My experience with the company so far has been excellent.
Written: Sep 07 '05
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| Full Review |
Warning - If you ARE NOT a computer enthusiast or gamer, STOP READING NOW - you are wasting both of our time!!!
Intro:
I did not buy the system online so I cannot comment on my experience in buying the system process whatsoever. I can however speak with experience my treatment by the Alienware staff in person and my experience with the system so far.
How I came to own one:
Recently I attended a gaming convention (notice how I say GAMING - there are too many people here talking about buying one when they dont play games. If you dont game, dont plan on gaming, or demand high performance at a cost, move on to other companies, just do it) and Alienware was in attendance (Quakecon 2005 - Dallas Metro, TX - August 11-15 www.quakecon.org). They were challenging everyone in attendance (about 5 thousand plus) to bring their fastest computers around and compete for an Alienware system valued at $6800.
Of course, I had just purchased quite a bit of upgrades to my own system just prior to attending, so I had to try. Long story short, my computer proved the fastest computer to run the challenge and surprisingly took home my very own watercooled Aurora ALX sytem. I was quite psyched.
Experience with employees:
My experience with them proved excellent. All of them were quite accomodating to my questions and helped me get accustomed to now owning the system. They even shared their internal phone number extensions to reach them at should I have any trouble whatsoever with the system (which carries the standard warranty just like purchased). They explained everything I needed to know and helped me pack up the system for the trip back to Austin.
Unboxing:
The unit was very well protected in two seperate boxes and individualized foam cutout to isolate each object and keep them from moving and being scratched. Everything survived both the Fedex shipment to the convention and the trip to Austin without fault. I was very impressed with what came with the system and the small details they covered. Including the t-shirt, keychains with ALX on them, an all aluminum briefcase, a leather portfolio, wireless keyboard and mouse. I was even impressed they included all manuals and included connectors that came with the original boxed products they purchased to assemble the unit custom. Other manufacturers might have just tossed those items.
It was really at that point I understood what Alienware was really all about. A company that assembles high end gear BY HAND for those that might not be able to do it themselves. I have worked for companies like Compaq and Dell and these examples of companies only buy from the lowest bidder and assemble the lowest costing system at each price point, cutting just about any corner they can to make a buck. That's great if you want cheap prices, but Alienware really isnt about that. Some people say they are all about their name and nothing more. I dont think that is accurate. Pricing the objects seperately, adding labor, shipping, support and length of warranty and it adds up very quickly. Most people cannot build their system like I do myself or a firend to help them with it and hence need a choice like this to get quality gear without cutting corners. There are other companies but not many have been around as long as Alienware has.
Sure, I may never have bought one myself (why should I, I build all my systems and work in the IT industry), but getting one of their products has truely opened my eyes to what they can be.
System experience:
So far, not one complaint. Even restored the machine to make sure all was good. System restored to factory setting with included CD/DVD kit and now moving along. This system truely is blazing fast. The smell mentioned by the way in another review is actually normal with watercooled machines by the way. I suspect that person has never owned watercooled computers. I have been watercooling for over 5 years myself and sometimes the antifreeze smell can lurk on a freshly assembled system. It has been a couple of weeks since setting it up and truely the smell is non-existent now. At least with watercooling though, the noise is much lower and overclocking performance is significantly increased. Something many manufacturers wont jump into just yet...
I will update as time goes by. I dont suspect I will need technical support but time will tell...
System Specs (including the specs you may not know):
Alienware Aurora ALX (www.alienware.com)
Processor: AMD FX-57 (www.amd.com)
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Premium (www.asus.com.tw)
Memory: Corsair DDR 550 1GB (512MB X 2) (www.corsairmemory.com
Hard Drive: (Dual) Maxtor 16MB Cache 7200 RPM 250GB (500GB total) (www.maxtor.com)
Video Cards: (Dual) EVGA 7800 GTX KO 256MB SLI (www.evga.com)
Sound Card: Creative SB Audigy 4 Pro (with breakout box)(www.creative.com)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 850 Watt SSI model (A Beast of a power supply to handle a Beast of a machine - overkill if you ask me, but still nice)(www.pcpowercooling.com)
Watercooling: Actually a stock Koolance Case with Alienware plastic cladding. Processor and Video cards are all in the watercooling loop. (www.koolance.com)
Case: Alienware Predator Case Series aka Koolance (Model PC3-420BK "Black" - www.koolance.com)
Keyboard: Microsoft Elite Wireless Keyboard (www.microsoft.com)
Mouse: Microsoft Elite Wireless Mouse (www.microsoft.com)
Memory Reader: Atech 9 in 1 - 3.5" Bay memory reader (www.atechflash.com)
Mousepad: Modified RatPadz (customized to Alienware with ALX written on it)(www.ratpadz.com)
Operating System: Windows XP Pro SP2 (www.microsoft.com)
Software: Various eye candie looking software and overclocking software, but no other non-essential software preloaded or included with this build).
I feel for those that have had trouble, but from my experience it is the trouble reviews regarding PC manufacturers you will tend to see more of. I am not saying they are perfect, but they are worth the investment if you are truely an enthusiast. They arent for everyone, but they will satisfy many. I tried to maintain as much fairness in my review. I see that other reviewers might not be doing the same thing. I mean come on, your billing address is different than the shipping address for 3000 PLUS dollars and you fault them for making the order take more time??? Hand building will take time. 3rd world countries and robots are not assembling this system. Hard working people are and mistakes happen as well. Be patient and hopefully nothing will go wrong, if something does work with them to fix it... That's just my 3 cents...
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Alienware Aurora ALX
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About the Author
Member: Amos Pena
Location: Austin, TX
Reviews written: 17
Trusted by: 1 member
About Me: I have been working with computers for 21 years.
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