Anyone have an Alienware computer?

logorzat · Post by **logorzat** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:53 pm

I was thinking about purchasing a high end Alienware computer and was wondering does anyone here have one? Does the computer work properly? Any crash screens? How is their customer service? I would appreciate any feedback you guys can give me.

blueheaven · Post by **blueheaven** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:01 pm

I've had an Alienware laptop now for about three years and I like it. I've had one issue in the past (hard drive malfunction), but they replaced it right away. I don't know what they are like now that Dell owns them, but I can assume they still have the same quality computers. Alienware is a bit more expensive than your average Dell, but you really do get what you pay for.

MDKiller1 · Post by **MDKiller1** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:03 pm

I own 2 of them. One is my desktop and the other is my laptop

within one year of owning them. Neither one of them function right anymore.

My husband had to rebuild the desktop for me because the motherboard caught on fire.

The laptop they put an ati card in and it was garbage from day one. My husband says if it was an nvidia card the laptop would most likely still work.

Customer support was minimal...buy with caution

ReiTheJelly · Post by **ReiTheJelly** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:48 pm

The only person I've known to buy one had it fail within 6 months -- this was about 4 years ago. Their idea of customer support is to send you a "recovery" disc and have you do the work yourself. My friend is a pretty high-level tech person (she used to work for the US government as tech support) and says she'll never purchase a laptop from them ever again.

MDKiller1 · Post by **MDKiller1** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:56 pm

My husband is an instructor at a US Army IT school. An says he will never buy from them again either. LOL

otakusin · Post by **otakusin** » Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:22 pm

Voodoo is mucho better and I mean mucho better but my father had no problems with his Aliens when he had them in past but then he is not me so not sure how they are first hand.

Deadly Whispers · Post by **Deadly Whispers** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:22 am

Unfortunately, I'm going to have the join the list of people who advise not to get one. I still have my laptop, but none of the external ports work anymore - NONE. Magician had one that was a bundle of neverending problems. I believe he sent it back to be fixed three times, and once got it back in worse shape than he sent it! GK had the same model, and I don't think it worked out so well for her either (but I can let her speak for herself).

~ DW

zerospace · Post by **zerospace** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:34 am

I second the nod to Voodoo over Alienware.

Or, if you have money to burn, you might also consider Falcon Northwest ( http://www.falcon-nw.com ). As with any vendor, I'd recommend you do your homework on whatever machine you decide to buy ... sometimes even the best companies build lemons.

I used to like MaximumPC for PC/hardware/etc reviews since they love to torture-test hardware & pre-built rigs: http://www.maximumpc.com (they were known to set up rigs in very hot rooms and make them run CPU burn-in for hours or until they crashed or started on fire *laughs*)

There are also generally knowledgeable people floating around on forums and sites like:
http://www.hardforum.com/
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/
http://www.overclockers.com/

I wouldn't trust Tom's Hardware anymore for good reviews... they've generally been bought out.

EternityOfPain · Post by **EternityOfPain** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:48 am

Honestly Alienware computers are way over priced. If your buying one you should know that you are basically paying purely for the name. Dont get me wrong, there good computers, but for the value they yield you can get a much better computer/laptop with minimal searching online. Best of luck.

RoboFlonne · Post by **RoboFlonne** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:09 pm

I use IBM, Sony, Hp, and Compaq Laptops...

I've liked all of those laptops. I've broken most of them by dropping them...

Lol... Once I had my laptop plugged in and I tripped over the Power Cord and the Laptop fell 5 feet onto the ground...

I always try to backup data since I try to reformat my computer every year to keep it running at its best.

MDKiller1 · Post by **MDKiller1** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:14 pm

My very first computer was an HP and I never had any problems with it. I had it for a couple of years before I upgraded.

I have heard that alot of people dont like HP but ive never had a problem with them

beatrush · Post by **beatrush** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:14 pm

I heard since Dell bought Alienware a few years ago, the quality of the computers have gone downhill.

MDKiller1 wrote: I have heard that alot of people dont like HP but ive never had a problem with them

One of the main reasons people don.t like HP/Compaq is because they make specialty parts and plugs that only work for their PCs and no one elses.

MDKiller1 · Post by **MDKiller1** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 12:25 pm

Oh I see.. I didnt know that. I can see why alot of people dont like them. LOL as you can tell my hubby is the computer person of the family.

Post by **magician** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 1:45 pm

I bought an alienware laptop about 5 years ago. Selected all the high-end components and spent $3200. Immediately had to purchase an upgrade for the DVD burner as the description on the site wasn't what I ended up getting and customer service refused to make it right. The upgrade brought the total cost to $3500.

14 months later the mainboard failed. Wouldn't power up. Alienware told me I was out of luck as I hadn't purchased the extended warranty so my board wasn't covered. I then tried to PURCHASE a new board from them so my investment wouldn't go completely to waste and they refused to sell me the part claiming their supply was for people with warranties. I promptly purchased a Sager brand to replace the dead alien.

About 6 months later, I disassembled the Alienware and discovered that particular model was actually manufactured by Uniwill and had been rebranded as an alienware. The same model from Uniwill (minus the alien lid and blinking eyes) was $1700. Alienware doubled the price just for adding their name. Uniwill sold me a new board for around $500 which at least resurrected the dead alien. I was able to sell it to a friend for $1200, leaving me with a loss of $2800 for the 14 months I had that machine running.

The Sager just recently expired on me as well, but it was 3.5 years old. It had it's share of issues also, but the customer service at Sager was light-years better than Alienware and they fixed 2 different design-flaw induced failures at their cost. Turns out that the Sager I bought was also being sold rebranded as Alienware's high-end model. Mine was $2700. Theirs, with the EXACT same specifications was $4000.

If you are hell-bent to purchase a high end "boutique" laptop I recommend you look at Sager or Voodoo. If you want the power but don't care about the name, Sager is a rebranded machine built by Clevo. Uniwill also makes high end machines without the high end name.

For what it's worth, after 5 years and over $6000 on these high end laptops, I currently run a Dell Latitude E6500 which has way more "beef" than either of it's predecessors and it cost me under $1500.

Just my 2 cents.

-M

logorzat · Post by **logorzat** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 8:25 pm

Thanks everyone for your help and advice. I have decided to go with a high end Dell since that is what I have now and I've good luck with it. After all the Alienware horror stories I'm going to steer clear.