build quality, performance, and reliability of my XPS 13 is out of this world, but if you have confidence, just build one.  That's pretty much what I say shortened down quite a bit, I tend to ramble on a lot.  

 

I can't comment on the XPS line, but I can say that when it comes to monitors, Dell makes some damn good products as long as you know what you're looking for. They all have slim, flat, matte bezels, lots of I/O, very flexible stands, and they make 16:10 cheaply, not to mention that they have a large amount of displays that are actually color-calibrated for professional use.

 

They don't have shiny features like G-Sync, and they don't have high refresh rates, but if you're looking for a no-bullshit monitor that will last you a long time, Dell isn't a bad choice by any means.

 

Plus every single display they ship has pivot. How can you argue with that?

[slightlyjaded]

Dell... Just why do you want a dell with a tramp stamp?

[hitsu1]

I had an Alienware Area 51 in 1998. I was big into gaming and not so much into hardware (honestly to me then, overclocking was a scary thing and parts did not snap in like legos like they do now). It was my father's desktop until earlier this year when I got him now new parts and installed them into his machine. It has probably been on nonstop since 1998 and it never had any issues.  Hats off to old Alienware quality.

 

Moving to the present.....if you want a flashy desktop replacement laptop then sure, grab one, Just understand once you move into the real world, you look really dumb with all the alienware bells and whistles. If you want a super nice desktop....build your own. I remember a youtube video of this "huge" Razer and tech fan who had I think Origin build his computer for him. The bottom line specs were amazing like 3X 980s, custom liquid cooling, and a 5960x etc but it seemed so wrong to me. Half the fun is putting your machine together yourself. Plus who gets a custom loop made by someone else? You need to clean the thing eventually so if you do not have the technical skills to build it in the first place you are just asking for trouble.   

[Xsinar]

The place were I live a Mac Pro Costs a lot more than an alienware laptop and the alienware would have better specs (I'm comparing laptops). So not really sure why so much hate...

[Xsinar]

I had an Alienware Area 51 in 1998. I was big into gaming and not so much into hardware (honestly to me then, overclocking was a scary thing and parts did not snap in like legos like they do now). It was my father's desktop until earlier this year when I got him now new parts and installed them into his machine. It has probably been on nonstop since 1998 and it never had any issues.  Hats off to old Alienware quality.

 

Moving to the present.....if you want a flashy desktop replacement laptop then sure, grab one, Just understand once you move into the real world, you look really dumb with all the alienware bells and whistles. If you want a super nice desktop....build your own. I remember a youtube video of this "huge" Razer and tech fan who had I think Origin build his computer for him. The bottom line specs were amazing like 3X 980s, custom liquid cooling, and a 5960x etc but it seemed so wrong to me. Half the fun is putting your machine together yourself. Plus who gets a custom loop made by someone else? You need to clean the thing eventually so if you do not have the technical skills to build it in the first place you are just asking for trouble.   

Yea, I agree that alienware laptops are more like portable desktops. But if a guy is going to be travelling a lot, carrying an actual desktop would be a lot more difficult.

[asim1999]

Well i am close to vomiting when people say Alienware

[QueenDemetria]

Dell... Just why do you want a dell with a tramp stamp?

As much as I hate the Alienware "Alien" logo, I'd rather have it than the MSI dragon logo or the Razer snake orgy logo.

[Thorium19]

I dint really care. If they've bought a desktop one, then I might tell them they could have done better throwing money out the window, but if it's a laptop then They've got a good quality device that works well with outstanding warranty and coverage.

[SirReallySam]

I kinda inwardly facepalm.

And then try to convince them that they are overpriced for what you get.

basically this....

[Joshua Ondangan]

pretty much nothing so long as they can afford it or willing to buy it.

 

 

IMO people here say building a pc is better and cheaper in most cases this is true.

 

but building your own power supply is also cheaper and you can choose the quality of your parts but people just go with buy a psu. It's easy just learn how to do it same thing with building your own pc as people say it's easy just try it.

 

(I can't say much about the other part since the only stuff I know to build that is used inside the chassis is a psu).

[shadowblitz3]

[slightlyjaded]

As much as I hate the Alienware "Alien" logo, I'd rather have it than the MSI dragon logo or the Razer snake orgy logo..

It was more about dell. I'm old enough to remember alienware as a boutique system builder putting out some pretty awesome systems, and looking good doing it. I look at dell, and my first question is why would anyone with more than a basic understanding bother? Their low to mid end is decent, although they scimp on anything that isn't actually mentioned on the spec sheet.

decent power supply? Is it listed....well it's not as sexy as that gtx970 it's powering, so no....is it powering it? well it's a 500W no name brand power supply with maybe a 70% efficiency, so not really no...

Motherboard? well it's got a i7 intel cpu (that happens to be 3 generations old) but it's an i7, and we'll brand it as such...

Yeah dell.... trust what you read, and nothing you don't. If it doesn't list spec, and component type on any single piece of hardware you can pretty much guarantee it was something they found on top of a rubbish heap. (I'm exagerating but seriously they got a job lot of something no one else wanted to buy and made a system out of it)

[slightlyjaded]

The place were I live a Mac Pro Costs a lot more than an alienware laptop and the alienware would have better specs (I'm comparing laptops). So not really sure why so much hate...

umm, cause you're comparing a mac pro, (which they overcharge for) with an alienware PC (which they overcharge for, but not as much)

[IP man]

Why care what people buy? Alienware arent bad its just overpriced.

[LLOYD-AF]

I have the alienware alpha, is it overpriced? sure, is it any good? yes, it plays all the latest games at 60+ fps, but why did I buy it instead of making my own? I wanted a second system to put under my tv for games and xbmc, the size of the case is what sold it for me, it would be hard to build something that small for that price so I went with the alpha and have no regrets.

 

The bigger systems can be custom built for less but the Alpha is a good deal.

[Dabombinable]

My experience with Alienware - sitting next to a friend while in class being deafened by the fans. I told him straight up 'Your computer is either having a fit, broken, or just plain crap, get it replaced ASAP with a real laptop, and don't buy from Dell again" (don't get me started on Dell, I've got plenty of reasons for never recommending them, and telling people to not touch their computers even with a 10ft barge pole).

[Misanthrope]

A friend got into PC gaming by buying an Alienware laptop. I first say "Ok this is the only case in which this is acceptable, but a gaming laptop should be really niche and for very specific needs" Honestly most people should just build/request a desktop. I hear her arguments and they are actually very common so I addressed them

 

1) I need something mobile!

 

A: Then get a cheap laptop or even a chromebook. Really if you're out of your house and you need a laptop, chances are it will be social you just need to wait for someone to arrive, wait a little bit for an appointment, you're visiting relatives, etc. You really won't be doing serious gaming away from home, if you truly like to go out for the hell of it your time will be spend stargazing, chatting up, listening to music, etc. Nobody says "Oh boy I need to play borderlands 2 while I'm highly inconvenienced in the daylight, inside of a shitty cafe with no free plug in so I have 20 minutes of playtime on battery" This is only for people that genuinely travel a lot and game on their hotel rooms for extended periods for example.

 

2) Fine but I wanna be mobile around the house

 

A: Again in home streaming is making this argument obsolete, and even before that I know that you will game on maybe 2 or 3 places in your house: your living room, your desk and maybe your bed. In your bed you won't be doing counterstrike matches you will be playing something stupid on your cellphone or tablet as you should. You really only need to cover your desk and/or living room and it can be done sometimes with just the budget of a single gaming laptop since you can build 2 capable gaming rigs with the same cash, one better and one media centerish that can still run some games and stream the rest.

 

3) I like the fact that it is compact if I need to move it

 

A: This is really not a point on it's own people, it's covered on 1 and 2 and not you don't really need to move it. But if you do, Re: Mini-ITX systems

4) Fine, it's not practical and its more expensive, but I like the fact that it's all done

 

A: Fine, but you can get a desktop from a different company that builds to order to your specifications not crappy Alienware machines with specs like i7 processor and Geforce 630 graphics cards for gaming! Or just ask me I would have build a rig for you.

[PaulKolby]

alienware desktop arent good but there laptops arent overpriced fo a nice quality laptop and for the hardware you get its not overpriced there desktops though are. i do like their laptops and the alienware alpha.