Alienware Computers (REVIEW)

[flipjargendy]

i doubt that anyone here would actually purchase one of these computers. I just feel compelled to say this lately. And maybe a search engine will pick this up and someone might be diverted from purchasing from Alienware.

The service on the website three/four years ago was absurd for paying $3K for a computer. It was as if they had no idea what i was saying, i don't know if they spoke English very well or not. It seemed like each person i spoke to tried to play stupid so that i'd just give up and try someone else. i am very layed back and was friendly throughout the experience. Still i was treated very poorly.

I received the computer and right out of the box there was already a problem. A fan was chirping, something was. i did not want to deal with support again so i let it be. It eventually worked itself out after a few months.

I've had to contact support again because of strange hardware problems that happen for apparently no reason... It seems support has not changed since the purchase of my computer. i contacted them four days ago by email and they did not reply yet, not even a message saying they'd get to me soon. i do not expect an email from them at all, at this point. i might call support but i might just skip it and find out how much it would cost to bring it in to be fixed.

The computers performance is average. i would recommend purchasing a very good computer for a lot less at another website. For under half the price of an Alienware Computer you'd be able to find a much better computer and surely get better support.

If Microsoft had a store where they sold computers i'd bet the support would be much better then Alienware.

NEVER purchase anything from Alienware, you'll be very disappointed.

[techieMoe]

Not sure if your experience would have been different before, but apparently as of March 2006, Dell owns Alienware. That could explain the bad customer service.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1941376,00.asp

[flipjargendy]

Yeah, i know about that. It doens't seem to have changed things from when i purchased things. i'm going to give the customer support line a try but i still don't have any hopes of getting it resolved with them. i might be able to get a new charger though.. i'm sure they'd like to make $60 of me for a $10 item.

[yourname3232]

That is why I like building my own computers. Then I can find the defective part and 99% of the time the online retailers will just take it back. It is also pretty cost effective. However, it is too bad that a company that sells such expensive stuff will hav such bad service for their prouducts.

[flipjargendy]

Yes, i've usually gone that route but decided to give Alienware a shot since everyone said they were such "great computers". This isn't true so the next time i get a computer i'm getting a barebones kit.

[benjamin20]

its mostly because they market themselves as "gaming computers" with all the flashy flash animations and 3d images and all that other crap that makes the kids with the 200$ mouse and absolutely no knowlage about computer hardware other than it plays counterstrike want it so badly. they talk about it as if it just the best, because for 3000$ it has to be right?

it ends up where everybody that doesnt know anything about computers thinks that alienware is just the best.

the peoblem with most situations like this is the people that dont know anything about computers are having actual influence on the market, moslty because of the huge number of them. just look at dell or aol, or microsoft and you will understand.

better off just building yourself or buying hp or sony.

[flipjargendy]

i'm looking for a new computer right now and HP is one i'm looking at... i forgot about sony. i'm just hoping i can find one with AMD. After going back to pentium with my last computer i think from now on i'm getting AMD.

[benjamin20]

realy the only reason why i mention sony is to give options. its realy hard recomending options for pre built computers now since they have all been absorbed. theres also gateway. but gateway obsorbed emachines and both have had a history of having cheapy computers that break. but gateway was suspose to be fixing that beacue they lost so much money.

sony is realy a higher end brand though. the reason i dont mention dell is because they suck. and they are almost exclusivley intel.

and compaq was eaten by hp, so if its labeled compaq its probobly old.

if its a laptop, you could try those noname makers that you find in computer magazines. they usualy seem to make nice stuff.

all in all hp probobly will do what you need.

[flipjargendy]

There's no way i'd go with Dell or Gateway. From what i've seen with HP so far it's looking good. My dad has used HP for the past 5 years and their warranties seem very nice.

What i've gathered from looking around today is that noname or HP will be the way to go. i don't do much gaming or things i'll need a high end system for anymore. i don't want a slow one though, i play music and do a lot of coding, store all of my photos and edit them. i can't just get a little computer... and now it looks like i'll be waiting a while before i get a computer since their more expensive then i remember.. maybe it'll be cheaper just to get my Alienware fixed... it looks cool but isn't that great.

i hate technology.

[benjamin20]

ya, hp seems to be very good at making stuff that just works. i dont think i have ever heard of somebody complaining about there hp product. nowadays even low end computers can play modern games. for coding i would suggest a widesscreen monitor. they are just awsom.

i would definatly see about getting the computer fixed first. if the army has a jeep that gets a flat, they dont through the whole thing out and buy a new jeep.