Poll: Are Alienware laptops worth the money?

[Ryan Hughes]

I will add to the chorus of "no"s here. No. Alienware used to be one of the best gaming PC companies, but they were bought out by Dell a few years back. Now, you pay the same price as before, but you get a terrible PC running Dell architecture for about 20% more than other brands. Also, many of these laptops are made at the Foxconn plant in China, where last year and the year before there were suicides apparently because the workers were over-worked under terrible conditions.

So, no, no, and no. I actually use a gaming laptop myself, in spite of the warnings from others. But I do agree that for gaming, get a desktop, then you can upgrade as necessary. I use my gaming Laptop for Graphic Design work on the go, which is sped up greatly by a graphics card, and it is a passable gaming PC, but I am always at a small disadvantage simply because it is a laptop.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Argh, there's no poll!

Anyway; no. It's just a pretty-looking Dell.

 

[Destal]

No, they really aren't. If you are looking for an awesome gaming laptop for your money look at MSI, Asus, or Sager.

This site tends to have really good prices and is where I got my current gaming laptop.

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-gaming-laptops-ct-118_96_98.html

 

[Prosis]

No. Alienware used to be something, but now its just a very expensive brand name. Toshiba is bad too while we're at it.

I've been using a Gateway. It runs a little hot, and its a bit heavier than other laptops, but it works great. However, it's not really a full-on gaming system.

I've heard great things about Asus as well (or was it Acer? I don't remember).

 

[razer17]

No. Alienware are waaaay overpriced. Gaming laptops in general are more expensive than what they're worth. You could buy a cheap laptop and a gaming PC for the price of a "good" Alienware, which means you have something portable for Internet and other basic tasks you might carry out infront of the TV, and a gaming PC for gaming and any heavy duty tasks you might want to perform.

Hell, my phone can do so much now that I don't even really need a laptop, I'd be fine with just a desktop and could use my phone for basic browsing and Twitter/ Facebook. And I can even play GTA 3 on it.

 

[ThePenguinKnight]

For less than half the cost you could simply put together your own PC and it'd be superior. Laptops overheat, break down often, cost a fortune to repair, are difficult and expensive to upgrade hardware, you have to fiddle with Wifi, and laptops don't last nearly as long as a PC.

 

[Volstag9]

Not worth it. It's also to note that most alienware laptops lack much of the features of other laptops, like a numpad.

If you have to get a gaming laptop, get one off newegg that's refurbished. I got mine for $600 and it runs most of the modern games pretty damn well. Perhaps invest in a higher class $1000 laptop. Not a gaming one, but a general use one. Most of the time they can still run most modern games.

 

[sapphireofthesea]

Alienware have the highest end graphics cards. What doe sthat mean in playablity terms.
-If you want to do normal stuff, Not needed
-If you want to play old games, Not needed
-If you want to play new games (and a future games) but don't really mind being at MAX graphics, not needed*
-If everything HAS to be at MAX graphics at all time, then Alienware is worth it.

Highest graphics cards don't normally bring much more to the table than others in the last few months and cost for cards drops quite quickly as new ones come out. So shopping smart and being a bit flexable on the graphics settings (Second highest vs highest, though only in super graphics heav games) can land you a decent laptop that will run games for at least 2 years before leveling off on performace (Alienware won't fair much better at the rate games graphics go).


*However you will need to be a bit wiser on your purchase of a cheaper laptop to fit this one. here is a link to Graphics card comparison page:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html
which I use as my base. For a rough estimate you are looking in the £600-£800 range (though having it on slightly lower graphics could get you a £500-£600 one).

 

[Tyrel Arington]

I have an Alienware laptop myself. I paid about 2400 for it. I choose it at the time because when I was looking it seemed to have an overall better cooling system. I have a 1.73 I7 CPU and a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5800 with 8 Gigs of ram. It is still able to run any game I play on max settings, or rarely only high settings. I will admit I don't know that much about computer specs much anymore as I stopped building desktops back in 07.

I like it, though the only downside is how heavy it is. My last laptop was only about ten, this one is about 20, so I had to invest in a new carry bag for the laptop. I did get the MX-17 so that was a good part of the cost, but if you were to get one of the smaller ones it would probably do everything you would want.

 

[Trekkie]

No, build your own computer, if you live in Britain id suggest this site:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

However if you NEED it to be a laptop, then i suggest:

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

&

www.cyberpowersystems.co.uk

 

[3AM]

I bought an Alienware laptop and am glad I did and would do it again. I did a good amount of online shopping and comparison, not to mention asking the advice of people I know who work with hardware. I used to shy away from Alienware because of the price and because I thought it had a rabid fan base, people who defended it to prove they were right, not because it was worth defending. But when I looked at what I got with this laptop, the hardware that was included in the base price, then looked at what it would cost to get similar hardware in any other laptop brand on the market, Alienware won hands down.

Desktops are another matter. I honestly can't imagine anyone not being able to build a better desktop than what you could buy from Alienware for much less money. Laptops are different though. I'm not up to building one and accept that they cost more because of their size. Oh, another thing. I bought the smallest size laptop they offered, by choice. I wanted a small one. The bigger models may not be as good a deal as the 11 inch one. And now that I have it, damn but I love those lights! Whatever brand you decide on I hope it has a backlit keyboard. I'm so spoiled by it, I can't imagine not having one.

 

[Silvianoshei]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: The thing is, mobile gaming platforms are generally overpriced. You are going to get screwed anyway, and Alienware takes advantage of the brand loyalty that they inspired before they were bought out by Dell by selling you shit hardware in their cases.

My advice: You need a mobile gaming rig? Get Asus and wipe the bloatware.

My REAL advice: Build an amazing desktop for half the price and pick up a decent mobile computer for work/everyday stuff. That's what I did, and I saved a hell of a lot of money. 1,500 for my desktop and 500 for my laptop (i5 2140M with 8 gigs of ram). I spent a total of 2000 and I had a mobile solution for work and a stable gaming rig at home. Buying the same hardware for a mobile platform would have cost me 2400 bucks. Not only did I save 400, but I got TWO machines and was able to keep work and play separated.

 

[Twilight_guy]

No. You can find something decent elsewhere for far cheaper. Shop around and look at part specs and find something good.

 

[gigastar]

In all seriousness youre better off buying something out of HP's range of high performance laptops. Theyre about half the price a good one and they will usually serve you reliably until they become obselete.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

In a word, no. You're paying for the badge.

It's like this guy reached into my brain and stole my words. But yeah, this. Pre-freaking-cisely this. A $1400 Alienware computer is an extremely-overclocked $800 computer with a $600 badge on it.

If you insist on a gaming laptop (which I never recommend, as there's scant room for upgrades), there's far better to be had.

 

[lacktheknack]

Trust the guy typing this post on his Alienware computer... They are SOOOOOOO overpriced that it hurts.

Buy from anywhere else. ANYWHERE. All that matters is the specs, the brand is irrelevant (unless it's HP, I hate HP).

 

[Phisi]

Short answer: YES, but the benefits might not apply to you.

I would say it's a personal thing. How much do you trust other brands over Alienware? I have an ASUS G73 which I've had to tinker with to fix problems with it, I am more confident that if I had gotten an Alienware I could have sent it in to be serviced to get it fixed. We have an Alienware desktop which had a problem and got a replacement free of charge in a couple of weeks. If you want something that you won't have to deal with buy an Alienware, if money is an issue then get an ASUS. The main problem I have with my G73 is cleaning the filters but i believe the new series (G75?) Has removable ones to solve that. They can be quite hard to find though, I had to call around a bunch of PC shops to see if they had one in stock. Gaming laptops are great though and I hope this helps

 

[piinyouri]

Nope.
Speaking from pure experience, not from what someones told me or something I read somewhere, my friend had one and it had no shortage of problems. Problems recognizing the power adapter, keys CONSTANTLY needing to be snapped/glued back on, the thing got hotter than the sun with the use of an expensive cooling pad, issues with the lights(everyone has had issues of some sort with the lights).

What's more one of my online friends has one that she's just about done with because it is literally falling apart at the hinges.


You would be doing yourself a favor just getting a normal Dell PC. (Still overpriced, but not as exorbitantly as an AW, and despite what everyone says, I've had two normal Dells and absolutely NOT being able to upgrade aside, they are stable as a rock.)


If you can, custom building is the best bang for your buck, if you're comfortable with it.