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I'm thinking of buying a laptop (for college) from alienware.com because they have some pretty hot laptops for a good price (cheaper than Dell), but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this company because my dad has never heard of it. I just wanted to make sure that this company was legit. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

By Rowan (Rowan) on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 12:28 am: Edit

The company is definitely "legit," but I wonder at your comment that it's cheaper than a Dell.

Personally, comparing the two is difficult. If you look for Alienware, you're looking for a fairly high-end computer -- high gaming and graphics/movie-editing capabilities and the like, and high customizability. If you want a Dell like that, of course it's going to cost you -- they, unlike Alienware, don't specialize in such computers.

It depends on what you want in a computer. Alienware can be pretty barebones with excellent graphics capability (and RAM and stuff), and Dell is a good computer for those unfamiliar (let's say this is the MS DOS to Windows example, since that's what it seems like to me). Which do you prefer?

By Aquaholic (Aquaholic) on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 01:09 pm: Edit

my boyfriend's laptop is Alienware... he says it can fly lol

By Nabo (Nabo) on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 01:25 pm: Edit

Alienware are very high-end gamer machines. However, as a result, they do not come with productivity software that you will find on your dell [like msft office, etc]. You will have to spend a couple of hundred bucks to get all the essential programs for colleges, but you will end up with a much faster and much higher quality machine. In my experience with dell, they have a better tech support than alienware. But i have found my dell machines are of lower, break alot, and thusly require that tech support. The alienware i have is topnotch; no frills, but does what i need, really quickly. [btw i have their area51 desktop, not the laptop]

as for being legit; they are based near where i live. They are quite well situated; certainly not a fly by night kinda corporation.

By Allena (Allena) on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 02:17 pm: Edit

Wow... That is the first time I've ever seen Alienware and cheap in the same sentence. I just got a Dell a few months back, I've got a 2.8ghz, 512 of ram, 40gb hard drive and a CD burner. I also paid extra to get the 15inch screen and 64mb video card. At the time a comprable computer from Alienware would have run me in the ballpark of $3,000, as opposed to the Dell which cost me $1,800.

However keep in mind, I'm willing to bet that the Alienware machine would own my Dell (and I love my Dell) in performence tests.

By Gabushida (Gabushida) on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 03:19 pm: Edit

Yeah, something is screwy if you're finding the Alienware system to be CHEAP. Now, if you mean one of the companies that have identical machines w/o the Alienware name, you may be right

(Seriously, the only difference is the sticker, and I guess the company you call for Tech support, but who does that anyway? :b)

By On9juno (On9juno) on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 04:54 pm: Edit

Just don't even bother about Intel platforms other than Centrino/Pentium Ms

Pentium 4 really sucks hardcore in terms of performance.

The best performing laptop with top-notch performance would be the ones using AMD Athlon 64 series processors. Intel sux... hard.

By Jason817 (Jason817) on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 06:15 pm: Edit

I would stay away from alienware because of its overpriced products.

By Imahoya (Imahoya) on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 07:09 pm: Edit

yes, they are legit, but Alienware is very very expensive. You get what you pay for (great quality, very fast).


And go for an AMD Athlon 64 processor rather than a P4 like someone earlier suggested.

If money is not a problem and you like ALienware, then go for it but otherwise just stick with the Dell and the like.

By Zephyrmaster (Zephyrmaster) on Thursday, May 06, 2004 - 08:41 pm: Edit

Alienware is too expensive. Why would you waste so much jink on a computer, unless you are loaded :p. Then do it, but they are overpriced.