Alienware Computers

[Ruckas]

I've had all dells. Since 1997. So I have really no idea what other companies are like. I'm just curious, people who own Alienware computers. Could you post a message what your overall experiance with thier tech support, or hardware is like. For example, back when I first got a dell. I had some issues with my video card. Instead of just sending me a new card, They actually gave me an entirely new tower. Now days, I have an issue with my mouse. They send me a "refurbished" mouse. Which is almost worse than not having one at all.

On average I wait for 30-40 minutes to get a person on the phone when I call dell. How long do you guys have to wait on average?

I know I'm going to get a few people saying "BUILD YOUR OWN." I'm very capable of doing so. However, I enjoy screwing companies with my warranty. My warranty (4 year) with dell cost's $190.00. And I've already gotten 4 mice. A new (5 times as fast) CD-RW. A new (20 gig bigger) HardDrive and a new speaker system. All because I felt like getting them replaced for whatever reason. I would rather have that option, than having to fix stuff right when it breaks.

Anyway, thanks for any input. And if you haven't seen the new cases over at alienware. Go take a look.

Ruckas-

 

[Lord Evermore]

At the prices they pay for huge lots of devices, they probably still made a hundred bucks off of you. And you overpaid for the devices in the first place, which they'd already paid volume prices for, so even if you use all your warranty, they've still made money.

Alienware's prices are ridiculous, really. No warranty abuse is worth the price difference compared to building your own. Similarly outfitted systems from Alienware and Dell (both their "performance/gaming" high-end systems) with the same warranty come out with the Dell costing about 150 dollars less but having better performance (1066 RDRAM, 9700 TX since Dell doesn't use Ti's), but I imagine you'd prefer the good tech support and be willing to pay extra for it. Of course, you could build a computer for half the cost, and replace every single component over the life of the machine and still not have spent as much.

 

[pkananen]

if you open the case of an alienware, you void the warranty. what's up with that?

 

[Lord Evermore]

Well, aside from it being unenforceable (they can't legally prevent you from touching your own product which uses standard parts), it's the same as that's always been with OEMs. Too many people say "I wanna take a look" and then hear a zap and see a spark of light and the system dies.

 

[TheCorm]

Originally posted by: pkananen
if you open the case of an alienware, you void the warranty. what's up with that?

Yeah as far as I remember when I looked into this, the company is not totally covering themselves by saying this, it doesn't really 'void' the warranty....it just hangs a question over the system going wrong because of a fault or because of user negligence.

Corm

 

[TheCorm]

On average I wait for 30-40 minutes to get a person on the phone when I call dell. How long do you guys have to wait on average?

How much do you pay per minute for the call? Does it ever go over or come close to the cost of saying getting your replacement mouse?

Corm

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: TheCorm

On average I wait for 30-40 minutes to get a person on the phone when I call dell. How long do you guys have to wait on average?

How much do you pay per minute for the call? Does it ever go over or come close to the cost of saying getting your replacement mouse?

Corm

Dells phone calls are free. Also I've called Customer Care for Dell and I've never waited over 10-15 MAX for them to answer.

 

[jagr10]

Alienware is gonna rip you off. They charge so damn much for their systems. And their startup story is also bullcrap. They claim they started off with $10,000. Not possible. THey fail to mention all the "private investors" that also gave them lots more money.

 

[dullard]

If you get a Dell hot deal, nothing can come close to that price - not even building it yourself. Take the current hot deal for example. About $420 (+ tax if you live in a state with sales tax) will get this to your door:
2.53 GHz P4, 128 MB Ram, 48xCDRW, 60 GB HD, Win XP, mouse, keyboard, etc with a 1 year warranty.

Now lets think about building that ourselves (these are prices right from pricewatch - you may find better deals elsewhere):
2.53 GHz P4: $180
Cheap motherboard: $80
Cheapest case and power supply: $50
Cheapest 48xCDRW: $40
Cheapest 128 MB DDR: $20
Cheapest 60GB HD: $70
Cheapest keyboard, mouse, all cables, etc: $40
Total: $480 and that doesn't even include the operating system. And by using the cheapest of all parts, you know it isn't going to be a quality computer. Put decent parts in and you will be adding at least $100, more like $200 extra. So homebuilding often is much more expensive.

Now I just customized the closest thing I could to that computer at Alienware. Price: $1239. Note, this did have a better video card so the prices aren't a perfect match. But it just goes to show that Alienware is a ripoff.

 

[moogle077]

*sigh* Warranty abuse???

 

[Lord Evermore]

Uhm, yeah. Add a couple of hundred dollars for even DECENT performance with the video. ATI Rage?! Don't forget to add at least another 256MB memory module needing to be bought afterwards as well (and the existing one is probably using terribly conservative timings so you may need to even swap that out for performance), if you want to be able to USE the machine for anything.

I'd say probably 150 dollars needed to get that thing up to any sort of performance with games. Closer to 200 for a system I wouldn't be embarassed by, and 300 or more to get it to a configuration that I could really call high performance.

For low-end machines, Dell can't be beaten. When you get into performance systems, their prices start to go up relatively and it's easier to build your own cheaper.

MSI's 845PE motherboard is only 80 dollars at Newegg, cheaper down to 67 dollars is available. We'll consider the Abit BH7, only 92 dollars, as a "good" motherboard.

A 2.53GHz P4 is actually 190 dollars for retail box on Newegg right now.

A pretty decent case from Codegen is only 35 dollars with a 350W PSU (which should have sufficient amperage on all the rails though it's certainly not a high value supply). An Allied 300W with good power rails is only 20 dollars if that's desired. Keep in mind the Dell will only have a 250W.

256MB of PC2700 is only 28 dollars.

Don't know what "cables" you think are needed that don't come with all the other parts. Cheapest PS2 keyboard is only 3.50 but we'll say 10 dollars. MS 2-button scroll Intellimouse is only 10 dollars. Total: 20.

Total: 475 for a machine with more memory and a better PSU and a good motherboard, only missing the onboard video which is nearly worthless and would need to be replaced anyway. Also add in maybe 25 bucks for shipping. Compared to 420 to 450 for the Dell which needs 20 bucks worth of memory added right off the bat. Consider the 1 year warranty, and obviously Dell is cheaper and a better value for this particular range, but not vastly so, and as soon as you start adding features for performance, the price rises much faster than simply buying the parts and building your own.

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: Lord Evermore
Uhm, yeah. Add a couple of hundred dollars for even DECENT performance with the video. ATI Rage?! Don't forget to add at least another 256MB memory module needing to be bought afterwards as well (and the existing one is probably using terribly conservative timings so you may need to even swap that out for performance), if you want to be able to USE the machine for anything.

I'd say probably 150 dollars needed to get that thing up to any sort of performance with games. Closer to 200 for a system I wouldn't be embarassed by, and 300 or more to get it to a configuration that I could really call high performance.

For low-end machines, Dell can't be beaten. When you get into performance systems, their prices start to go up relatively and it's easier to build your own cheaper.

MSI's 845PE motherboard is only 80 dollars at Newegg, cheaper down to 67 dollars is available. We'll consider the Abit BH7, only 92 dollars, as a "good" motherboard.

A 2.53GHz P4 is actually 190 dollars for retail box on Newegg right now.

A pretty decent case from Codegen is only 35 dollars with a 350W PSU (which should have sufficient amperage on all the rails though it's certainly not a high value supply). An Allied 300W with good power rails is only 20 dollars if that's desired. Keep in mind the Dell will only have a 250W.

256MB of PC2700 is only 28 dollars.

Don't know what "cables" you think are needed that don't come with all the other parts. Cheapest PS2 keyboard is only 3.50 but we'll say 10 dollars. MS 2-button scroll Intellimouse is only 10 dollars. Total: 20.

Total: 475 for a machine with more memory and a better PSU and a good motherboard, only missing the onboard video which is nearly worthless and would need to be replaced anyway. Also add in maybe 25 bucks for shipping. Compared to 420 to 450 for the Dell which needs 20 bucks worth of memory added right off the bat. Consider the 1 year warranty, and obviously Dell is cheaper and a better value for this particular range, but not vastly so, and as soon as you start adding features for performance, the price rises much faster than simply buying the parts and building your own.

Well nice attempt, but you are forgetting some obvious things for your home built machine -

CDROM, Floppy, Operating System, SoundCard, NIC/Modem, HardDrive.....

You're missing a good number of parts.

 

[dullard]

Don't know what "cables" you think are needed that don't come with all the other parts. Cheapest PS2 keyboard is only 3.50 but we'll say 10 dollars. MS 2-button scroll Intellimouse is only 10 dollars. Total: 20.

Total: 475 for a machine with more memory and a better PSU and a good motherboard, only missing the onboard video which is nearly worthless and would need to be replaced anyway. Also add in maybe 25 bucks for shipping. Compared to 420 to 450 for the Dell which needs 20 bucks worth of memory added right off the bat. Consider the 1 year warranty, and obviously Dell is cheaper and a better value for this particular range, but not vastly so, and as soon as you start adding features for performance, the price rises much faster than simply buying the parts and building your own.

As for cables, I've never gotten power cords, IDE cables, etc with the individual parts I bought. So that was what I was thinking. Do you usually get them free? I've never been that lucky. Everyone here knows you get the basic model at Dell, and then pop in memory yourself. Dell charges $50 for a second 128 MB DDR module, for that price you could nearly add a 512 MB DDR stick yourself (The price yesterday for a Crucial stick guaranteed to work was $70 shipped after the % off coupon code and you could get it cheaper elsewhere). As for video card you Ebay the one you get with the Dell for $15 and apply that to a decent video card. Yes everyone here does those things (and if you read the link I even mentioned to do that). By the way who said anything about onboard video?

Where is the legal OS in your post? The Dell 250W power supply has been shown time and time again to power machines much better than most 350W power supplies (read Tom's Hardware for an article about them providing 100W less than advertized, and Dell's power supplies provide more than advertized). So the Dell power supply is far superior to any $20 one you'll buy off the shelf.

 

[Ruckas]

Wow, so many excellent points I don't know where to begin. I'll start off by saying. Of the computer companies out there, I've noticed that alienware is the highest priced. Even stripped you won't get away without spending $1500.00 bucks. If you work alot though, and don't have much free time. I think the best thing to do is warranty abuse. Because I have no time to fiddle around, get new drivers, format drives... All very time consuming. Granted if you do it all day you guys can get the hang of it. But I don't.

That's my arguement. If you have lots of time on your hands. Building your own system is the very best way to go. Because you know exactly what does what. And wether or not you can handle this or that. However, if something breaks, you have to do it all yourself. Asuming it's out of warranty. If it is out of warranty you're going to have to find a replacement part. Which it most cases means buying the newest version of whatever it is you broke. At which point you might have conflicts for whatever reason. You system might not like it. Blah blah blah.... You get what I mean. All the fiddling we do in our teens give us general knowledge of how to fix computers. But once you get older. I promise. You won't want to take the time to fix everything.

Ruckas-

 

[human2k]

Alienware is nice, but the price is waaay too much.

 

[Ruckas]

Yeah, I forgot to mention that. Which is why I came back. Alienware is getting away with murder. The old Voit vs Nike deal. Back when I was in jr high. My mom would buy me voit shoes. To me, and my friends, you couldn't tell the difference. But to the bully kids and faggots I had ghetto clothes. So they teased me and what not. In highschool when I had a job, I wasted all my hard earned money on getting spiffy clothes. Only to find out, that in highschool no one really cared what you wore.

So now I just wear whatever the heck I want. Suffice it to say, I won't be buying an alienware anytime soon. Specially with what I've read here.

Pretty spiffy analogy enh?

Ruckas-

 

[Lord Evermore]

Any parts I didn't specifically mention, I assumed the same parts from the previous list, that's why no hard drive or CDRW was listed.

The BH7 has onboard LAN, and no modem is included with the priced out Dell. It also has onboard audio, which I presume was selected for the hot deals Dell machine. It also has SerialATA support which the Dell doesn't.

OEM copy of XP Home is 93 dollars, so yes I forgot that. Also forgot that Dell includes WordPerfect and Quicken. Floppy is only 9 bucks more.

Also noticed that Dell actually has a free upgrade to 256MB of memory that isn't mentioned in the hot deal thread. Also a 16X DVD is the basic option for no extra cost, and then the 48X CDRW is also a free upgrade (the hot deal only mentioned the CDRW).

The price seems to be a lot different now though, but I may be finding things wrong. The 4550 isn't listed in any business categories, only Home/HomeOffice. Spec'd out the same as the one in hot deals (except including the free upgrades mentioned above), it comes to 788 dollars.

At that price, and assuming the rebates are still valid, the Dell machine is competitive with a home-built machine, considering the cost of Wordperfect/Quicken and the 1 year warranty, but only if you actually have interest in an OEM machine. I'd certainly recommend them for anyone not technically-minded that needed a machine.

 

[drednox]

lol, you gotta be kidding me, they upgrade UP TO 265 MB of memory ?

while upgrade from 1 gig to 2 gigs ?


but in all seriousness, what it really comes down to is where you shop. for example, if you buy your parts at someplace like Best Buy, Frys, Circuit City, Comp USA, you will actuall pay more instead of less then a ready dell or gateway system.

on the otehr hand if you do know where to shop, and for the otehr example, LA computer fair at Pomona, which gives you minimum 25% to about 80% of off retail prices, due to the fact that they sell mostly OEM, overstock, pre-launch marketing, and direct manufacturers outlets, then the numbers wich i just gave you, which by the way surprisingly are NOT exagerations, speak for themselves.

i wouldnt worry about stuff liek warranties at all. if you buy decent brand parts, for example Aopen, AMD or Intel, ATI Radeon, Creative Labs SOund Blaster, those parts already coem with their own warranties, free software packages which combined gives you far superior and oftentimes betetr deal then whats bundeled with dell, etc.

by the time these manufacturers warranties run out 2-3 years down the line, your rig will be absolete and you will be doing heavy upgrades or just get a whole new one. i still cant believe the idiots taht actually make people pay $50 for a lifetime warranty on a $27 stick of RAM at my local Frys Electronics market.

here is a link to the place that is best to shop for comps and comp parts in my area http://www.lacomputerfair.com/ check out the schedule and maps, etc. since these things arent alweays up and available.

if you live someplace other then LA, well, all i can suggest is look for something equivalent in your area, i'm sure there is one.

 

[Bojangles139]

not to be an ass guys, but he specificly said he doesn't want to build, he wants to buy. so take the arguements else where and answer his questions. if you don't currently own alienware and don't know anything about their customer support or warrenty info, don't post. don't thread steal.

brandon

 

[Lord Evermore]

boo hoo. Obviously nobody DOES have experience with them who is willing to post about it. For my part, I was trying to point out that the "screwing the company on the warranty" plan isn't necessarily screwing anybody but himself.

 

[Budmantom]

I got in on the Dell deal mention earlier and I got a 2.66ghz, 60gb hd, 4 x dvd burner, 640mb, 9700tx and etc... this deal will cost me $787 after rebate and including an extra 512mb.
I couldn't build it for that nor would I want to, it is not the fastest rig I have seen but it's also far from a "budget pc".

 

[Budmantom]

Oh yeah I too have not bought one of the Alienware computers cuz they are way to expensive, if I was making $200K+ yr I would take a look. Now I buy a new computer at least once a year, so in a year I will sell the computer above for about $600 and I will find another screamin deal.

 

[Ruckas]

Budmanton, I love that saying in your signature. First of all, it's a shame we don't have someone here that owns an alienware. I can only asume that the only people who buy them are complete aol users. And therefor don't frequent this website. Obviously the people here at this forum could easily go work for IBM developing chips for a wide array of applications. So I'm just going to assume that Alienware targets complete idiots. That or people who live in $300,000.00 homes in the suburbs.

Thanks for the input from everyone. I'm hoping that dell will switch to AMD when the 64 bit chips are launched. From what I've read at misc places. That chip is going to explode when it's released. Spose it's gonna have to, with carmack unveling his new beast..

Ruckas-

 

[jagr10]

I do remember a while back some guy posted on here about having terrible customer service with alienware. He said when he got his system it wasn't painted properly and the shade of the case didn't match the keyboard exactly or something like that. Then he said something wasn't working properly so he called tech support and was on hold for a while and they shipped him another faulty system. I think that's what he said. I can't be for certain, but all i know is the guy wasn't happy. Maybe a search might bring up that post.

 

[MistaTastyCakes]

My girlfriend has an alienware. She's had one problem with it regarding some sorta networking problem and all Alienware told her to do was uninstall a buncha nonrelated programs, half of em games and no, none were like Bonzi Buddy or any of that other crap, hehe

It turns out her DSL modem had some weird problem and it had to be replaced. Another friend of mine had an Alienware and within a week and a half he had to send it back and get it replaced cause it crashed constantly even after a fresh Windows install, and it turned out to have bad RAM.

I'm sure there are a ton more success stories out there but in my limited experience, I haven't been impressed. It seems the CS is kinda half assed unless you make a big stink about a major problem, and I don't care how much time you supposedly save (putting a PC together and installing an OS takes 3 hours tops), you'll pay too much for a good product, but if ya stuck with Dell hot deals, or maybe even Oxford PC, you oughta be better off with price/performance.

I'm not sure how the warranties are and how easy they are to abuse, though.

A bit OT but did ya ever think all the time spent on the phone trying to rip of Dell acyually *could* be used to make a PC? Kinda takes down your whole "I have no time on my hands" argument when you apparantly have 30-40 minutes to sit on hold or argue (or lie?) about what's wrong with your computer. Oh well.