Is "Alienware" REALLY BAD?

[TheConverter]

Whenever I tell people who want to buy prebuilts that they should just build one, the first thing they usually tell me is that they are very busy and don't have enough time on their hands to build one, while funnily enough having enough time to utilize the hardware inside said prebuilt gaming PC for its intended purpose: gaming.

That's what I think of when I think about Alienware. They're for lazy people who have more money than sense. And who are part-moth, because they're attracted to those glowy lights that Alienwares are so well-known for having. The laptops I can tolerate (although they're not as good as most gaming laptops out there), but their desktops are simply the most disgusting things I've seen.

 

So you think it's worth it for a newcomer to go trough hours of research etc instead of paying a 30€ premium for assembly costs?

 

The more people that join the PC Gaming community the better.

[KemoKa]

So you think it's worth it for a newcomer to go trough hours of research etc instead of paying a 30€ premium?

yep. Totally. It's not like they have to do it alone, they can come to a forum like us for help. Learning how to build a computer is pretty easy, and it teaches you a lot of stuff about how a computer works. I mean, okay, the value is in the eye of the beholder I guess, but to me, in this day and age, knowing how to use a computer is very, very important in my opinion. Way more worth it than $30/EUR/JPY/whatever.

[TheConverter]

yep. Totally. It's not like they have to do it alone, they can come to a forum like us for help. Learning how to build a computer is pretty easy, and it teaches you a lot of stuff about how a computer works. I mean, okay, the value is in the eye of the beholder I guess, but to me, in this day and age, knowing how to use a computer is very, very important in my opinion. Way more worth it than $30/EUR/JPY/whatever.

Some people just don't want to deal with that... they might get into it later once they are fully "converted".

 

That's how it went for me atleast, my brother used to always build and upgrade/maintain the PC's we have had until I've built my own PC in 2011. Kinda mad that he didn't learn me lots of stuff when I was younger  :unsure:

 

Oh yeah, this video is always a good excuse to let someone build their own PC

[NoMooreMercy]

Nah, they're just overpriced for what you get.  I quite like the Alienware Alpha tho.

[Pooherino ツ]

Ill tell you my experience. I bought an Alienware few years ago, forgot the model number but it was a 14 inch laptop. After a few months the mobo fail. The laptop runs like a $200 chromebook because the gpu doesnt work after that and the battery dont even work. On top of that the warranty ran out and to fix it would cost me $400 at the time I believe. So I got frustrated after a few phone calls to Dell which was a terrible experience but I wont go into the details. So I sold the laptop for cheap on kijiji and build a PC. And I live happily ever after.

[TheConverter]

Nah, they're just overpriced for what you get.  I quite like the Alienware Alpha tho.

 

Yeah, Alpha is cool when it's on sale for 330$, even now for 460$ is still miles better and cheaper then Xbox One/PS4:

 

[KemoKa]

Some people just don't want to deal with that... they might get into it later once they are fully "converted".

 

That's how it went for me atleast, my brother used to always build and upgrade/maintain the PC's we have had until I've built my own PC in 2011. Kinda mad that he didn't learn me lots of stuff when I was younger  :unsure:

 

I think building a PC is an important step towards Becoming Converted. That's just imao though.

[SirSquid]

I really think alianware turned things around on the laptop side. The laptops all seem fairly balanced and all have the option for an E-Gpu. On the desktop side of things is another story.

[Psykomantis00]

Alienware isn't bad in the sense that they make crap. They are just expensive. You can build a better pc for less money but some people don't want to or can't do that so they pay for alienwares flashy cases/lights. 

[Swndlr]

Laptops are okay(although based on pricing I would go for MSI,ASUS,Razer,etc) but their desktops are just as bad as another other pre built PC and pricing just makes it even worse

Razer runs just as if not more that Alienware in terms of pricing.

Source on that? I bought one

[iFap4Nvidia]

Laptops are fine.

But if you're thinking about getting one of their PCs you might as well stick your dick in a blender, same result

[Dabombinable]

Yes, it's real bad when you can purchase a custom build PC for 30€ in 5 minutes.

More like an hour if you are actually taking care to get everything correct the first go.

[Khajiit Dealer]

I'll give you a pros and cons list.

 

Pros: 

-Good quality laptops

-Customer Service

-Warranty (typically 1 year on parts)

 

Cons:

-Shit PCs 

-EXTREMELY overpriced

-Not very good looking (personal opinion)

-If you touch anything your warranty is voided

 

Overall; if you're going with a prebuilt I'd suggest another retailer (CyberPower, Cybertron, etc.) because they have the same stuff for much cheaper and their cases don't look stupid.

 

If you have time on your hands and really want to save money, I'd suggest building your own PC. 

[fehllyy]

I like how people start to argue over things that are so irrelevant the the original post...

[Sauron]

You can't base yourself only on your experience. For each positive anecdote about alienware machines there are 10 negative ones.

[Dabombinable]

You can't base yourself only on your experience. For each positive anecdote about alienware machines there are 10 negative ones.

If I remember correctly, they cheap out on a lot of components that they use for their desktops. Namely the PSU and motherboard.

[ShadowCaptain]

Cons:

-EXTREMELY overpriced

-If you touch anything your warranty is voided

 

Depends on the system the Alpha and 13 for example are not overpriced to be honest

 

 

Also if you touch anything? You can replace MXM GPUs, RAM, SSDs etc, I even changed my wireless card and it never voided my warranty

 

Same for the desktops too

[Tim Drake]

Depends on the system the Alpha and 13 for example are not overpriced to be honest

 

 

Also if you touch anything? You can replace MXM GPUs, RAM, SSDs etc, I even changed my wireless card and it never voided my warranty

 

Same for the desktops too

To be fair, most opinions come from people who have never had an experience with Alienware while this man has.

 

Who has a more credible source?

 

Could he be bias?

 

Could he be telling the truth?

 

Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z

[soup]

Yes, it's real bad when you can purchase a custom build PC for 30€ in 5 minutes.

It would need to have pretty shite specs for that.   Do you think a typo must have sneaked in there somewhere?

 

 

Just figured out that you mean €30 more than the cost of the components.  ie €30 to have the supplier construct.

To me that would take away a great portion of what the PC hobby is all about (mind you I am NOT a great gamer.  A bit of Skyrim, Kerbal and some flash games).

[soup]

Then why do people waste their money on custom watercooling.

 

Why do people throw theselves out of perfectly servicable aircraft?

Why do people pay to watch 22 men kick a ball about?

Why do people try to see lots of different types of birds?

Why do ....

 

See hobby, fun, cos it interests them, cos they can, ...

[Guest]

They are just expensive, heavy, and have terrible battery life.

Other than that they are fine.

[danhulud]

 and smashed it with a sledge hammer

Yep, that will generally kill a hard drive.

[Pooherino ツ]

I'll give you a pros and cons list.

 

Pros: 

-Good quality laptops

-Customer Service

-Warranty (typically 1 year on parts)

 

NOOOOOO MAN. TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. I was on the phone for 45 mins talking to 5 different people before I could get my shitty Alienware laptop to be RMA. Just to find out that the warranty runs out. So I ended up with a broken laptop (because the mobo kinda fail so nothing else work properly) and $400 cost to repair it.

[DarkRift5]

Their desktops are bad, and you won't find too many people who dispute that.

Their laptops (as a former owner of one that I sold for my 980) are OK, but they're enormous, heavy, and cost $500 more than the equivalent Asus or MSi. I would never recommend a large gaming laptop. Only thin ones that can be used for other purposes and custom-built desktops for me after that experience.

 

EDIT: Oh yes, and their customer service. If you can understand a thick South American accent, you're in bad shape. If you can't, you're even worse off. They don't do anything once they sell you the computer.

[coppertj]

I was just talking about my horrible experience with dell and alienware before today. Here is an excert to why I hate alienware:

 

I had an alienware m14x and it was HORRIBLE, not in tech but quality, The first day I got it, I plugged it in and the HINGES BROKE OFF. That already was 2 weeks wasted waiting for them to fix it for me. After that it was smooth sailing for a couple more months until it broke down again. It got so bad that the tech support started breaking my computer. They left out cpu fans, didn't even fix anything, and worse. I ended up getting a full refund (2000 dollars at the time) and now im on my custom built.

 

I'm starting to get the feeling the m14x is just a horrible laptop because this is like the third time i heard about someone having huge problems with it.