New Alienware PC an Overpriced Underperformer

Steve Kerrison writes "Alienware has jumped on board the Core 2 bandwagon and rightfully so, but their new Area-51 7500 loses out to cheaper and faster solutions from other companies. From HEXUS.net's review 'No matter which way we dress up the Alienware's performance and feature-set, it's relatively poor in comparison to SKUs that we've reviewed recently. Value for money may not be the greatest concern in this sector of the pre-built market but when you can get substantially more for less, it becomes impossible to recommend this particular Area-51 7500.' "

Comments

What did you expect?

[fotbr]

Its a Dell.

Re:What did you expect?

[ConsumerOfMany]

perhaps they forgot to check all the free upgrade boxes when checking out.....

Re:What did you expect?

[DaveWick79]

Unfortunately, while somewhat sarcastic, this is probably true. Being under Dell's wing probably profits Alienware financially but lowers the quality standard. The focus used to be not just to make a pretty machine, but one that spanks the competition and was backed up by some of the best service in the business. If I'm going to pay Alienware type money, I expect to get the fastest machine money can buy.

Re:What did you expect?

[qortra]

While I understand that Dell sucks (I hate them too), I don't really think that I understand your comment. It seemed perfectly reasonable to me that Dell could have a sub-brand that did focus on performance, and while they might be overpriced, could probably put together something at the very pinnacle of performance available from consumer parts. I don't think that somehow the "innate Dellness" slipped through the vents in the case and made it slow. Perhaps Dell mismanaged it, but it wasn't a forgone that they would do so, and it isn't necessarily true that Dell will continue to mismanage it. Heck, it might not be Dell at all. Maybe Alienware just screwed up; all kinds people do that (Dell employees and even formerly non-Dell employees!).

Either way, whoever is responsible will probably wake up quickly if they get more reviews like this.

Re:What did you expect?

[SatanicPuppy]

My biggest problem with them is the crappy mobo's they install by default. Substandard bios, breaks the standard for power connectors, and lower bus/bridge performance...Run a machine with the same stats and a better motherboard, and the difference is night and day.

Just not kosher...If I wanted to have to buy an entirely new machine to upgrade every time, or pay dell an obscene amount for any sort of upgrade, I'd just rent the damn things.

Re:What did you expect?

[Grym]

While I understand that Dell sucks (I hate them too)...

I understand that there are good reasons to dislike Dell. It's very difficult to get a good computer at a reasonable price from them lately. However, I have had a very good experience with Dell.

In 2002, I got a Dell Dimension 8200 with a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 processor, 512 MB RDRAM, an Nvidia 4200ti graphics card, a Soundblaster Live soundcard, an 80 Gb harddrive, CD-RW, and a DVD drive for $2200. At the time, that was an incredible deal. I couldn't have built the same computer on my own without paying hundreds more.

Two years later, I was upgrading the graphics card when I accidently mangaged to fry the motherboard. (I'm still not sure how that one happened--I was grounded the entire time.) After a 30 minute phonecall (lol yes with technician from India) where I did a number of tests to verify that it was, in fact, dead, the warrenty kicked in and only three days later, a computer repair guy was in my house (at no cost) and replaced not only the motherboard but the two drives, the processor, the RAM, the powersupply, and the soundcard. For all intents and purposes, I got a new computer because of my own negligence. Now how's that for customer service?

With only two upgrades of a Geforce 6800 (unlocked pipelines, slightly overclocked) and an extra 512 MB of RD RAM, that computer is what I still use today to play even new videogames.

Granted, I'm probably the exception rather than the rule, but I think it's unfair to say that Dell is always a bad deal or that Dell's customer service universally sucks.

-Grym

Re:What did you expect?

[fotbr]

I've got a Dual PIII 1ghz setup that will run everything I've thrown at it exept FEAR (which kills everything, regardless of CPU specs from what I've read) at 1600x1200 with few problems as long as I lock all the windows stuff to the 2nd processor, and let the game have the first all to itself.

I've got a 2nd machine set up similar to Grym's except with a 2.2Ghz P4 that will also run everything I've thrown at it.

Contrary to AMD & Intel's propaganda, you usually do not need $LATEST_AND_GREATEST to play $GAME unless you absolutely insist on seeing refresh rates 3 or 4 times what the human eye can distinguish. In which case, you're simply chasing higher numbers for the sake of chasing higher numbers -- not that there's anything wrong with that, I won't tell you how to spend your money.

This isn't news

[grasshoppa]

Alienware isn't about the "fastest". True, they have fast systems, but it's more about the 'bling' factor.

They're target market is upper middle class, specifically the middle age men who like to game and have disposable income and the kids with rich parents.

Re:This isn't news

[grasshoppa]

*their

NEED MOAR COFFEE!

Custom Built way to go

[SSGamer]

If you want value and performance custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap.

Re:Custom Built way to go

[Alex P Keaton in da]

The car analogy comes into play:
A lot of people can build you a car that is by far faster than a lamborghini, for about a quarter of the cost. Just pick up an issue of Car Craft for evidence. The thing is, many people want something fast and stylish right from the manufacturer that they can just put the key in and go. The guy who builds a car from junk yard and aftermarket parts that runs sub 10 seconds in the quarter mile for under 15K is not the same guy who drops 200K on a lamborghini, due to finances, interests, or both....

Re:Custom Built way to go

[sqlrob]

If you want value, that is not necessarily true. Time is not free and needs to be factored in.

Re:Custom Built way to go

[Skrynesaver]

Perhaps this is true if you're buying an appliance, which is the case for many but I would imagine that many on this board would concur with Tom Christiansen's view below. If you find the machine intrinsically interesting and want to be able to configure it to run your prefered OS/Desktop/Applications then...
"The computer is the game." ~ Tom Christiansen
PS. The time spent building a machine at home is time not spent on tedious chores ;)

Re:Custom Built way to go

[hackstraw]

If you want value and performance custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap.

If you want a car considering value and performance custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap. False

If you want a home considering value and performance custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap. False

If you want a piece of furniture considering value and performance custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap. False

If you want a piece of clothing considering value and performance custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap. False

If you want a wristwatch considering value and performance custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap. False

If you want a television considering value and performance custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap. False

If you want a computer considering value and performance custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap. True???

I simply do not believe that computers are the only commodity consumer device that requires the knowledge and skill and desire to hand build said commodity item better than any company with assembly lines in China, Japan, or the United States can do.

What is so special about computers? And is there a market for a commodity company to provide such value and performance products since there is no current company providing such things in the world today?

For those who have not escaped mom's basement in years, we would like to know...

Overpriced?

[BigDork1001]

It's overpriced you say, I never would have expected that from Alienware.

I've always found them to be overpriced compared to other, lesser known vendors or even just making it yourself. I guess if you want to brag to your friends "I have an Alienware!" and they all gasp in awe then it's worth the extra money but I think most people could care less.

Not really a big suprise.

[Crasoum]

When you buy Alienware you buy the name, and the spiffy injection molded case.

The rest is a good solid markup of 30% or more.

Well Well

[imsabbel]

a) Alienware was never about price/performance
b) It doesnt use the fastest GPU solution, but the second fastest. So it obviously sucks and all (not that it would have any better price/performance if it used the more expensive sli version)
c) They account the difference in the kribibench score as "the Geforce makes the difference". Sorry, mr not-the-brightest-bulb. Kribibench is a CPU only benchmark. Next try.
d) Any site that comes with those nice "submit this article to slashdot/digg/assfaggot" bottoms should be banned per default. Its just arcticle spamming taken to the next level.

Re:Well Well

[Anonymous Coward]

I disagree. A little less than 20 years ago, I sold PCs, and was intimately familiar with the exact specs to get the ultimate in performance. (This was in th days of 30 pin SIMMs mind you.) This new company named Alienware appeared on the scene, and I figured they'd be like everybody else: Nope. Every single solitary thing I'd have chosen, their machines had. They had the fastest RAM, in a decent amount (2x what most PCs come with in other words.) fastest and best of everything.

I'm sad that they're not like that anymore. Their service sucks too apparently: Recently a coworker of mine ordered an Alienware, one of their mid-range models. There was a recall of this motherboard used, so they set his system to 'back order'. Over a month went by, they got the motherboards in stock, but - oops - they were now out of the video card! ('JIT manufacturing' for the loss, I guess.) At this point, it seems to me that to keep your disappointed customer happy you either refund a few hundred dollars of their money or bump them up to the next better machine for the same price. Alienware did nothing. My coworker held out another 2-3 weeks at least, and finally cancelled his order.

What you pay for.

[ZachPruckowski]

You pay extra (over the XPS or the custom-built machine) in exchange for extra service/support and the style factor. That's all it is. Quality parts assembled by a quality manufacturer in a sleek case. For a lot of people who want to game, and have more money than computing knowledge or assembly and maintenance time, Alienware or XPS is worth paying more for. They get something that "just works" (as well as any Windows PC does) with a warranty, and insure themselves from making stupid component decisions (stuff that is non-compatible, or stupid bottlenecks)

Out of interest...

[Fred Or Alive]

When did everything start becomming SKUs? Recently it seems everything is an SKU now. I knwo what it means, I just don't know why it seems to be thrown around so much, like in this quote. Why not say "... it's relatively poor in comparison to other systems that we've reviewed recently." or something.

Alienware customer service

[ronkronk]

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.

Re:Alienware customer service

[jackbird]

And you didn't do a chargeback with your credit card company?

Re:Alienware customer service

[0xdeadbeef]

Give me your lunch money.

Re:Alienware customer service

[nanoakron]

And you didn't threaten to take them through small claims courts for (what you say are) obviously falsifiable claims?

Re:Alienware customer service

[fm6]

Yeah, really. People get away with chargebacks that are outright fraud, never mind a customer with a long laundry list of legitimate complaints.

Restocking fees are for "I decided I didn't want it" situations, not defective merchandise that wasn't what you ordered. Of course, the customer service drone may try to tell you otherwise...

The Dell Death Knell for Alienware?

[kclittle]

[In some glass-walled corner office in Round Rock, TX...] "Oh, come on, just paint the box some bright color, put the 'Core 2 Duo' badge on it, then slap on an 'Alienware' label and no one will be the wiser."
Oh, well...

So was the old one.

[hal2814]

The old Alienware PC was an overpriced underperformer. The only difference is that they are owned by Dell now so you can get worse customer service from them if such a thing is possible.

Re:So was the old one.

[ZaMoose]

No, see, it's not truly Dell support - all of their support ops sound as if they are Russian/Ukrainian/former Soviet Bloc instead of Indian, which means I spend my numerous support calls thinking "Mahst get Mooce and Sqvirrel!" instead of "Welcome to Kwik-E Mart.

It's an entertaining diversion, to be sure. The support still sucks, though.

Re:Bullshit bingo

[hansamurai]

Because each product is assigned a "SKU" at the store level. I worked at Staples for a few years and each product had a six digit number associated with it, including computers. That number was Staple's SKU.

the correct saying is "*couldn't* care less"

[Colin Smith]

Could not care less. i.e. you care so little that it's impossible to care less.

Think about it for a second, it doesn't make any sense to say "could care less". By doing so you are saying you care enough that it is possible to care less.

The irony of this saying is that it must have come from the UK because we all get it right, it must have been picked up by someone who didn't understand the meaning and now the senseless version spreads across the US.

Big ripoff Power Cable for $48

[Joe The Dragon]

company that has Power Cables for $48
It use to be out in the open but now they hide it under the Power Supply Selections.

To go from one 1gig to 2gigs is $250 that is just as bad as the mac pro ram price

Video Performance Optimizer $18 seems like stuff that you can set your self in the video drivers control panel.

$29 for the restore disks that should be free or at the cost of the disks.

$49 Automated Technical Support Request System there is a new dell ad showing off someing like that and they say it comes free with all new dell systems.

Nah

[emarkp]

They were overpriced before Dell acquired them. Their customer service is probably better now (since it hardly could have been worse).

No Mac Pro comparison?

[SuperKendall]

It seems fair game now to compare the very highest end PC with a Mac Pro also running Windows Games, it would have been nice to see that as a comparison point.

Custom aspirin pillz ?

[DrYak]

custom built is the way to go, not prebuilt crap

...and then custom synthetized aspirin pillz to cure the headache of trying to install a Microsoft-branded (Usually a "Ultimate pirated edition") OS on a "motherboard+BIOS+Fast DDR chip" hardware that's too much new for Windows XP to be compatible with ?

There is 1 single advantage that I found in buying pre-made crap :
Yes, even the "High-end special first introduction rebate !! $$$ !!" may contain outdated hardware, or cheap and limited hardware (hardware sensors lack near most of the popular pre-built brands).
But this old hardware is here, because the company took time to test it, is sure that there are no incompatibility and they could throw on it any installation (OS, bundeled-in softs, etc...)

Installing Windows XP on brand new 64bits Athlons used to be a real PITA back when those babies were new and friends and I started building systems around them. (By luck most of us friends happened to be both patient and able to do our work using linux distros in the meanwhile). I'm not sure, once the new "Next generation" of hardware arises, that we won't see similar difficulties.

So even if mounting a new system is getting very easy those days (Plug'n'Play got rid of arcane jumper settings, SATA removed the necessity to perform voodoo magic to get all SCSI devices to work together, and RAM is now sold pre-matched and pre-overclocked so it's possible to buy with less prior readings, noisy but sufficent cooling is bundled with most hardware) and could almost be done by a (motivated) Joe-Sixpack, mounting your system your-self is still ridden with the complexity of geting the software play nice with the hardware, chasing BIOS and Driver update, trying to get the installation work in the first place, BEFORE those drivers could be injected into the system, and/or using in the meanwhile an OS that installs more resiliently but that isn't the one preferred by the average Joe 6-pack.

In the meanwhile, most /.ers are happy running cluster-compiled versions of their own-made "MyBSD" operating system on their custom built systems (using a lot of blue leds, some duct tape, and optionnally legos and meccanos and the mandatory fish tank to cool it down. It's not real hardware without those, only expensive toys) ...

Do a lot of rich people do this?

[antdude]

I haven't seen any of rich people I met with this Alienware brand. Not even notebooks/laptops. I have seen a lot of Dell and Apple including high end models. How about the rest of you?

Re:Do a lot of rich people do this?

[Don853]

A former roommate of mine (from a pretty well off family) bought a Alienware computer - but after two DOA motherboards and a few dozen angry calls to tech support, he gave up and got a Dell. This was 5 or 6 years ago - I don't know if they've improved much since then.

I also had a CS professor who had an Alienware laptop - his specialty was AI in games, so it was a pretty high end model and seemed to suit him well.

Neither of these were people you'd really call "rich", but they were upper-middle class anyway, and those are the only two Alienwares I've every actually seen people buy.

I Was So Shocked...

[ackthpt]

Alienware isn't about the "fastest". True, they have fast systems, but it's more about the 'bling' factor.
They're target market is upper middle class, specifically the middle age men who like to game and have disposable income and the kids with rich parents.

I'm building a PC for a friend and we went to pick out a cabinet. For my money I picked out a Lian Li cabinet years ago, black anodised aluminium, modular with a window in the side (which I could take or leave) It's a peach for setting up, getting into quickly, etc. I was practical with my choice and so is my friend. Something which does the job and isn't ostentatious.

Gawd...

The cabinets you can get at the stores these days are BLING! The Dragon was laughable, there were a few others which looked like some Transformers theme and of course some pink outfit which would fit right in with My Little Pony figures all around it.

We managed to find a fairly decent modular aluminium cabinet, but we both left laughing at the stuff people were getting. One was buying a Dragon cabinet at Fry's when we left. I guess the people who make those things are laughing all the way to the bank. Funny stuff.

Rehashed Sager?

[955301]

But I thought Alienware has always been repackaged overpriced Sager notebooks? The just slap a coat of paint on, then charge another $400 for their "value added" service.

For example: http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/AMD_systems.htm l
This system is $3,229.00 before customization

The equivalent Alienware notebook w/ a different paint scheme:
$4,499.00

Sweet Jesus! I'm in the wrong business if I can repaint a notebook and sell it for an additional $1270 bucks!

Okay, lemme hold my excitement and see the specs for the difference:
Windows Home edition vs media edition
Whoa! The video actually has *less* memory than the Sager!
80G vs 120G hard disk
And you're missing a bluetooth adapter that the sager has too!

So you actually get LESS machine for $1270 more! Balancing out the hard disk only makes the Sager $3304, or $75 more expensive.

Okay, I'm in! Anyone interested in buying this notebook, send me your money and I'll sell you a custom airbushed *cough* notebook. Free shipping!

It doesn't work as sarcasm either.

[Colin Smith]

It doesn't make sense as sarcasm either, as a statement it has no direction. Sarcasm is used on statements with a emphasis of direction, like "Another /. language lawyer. Great.". The "Great" has a definite positive emphasis which can be interpreted sarcastically, "I could care less" has no emphasis, it has nothing. A sarcastic version of "I couldn't care less" would be "I couldn't care more". "I could care less" is just bleh.

Same thing for less

[Cope57]

A few years ago, I went to the Alienware website and customized my own PC for their price of $2,300.
I did not go to the checkout though.
Instead, I went to TigerDirect and purchased the same components that I previously configured at Alienware.
I received the components, and built my PC.
So what if the case does not have a Alienware logo on it.
I saved $1,400 for basicaly the same machine.
Hard to believe, but a $2,300 Alienware PC only cost me $900 for me to build it myself.
No logo, great performance, I am happy.
More individuals should build their own.
It is not that hard. It comes with instructions.
If you can build anything with step by step instructions, you can build a PC.
I have bulit about 7 PC's for friends, and I rarely look at instructions now. It is that simple.
So if you realy want the Alienware case, and have it all put together for you.
If you are out for the *bling* as mentioned earlier, go ahead, enjoy your Alienware PC.

Speaking as an upper-middle-class middle-age man

[Moraelin]

Speaking as an upper-middle-class middle-age man with disposable income... oh, gawd, these bling cases make me want to puke. So I'm not even convinced that they're targetting people like me.

I mean, seriously, if I want to willy-wave, I might go buy something expensive and over-performing. Like, I don't know, I might get a second X1900 XTX and run them in SLI... err... CrossFire (TM) for benchmark sake. But it seems utterly stupid to buy a case which just _looks_ high-tech and funky, but doesn't actually _do_ anything for the performance.

It's, if you will, the computer-equivalent of Rice Boys and their sheet iron wings and fake disk brakes. Something that's just a sad attempt at _looking_ fast, without actually being so.

And just like those, I'm drawing blanks as to who their target market actually is. _Maybe_ kids, ok. But middle-aged men? I can't imagine many upper-middle-class middle-aged men actually wanting such a monstrosity in their room. We're talking people who, precisely because they have the disposable income, can have a nicely decorated home. Would anyone actually want a case looking like a cross between a funky toy and a bad acid trip next to their expensive furniture? Why?

Plus, as with those cars, if you actually _are_ rich, you can just buy the real thing. People with lots of disposable income just buy an expensive car. They don't just take the cheapest Honda and tack a wing and fake disk brakes on it. When you can actually afford a fast car, you don't go and try to make an el-cheapo one just _look_ fast. And in this case, if I can just build a computer that actually _is_ fast and high-tech, I don't need a sad clown case that only _looks_ "high-tech".

So who is the real target for these cases? People with a really bad case of mid-life crisis, maybe? Or what?

love my area-51

[Hohlraum]

I bought an area-51 a few years ago and its hands down the best computer I've ever owned. I've probably built around 2 dozen computers in my lifetime (handful for myself and the rest for friends and family) and this machine's stability is just completely amazing. I've never had a single problem with it or had to use the warranty while it still had one.

The problem with modern hardware is that everyone is trying to make the highest performing components for a computer. What they aren't doing is making sure there components play nice with other components. With the alienware stuff you are paying for testing, styling and insurance that the system is made with the newest/best quality parts and that they all play nicely.

Will I buy another one? Probably not cuz their prices are just insane now days. Back when I bought mine I priced the same components and I was only paying a few hundred dollars as a premium. It was totally worth the money after the fiasco I had on the home system I built a year earlier. So don't jump to bash Alienware so quickly unless you know what you are talking about.

Re:Speaking as an upper-middle-class middle-age ma

[AcidLacedPenguiN]

I do know what you're getting at but I do want to defend the "mod scene." There are some who will buy those tacky super bling cases, and there are some who will buy your standard beige tower, and ofcourse there are some who take a middle road. I can't speak for everyone in the "mod scene" but I personally enjoy building something that is unique, I would never buy a generic Dell. I like to bring my case to a LAN tourney and have people remember me because I'm "that guy with the yellow case," or have people bring their friends/families from across the room just to look at my case.

Meanwhile the guy next to me might have the most generic looking PC case, but he's decided to put some really nice hardware in his PC. This is the kind of guy who can draw crowds around his monitor just to see the top-notch graphics in game X. It's all a matter of personal taste (or lack thereof:) and some of us derive great fun out of choosing each and every piece in our PC, recabling the wires and maxing out the airflow. Some of us like to build the most silent PC possible.

You could draw parallels in the car racing/modding scene too. There are drivers who put all their money on aestetics and make the gawdiest Civic in the city, and there are some who blow all their money on their engines, exhaust, and intake. I guess what I'm really trying to say is not to bash us all based entirely on one end of the spectrum. To answer your question, I'd say the target is anyone who enjoys to build/mod PC's as a hobby. In one of the game community forums I frequent we've got kids who are 14-15, and guys who are 30-35 and everyone in between. No one judges them on who they are, just on what they do. Hell they could all be lying about their ages, but it doesn't matter. What matters is whether or not you do something you enjoy, and whether or not you want to meet people who enjoy the same things. (but it matters if you're a creepy child molestor, we don't serve your kind here.)

Re:Cooling

[cswiger2005]

Seconded. Lian-li makes very nice aluminum cases which can be entirely disassembled by hand using the thumbscrews (also used for the PCI/AGP/PCIe/etc slots), they've got a solid ventilation pattern (usually two intake fans in the lower front blowing across a removable bay which'll hold 1-4 hard drives, and a rear exhauster fan), and as a bonus, their black models have a look which reminds me of NeXT hardware (which also used anodized black paint on aluminum).

Having more intakes than outtakes tends to give the case positive pressurization compared to the ambient room, which means that they don't tend to accumulate dust inside. The front intake fans have a removable, washable dust filter.