I am going to be purchasing a new PC within a few days and I am unsure which company I should buy a PC from. I have in the past bought strictly from Dell. However, I consider myself more of a hardcore gamer, so I am leaning toward Alienware. Has anyone bought either one? What were your experiences? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Alienware Area51 or Dell XPS?
- Thread starter Aazenius
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John Crichton
First Post
I have never purchased from either company as I build my own to save money. However, speaking with friends both online and off, if you are a gamer look no further than Alienware. If I had the cash, I'd buy one of their newer systems right now. I've never heard a bad thing about them...
Aleinware systems certainly look seriously overpriced; the XPS is about $250 less when identically configured. But I'd probably figure the cool looking case, larger power supply, extra drive bays and fans aren't worth it, and save another $150 and get an 8300. Also, I'm on my second Dell @ home (the first one lasted five years without issues; this one's pushing three and will almost certainly be replaced with another Dell), and the Dell @ work has been just as problem-free.
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neg
Explorer
I was in the same situation in April. I priced Alienware and similar companies, along with Dell, Compac and HP. HP allowed me to customize the system to most of my satisfaction. With Dell you get too many extra crappy programs that I didn't want to uninstall as soon as I got the system. Alienware had a few programs as well that I wasn't happy about, and the extra price seemed extravagant, even to a serious gamer like myself.
I went with a 100 GB 2.8GHZ, 512 memory HP with an Ati Radeon 9700 Pro Video card. Then I splurged and got a 19" Flat Screen View Sonic Monitor that was gorgeous. Very happy with the purchase. HP has been more reliable than the previous Dell I had. And what I saved on the HP from not buying the Alienware I put to my monitor.
-neg
I went with a 100 GB 2.8GHZ, 512 memory HP with an Ati Radeon 9700 Pro Video card. Then I splurged and got a 19" Flat Screen View Sonic Monitor that was gorgeous. Very happy with the purchase. HP has been more reliable than the previous Dell I had. And what I saved on the HP from not buying the Alienware I put to my monitor.
-neg
If you have money coming out the Wazoo then get Alienware, just make sure you go to LAN parties so other people can stare at your big fat wallet. Honestly, if you aren't building your system I would get an 8300 from dell. The XPS is the same basic system, except the cool case and who cares unless you do LAN parties.
I priced an 8300 VS XPS and it came out about $500 cheaper, I can spend 30 minutes uninstalling software or formatting to save $500. The only difference between them was the RAM, the XPS had 1024 and the 8300 had 512, and 512 RAM is more than enough for gaming.
I priced an 8300 VS XPS and it came out about $500 cheaper, I can spend 30 minutes uninstalling software or formatting to save $500. The only difference between them was the RAM, the XPS had 1024 and the 8300 had 512, and 512 RAM is more than enough for gaming.
Psionicist
Explorer
Alienware build the most overpriced systems on the whole planet.
I'd suggest: Buy parts and built the computer yourself. It's fun, easy and you will gain a couple of geek XP.
Edit: I would also recommend MonsterBoxPC if you live in Texas or somewhere around. They build great custom systems (like alianware but cheaper, better support and so on.)
http://www.monsterboxpc.com/
I'd suggest: Buy parts and built the computer yourself. It's fun, easy and you will gain a couple of geek XP.
Edit: I would also recommend MonsterBoxPC if you live in Texas or somewhere around. They build great custom systems (like alianware but cheaper, better support and so on.)
http://www.monsterboxpc.com/
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Have you guys looked at Alienware's prices lately? I configured an Area51, and then configured an Dell XPS and the Dell computer was $200 more then the Alienware one.
Alienware has dropped their prices considerably. I don't have the time, nor the desire to build my own custom rig. That means less game time
Alienware has a decent reputation for having good gaming machines.
Dell probably has better customer service, after all they do win awards nearly every year for their excellent customer service.
I'm going to give Alienware a chance... hopefully their machines are just as powerful as everyone says.
Thanks for all the advice!
Alienware has dropped their prices considerably. I don't have the time, nor the desire to build my own custom rig. That means less game time
Alienware has a decent reputation for having good gaming machines. Dell probably has better customer service, after all they do win awards nearly every year for their excellent customer service.
I'm going to give Alienware a chance... hopefully their machines are just as powerful as everyone says.
Thanks for all the advice!
FWIW, before I posted yesterday, I configured systems on both of their web sites, and was very careful to make sure that the Dell XPS and the Alienware Area 51 were configured as close to identically as possible (note that by default, Alienware doesn't include a monitor). In some cases this may have resulted in each system using something other than the 'best value' components the vendor offered, but it was necessary to make for an apples-to-apples comparison. And the Dell was $250 cheaper.
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Agamon
Adventurer
I bought a Voodoo, and it's been the most reliable machine I've ever seen. Almost 2 years now, and all I've done is upgrade the video card (because I went with an older one when it was built); it's never crashed or given me fits. No crappy additional software, only the best, name brand parts. It cost me a bit more, but it was certainly worth it.
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