Laptop Question - Alienware

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Hey guys,


My DS is thinking of getting the Alienware laptop Area-51® m5700 -- Does anyone have any experience or feedback on these that they could share?

 

[Dan Murphy]

I only know they make high end gaming machines, are rather costly, and Dell is acquiring them..... http://news.google.com/news?sourcei...:2006-09,GGLJ:en&q=alienware dell&sa=N&tab=wn

 

[Ran]

heya Mary Jo, I know less about them but Dan but here are a couple of product reviews if you want to take a look, sound impressive

hey Dan, have some new and old meet pics I posted a while ago, they're probably on page72 by now :-D

http://laptopmag.com/Review/Alienware-Area-51-m5700.htm

http://www.itreviews.co.uk/hardware/h872.htm

http://www.game-over.net/reviews.php?page=features&id=534


edited to cover up idiocy

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Check out notebookforums.com . They have a dedicated Alienware forum.

They used to be known for their amazing high end systems and customer service, but in the past few years their systems haven't been as good and their service went downhill.

If your son is a heavy gamer they will work. If he is a moderate gamer (World of Warcraft etc...) a Dell with a standard video card will work. If he wants a laptop with a glowing alien head on it then go with Alienware. If he wants the best bang for his buck get an identical spec system from Dell.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thanks for the insight so far -- He's not a computer, gamer, really. His friend got one & highly recommended it, so he had me look online. This is his high school graduation present from my dad (who passed away on Nov. 26th) and me, so I want to get him a really good laptop that he can use at college -- looking for high speed, lots of memory, wireless capability, ability to burn to cd/dvd, good display. I'm kind of partial to Toshiba, but he's kind of set on alienware because of his friend's recommendations ...

Thank you again. I'm in the shopping phase, but if I can get the same/better w/a Dell or other than he & I can have good discussions before getting this investment.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

I really recommend those forums then.

One thing they will recommend is buying the minimum around of RAM (memory) and upgrading after-market from newegg. Upgrading a laptop is really easy these days.

Also, size does matter. It may seem like a great idea to get a big laptop but they are heavy and don't fit well on all desks. I know quite a few people with the big computers who wish they had a smaller one. I have yet to come across anyone who has a small computer who wants a larger one.

I recommend the Dell 710m. It can play games like World of Warcraft with no problems. Upgrade aftermarket (unless it's free) with an additional RAM chip. They offer free dvd/cd burning drives on a regular basis now.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Look at the XPS if looking for gaming (though most will be great) on the www.dell.com/eppbuy site (corporate discounts)(I am sure your corp has pricing from Dell). Go to the large corp dropdown.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Most universities have pricing from Dell too. However, more often then not, the deals offered to the general public are better.

Google Dell Coupon Codes and you should hit the jackpot.

 

[Forevryoung]

Ok, I am a self proclaimed computer geek.

DO NOT GET A DELL.

There, I said it. I think their tech support is "decent" but you have to have hours to spend on the phone with them (I've logged over 30 hours with them easily over the past 3 1/2 years).

I am looking at laptops and I think I will end up with a Toshiba (or a Mac but thats not an option if he wants to game).

If he is set on a gaming machine, get Dell that is made for specificaly made for gaming... it's actually a seperate tech support department based in Kentucky (so they "know" what they are talking about and all speak english). I actually have a direct phone number to a guy named Keith there when something goes wrong.

 

[FreshTressa]

Wow...why not a Dell?? Just the long phone time? That has never happened to me.

We still have a dell from 1995 that runs well. All of our PC's since then have been dell and we've never had a problem.

 

[LeCras]

We have had a total of six Dell workstations at home so far, no problems.
Two Dell laptops, no problems.
At my last job we replaced old computers and laptops in the school district with Dell. 3,500 workstations and 350 laptops. No problems.



Charlotte

 

[lewdyan1]

I can tell you one thing my DH ordered one and it is still backordered. The company, (based right down the street from my house) is having a hard time getting the video card. He is so excited for it to get here!

 

[LoraJ]

My boyfriend had an Alienware and didn't like their customer service at all.

No matter what kind he gets, just be sure to get some sort of protection plan since notebooks can get a bit more wear and tear.

 

[Lynn CC]

My son has quite a few laptops and the one he uses for college is a Sager. He loves the screen clarity, the speed, keyboard with number pad and everything else about it!
If you go to www.notebookforums.com as suggested above they can answer all your questions on just about any laptop question you may have. It's like the DIS, but for laptops LOL

There are quite a few different kinds, but I think you'll find the best of the best over on those forums. I did a lot of research with DS and asked a lot of questions before choosing one for college, it's A LOT of $$ to dish out so you want one that they will be happy with!
(I was origionally going to go with Alienware, got approved for 0% financing they had running on a special, but then decided to go with Sager for many reasons, even though they didn't have any 'specials" running I think it's the best pick).
Good Luck!

 

[Dodie]

Wow...why not a Dell?? Just the long phone time? That has never happened to me.

We still have a dell from 1995 that runs well. All of our PC's since then have been dell and we've never had a problem.

Love my Dell. Loved my old Dell.

 

[helenabear]

Ok, I am a self proclaimed computer geek.

DO NOT GET A DELL.

There, I said it. I think their tech support is "decent" but you have to have hours to spend on the phone with them (I've logged over 30 hours with them easily over the past 3 1/2 years).

I am looking at laptops and I think I will end up with a Toshiba (or a Mac but thats not an option if he wants to game).

If he is set on a gaming machine, get Dell that is made for specificaly made for gaming... it's actually a seperate tech support department based in Kentucky (so they "know" what they are talking about and all speak english). I actually have a direct phone number to a guy named Keith there when something goes wrong.

I'll disagree with you on Dell. Yes, their customer service isn't all that great, but honestly Toshibas are now kind of crappy when it comes to laptops. Not sure why you are against Dells for a laptop.

My first pick is the IBM laptops, but I can't afford one at the moment.

As for Alienware... in general they are over priced and more about show. My husband would've drooled for one a few years ago... now he says they are so NOT worth the price you pay. We jokingly browsed through the the selection they had online at Circuit City. No way we'd buy from them now. It would be Dell or IBM for us when it comes to a laptop.

 

[Servants of Evan]

Let's see, I own a Dell laptop which (knock on wood) has been problem free for a year and a half. I also own an Alienware rig I use for non-linear video editing and have had it for around three years. As a corporate customer, I have had excellent service from Alienware. They've stood behind the machine and their handiwork. While I understand you're shopping for a laptop, there's a point I'd like to make about our Alienware versus some of the other Dell towers we have in our office. I always recommend someone take the side off the machine and take a look inside. With our Dell towers, cables are wired from here to there, and they aren't exactly neat about it. The metal edges are sharp and you can easily cut your hand if you need to remove a drive. Yes, it's happened to me. In contrast, when you open our Alienware machine the wires have all been neatly loomed, securely anchored, the metal edges are rolled so you don't have to worry about leaving extra DNA inside the case, etc. It's simply a professional build. Granted, my machine is a P4 3.2HT with 2 gig ram, 2 - 160gb SATA drives (raid striped) for video content, 2 - 120gb SATA drives (raid mirrored) for system drive, plus the Canopus Storm Video and Stormbay. A very nice NVidia 1000 dual DVI video card handles the outputs to the matched 18" NEC flat panel monitors. Of course, you've got DVDRW drive and DVD/CDRW drive, and even the lowly floppy makes an appearance along with the Audigy 7 sound card mated to a great sounding speaker & subwoofer system.

Every PC can fail -- and many companies in fact use the same parts. There are only so many motherboard manufacturers, drive manufacturers, etc and companies are often using the same stuff ... Yes, my Alienware rig has failed me -- the raid controller on the Intel motherboard decided to quit. Alienware however, stood behind their product better than Intel did. Despite having a three year warranty (Intel 875 Server motherboard) Intel wanted my to call India and pay $20 to see if the motherboard was dead. I tried calling their number, and my midwestern ears couldn't understand every other word the call center person was saying. They wound up having to spell virtually each word to make themselves clear. When I've called Alienware I've gotten people who I've been able to understand without problem... And they shipped me a new motherboard next-day.