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?

[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?

[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

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.

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.

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)

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?

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).

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?