Alienware Won't Sell Consumers CableCard PCs

An anonymous reader writes "Alienware doesn't think CableCard is ready for the mass market. The Dell subsidiary is coming out with some high-end Media Center PCs but won't sell them directly to consumers because the HD-enabling CableCard 'requires the expertise of a reseller and installer.' CableCard was supposed to be the savior for Windows Media Center, which has been held back by its inability to support high-def content. Alienware made its mark selling tricked-out computers to gamers, so it's telling that the company doesn't think its traditional geeky customer can handle CableCard without professional help."

Comments

Re:It's telling, but of what?

[DaHat]

I thought it was an indicator of the paranoia of the content holders that refuse to let their pretties be broadcast in hi-def without some degree of onerous protection.

Re:I must be missing something

[Zondar]

There are many many horror stories out there from Tivo 3 and Tivo HD users about cable installers making 3, 4, 5 or more trips to get them working, or going through stacks of cards just to get two to work... The cablecard setup procedure *should* be as simple and seamless as a DirecTV authorization or a cable box authorization, but something's broken either in the process or the architecture.

AlienWare

[Enderandrew]

AlienWare markets to the rich enthusiast community who enjoy gaming, but who aren't geeky enough to build their own rigs. Perhaps the same holds true for the home theater PC market. The knowledgable, geeky crowd can build their own LinuxMCE box on the cheap with MythTV. The crowd that doesn't feel comfortable with such things wants to just buy it and have it work. If CableCard requires extensive knowledge, then perhaps they've placed themselves outside of any real niche market.

Re:AlienWare

[kaiborg]

mod parent up!

Alienware isn't for computer enthusiasts, it's for spoiled kids that think they know something about computers because they can recite technical specifications off of a website. Truth is, Alienware doesn't put anything in their systems that you can't buy and install yourself for half the price.

Re:AlienWare

[vux984]

Truth is, Alienware doesn't put anything in their systems that you can't buy and install yourself for half the price.

Not entirely true. At one point in time at least, they were one of the very few places to get a really performance oriented gamer friendly laptop.

The offerings from HP, Toshiba, IBM, etc at the time simple weren't in the same league and/or the options were extemely limited, and you usually had to compromise more. Building it yourself was pretty much not an option (and still isn't).

But as for their desktop line, yeah, it was nothing you couldn't build yourself for less. I don't disagree with you there. But that's true of every brand-name PC-builder.

Alienware isn't for computer enthusiasts,

Right. Computer enthusiasts build their own.

it's for spoiled kids that think they know something about computers because they can recite technical specifications off of a website.

Say what? No. Its for *gaming enthusiasts* who want to buy computers that are going to be good for playing games, without having to become a 'computer enthusiast' to do it.

Not everyone who wants silky smooth responsiveness in state of the art games wants to know how to swap a CPU, install an aftermarket heatsink, set memory timings, or choose a power-supply. They just want to play. Alienware satisfied that niche quite nicely.

Re:Um

[LordKazan]

it is supposed to be the tuning and decryption module provided to consumers to allow them to use their premium digital cable services, including all HDTV (because pretty much nobody broadcasts unecrypted QAM). It was mandated a decade ago and CableLabs has figured out how to delay a decade and when they finally make it available they don't even comply to the law because it cannot really be used by anyone making home-brew systems.

Dell doesn't want support nightmare

[Anonymous Coward]

Has anyone used a cablecard with their local cable? What was the support experience like? I suspect since they feel the FCC shoved it down their throat, it might not be the best. My comcast says they support it, but it requires a tech visit and you lose on-demand, pay-per-view, and the channel guide. Perhaps dell doesnt want to get in the middle of that mess.

Cable card in brief and explanations

[ThundrNeon]

Alienware isn't selling Cablecards for a few simple reasons. 1. Installation requires your local Cable company to come out and install the card as they have to do specialized setup similiar to when you first get digital cable turned on in your place for the first time. 2. Cable card is supported in very few select large cities/metropolis. 3. Even in cities where Cable Card is supported it often cannot be installed properly and does not sync up to channels properly from the cable company. (I remember this from an older slashdot article that was reviewing HTPCs, if I can find the article I will link it) For the Record a Cable Card is a Card designed to fit in either a TV or a PC with a Cable Card slot. It acts as a Digital tuner and is designed to replace set top digital cable boxes.

Re:I wonder

[Planesdragon]

1: What the hell is an MSO? Common etiquette is to explain terms that your audience may not understand, and industry-specific jargon is pretty much the reason that rule exists.

2: The FCC says "It must do X." YOUR industry can't seem to figure out how to make it do X. The blame doesn't lie with the FCC, it lies with your industry.

Re:It's telling, but of what?

[Xichekolas]

More likely an indicator that Alienware no longer caters to it's original knowledgeable geek crowd.

I don't personally know anyone technically savvy that actually buys Alienware stuff. It's top of the line for sure, but if you are technically savvy you can build your own equivalent system for much cheaper. Alienware caters to the hardcore gamers that aren't necessarily able to correctly install a cpu/heatsink.

Before someone mods this flamebait, let me make clear that I'm not saying every Alienware customer doesn't know how to do this stuff, I'm just saying that due to the price premium it's more likely that most do not (or they would be building it themselves), and if the CableCard involves opening the machine, it would be a tech support nightmare for them to support these non-knowledgeable users.

Re:I must be missing something

[Telvin_3d]

As someone who has worked in related retail I would like to comment on why they insist on a technician doing the install. They know that many of their customers can do it themselves, make no mistake about that. However, if they even give the option a large number of their customers will take that to mean that they should be able to install it, all evidence to the contrary. A certain percentage of the population is never going to admit that they need help. And let me speak from personal experience when I say that it is almost imposable to grasp the amount of damage that can be caused by someone who thinks they know what they are doing.

From a business point of view, it is easier, cheaper and less hassle to set up everyone than it is to deal with the repercussions of the few who screw up their own installation. As one of the people who could do it myself I don't particularly like it, but if I was running the business I would make the exact same call.

Re:It's telling, but of what?

[Kadin2048]

right, but if there's anything that Alienware knows how to do it's pad in lots of extra price into a high-end PC, so can't they just pad it a little more to cover the calls? Doubtless some MBA somewhere in their organization decided that it's not cost-effective to do that; they can just refuse to sell them to consumers without impacting their sales significantly, and not have to deal with the additional overhead.

In short: Alienware knows that their customers are chumps (I mean, anyone with a clue isn't going to pay the Alienware premium), and that CableCard isn't mainstream yet.

The lesser of both evils...

[thesandbender]

I don't like Microsoft. I don't like the fact that I can't install a server OS without installing a GUI component that I'll never use and that the security layers are becoming more abstract and obfuscated. But at the same time. Linux can be a pain in the farking arse. I have a MythTV setup that I've been running for almost six months. I'm connected to two Motorola DCT-6200's over firewire. For the entire time I've been running this system the firewire ports that are assigned to these turners will change. And this has happened on two different firewire controllers over a range of different kernels. MythTV won't pick this this up. It will just blindly try to fire commands out to a turner that doesn't exist and then ultimately lock up. I know ... it's opensource... fix it yourself. The problem is after 10-12 hours a day fixing other peoples problems sometimes I just want to come home and watch my favorite show without opening a terminal. And hence I'm ready to *pay* other people to fix this problem. Ultimately their time is cheaper than mine. My Mythbox is going on eBay and I'm getting Series 3 TiVO. This doesn't diminish my passion for Linux in the data center... but work is work and play is play and sometimes you just need to hang up your hate and enjoy the rest of your life.

Re:It's telling, but of what?

[Anonymous Coward]

His. Hers. Its.

None of them have apostrophes.

The English language is anything but consistent, but in this case it's pretty close with possessives. Had that actually been "hims" instead of "his" it would work better. Oh, and "it" (in this usage) is a pronoun, not a noun.

Re:It's telling, but of what?

[Fulcrum of Evil]

It's quite nasty and poorly implemented even for Microsoft standards.

My understanding is that most of this is on the cable companies - MS would like to implement something well, but cable doesn't care if it happens or not. This makes getting commitments rather hard.