The Love / Hate of Alienware

[CrzyChinook]

ok let me start my woeful tail about over just a year ago i bought my very first Alienware Laptop. i Had previously owned a Dell XPS M170... it was the best gaming laptop i had ever owned!!heck to this day my son still is using it..but finally bought a beautiful silver Area 51 M15X... right before Dell bought Alienware...first mistake do more research not just on the hardware but the company its self.. but hardware wise it was nothing but top marks!! so i splurged...and when i recived my said laptop as always i upgraded the HD and Ram ..thats when i would get a blue screen of death?? so i went back to the org. hd and ram ... after extensive trouble shooting i figured out the the second slot on my mother board for ram was bad and when i put a ram in it ...BLAMO BSOD!!!so i called Alienware Tech support which was a pain cause it wasnt alienware anymore and it wasnt dell.....third party support!!!YUK and it took about 2 1/2 moths to send and repair and receive it do to the fact i was in Kuwait. ok so i got it back fixed and noticed a few small things here and there and about 6 months later after i made my transion to the Stan... my graphics started acting up...the point at which my dedicated card was attached to the mother board was bad..WTF i send it back and get it 1 1/2months not to bad for being in the stan...then when i un package it ....they didnt fixed it... third party support sucks!!!!...so i called back and they aplogized and i sent it again....2 months i get it back...and.....same issue?? they just opened it and closed it with out touching the prob...so i send it out but as i am i email the IG of AAFES(catalog who i order it through), the head Gen. of AAFES and the corporate office's at Dell....bitchin that in almost 10 months ive barely had it half the time....not only did dell offer a full refund so did AAFES...so i took it back and got a full refund.......welll then i desided to buy a Alienware M17X.... figured since dell had taken the rains fully i was bound for a better experencie.....uggggh since ive had it...ive a million little probs that i have worked around and fixed one way or the other cause i didnt want to send it back but after the slot loaded DVD stop working and now it crashes at least 5-10 times a day....i find out the model i have M17Xr1 has a prob with 2dou core and dual sli nvdia cards.... most people get a free replacement /upgrade to the icore cause theres no fix.....im starting the process all over again but i am FEED UP!! i think ill ask for a complete refund before i start the nut roll again!!! soo frustrating...dont get me wrong i love my laptop when its working....its the bomb but when its not....uuggghh......SO what other good Gaming laptops are out their?? i heard dell is coming out with a new XPS line again? any other brands??PLEASE HELP!!!!

[Bull3tBait]

Oh Noz.. I have an Alienware M17x as well and so far I've not had any issues. Was never thrilled that the DVD is slot loaded (kindof would have liked to have a lightscribe drive there) but in any case where do you find what Rev you have? I got mine this past spring/summer time frame I believe so it's like 9 mos old or less.

[CrzyChinook]

Oh Noz.. I have an Alienware M17x as well and so far I've not had any issues. Was never thrilled that the DVD is slot loaded (kindof would have liked to have a lightscribe drive there) but in any case where do you find what Rev you have? I got mine this past spring/summer time frame I believe so it's like 9 mos old or less.

from what ive gathered all 2 duo cores are M17Xr1 and all icores are r2....and from what im reading the failure rate for the r1 is about 65% some people never have probs some people do...i guess im part of the latter ...my specs are 2.8 2 duo core cpu with dual 1gb 260m sli nvida gpu...

[Bull3tBait]

Ok. whew. My specs are the R2:
Intel Core i7 620M 2.66 GHz (3.33GHz TurboMode, 4MB Cache)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
CrossfireX 1GB GDDR3 ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870
640GB Raid 0 (2x 320GB 7,200RPM HDDs)
8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive,QuickSilver

Plus the name plate that says Bull3tBait and all the other bells and whistles it comes with.
I got it in Late May so it's only 7 mos old

[smoke]

dell hardware is still excellent, but their consumer support sux. they are based in india, and take forever to resolve an issue if you have one.

1 suggestion, if you buy a dell, make sure you plan ahead. Don't buy a product from them, under the assumption you'll just buy aftermarket parts for an upgrade. it won't work. and you will have issues, and on top of it, you won't get support.

[XxSilentxFartxX]

I hate dell. Will never own any of their products

[David_3033]

I hate dell. Will never own any of their products

I never personally owned one but will still have to agree with you I don't like them either. We have them at work and they suck and are always breaking. Smoke is right too about the support for any kind of maintenance. I really like HP and Toshiba is pretty good too. Don't know anything about alienware.

[jxspyder]

I never personally owned one but will still have to agree with you I don't like them either. We have them at work and they suck and are always breaking. Smoke is right too about the support for any kind of maintenance. I really like HP and Toshiba is pretty good too. Don't know anything about alienware.

Alienware used to be a semi-cool little campy company that made high end, cool looking gaming laptops. Then success went to their head, and they started charging buttloads for a cool tower with a little alien head on it. Then Dell bought them out, and it's now just a name.

I can't say too much though, since I have an Area 51 myself. But I got a hell of a deal, so I don't feel cheated. My next rig though will either be custom built, or from Newegg.

[CrzyChinook]

Alienware used to be a semi-cool little campy company that made high end, cool looking gaming laptops. Then success went to their head, and they started charging buttloads for a cool tower with a little alien head on it. Then Dell bought them out, and it's now just a name.

I can't say too much though, since I have an Area 51 myself. But I got a hell of a deal, so I don't feel cheated. My next rig though will either be custom built, or from Newegg.

yeah i got a sweet deal on mine too from...AAFES and it ship to me direct.. i talk to the tech rep today and see what the next step

I just helped a friend build a desktop and buy one from iBUYPOWER..... very nice great customer service in the ordering process and reasonably priced and fast delivery..very impressed when i order my next desktop i might give them a chance!!

[smoke]

I've personally owned 8 different DELL towers and laptops(I currently own a Studio 15, and my wife has a 630), i've also purchased at least 10 other DELL machines for friends and family using my DELL discount. I have NEVER had a problem with DELL hardware as long as I didn't fuck around with it. The only people I have ever heard having issues with DELL, is when they took out the certified hardware DELL installed, and replaced it with their own cheap crappy replacement parts.

I also use DELL at my office, I have a 980 as my desktop with dual video cards, and a SSD. Their enterprise support is very good, and based here stateside. HP support is terrible. its worse the DELLs.

As for Alienware, its just nothing more now, then a fat XPS in Alienware colors.
If you want a really bitchen ass gaming PC, get a Falcon-Northwest, or maybe the AVADirect Raven outlined here on AOTS

I never personally owned one but will still have to agree with you I don't like them either. We have them at work and they suck and are always breaking. Smoke is right too about the support for any kind of maintenance. I really like HP and Toshiba is pretty good too. Don't know anything about alienware.

[CrzyChinook]

I've personally owned 8 different DELL towers and laptops(I currently own a Studio 15, and my wife has a 630), i've also purchased at least 10 other DELL machines for friends and family using my DELL discount. I have NEVER had a problem with DELL hardware as long as I didn't fuck around with it. The only people I have ever heard having issues with DELL, is when they took out the certified hardware DELL installed, and replaced it with their own cheap crappy replacement parts.

I also use DELL at my office, I have a 980 as my desktop with dual video cards, and a SSD. Their enterprise support is very good, and based here stateside. HP support is terrible. its worse the DELLs.

As for Alienware, its just nothing more now, then a fat XPS in Alienware colors.
If you want a really bitchen ass gaming PC, get a Falcon-Northwest, or maybe the AVADirect Raven outlined here on AOTS

yeah i saw AOTS today...on gadet pron ..we are a day behind ...nice but 6,600 ouch that will hurt the wallet!!
i had a buddy that had a NWF he loved it but spent 5400 for his...but never heard him bitch!!...yeah ive never really had any major issues with dell ive owned quite a few.. like i said my best was my XPS M170....im really looking hard at the new XPS line....they relaunched their gaming line of XPS..they look nice and dont hurt the wallet so much...still waiting on to talk to a manger with dell...talk of replaceing it with a r2 or refund.....ill see what they say....

[Bull3tBait]

I've personally owned 8 different DELL towers and laptops(I currently own a Studio 15, and my wife has a 630), i've also purchased at least 10 other DELL machines for friends and family using my DELL discount. I have NEVER had a problem with DELL hardware as long as I didn't fuck around with it. The only people I have ever heard having issues with DELL, is when they took out the certified hardware DELL installed, and replaced it with their own cheap crappy replacement parts.

I also use DELL at my office, I have a 980 as my desktop with dual video cards, and a SSD. Their enterprise support is very good, and based here stateside. HP support is terrible. its worse the DELLs.

As for Alienware, its just nothing more now, then a fat XPS in Alienware colors.
If you want a really bitchen ass gaming PC, get a Falcon-Northwest, or maybe the AVADirect Raven outlined here on AOTS

I too have mostly owned Dells (still have and use my 2 XPS's) and I never had an issue with them (even when I upgraded the graphic cards in the towers and added a second CD/DVD Writer to each. All of the computers at my work are also Dell and I've never had an issue with my dell work laptop.

As for the Alienware laptop I will say this. I originally had an HP Pavillion Entertainment Laptop. I used it to play my Online MMO I was into at the time and it only lasted a year. The display went out. It overheated despite the cooling pad I had it on and the video card fried. Lucky for me it was still under warrenty and I sent it to the company who then told me it was my fault that it overheated for overtaxing the video card and so it wasn't covered. It was also under recall for a faulty hinge. After a battle with the customer support that the machine being an Entertainment model should be able to handle the graphics, they finally replaced the motherboard and threw in a new keyboard and a new LCD Display. I got it back in "mint" condition. WRONG!!!!! less than two months later, with light use, the video card fries again (Ironically right after the warrenty expired). I will never own another HP Laptop after all that. At least the Alienware was designed to handle that heat load and mine never gets hot. it has 4 fans that kick in when things get hot but the keyboard surface never gets more than slightly warm. To me, the case design is worth the extra money.

I am now trying to fix the HP myself (just cuz i want to) and I replaced the motherboard but now I believe the fan is faulty as the system boots up fine but the fan isn't working. Once my neck heals a bit and I can comfortably look down for longer periods I'm going to tear it down again and make sure I got the connections right before I go out to get a new one.

[jack]

When I do need another setup, I'm going with the fragbox. thanks for the info Smoke

[smoke]

np - glad to help out.
If you want something completely custom, I could build you something too.
just pm me your specs, and your budget, and I can put together a quote for you.

When I do need another setup, I'm going with the fragbox. thanks for the info Smoke

[saviger]

np - glad to help out.
If you want something completely custom, I could build you something too.
just pm me your specs, and your budget, and I can put together a quote for you.

custom build is always the best/cheapest way to go.
The build in of itself is a nice learning experience, and will impart valuable knowledge that will undoubtedly become valuable in your future.

I was lucky and had a father in IT, and have been tearing apart and building up towers since the 386-MSDOS days

[jack]

np - glad to help out.
If you want something completely custom, I could build you something too.
just pm me your specs, and your budget, and I can put together a quote for you.

Thanks for the offer Smoke, I'll keep it in mind when the time comes.

[CrzyChinook]

*****UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE******
after talking to Alienware tech support which by the way isnt int India.. its in Costa Rica...and i ask how long he said he'd been working there for over 7-8 years in that building.hmm talk to robert who spoke pretty good English slight Spanish accent but very clear ... so i explained to him what the issue was and that i was a "Techie" and understood everything on what was going on. so he wanted to check my rig by romoting in from costa rica... i explained to him that i was in Afghanistan and it would be slowwwwwwwww beyond belief.. he ask me all the Noob questions which i finally had to interrupt him and said look let me tell u what ive done so far to this point and as i went on a 5 min rant which at the end he quietly said ...hmm ok so u do know what u r doing...hmm ok well..... then after much silence he said lets run a benckmark and see if we can get it to fail so we know what it is a software prob or a hardware prob....so i told him it would take me aleast the rest of the night to download the benchmark software (250mb)(like i said slowwwwwwwww) and that i would email him the results!!! wellll i refuse to give up cause i have been really happy with my rig except that it keep crashing and didnt start till i updated with new drivers.... but reverting them didnt help....soooo i did some more research and stumble on to something ..and iu think i found a fix for it cause since i did it the rig hasnt crashed in two days....well wait and see but what i found was a Modded Video Driver... seems pretty stable well see that would be awesomesause if i fixed it and it was a software prob and not a hardware prob!!! Please WORK!!!keep u posted!!

[CrzyChinook]

4 days no crashes!! slot loaded dvd player still needs to be replace but i can deal till i get home for that one!!