feedback on alienware laptops-pc,s please!

[rustywood]

i got a 16 yearold son who wants an alienware laptop, it is to say the least a little pricey,he tells me it,s the best,anybody give me some feed back on them?

[Sauron]

Laptops? Seems a little silly. Alienware are close on to being the best. Theres Falcon of course as well. Alienware is expensive and I can't really see the cost of getting a Alienware laptop...laptops are soo difficult for gaming.

[Iniamyen]

In general, the more performance you add to a laptop, the less mobile it becomes. If your son is 16 and you plan on getting him the "top-end" type of gaming laptop, he has to understand you can't treat it like a truly mobile laptop, and you have to be very careful with it.

That being said, there are some brands which make slightly more portable iterations of the same basic design, but performance is always sacrificed in the process. So if it's the case that he needs a certain amount of portability, a brand like Dell might be a good choice. The main disadvantage to Dell on a high-end laptop is the price.

If your son can live with a desktop replacement that's not so portable, I still wouldn't go Alienware. The price premium you pay for them is mostly for the name and the aesthetic improvements on the computer (paint, logos, etc...) and generally speaking you don't get better hardware. For a desktop replacement, I'd take a look at brands like Sager (go to www.pctorque.com) and Hypersonic (www.hypersonic-pc.com.)

[Iniamyen]

Originally Posted by Sauron Laptops? Seems a little silly. Alienware are close on to being the best. Theres Falcon of course as well. Alienware is expensive and I can't really see the cost of getting a Alienware laptop...laptops are soo difficult for gaming.

Most of the attraction for a gaming laptop is to be able to transport it easily (i.e. LAN parties.) All you need is a regular mouse to use, and it's basically the same as a normal computer in terms of feeling. For very discerning gamers (like me), you can also use a regular keyboard with it. But it's a heck of a lot easier than lugging an ATX case and a 17" monitor around.

Also, someone may need a laptop for a job or school and doesn't want to buy another computer to game at home with.

Also, Alienware is probably the worst, unless you hate money. They use the Clevo platforms (same as Sager and Hypersonic and many others), but they charge a lot because of the superficial crap they add. In general, you get what you pay for, but with Alienware you are not paying for performance.

That Sager in my signature cost me $2500 last April. Configuring a Dell with those specs resulted in around $4000. And my customer service isn't in India (Dell) and they don't ignore you (Alienware.) The best way to get a feel is to just go and configure some computers on those companies' websites. You will find out who's gouging their customers.

[thefultonhow]

It's extremely easy to get a good deal on a Dell. Dell Home has a 40% off $999 deal right now, which means you can get an Inspiron XPS Gen 2 laptop like the one in my signature for $2054. I think it's a much better laptop than the Clevo-based ones, and it's cheaper, too.

[Iniamyen]

Originally Posted by thefultonhow It's extremely easy to get a good deal on a Dell. Dell Home has a 40% off $999 deal right now, which means you can get an Inspiron XPS Gen 2 laptop like the one in my signature for $2054. I think it's a much better laptop than the Clevo-based ones, and it's cheaper, too.

Do you have any experience whatsoever that leads you to believe the hardware itself is any better? I have never heard data to support such a claim.

I don't know of any 17" widescreen/Pentium M Clevo platform, so it's hard to do an apples-to-apples price comparison with the Dell.

Keep in mind, I bought my computer over a year ago so it's hardly worth comparing to today's prices.

From personal experience, the brands I would trust most are Toshiba and Sager. But, since the advice was for a gaming laptop, Toshiba isn't much of an option. There's nothing wrong with Dell, it's just that I like the idea of supporting a smaller company with more personalized support. And my experience has been good for my needs, so there's no reason to switch.

[shazam]

Hey Sauron.
I have listen to Amos & Andy also Art Shaw, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey,Benny Goodman and a guy who sang mule Train to mention a few.Loved them.

[spyder003]

Overpriced - you're just buying the little alien head logo. They make quality units, but overpriced.

If he wants an Alienware, I'm guessing he wants to game on it. Take a look at Dell XPS.

[rustywood]

i like those sager units,its for school and games,at sager ya get a nice little system for 1350.00

[Mhollinr]

Maybe he was looking at a Sentia.....

[rustywood]

yep thats the one he was looking at. i can get the same laptop with the same features from sager for 700.00 less!

[thefultonhow]

In that case, the Dell Inspiron 700m is the exact same thing. I got one for my mom with a Pentium-M 725 (1.6), 512 MB of RAM, a 40 GB hard drive, a combo drive, and a four-year CompleteCare warranty, all for $856 after a $750 off $1499 coupon, 12% EPP discount, and $100 rebate on the warranty.

[rustywood]

the one we were looking at was pentium 760 1gb memory 60gb hdd at 7200rpm, xp pro,8x duel layer dvd cdrw 15 inch screen for 1300.00

[Sauron]

Originally Posted by Iniamyen Most of the attraction for a gaming laptop is to be able to transport it easily (i.e. LAN parties.) All you need is a regular mouse to use, and it's basically the same as a normal computer in terms of feeling. For very discerning gamers (like me), you can also use a regular keyboard with it. But it's a heck of a lot easier than lugging an ATX case and a 17" monitor around. Also, someone may need a laptop for a job or school and doesn't want to buy another computer to game at home with. Also, Alienware is probably the worst, unless you hate money. They use the Clevo platforms (same as Sager and Hypersonic and many others), but they charge a lot because of the superficial crap they add. In general, you get what you pay for, but with Alienware you are not paying for performance. That Sager in my signature cost me $2500 last April. Configuring a Dell with those specs resulted in around $4000. And my customer service isn't in India (Dell) and they don't ignore you (Alienware.) The best way to get a feel is to just go and configure some computers on those companies' websites. You will find out who's gouging their customers.

Bah, develop some wrist strength! And get one of those cases that have a handle

Ah, thats great shazam.

[thefultonhow]

the one we were looking at was pentium 760 1gb memory 60gb hdd at 7200rpm, xp pro,8x duel layer dvd cdrw 15 inch screen for 1300.00

I managed to configure an Inspiron 6000 with the exact same specs, plus a dedicated graphics card and a 4-year CompleteCare warranty, for $1464 minus a $100 warranty rebate. That brings it down to $1364 -- I think $64 is a fair price to pay for dedicated graphics and a much better warranty.

The catch? It's through the Employee Purchase Program site, which means you or your son has to be eligible to use said site. If your son is going off to college, he's probably eligible; otherwise you'd have to get it through your company.

EDIT: 16 years old = probably not going off to college. However, there are member IDs floating around the internet that will allow you to purchase through the EPP site anyway. Just Google for "EPP member ID" without the quotes.

[Iniamyen]

Originally Posted by Sauron Bah, develop some wrist strength! And get one of those cases that have a handle

Actually, that's pretty funny, because my laptop weighs about 12 lbs., which isn't far from like a micro ATX computer. But still, there's much less to plug in, and it's just easier to transport if only for that reason.

I don't think you are going to make a bad purchase from a company like Dell, but some more things I like about where I bought my Sager from:

-You can choose no operating system. This means you don't have a proprietary board/BIOS, and you can install a regular version of whatever OS you want on it, and you don't have to deal with all the crap software other companies give you.

-They don't take you to the bank when adding RAM. It's pretty much market price plus a few percent, not $300 for an extra 512.

-You can return the laptop for service (under warranty) without going through weeks of troubleshooting. If you know something needs to be worked on, and you can explain why, you can get an RMA number within a day.

[Lamilia]

here's the thing about laptops you either get good battery life or you get a gaming pc. If it is always going to be plugged in then go for a gaming one but if he is going to be going from class room to class room with it (I haven't been to college yet so I don't know if you can do that) then you might want to think about better battery life. you could probably get a desktop for gaming and a laptop for schoolwork and actually spend around the same amount as you would for the alienware laptop.