Alienware to slow?

[Steevo]

/pics up stone.


/skips it across lake......

 

[kcnychief]

We can and do edit posts. I am not sure how productive locking someone out of a thread would be but its an idea. X or EP might be able to it I think since they have uber powah

Also you do have the power to negative rep someone who's being naughty :devious:

Hmmm, I thought I read in another thread once that they removed the negative rep system. I only know of reporting bad posts to a moderator....

To an extent, I feel that the negative rep system should stay removed. I think it would discourage creative thinking, and if someone is in a bad mood they would just neg rep for no reason. Unless, however, that process is moderated before your rep is effected, then, maybe useful. Just my opinion....

 

[kcnychief]

/pics up stone.


/skips it across lake......

man, I used to be soo good at that

 

[madmatt]

Appearantly, people who like to spend thousands of dollars instead of looking around are diff than people who know that you don't need to spend that much money on a pc. Looks like the name does more than the cost or products ..

You are comparing apples to oranges. His $5000 Alienware system is going to do far more than an $800 Dell PC. Just like my two $5000 HP servers with a $6500 MSA is going to do far more (such as running Exchange 2003 Enterprise in a Cluster; boy do I love it) than an $1800 Dell server.

Granted, Alienware is a brand like Ralph Lauren is a brand; you can go to Target and buy a pair of $20.00 jeans or you can spend $100.00 on a pair.

Another thing to consider is the fact that you pay $5000 for an Alienware system which the components cost $4000. You have to remember you are paying for labor as well.

I priced a Dell Dimension XPS Gen 4 (a few months ago) at $3500. For the exact same components and a similar looking case it would have cost me $2600. They make $900 on labor and other services (such as the extended warranty, support, etc.).

You're entitled to your opinion, just as Sazar is. However, don't compare apples to oranges and expect the end result to be the same.

 

[Ferral_Imp]

right on ferral_imp, i can't wait.. really excited about it wanted it before my birthday but i don't think it will happen. Btw your check was mailed out yesterday so you should be getting it by friday at the latest.

Yea i got the p4 3.2, 1gig ram, 160gig hd, the upgraded display. So i am truly excited about it. I paid by debit card so I hope it goes fast. Its been 1 day now and still order is pending. I am going to call in the morning from work to see what is up.

The upgraded display is really worth the money if you're gonna be gaming or watching videos with the laptop. It's easily veiwable at a great range of angles without the usual distorted color problems you get when viewing other laptop screens at angles other than straight on (which makes it perfect for viewing movies with friends or family). Though I wouldn't use the laptop on my lap without a laptop cooler or a lapdesk again cuz the beast can get hot enough to burn you with prolonged exposure(I learned this one while playing diablo for about 5 hours straight while balancing the laptop on my lap) on the bottom by the video card and any soft surface can block the fans on the bottom of the laptop and cause it to shutdown(had that happen after playing the sims 2 for 45 mins with mine sitting on my matress(did I mention I have the excuse of being blonde for these idiot moves?). But by far the laptop will be a killer gaming computer and the fact that it's upgradeable down the road doesn't hurt either. So when the video card isn't powerful enough for your tastes anymore or you want to switch over to a 64 bit P4 cpu or dump in more ram you have those options (which is one of the main reasons why I got mine).


Mine went pretty fast after the check got to them and was cleared(about 10-14 days or so for that). From my reading, it seems Alienware takes a few days to process the payment cuz of their verification system. Though after the payment clears and the system hits about phase 4 or so it will really pick up and things will fly by. And your beast will be in your hands before you know it.

So hopefully you can have this in time to play with it on yer birfday. If not it will still make for a belated bday surprise.

I'll be on the look out for the check Moo. Oh and congrats again on your new playtoy. It really will be worth the wait.

 

[Sazar]

You are comparing apples to oranges. His $5000 Alienware system is going to do far more than an $800 Dell PC. Just like my two $5000 HP servers with a $6500 MSA is going to do far more (such as running Exchange 2003 Enterprise in a Cluster; boy do I love it) than an $1800 Dell server.

Apples to apples, you will notice that some companies do indeed have lower cost of ownership than other companies products. Alienware charges too much for their products. Compare to a company like Falcon Northwest. They make class products through and through. Not gimmicky stuff.

It is just my personal experience with Alienware products. They are nice but they charge way too much for gimmicks.

Granted, Alienware is a brand like Ralph Lauren is a brand; you can go to Target and buy a pair of $20.00 jeans or you can spend $100.00 on a pair.

Another thing to consider is the fact that you pay $5000 for an Alienware system which the components cost $4000. You have to remember you are paying for labor as well.

Not quite. You are comparing cost of components based on market price. Alienware just like Dell, HP and other companies pay far less for items in their inventory than do regular joes on the street.

I priced a Dell Dimension XPS Gen 4 (a few months ago) at $3500. For the exact same components and a similar looking case it would have cost me $2600. They make $900 on labor and other services (such as the extended warranty, support, etc.).

You're entitled to your opinion, just as Sazar is. However, don't compare apples to oranges and expect the end result to be the same.

Compare an XPS Gen 5 or notebook XPS Gen 2 with anything else on the market with comparable components. You will note the price will typically come out to favor Dell.

The services offered are second to none in the market so keep that in mind when making apples to apples compares. XPS systems all have specific and specilized tech support, a completely different phone number when compared to people with regular systems.

We all have our opinions but I disagree with your assertion that the bulk of the cost of a Dell system is services and support while other companies put more by way of value into their components. And I am basing that off of facts

-edit-

FWIW I think he is going to be very happy with his system. I am not dissing the system

 

[madmatt]

I never stated that the bulk of the cost for Dell, nor Alienware was services. Services and labor help fill the void in the total cost. Some users don't understand that you are also paying for those items.

Like I said in an earlier post: I've moved onto different brands (including Dell) because I've found the same value in other brands. Sony, for instance, puts a nice package together and I am very happy with my Vaio notebook. Dell on the other hand is top notch. I find it hard to believe that some believe otherwise.

I purchase nothing but Dell workstations for my company because of that.

However, I still believe that you get what you pay for. If you pay $5000 for an Alienware system then you are getting good value. I've owned three Alienware systems and I've had nothing but good luck with them.

As you said, we all have our opinions.

 

[Sazar]

I personally love Falcon systems

Given the opportuniny I would definitely buy a desktop by them.

 

[madmatt]

I'd like to buy a Dell Dimension 9100c or an XPS Gen 5 for my next desktop system.

 

[NetRyder]

To an extent, I feel that the negative rep system should stay removed. I think it would discourage creative thinking, and if someone is in a bad mood they would just neg rep for no reason. Unless, however, that process is moderated before your rep is effected, then, maybe useful. Just my opinion....

It's being discussed. It might get limited to admins and moderators only. We'll see...

 

[Son Goku]

It's being discussed. It might get limited to admins and moderators only. We'll see...

One suggestion I would have... If they open the flood gates with negative reps; keep an eye on it's use in the political forum... If participants there start finding very high negative values (as peeps on the left and right side of an issue start negative rating other users), it could potentially open the door for contention that peeps all around might rather, not see

As to the subject at hand; I tend to build my own systems now... But if I were working for a company and they had an order for a large number of computers, there's no way I would commit myself to populate an entire floor in the office building "by next week".

That said, and given Alienware's price, I doubt many an employer would be willing to put that sorta change down

 

[Johnny]

That dell 9100 is a sweet system .. I love it . I might look into that for my next one. I like the design and color of it .. Plus, starting at 999.00 is pretty nice also ..

 

[madmatt]

That dell 9100 is a sweet system .. I love it . I might look into that for my next one. I like the design and color of it .. Plus, starting at 999.00 is pretty nice also ..

Dual Core nonetheless. I'm going to deck it out with 2GB of RAM. Going to hold off a bit though. However, they are starting to come out with a few flashy systems.

 

[Sazar]

Also check out the 5100 C model with the dual-core procs. Not available on the 5100 at the moment but certainly on the 5100 C.

 

[ElementalDragon]

I agree with Son Goku..... much rather do the dirty work myself than pay for someone else to have it already done. not quite as satisfying. madmatt..... how do you get $1000 in labor charges?!??!? if a company charged that for ANY kind of labor, you could almost gurantee some sort of action against them. if anything HALF that would be labor, but i doubt even that much. most of what you're paying for is the Alienware name, and whatever "tweaks" they do to the system to make it run faster (reg tweaks anyone?). you can easily, and i quote EASILY make your own computer, or buy one from Dell or some other company, spend a whole lot less, and still get a pretty awesome performing computer. Just to prove it..... go to the Alienware website.... look at their desktop PC's. some of them have a "Compare your PC" option. they USED to have a lot more computers to test yours against, not just their top of the line and lower-end model. When they DID have more than 2 to compare to, i was able to compare my computer to the Aurora 7500 (Athlon 64 3800+, 1GB DDR400, SLI 6600GT), and what did that compareing option tell me? same thing the lower end model does. there was no performance increase between that Alienware system, and my current PC.

 

[Johnny]

Also check out the 5100 C model with the dual-core procs. Not available on the 5100 at the moment but certainly on the 5100 C.

The 5100 is also ata drives, 9100 has sata .. The 9100 also has raid, that concurred me to it more than the 5100. Although, I like the smaller 5100 tower better. Then, by the time I get it, they might have sata2 with it ...

 

[Sazar]

They are all S-ATA above the 3000 model.

 

[mooo]

Wow a lot of anti alienware guys around here.. I am just going to say this.. I looked at the dell xps on the website, and for upgrades and what not it was the same price. Check it out yourself and the lcd display isn't as good. This is something i did do a lot of research before i made the decision, and trust me, i would much rather go with alienware than dell after looking at the prices being almost the same and alienware having a MUCH MUCH better reputation than dell.
before anyone bashes the prices go check them out the dell standard is i think $2k for the standard xps just like alienware standard(who also give $500 off too).. you can talk all the trash about it being over priced but honestly go find a better system with a better lcd display and amazing customer support and i will cancel my order with alienware and give the other place my biz. (you have till monday night when my order can't be canceled)

 

[Sazar]

Mooo, I can guarantee you that you will not find better support for your product than Dell, especially for their flagship XPS lineup. All the services the other people have been bringing forth were mostly introduced by Dell.

If you have an affiliation to a company Dell does business with, you can easily get upto 12% more off your standard price.

The LCD display is pretty damn good. I have personally not seen better than the new True Life. None of the reviews I have read of it, nor my personal experience show it to be a bad screen. The screen is a WUXGA, the Alienware has, last I checked, topped out at WSXGA+.

One thing I dislike about the XPS Gen2 is the premium you pay for 2 Gigs of mem but they have a free upgrade on some packages for 1 Gig mem from 512 so it helps out some.

The standard price for the XPS Gen 2 is about 2k primarily because you don't have an option for the gfx, it is the 6800 Ultra, and you don't have much option for the proc. It is either 2 or 2.13 Ghz Pentium M.

The Alienware P-M systems do not use the new Dothan cores, they have slower mem clocks and they don't have the option for hdd's upto 100 GB with 7200 RPM rotations. The p4 systems are more comparable because of the mem and proc speeds but require a heck of a lot more cooling hence why it weighs almost 5 lbs more.

The Alienware has a better HDD config with Raid config option maxing out at 120 GB. And it has 2 firewire v/s 1. It has fewer USB ports.

From my perspective, you are going to be happy with the Alienware, it is a screaming system. However there is no way that, seeing what I see and doing what I do that I can agree with your assesment of

a) the area-51 7700 being a better product than the XPS Gen-2. They both have pro's over the other but I have used the 7700 and I have spent a significant amount of time with the XPS Gen-2.
b) alienware having better tech support and customer service than Dell
c) having a better price apples to apples

The kicker for me is the Complete Care coverage. At least if you are not in florida

/me pokes Xsiv.

 

[madmatt]

I agree with Son Goku..... much rather do the dirty work myself than pay for someone else to have it already done. not quite as satisfying. madmatt..... how do you get $1000 in labor charges?!??!? if a company charged that for ANY kind of labor, you could almost gurantee some sort of action against them. if anything HALF that would be labor, but i doubt even that much. most of what you're paying for is the Alienware name, and whatever "tweaks" they do to the system to make it run faster (reg tweaks anyone?). you can easily, and i quote EASILY make your own computer, or buy one from Dell or some other company, spend a whole lot less, and still get a pretty awesome performing computer. Just to prove it..... go to the Alienware website.... look at their desktop PC's. some of them have a "Compare your PC" option. they USED to have a lot more computers to test yours against, not just their top of the line and lower-end model. When they DID have more than 2 to compare to, i was able to compare my computer to the Aurora 7500 (Athlon 64 3800+, 1GB DDR400, SLI 6600GT), and what did that compareing option tell me? same thing the lower end model does. there was no performance increase between that Alienware system, and my current PC.

Only one thing to say: I said labor and services (such as warranty). $1000 isn't much for labor. Most companies charge upwards of $150 an hour. My car dealership charges me $95 an hour.

To each his own.