King Flevance
Deity
Good, maybe they will see their prices are a joke and a 'green case' and other pretty things arent worth an extra 2 grand. 
alienware
- Thread starter liltammy1988
- Start date
BirraImperial
Pura Vida!
MattJek said:
DELL makes cheap-o computers with very bad quality, tech support is non-existent, had a laptop that never worked properly, had to rma 2 weeks later.
liltammy1988 said:
Alienware is like the Cadillac of computers. Sure it is more expensive but it also supposed to be higher quality including component testing.
Some feel Cadillacs are too expensive. They can get to the store just fine with the car they have. Other people prefer the Cadillac.
Its up to you. Do what you want.
As for how Alienware computers perform? Seems the only complaint is the expense.
Alienware makes great machines, but they are very overpriced. They are great gaming machines, but you could build a machine just as powerful for half the cost. Their support is good, so it is nice for people who have money to burn and little experiences building computers.
My comments apply to laptops. If you are looking for a desktop, the choice is much wider and you should be able to easily get a great gaming machine for about $2000 - Athlon 64x2 3800+ with geForce 7800 SLI, 2GB RAM and two 10K SATA hard drives in a raid 0 configuration.
I've just ordered a Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop with a 1.73 MHz Pentium M, 2GB Ram, 256MB geForce 6800, 17" UXGA Widescreen display with TrueLife (1920x1200 resolution), big battery and 60GB 7,200rpm Hard Disk for $1,650 including tax (California) and shipping, after a $750 coupon, which is regularly available.
Given a bit more money, I'd have upgraded the Processor, but I gather that cIV is more RAM intensive than CPU intensive, so I didn't bother.
Given a desire to get my hands dirty and void the warranty, I could have ordered it with minimum RAM and Graphics. Upgrading the RAM myself would have been cheaper and there are instructions online for installing a geForce 7800 into the 9300.
Either way, while Alienware laptops may beat this in the specs, the version I ordered should play cIV and any other current game at top performance, while being half the price of AW. With the geForce 7800 upgrade and the 2.13GHz CPU, this would probably pretty much match the AW.
Two things to bear in mind...
1. Dell provides a load of useful tools and utilities that every user needs on each machine. Such as virus checking, AOL offers, Word bloody Perfect and God alone knows what other crap. Some of it just uses disk space, but some runs at startup and drains resources from the system. Doing a hard disk reformat and OS reinstall from scratch will often improve system performance by 10% to 25%.
2. My understanding is that Alienware use desktop processors in their laptops. Better performance, but crappy battery life and burnt crotch syndrome. For most purposes, the Pentium M is perfectly adequate if you have plenty of memory and a good GPU.
Like every company, Dell has its good points (price/performance) and its bad points (support for some people - some people do get good support, but they rarely shout about it).
The 9300 seems to be almost designed specifically to run cIV, but there are other machines that will do the job just as well or better, if you can afford to pay for it.
I've just ordered a Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop with a 1.73 MHz Pentium M, 2GB Ram, 256MB geForce 6800, 17" UXGA Widescreen display with TrueLife (1920x1200 resolution), big battery and 60GB 7,200rpm Hard Disk for $1,650 including tax (California) and shipping, after a $750 coupon, which is regularly available.
Given a bit more money, I'd have upgraded the Processor, but I gather that cIV is more RAM intensive than CPU intensive, so I didn't bother.
Given a desire to get my hands dirty and void the warranty, I could have ordered it with minimum RAM and Graphics. Upgrading the RAM myself would have been cheaper and there are instructions online for installing a geForce 7800 into the 9300.
Either way, while Alienware laptops may beat this in the specs, the version I ordered should play cIV and any other current game at top performance, while being half the price of AW. With the geForce 7800 upgrade and the 2.13GHz CPU, this would probably pretty much match the AW.
Two things to bear in mind...
1. Dell provides a load of useful tools and utilities that every user needs on each machine. Such as virus checking, AOL offers, Word bloody Perfect and God alone knows what other crap. Some of it just uses disk space, but some runs at startup and drains resources from the system. Doing a hard disk reformat and OS reinstall from scratch will often improve system performance by 10% to 25%.
2. My understanding is that Alienware use desktop processors in their laptops. Better performance, but crappy battery life and burnt crotch syndrome. For most purposes, the Pentium M is perfectly adequate if you have plenty of memory and a good GPU.
Like every company, Dell has its good points (price/performance) and its bad points (support for some people - some people do get good support, but they rarely shout about it).
The 9300 seems to be almost designed specifically to run cIV, but there are other machines that will do the job just as well or better, if you can afford to pay for it.
GeneralZed
look around...
forget alienware, you can buy a computer with the same components for less then half of it. if you can't find one, buy the components from many stores and build it up, and if you cant build it, look on the internet for some manuals.
Psyringe
Scout
I'd never buy a "high tech" PC with all the newest and most expensive components. I did that once, in 1991, when I thought "buy a hi-tech PC now, so that you can play games on it for years to come". I spent the equivalent of about 2500 $ for a kick-behind machine with a 486 CPU on 33 MHz, incredible 16 MB of RAM, and a whopping 210 MB hard disk. Then I watched the prices fall until, one year later, I could have gotten the same machine for half the price.
Buying the newest hardware only pays when you need it to produce something which will pay for it. In all other circumstances, you are just burning money.
Buying the newest hardware only pays when you need it to produce something which will pay for it. In all other circumstances, you are just burning money.
Psyringe said:
Was the processor a DX or an SX? My first PC was a 486-SX, because I couldn't afford the extra $300 for a math co-processor.
I won't buy a pre-built desktop computer now, it is too easy to build one nowadays. Also, you get the components you want and the knowledge that you are getting what you pay for.
Dell's allegiance to Intel was a big problem for me when I was looking for a laptop. I prefer AMD processors and Dell does not offer them in any of their computers at the moment.
About Alienware, I checked them out before I built my own. The $2,000 computer that I built would have cost $4,000 from Alienware. I just couldn't justify the additional cost, even though money really wasn't an issue to me. Also, at the time they didn't have a complete SATA system available. My two optical drives and my hard drive are SATA drives, so my computer case is almost completely open inside, which helps keep it cool.
liltammy1988
Chieftain
yea i bet, i jus came home from school, and see how many more ppl have posted on this thread since i posted.
I dont plan on buying a 5000 dollar pc, i couldnt get one for 500 even if i begged. i had jus been lookin at alienware computers online during school, and wanted to know if it was worth it...now im sure that its not. and ill sooo never buy one...ever.
Thanks for the help everyone!
I dont plan on buying a 5000 dollar pc, i couldnt get one for 500 even if i begged. i had jus been lookin at alienware computers online during school, and wanted to know if it was worth it...now im sure that its not. and ill sooo never buy one...ever.
Thanks for the help everyone!
Psyringe
Scout
guyfamous said:
Since I wanted the latest and greatest, it was a DX. Totally worthless today.
The only part of my 1991 PC that remained to have some value was the keyboard. I bought it in 1991 for about 70 $, and sold it in 2001 on ebay for the same price. Happened to be a rare Cherry keyboard with programmable keys (remember me talking about the latest and greatest?
), and one collector and one programmer of keyboard drivers kept outbidding each other. 
the recent PC Gamer has an above average how to on building a computer. its the one displaying a computer on the cover, mentioning a dream machine. I'm sure there are better instructions elsewhere, but I already know all this stuff and I don't look for it.
Alienware isn't such a severe ripoff as it once was, but they still mark **** up too far. Personally I'm investigating the BTX case structure for my next investment.
Alienware isn't such a severe ripoff as it once was, but they still mark **** up too far. Personally I'm investigating the BTX case structure for my next investment.
Zhahz
PC Gamer
$4900 is ridiculous. You could build your own box for $2000 and have complete control of quality of parts. And you wouldn't get a silly looking case, mouse, and keyboard.
Or try some other vendors that build custom systems. www.pugetsystems.com appeals to me over alienware even though I build my own PCs and wouldn't use either. You can get a high performance rig from them for half the cost:
http://www.pugetsystems.com/desktop.php?sys_id=1 and they give you a great deal of customization and tell you the exact parts they'll be using.
They also have a step-by-step customization with pictures of all the possible parts they offer and descriptions of each component type so you can learn a little and make some reasonably informed decisions. Alienware offers some customization but it's usually like you can get and spend more or less but don't have much control over brands and such.
Or try some other vendors that build custom systems. www.pugetsystems.com appeals to me over alienware even though I build my own PCs and wouldn't use either. You can get a high performance rig from them for half the cost:
http://www.pugetsystems.com/desktop.php?sys_id=1 and they give you a great deal of customization and tell you the exact parts they'll be using.
They also have a step-by-step customization with pictures of all the possible parts they offer and descriptions of each component type so you can learn a little and make some reasonably informed decisions. Alienware offers some customization but it's usually like you can get and spend more or less but don't have much control over brands and such.
The nice thing about the price/performance ratio of the Dell 9300 is that for cIV, it seems to be the perfect laptop and yet, because it is likely to be replaced early next year, Dell are flogging it off for about half the price of the XPS2. The only real differences between the two are the graphics card and the gigabit ethernet... and the Go 6800 in the 9300 is perfectly adequate and hardly anyone needs gigabit e-net.
Plus, there are instructions online for upgrading the 9300 to a 6800 Ultra or a 7800 and doing CPU pin mods which make it very cost effective.
The sweet spot is always to find something that the seller wants to get rid of !
Plus, there are instructions online for upgrading the 9300 to a 6800 Ultra or a 7800 and doing CPU pin mods which make it very cost effective.
The sweet spot is always to find something that the seller wants to get rid of !
A lot of people do not have the know-how or time to build a pc so it is not the end-all and be-all solution. I have an older alienware which has been just fine. At 3 years it still runs well and has been easy to upgrade.
However I did not pay over 2k for it, do not get a 'top of the line' machine you undoubtably do not need one. Get something 'mid-range' and upgrade the memory/cards later if it starts to get slow. You are still paying money for the service of having someone build/test/support it but at least you are not paying 200% more for the newest unneeded parts.
-drjones
However I did not pay over 2k for it, do not get a 'top of the line' machine you undoubtably do not need one. Get something 'mid-range' and upgrade the memory/cards later if it starts to get slow. You are still paying money for the service of having someone build/test/support it but at least you are not paying 200% more for the newest unneeded parts.
-drjones
PugetSystems
Chieftain
King Flevance
Deity
Psyringe said:
LMAO. This post took me back to my high school years. When we bought our first home PC. 486-DX with about the same specs.
TANDY! TANDY! TANDY!
