The offering fit for a king ~ and the King's ransom
Written: May 29 '00 (Updated May 29 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Custom built for you, you choose from a list of parts, the machine is attractive
Cons: Way over priced
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| Gr8ful's Full Review: Alienware Area51:Aurora |
Alienware computers are very attractive and futuristic looking machines. The offer custom built computers in each class or model type. You choose your components from a list and you can fill all the drive bays with components. This review is on the Alienware Area51:Alura but since there is no set base for this computer, what I have done is basically designed my Dream Machine filling every slot and getting the best of everything to compare with the cost of building my own dream machine.
First I start with the processor. I chose the AMD Athlon 1GHz processor with 3DNow! technology. This processor rivals the Pentium III 1000MHz processor and in my opinion is the better one for gaming, multimedia applications and internet applications. This is the gamers dream processor and so it finds a place in my configuration.
They didn't give me an option to choose which motherboard I want nor did they tell which board they will use in my Dream Machine. So, I just have to take it on faith that it's a good one (yeah, whatever).
Next I chose the memory. They offer PC100 and PC133 memory. Knowing that the Athlon processor runs on a 200MHz system bus and can use either, I chose 384MB of PC100. I did not choose the PC133 memory because, even though the Athlon can use it, you will never see the difference in performance. On Athlon based computers, the memory bus still only runs at 100MHz and using PC133 is not going to make any difference.
The next thing I decided on was hard drive. Alienware gives you the option of adding a secondary hard drive as well and I figured, "Why not?" Eventually I will fill it up whether it be a year from now or whatever so I went a little overboard and chose 2 40GB hard drives, both UDMA66 and 7200RPM. Hey, this is my Dream Machine, ok?
My next choice was the DVD ROM. I chose the Pioneer 16x DVD (40x CDROM) with a hardware decoder card. This is the best DVD drive on the market in my opinion, besides the DVD drives that also write to CDRW. If I am going to buy a computer with DVD, I want the best.
For storage, I chose the Hewlett Packard 9300i 10x4x32 EIDE CDRW drive. This is not really the drive I would put in my Dream Machine but they didn't offer the Plextor SCSI 8x20 CDR. As a matter of fact they didn't offer SCSI controllers or any SCSI peripherals. So the HP was my choice here.
Choosing the video accelerator card was hard. The choices were the NVidia GeForce 2 GTS with 32MB DDR at 4x AGP and the Voodoo5 5500 with 64MB SGRAM at 4x AGP. I had to really think this one out because I had limited information on the Voodoo5. But after debate and research I decided on the NVidia GeForce 2. I also opted for the KoolMaxx video cooling system to keep my accelerator cool, fast and happy.
The sound card I chose was the Sound Blaster Live! Platinum with the 5.25" Live! drive. This card has a wonderful sound and digital out for my Pioneer DVD. This was an easy choice over the Diamond MX400 ESS Canyon 3D. Even though both cards offer similar features, the Live! drive makes them more accessible and easier to use all the way around.
I also chose the U.S. Robotics 56k V.90 External voice/data/fax modem. They didn't make it clear if the internal modems were hardware or software so I opted for the external because all external modems are hardware. They do offer a USB external also but I chose not to go that route.
Instead of having a regular 1.44MB floppy drive I opted for the LS-120 floppy drive. This drive can read 120MB floppy disks as well as 1.44MB floppies. Why would I get the lesser one, after all I can have whatever I want in my Dream Machine.
Other items I chose were a PCI 10/100 NIC (network interface card), the Microsoft Sidewinder Precision pro USB flight controller, and the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Wheel and pedals. The gamer in me requires network gaming and good controllers.
This is My Dream Machine if I were to order the Alienware Area51:Alura. With this machine I would get the standard 1-year Priority service with 3-year manufacturers warranty and Fedex standard second day air shipping. So after all these prices are figured in, just how much am I looking at spending here? Well, first let me tell you how much it would cost me to build the same machine myself.
After adding up all the individual parts and shipping for each part this computer would cost me $3,632.00 to build myself. For $50.00 more you can have someone build it for you at a local computer store. That is a lot of money. Now here's the real kick-in-the-pants. If I purchased this order through Alienware it would cost me $5803.38! I think the evidence will stand for itself. This computer is just too expensive. I even tried configuring a lower grade model and came out to the same outrageous conclusion. I leave it to you to decide for yourself armed with this information.
I give it 2 stars, I would have given it 4 if it weren't a rip off.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): N/A Custom build orders
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