Computer Experiences: Alienware?

[Icewalker]

I'm looking for the experiences of anyone who has used an Alienware gaming computer, specifically laptop, but anything about the company in general would be nice. I'm currently looking to buy a new computer.

I DON'T CARE about anything about whether a computer is better with regards to system specs. That doesn't matter. I'm looking for information on the company, customer support, all that kind of thing. Did the computer arrive as ordered, etc.

If anyone knows of an alternative source for a gaming computer which they know of as a reliable company, customer service, and all that, then feel free to suggest it.

[Rawhide]

Not an experience, but thought it might be pertinent. Alienware is actually owned by a very big PC company that some people love, some people hate.

http://www.alienware.com/intro_pages/aw_announcement.aspx

[Innis Cabal]

They overheat alot, the laptops that is. I know you said that you didn't want to hear "desktops are better" but from an alienware perspective, and the money you will end up spending (and its alot...you can easily double the price of a regular laptop) you might as well get a computer that will not melt.

And I do mean melt. I have witnessed first hand a 1,000 buck computer melt and adher to a desk.

[SDF]

I've had an Alienware laptop. Had it for about a year. Couldn't tell you much about tech support, as I haven't needed it yet. Everything came just fine. I'm even wearing the hat it came with as I type. (In need of a srs haircut... its crazy and everywhere >_>)

If you have any specific questions in terms of day to day use I could probably answer them.

Oh, and mine doesn't get that hot... well no hotter than my friends HP. My other friends macbook pro on the other hand has melted a power supply and given one of my friends scars on their lap after a several our WOW session because it gets so hot.

[potatocubed]

I have an Alienware desktop and it's great. Their customer support was very helpful when I called up to enquire about delivery dates and it was assembled much faster than I expected. They also packed it extremely well - the box had several holes in where DHL employees had kicked it across the warehouse, but the machine itself was untouched.

Two drawbacks that I've noticed:

First, the desktop box is HUGE. I was expecting something the same size as my old machine, but it's about twice that size. Presumably this is to allow easy access to the insides when I want to upgrade, but since I haven't opened it up yet I don't know.

Second, they'll only deliver to the billing address of the credit card and (in the UK at least) they don't deliver at weekends. This means that if you've got a full-time job like me, you'll have to take time off work to collect it. This was probably the most annoying aspect of the whole experience for me, but it was worth it. (Plus, a day off work is always nice.)

[DrowVampyre]

I don't really know anything about their customer service or anything, as I've never had enough money to buy one of their machines. However, just to throw out another possibility, I've heard (and looked into a few years ago and it seemed to match up) that Falcon Northwest makes very nice systems as well, and can be a little cheaper for what you get...not sure if that's still true or not, though.

[SDF]

I don't really know anything about their customer service or anything, as I've never had enough money to buy one of their machines. However, just to throw out another possibility, I've heard (and looked into a few years ago and it seemed to match up) that Falcon Northwest makes very nice systems as well, and can be a little cheaper for what you get...not sure if that's still true or not, though.

Falcon Northwest and VoodooPC make really nice computers, but they are definitely not cheaper. I shopped most high end companies when buying mine and couldn't justify the price of a Falcon Northwest laptop. I might go that way if I want to get a nice custom desktop in the future, though.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

The HP Pavilion line of computers (of which I own one) are marketed as entertainment PC's geared towards movies, games music and such. I highly recommend it, and it's been a great computer for me, and HP's customer service is absolutely superb. Back in October, I had to send my laptop back into them due to a hardware defect, and from shipment to having the computer back in my hands was around 4 or 5 days.

@ Innis Cabal
For the overheating issue, you can get a laptop cooling pad (plastic shell with fans in it). I think most I've seen are about $20-30.

[Innis Cabal]

Oh, that wasn't one of my computers, thank god. I myself would never get a gaming lap top, but thats not what the OP asked.

[DrowVampyre]

Falcon Northwest and VoodooPC make really nice computers, but they are definitely not cheaper. I shopped most high end companies when buying mine and couldn't justify the price of a Falcon Northwest laptop. I might go that way if I want to get a nice custom desktop in the future, though.

Oh, I didn't mean objectively cheaper - they were just as much, but they seemed to have a little more than the Alienware ones. At least, back then.

I wish I had enough to seriously consider getting any of them...alas, my next one's going to be a custom build I think, just so I can get a good system without having to sell organs for it. >_> <_<

[notoriousdrb]

The alienware laptop I had was bought before the company was bought out by dell. And i have to say it was a wonderful "little" thing..though little is an understatement. I used that thing for about three years, it was about that time that the heatsync decided to take a crap and it was prone to failure. Overall though it was a good laptop, even though it had a desktop grade processor in it. I wouldn't suggest the brand though, you're paying more for the brand than you are for the laptop itself. Your best bet is to go to a local computer shop and see if they can custom build you one, you'll save a lot of money, and you'll know the people that built it.

[Hzurr]

While I've never had the honor of owning one, I've had a few friends who have had Alienware, and their experience with it was excellent. The computers are on the pricey side, but the quality is very good, and the customer support is (or at least was) excellent. While some people have decided that they're suddenly horrible because Dell bought them, not many changes happened after the Dell takeover, and the quality hasn't decreased as far as I've seen.

You could do much, much worse than an alienware.


On a side note, I came within an inch of buying an alienware yesterday, but I ended up buying all of the parts, and am going to try to build one myself (significantly cheaper, but I'm a bit worried because I've never built one all the way from scratch)

[Archonic Energy]

Short version:
Current view of Alienware: Poor
Experiences with Customer support: Poor
Experiences with getting out of warrantee item repaired: "Impossible"

Long version

i had a Aurora™ m7700 i took about 3 months to arrive due to "parts not being in stock"
within 6 months i changed the Optical disks. re-installed Windows twice & recovered from a hard disk failure... those were the "Good days"

29 days after my warantee expired it died. :smallfurious:
after a few back & forth e-mails they agreed to repair it, when it was returned and switched on it lasted about a week before dying again. this time they refused to take it. even when i offered to pay for any repairs that needed to be done, and they wouldn't even recommend anywhere that could repair it.

sufficed to say i was annoyed. i looked for another Gaming laptop company & found one. with the vow to never purchace another item from Dell/Alienware...

@^ you'll be fine.
i remember my first build...
*remenises*