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Dell to Buy Alienware?
An anonymous reader writes "Well, looks like rumors are flying, and Dell may have bought Alienware according to an article on cnet.
It really would fit Dell well. They are the last big manufacturer not to use AMD, and this would fill that void. Acquiring this company would also help them grow their business to where they want it to be ($80 billion anually). One can only hope that Alienware support and hardware won't be ill effected by this acquisition."
Dude.... you're getting an Alien!
"One can only hope that Alienware support and hardware won't be ill effected by this acquisition." Whoa!..Alienware has so many post purchase CS complaints...Hell its hard to even talk to a competant rep once you get your laptop/desktop..When i ordered mone in November 18, 2005...and the did not get it to me until January 31 2006..Thats a little bit of a problem..You actually think Dell buying them out will help this..Maybe the will help with the 8 Stuck pixels that my laptop came with, that Alienware CS is still insisting that they will not replace the laptop for, because it is not center of the screen..When has it ever been ok to release a completely faulty product!
~~"Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong." ~~Dennis Miller
All the while lining the pockets of good ol' Mike Dell.
I'll keep building my own, thanks.
Curb CO2 emissions: Kill yourself today!
Awesome now Alienware will come with 200+ useless software titles. (oh and the hard drives will now crash on a 6 month basis)
Thank you, thank you, I'll not be here all week.
Generally, bash is superior to python in those environments where python is not installed.
You need to assemble your own system to join the ranks of the 1337!! Now does anyone know where I can find a replacement chipset fan for my ABIT mobo?
All my rich uncles have either Alienware or Dell systems. These are users who need tons of support, and they are all equally happy. Also at the school district where I work we are 100% Dell. As long as the box is under warranty or service contract Dell is amazingly responsive to service and support needs.
Moderation in All Things... Especially Moderation - gurutc
It's affected not effected.
Effected means to have actioned. Affected means influenced by.
AlienWare starts systems with about the same level of hardware as Dell. Last time I looked at their lineup, they were trying to sell a system with embedded video. We know how bad Dell support is, and they will likely move their alienware support devision to india too. The only good thing I can see coming of this is lower prices. This really makes sense, if you want a high quality system and support, you should go to a PC shop or a friend.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
http://www.cnet.com.au/desktops/pcs/0,39029439,400 61082,00.htm
A local Dell spokesman has effectively denied rumours that it's acquired rival PC vendor Alienware, suggesting that all speculation should be taken "with a grain of salt".
Sex is not the answer. Sex is the question. Yes is the answer.
Alienware support??? You're kidding, right? Have you ever spoken to Alienware support? Over the 15-16 times I had to call up (my video card on my desktop replacement heated to the point of bubbling) I found myself wishing I could deal with Dell.
When 2 of my keys fell off on the 4th day I owned the laptop, the CS Rep (Juan) informed me that he couldn't replace the keyboard because it was more than 3 days old, but he "off the record" suggested superglue to me.
Because this article states otherwise.
Left 4 Dead Gaming Group - http://www.l4dgg.com
I have avoided bulk manufacturers such as Dell and HP like the plague. They give you about as many choices as you got in the old Soviet Union. You can have any configuration you want as long as it's the one they want you to have. It's also a bit like buying a Japanese car: 5000 models, all alike.
The good thing about companies like Alienware (and other smaller makers) is that you get lots of choice and you can configure your box just about any way you want it. Also, you can change things after you buy it. I hope those days are not soon over.
If true, this smells like Dell trying to make an end-run around Samsung and the other OEM builders for Dell's notebooks.
With this, they'd get a company that makes it's own AND gain access to some supply of AMD without having to bring it in as a full mass market Dell product with the supply issues that would cause.
Samsung would probably jump for joy as they would no longer be embargoed from selling computers under their own name in the US.
Who knows. Voodoo says it's true. Dell denies it. Alienware will neither confirm nor deny. If these were politicians speaking, Dell's denial would be laughable and Alienware's respose would be code for confirmation.
Sig for hire.
From the article: "Speculation about a possible buyout has been rife since Rahul Sood, CEO of original equipment manufacturer Voodoo PC, posted his thoughts on such a move on his blog two weeks ago.
damn these blogs.
This makes more sense than Dell trying to dress up their systems with the XPS badge. Giving consumers a more highend (read needlessly expensive) systems will appeal more to the tweakers and neon windowed case types. Dell would cover all the bases; from a $399 complete system (after rebates) for Grandma, and a $3000 tricked out system for Johnny Freshman to frag on!
Now if Dell would offer Linux as a equal choice (I'm not talking about buying Linux or a 'naked' FreeDOS box on a similar system that is *more* than an XP box!). With Apple's Intel offerings starting to look great, people that want to run OS X for fun will be swayed once they try it, and people like me who have no use for XP are already planning on buying a new MacBook for OSX/Linux dual boot. If/when they have the abiltiy to run XP too, well I think Dell should be a bit worried, but they'll still beat them on price (well, not with these Aliens they won't!)
fak3r.com
Remember the movie Wall Street? When a company is rumored to be bought, its stock will most likely go up substantially because investors know the company will cut overhead, largely in the form of layoffs. Expect that to happen here. So I'm not optimistic about support but that doesn't mean that the quality of the technology will diminish, perhaps even the opposite as the new owner has the interest and the cash money to step up R&D or acquisitions of other similar companies.
One can only hope that Alienware support and hardware won't be ill effected by this acquisition.
Sadly it has been affected, now they are calling this new merger 'AlienatedWare', and furthermore, all tech support is done by 'aliens.'
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
One can only hope that Alienware support and hardware won't be ill affected by this acquisition."
couldn't get much worse.
filter: +3. Hey, look! all the trolls went away!
Of course Alienware does actually make quality computers, and I purchased one myself since I don't have the time to build my own...but here's a tip....order from their small business line. Its WAAAY cheaper, you get the same components for the most part...and the only thing lacking is the flashy case that screams "Alienware just scammed me out of $500 bucks for this case".
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
Alienware may make nice laptops but the things are just stupid looking. There has got to be nothing more embarrasing then sitting down at Borders and whipping out [lift with your knees - not you back] a bright green laptop with a glowing alien head on the lid. - Andrew
I meta-moderate because I care.
What's interesting about the references is that are both tied to C|NET. What does this tell us about how C|NET operates? To be fair, the original story here comes from reviews.cnet.com whereas your reference above is cnet.com.au. Maybe the folks Down Under have more or less information? Maybe the 'roos are screwing things up? ;-)
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It'd fit with the whole aliens-abducting-cows thing.
...sorry.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
I wrote the first story backing up Rahul's blog here:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30043
and then got more info the other day that also backed up the CNet and AMDZone versions, so I wrote this:
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30289
Then the new CNet 'backpedal' piece came out, and it looks like someone is spreading hardcore FUD. So, I spent the morning tracking down rumors and leads, calling sources to see who their sources are and the like.
Short story, the sources are not talking to each other, and contrary to the CNet implications, it is not a grand plot by Rahul. I was told last week that it is a done deal, and nothing has changed that view since, but a lot has bolstered it.
The tepid denials (A friend of a guy who knew someone from Dell Australia) and the like are not what I would call good evidence. I have talked to three people who gave me some very convincing evidence about the purchase.
All that said, take it with a grain of salt, but when you start hearing about anouncement dates, it may be more than smoke and mirrors.
-Charlie
Or so I heard yesterday from a reasonably believable source. No, I can't say how they knew, which is why I am being an AC.
Dell would not tell its employees until after the purchase. They don't tell their employees much except lately "yeah we like gaming, and oh by the way, Bangalore is nice this time of year". Dell is not a great place to work.
"One can only hope that Alienware support and hardware won't be ill effected by this acquisition."
Hopefully indeed! A friend of mine just bought a brand new Dimension from Dell... I helped him set it up, turned it on, damn thing just goes to the wallpaper screen, no desktop, no explorer.exe running in the task manager... forcing that file to run, it dissapears. I had to redo the whole thing myself, since Dell support sucks, especially being outsourced 99% of the time.
One can only hope Alienware side of things keeps their support in tact and maybe it will rub off on Dell somewhat (maybe).
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=30289
:)
Luckily I was there yesterday. 6/10 for effort though.
-Charlie
I've seen both, talk about paying a crap load of money for not much. The only people buying these systems are either trying to impress their friends, too stupid to know the difference or are trying to make up for a physical shortcoming. As far as service goes, I would have to say it's got to get better going to Dell. Though the service is outsourced to India, I have always had satisfactory results when I have had to call. The trick is though to buy from the small business segment. From what I have heard from people who have bought Aliens, their CS is probably some of the worst in the industry. As I understand it the only way it could get worse is if they didn't answer the phone at all.
I think it's funny how people in the CNET forums are talking about how it's so much cheaper to build your own computer, and anyone who disagrees is crazy. Look... the computer I'm using now cost $350, including a 15" LCD monitor, including shipping. Now, the cheapest 15" LCD on NewEgg is $160 including shipping, and NewEgg tends to have the best prices of any store that you'd trust your credit card number with.
:P
That means, if it's cheaper to build your own computer, you can build an entire computer for $190 including shipping, which would be incredible, to say the least. Admittedly, my 2.6 GHz Celeron is not setting any records (although for the stuff I use it for, including compiling, it's plenty fast), but still. Pick any processor you want; I still don't think that, for $190, you can have a processor, motherboard, 256MB of memory, a 40 GB hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, and a case/power supply shipped to your door.
Yeah, maybe Dell tries to do a bait-and-switch, but if you're smart/patient enough to look through their site and only order a computer when it actually is the amazing deal they've advertised, you'll do fine. You just have to be careful not to upgrade stuff, or they'll nail you.
If Dell purchases Alienware, they will eliminate Alienware's products that usn an AMD processor. Remember, Intel/Dell/Microsoft have the agreement "We'll scratch your backs of you'll scratch ours." Intel and Dell have monopolist attitudes, Microsft is a convicted Monopoly. I would hate to see Intel and Dell become monopolies, as it would spell trouble.
On the down side, Alienware gets outsourced to india, America loses yet another company, and Best Buy has to find a new gaming rig to sell. On the plus side, we get to talk to those people that can't speak English and we get 20% off for doing it... Well, at least we get 20% off.
I will keep my performance laptops business with Falcon Northwest. http://www.falcon-nw.com/flash/
I had a alienware sentia laptop. after 1 year and 4 months (1 year warranty) the laptop totally died on me. So I call up to get out of warranty repair, I was expecting to pay. After playing the phone support game with a couple of their techs it came down to:
-Model is discontinued, and they have 0 parts for this model.
-They have no competitive upgrade, I would have bought a newer laptop if they would have given me something for the old one.
-Alienware said "sorry" and referred me to a company in CA who does laptop component repairs.
At this point I sent it to the company in CA who said the MB was totally shot. they gave me some money for the case and the LCD and shipped me my hardrive back.
Hopefully Alienware can learn a few things from Dell on how to support their products.
A totally disatisfied customer.
So seti@home was successful after all! I can't wait to see all those new DELL PCs with true alien tech! Any Linux port to this new alien arch yet? It should be hard to get the spec from such a distant vendor!
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
...... As Mark Evans (a well known technology reporter in Canada) has posted in his blog that it is entirely possible that Dell has bought Voodoo PC:
5 /1821932.html
http://evans.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2006/3/1
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
they sold their company at a ridiculously overpriced rate!
Considering how poor AlienWare support actually is, I can't imagine how Dell could bring it down. In fact, I've had pretty good luck with them over the years. Dell has always replaced failed components quickly and didn't give me much hassle about it. AlienWare on the other hand broke a system we purchased from them with an 'update' and wouldn't do anything to fix it. After fighting with them for a while we ended up sending the entire $10k machine back to them for a failing to live up to their support contract agreements. Needless to say they are no longer one of our vendors.
Ok this is slightly OT.
But I'm curious....Has anyone ever received really good computer distance support?
I've dealt with Dell, they stunk.
I've dealt with Linksys via email, stunk....cable company same thing, Microsoft purely horrid...but they did try to follow through, and eventually after hours of searching I managed to find something in their online tech questions, which amazingly the phone guy didn't find...
In truth I can't think of a single good distance tech support experience...
Ceinwyn
The merger can only help. We bought a handful of Alienwares (desktops and laptops) for our employees - we are a government software development research lab. The desktops have been okay, but the laptops are horrible. Every one of them has had some major problems and mine (Sentia) has had the keyboard replaced twice and the optical drive replaced once. I have personally spent hours waiting on the phone for an answer from their technical support. The other two Sentia laptops we bought are in worse shape than mine. All of these problems cropped up within a year of owning the machine. Add this post to the long list of Alienware beefs that is resident on the Web...or should I say ALEMONWARE?
D'hell = Alienware alienware is just a dell PC in a prettier case. overpriced, a pain to upgrade hardware, and bundled with the most useless stuff i have ever seen, this is going to make no difference, although I see alienware becoming dells "gaming PC devision"
flamebait? me? never.....
Alienware takes cheap-ass Uniwill commodity laptops, puts them in a custom case with upgraded video, and marks them up a thousand bucks over what other companies such as Averatec etc. would charge for the same damn laptop.
If Dell bought them, at least the quality would go up.
Rival? They arn't even playing in the same freakin' league. Would be like saying the Steelers play in the same league as some peewee football team.
http://www.badsoftware.com/alienwaresucks/
... our new Dellaware Masters
--- Attorneys Assisting Citizen-Soldiers & Families -
I know people tote Alienware's hardware and support, but every time I have had to interact with their support it has been horrible.
Most recently I have had a problem with the little screws falling out of my laptop and with my AC adapter dying.
1. I shouldn't have had to call in to get mailed screws (which is aside from the fact that screws shouldn't have been falling out of my laptop in the first place). This should have been simple enough to handle via e-mail, but no, I had to call.
2. I shouldn't have had to wait for 40 minutes on hold when I *did* finally call Alienware.
3. I shouldn't have been lied to by the first person I spoke with, who told me that part was all set and that I'd receive it shortly. When it didn't arrive and I called back they said they were out of stock and they'd ship it when it was back in stock.
4. They really shouldn't have been out of stock of the AC adapter for a laptop STILL UNDER WARRANTY.
5. When the DID finally ship it they shipped it do an address that I haven't used with them in YEARS. I then had to have people I knew at said address (it was a previous employer) ship me the part.
All of this is on my second Alienware laptop, whose only major problem is that it resets if you bump the DVD-ROM the wrong way (this is annoying, but avoidable, and I didn't feel like sending it to them to fix it). This is my second laptop only because THEY HAD TO REPLACE my first one after months of tech support, three round trips back to Alienware TO FIX THE SAME PROBLEM, and TENS OF HOURS on the phone.
Not to mention that it's extremely unwieldy to use an adverb in that situation. A better structure would have been:
One can hope that this acquisition won't adversely affect Alienware hardware and support.
(That is, if you're OK with the occasional split infinitive).
Too many verbs and modifiers in the original.
(I hope you're OK with this sentence fragment).
(And I hope you're OK with my use of the abbreviation 'OK').
(And I hope you're OK with me beginning a sentence with a conjunction).
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
In the end, there will be two computer manufacturers: Dell and Apple.
How ya like dat?
Something like this - where a large company that delivers consumer goods to a wide audience, then buys a company that makes high-end items in that same market - has been a hallmark of the automobile industry for years. Most of the high-end auto companies are actually owned by more typically-branded companies. For instance, Ferrari is controlled by Fiat, Jaguar and Aston-Martin are owned by Ford, Saabs and Hummers are actually from GM. The purpose of these companies is, in some small fractional part, to pad their bottom line: the premium automobiles yield higher profits per unit, even if those profits are small compared to the rest of the company. Another reason is to have a high-end research and development space to try out new features and technologies that can only be supported in a premium market, but might eventually trickle down into consumer vehicles for added value (like GPS navigation and airbags).
It's all about how much money you spend, you want to spend, and how often you buy. If you buy a few hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment from say IBM, Sun, etc, the tech support will be excellent [I still find IBM's support to top all others]. Dell is not bad when you're also a bigger spender.
--- d'oh
At first when I read this article, I was weary about the aquisition but after reading the complaints in here, it's definitely turned me off of Alienware. Hopefully this will turn into a positive and Dell can turn the service issues around.
[%] Cingular Ringtones
Especially in light of this story from two days ago which talked about Alienware and its founders.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
The alienware store works a LOT like the dell store does now. Upselling Norton, the warranties are a lot like Dell's now...it just reminds me of when I bought my laptop.
This is rather wierd feeling.
I got a P4 3.2 w/ HT system, stacked, GeForceFX 5900Ultra, 1GB DDR2, fan kit, SATA RAID0 with 2x Raptors, etc... as a free perk from my company, purchased from Alienware.
I've never had a problem with it in the 2.5 years I've owned it, and it's been my main system, on almost 24/7. Even with my high demand use (music production, gaming, etc), I still find no reason to upgrade at this point in time.
Since cost was not an issue for me, and nothing ever gave me a hint of a problem, I've got nothing but good words for Alienware. It's a sexy box and it runs circles around any system my friends buy new today still.
Y'all are just haters! But, I have heard some gripes about their laptops, particularly with the graphics cards frying and pixels going bad. What could you expect from a mobile device though? I want one of the Lenovo ThinkPad Notepads, but I'm worried about pixels dying and the Chinese government putting back doors in it.
-@
Move all sig!
In regards to Alienware's horrible customer service, I've got to weigh in. Last year I bought a laptop from them expecting a 15" 4:3 screen as pictured on their website when I ordered it. It took over a month to arrive, and what I got was a 15" widescreen with a 1680x1050 resolution -- I'm a young guy with decent vision (with corrective lenses) but this was too damn small for me and not what I ordered.
Add to that my X, C, and V keys were DOA, and when I powered up the computer it informed me the CMOS battery was dead. Alienware advertises extensive power-on load testing -- if any of that were true, they would have found and corrected this problem as soon as they tried to power it up! Additionally the video card and wifi drivers were not installed, so their marketing B.S. about fine-tuning drivers for you is just that.
To top this all off, I had to pay a 15% restocking fee to return my laptop for a refund. That was a $4k machine. Even after their false advertising as to the laptop design and absolutely no in-house testing -- despite the falsified testing sheet that came with it -- I lost $600 to them and it was two full months until I got the 17" Gateway laptop I now have. And it runs great.
So maybe Dell will bring some credibility to Alienware, because it's totally bullshit. Do some Googling and you'll find hundreds of stories like mine.
Shaun
Dell has already released a press statement saying it's not true. This all aparently started from a VoodooPC blog, whom is a competitor with Alienware.
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
That makes total sense. How are you supposed to hold you latte and talk on your cellphone if you have to shift, too?
All that is necessary for the triumph of good is that evil men do nothing.
I've been hearing this rumor for a while and the fact that it was already shot down by dell, but i never really noticed how similar dell and alienware's websites really are... like "I stole the entire design from the other guy's site" similar...
<end/>
I will start with possible flamebait here ..... Excuse me but working with a global company I can say IBM / Lenovo and HP are still major players in the hardware sector when it comes to laptops and desktops. Outside the US, equipment from the aforementioned companies are much easier to procure than from anywhere else (IMHO), so I will agree to disagree. As far as Alienware being bought by Dell goes, lets face it your paying for the case and name. Being owned by Dell does not change the fact our still going to be paying for the case and name. The hardware is still no better or worse than before, and will still be on par with any other computer manufacturer. The support I suspect will also be no better or worse than what I would expect from any of these large companies already. Anyone complaining how bad Alienware is on their hardware or on their support hasn't had to deal with a variety of software / hardware vendors in a while, because frankly, they are all about the same. Finally, unless you, YOURSELF are building the machine from components that YOU want and YOU feel will work well together, you will get what you pay for.
I have to agree about the poor customer service. I purchased a dual opteron workstation from Alienware and it turned into the worst computer experience of my life (I've purchased about 30 machines over a period of 25 years). As shipped, the machine would crash every few hours. After spending _days_ researching the matter and updating numerous drivers, I got the crash rate down to once every 1-2 days. However, I was paying big bucks because I wanted a stable machine for number crunching. Despite the fact the machine had on-site service, they refused to send someone out because "nothing was wrong". It appears that random crashing in a $5000 workstation is not considered a "problem" at Alienware. I ultimately got hit with a 15% restocking fee when I returned it.
It's not like it'd be a big difference if Dell did buy out Alienware. It used to be back a few years ago that Alienware computers were the envy of the gaming world. You got a fully loaded, high quality computer with a very attractive case and very nice peripherals, and an even more attractive warranty and support package. You could rest completely assured that it'd play anything, and play it better than any other gaming computer on the market, and if it broke, you'd get it fixed right away. Of course, times change. Dell computers used to be a hot item, too.
Now that Alienware has sunk to Dell's inferior standards, it's only logical that they allow themselves to be bought out. Dell and Alienware are practically the same thing, only one of them sells office hardware and servers, too. Think about it - overpriced, overhyped piece of shit computers sold in attractive cases? Piss-poor technical support that can't speak a word of English? The only thing these two companies still have going for them is a barely-par warranty package, and even then they're both flaky about that. They're both washed-up computer manufacturers peddling electronic turds wrapped in pretty packages.
What a drag, but hey. If you're going to build a computer right, you do it yourself.
Right now I'm sitting in a computer lab full of 30 alienware top of the line computers with Samsung Syncmaster 19" monitors.
I go to school for a Gaming and Simulation engineering degree. To attract more students, one of the things we wanted to get to show off was a lab of alienware. We had a bunch of grant money, and a very limited amount of time to spend it before it was taken back from us, so we had to make some quick decisions.
We bought about 4 DLP projectors, some firewire DV cams, a nice security system for the lab, a 60" Plasma screen with the touch thingy on it so you can use it as a touch screen, and 30 alienwares. We also bought some biometrics stuff, Ibuttons for everyone in the degree so we can get into the lab without a key, and a bunch of other stuff.
Anyways, I don't know of any problems that we had with them. I'm friends with the lab tech, and the only thing I have seen go wrong in the 3 months we've had them is 2 of the samsung LCD monitors were DOA and one died a few weeks later. Everything else seemed fine.
Good point, but I guess that leaves the average (or slightly above) home user in the lurch to getting resolution to issues.
You did make me recall that every time I called Sun, I received excellent support. Especially since I was having difficulty with a machine that due to security reasons I could not send them raw core files and could not allow them access to the machine. They provided me with analysis tools so that I could extract the necessary data they needed from the core files and get into to a plain text format that I could then provide them.
So I revise my previous statement...most distance support I've dealt with was CRAP, but Sun was outstanding!
How big of a spender do you need to be to get good Dell support? At the time the small company I worked for had spent at least ~25k with them, and they were horrid! Granted that's not a large amount big...but it's not small either...
Ceinwyn
Either two things will happen. Base Dell computers will become more expensive, or all Alienware systems will lower in price. I guess we'll just have to see.
"Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
Another good example of an overrated /. story. I will stick to my ODM suppliers and I'll do my own support.
If Dell has bought them, it will sound the death toll for them. Dell sucks. Always has, always will.
One can only hope that Alienware support and hardware won't be ill effected by this acquisition.
What!? Alienware has a support staff? From my experience with AW support, ANY change would not be ill effective. One can only spend so many hours on the phone with Emir from 'the city' before one begin to doubt their AW purchase.
I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
obviously not from california... most of the grass there is a rather nasty shade of pale brown...
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
It really would fit Dell well.
Alienware is like the Mercedes of PCs. Their computers are typically over priced and aim for a very specific niche market (gamers).
Meanwhile, Dell is a bulk seller of commodity parts. They're the Civics, man. How in the world is this a good fit? It seems more like a really awkward fit to me.
We have about 30 or so dell servers, and 300 or so dell workstations, plus we're a part of a much bigger dell customer [a big .edu], I guess that's why we get quite a decent support. Not to mention that if anything goes wrong, one phone call to the regional sales rep gets things moving very fast.
--- d'oh
I'd add the caveat that you need to go to a PC shop you know and trust, or to a friend whom you know is capable and always available. Both of these approaches carry their own risks. The one or two people at the PC shop who really know their stuff may move away or take another job. The friend who put together your PC may grow to resent your tech support calls, straining your friendship.
I'm only a casual gamer, (which is why I don't own a Windows machine), but my experience with mom-and-pop outfits over the years has been variable. My experience with Apple Stores, on the other hand, has been uniformly excellent. My point isn't that Apple Stores are the cat's meow in terms of service, but that a large organization can provide quality support if they know what they're doing. It seems to me that if Dell's support is not as good as it should be, it's not necessarily because of Dell's size, but because of how their support is structured and operated.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
it was two full months until I got the 17" Gateway laptop I now have.
That's not a laptop. That's a Winnebago.
To put a point on your very good analysis, Dell is in trouble because of its razor-thin margins and support commitments. This can be Dell's Apple.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
-Model is discontinued, and they have 0 parts for this model.
I'm pretty sure there are regulations in place that require manufacturers to have parts for their products for a certain period of time. Check on it, or maybe someone will reply here.
Apple, for instance, has been known to do trade-ups on certain models to get their parts inventory back in line.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Hey mods, I mark (OT) or (O/T) for posts that are offtopic to the main thread, I do this so no one wastes mod points on them (unless of course they want to reinforce the (OT) by modding it Off-topic). So maybe if you see comments with that in the subject line, it would be best to ignore them -- unless somehow it gets back ontopic.
Really, the parent of this post shouldn't have gotten a single positive mod.
It was intended only for the couple people involved in the grammar sub-thread.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Has anyone noticed that both websites look and navigate the same...
Well, it's already tomorrow in Oz, so obviously they've got newer info...
Just junk food for thought...
If Gateway couldn't even keep itself from becoming a serviceless company with lack of any real care or support in just a decade, what makes people even hope that a corporate giant like Dell, who is already in the sell, sell, sell, culture, would be able to buy Alienware and not adversely affect it. If they will/did buy it, they will use the name to full advantage, while not giving a crap about what it used to meant. I give it about 2 years and all the support will be done by Indians with muddled accents as well.
Judges and senates have been bought for gold; Esteem and love were never to be sold.
Two drunks trying to help each other walk a straight line.
Actually this is very interesting. Firefox's spellchecker marks the work "okay" wrong, so I put up an away message complaining about it. Someone replied saying that apparently OK was the original spelling. From the usage note at dictionary.com:
"Okay" apparently showed up in the 1860s.
(BTW, on further research, it appears there's some controversy on the origin of OK, but does seem to be pretty well accepted.)
Anyway, I got a copy of computer shopper, and together with suggestions from my dad's co-workers, I settled on a 386 with a 40Mhz AMD processor. The company we got it from was called "Quantex". I have no idea if they are still around, or if they have changed from when we dealt with them.
The PC arrived, we got it all set up, and I began as a tech-geek in training. Well, as would happen, I was playing around with the BIOS, no idea what I was doing, and got it so my compy would not boot. A quick call to the companies tech support (which did not have me on hold, and placed me in touch with a seemingly knoweldgeable person), and they quickly ID'd the problem and stepped me through the procedure to fix the BIOS settings.
Not two weeks later, a power surge or faulty component fried the video card. Again, a quick call with virtually no hold time, and the problem was ID'd, and a new card was overnighted, with a postage-paid box to return the old card.
So, yes, at least one person has had a good long distance tech experience, even if it was over a decade ago (^_^)
Nice knowing Alienware...they DID make good systems.
Remember the movie Wall Street? When a company is rumored to be bought, its stock will most likely go up substantially because investors know the company will cut overhead, largely in the form of layoffs. Expect that to happen here.
Not trying to be an asshat here but did you just reference a movie in your analogy of how takeover's work in the REAL world? I used to work in M&A (mergers and acquisitions) and I assure you, the movie Wall Street is NOT how things work. Not even close.
Alienware does not make their own laptops, according to what I've read.
XPS PCs are way better gaming machines than those Alienware PCs. Why would Dell pony up dough for something they do better (aka making PCs)?
Alienware support is HORRIBLE compared to Dell.
One can only hope that Alienware support and hardware won't be ill effected by this acquisition.
Who calls support these days?
The only time I have someone call it is because they do not want to do it themselves. It is just a PC...
My sigs offend the max # of people all over the world, regardless of race, religion, color, sex or creed. It's a gift.
We had some key employees jump ship to take jobs with Alienware, leaving us
having to work super overtime to get a project completed in time. Now these
guys may be putting their resumes out because they are worried about being
laid off in the merger. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!!!!!
Alienware CS, last I heard, is in Costa Rica. The guy tells you his name is Juan. Chances are, his name is Juan.
I don't remember if I was calling Gateway or Compaq or Toshiba (I own too many computers) at the time, but one of them, I got a CS rep with such a heavy Indian accent that I could barely understand her, and it took me several minutes just to understand that she was trying to claim her name was 'Mary' or something like that.
Give me CS who isn't going to lie to me about their name, and I'll be more likely to trust them with other things. I may not be capable of actually pronouncing 'Mary's real name, but I'm not likely to be calling her by name much anyway. Since she's not fooling anybody about what continent she's on, why bother giving her an American name? And if I can't be trusted to know her real name, what else aren't they telling me?
Give me Juan any day of the week.
I dont have time to rant about my terrible experiences with Alienware horrendous award-winning customer service. Here the cliffs notes:
1 $3400 laptop
I had to wait 6 weeks for the system to arrive.
It had a @#$% video card and it took me about 5 hours of CS talking to get a new one (which i had to pay for up front - and then get reimbursed) (another 2 weeks gone)
Then its internal wireless card stopped working and gave me BSODs every time i turned it on.
After about a dozen CS calls, and more then 8 hours spent on the phone (I began logging my CS calls after numerous 45+minute hold times) i finally convinced them to accept it for repair. This time it was gone for 6 weeks.
When i finally got it back the keyboard latches were busted, and two weeks later the wireless was fritzed again. This time when i called for help, they told my that my warranty had expired and i should have called in sooner.
Well, if they didnt have my machine tied up for 2 MONTHS, it would have still been under warranty.
Basically DONT BUY ALIENWARE SHIT!!!
I really wish there was a local office i could go into and pull an independence day on!!!
I feel bad for DELL...
http://lilfields.blogspot.com/
Alienware has a short represive history of being really mean nasty and evil to it's customers. Dell on the other hand is usally rather helpfull they just have crappy computers. Anyways I hope this is good for alienware.
I once had to call Iomega about an external Zip drive a number of years ago. After spending a few minutes navigaing their call tree and another ten minutes with the tech to get the unit registered on their database, warranty established and issue explained I was informed that a replacement would arrive within two days by the end of business. The next morning the drive, adapters, CD, manuals and zip disk arrived in a pre-paid return box. So yeah I've had good support from a long distance. If you can call the distance from Detriot to Ottawa a long distance. I've also had good experiences with Compaq (when it was Compaq), Xerox and IBM as well.
Must have been a long time ago. No one over there seems to know what they're doing anymore -- their current favorite thing is calling me back to see if I solved the problem on my own.
Thanks, guys.
This is like when Ford bought out Jaguar.
This story prompted a visit to epinions. The online ranting of a dissatisfied costumer are not new but this one is particularly funny.
http://www.epinions.com/content_221413215876