Biggs311 Posted June 4, 2002 Share Posted June 4, 2002 Just had a quick question for everyone out there. I'm in the market for a new computer to replace my trusty PIII 550 Dell this summer. I really like the systems made by Alienware but I've read a few too many horror stories online that have made me a little wary of plunking down thousands of my hard earned dollars for something that could be a overpriced paperweight. I was just curious if anyone here has an Alienware PC or knows someone that does and would post their experiences with it. I'd greatly appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggs311 Posted June 5, 2002 Author Share Posted June 5, 2002 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acdcfanbill Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 alienware is overpriced... your best bet is to build your own... if you cant plug stuff together, then you can build a computer... we're here to help too, but if your going to buy, i would say that cheaper computers can do the same stuff as alienware, maybe a bit slower though, not enough to notice i would say... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iguelmay Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 If you got money to burn, go to one of those snazzy manufacturers like Voodoo, alien ware, or falcon north-west... else, take a stab at building your own, buy some cheapish mid-range parts, and put together a comp. Even if you end up frying a component or two (by some freak accident) no one component will be worth more than $300... the advantage of a manufacturer is 3 yr parts, labor and upgrade policies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KordKelly Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 Originally posted by iguelmay If you got money to burn, go to one of those snazzy manufacturers like Voodoo, alien ware, or falcon north-west... else, take a stab at building your own, buy some cheapish mid-range parts, and put together a comp. Even if you end up frying a component or two (by some freak accident) no one component will be worth more than $300... the advantage of a manufacturer is 3 yr parts, labor and upgrade policies. But, the advantage of building your own is the satisfaction in knowing that you built this "monster rig". There are many online tutorials on how to do it, and as stated before, we are all here to help. If you can plug in a lamp cord, you can build a PC, and with $1000.00 to burn you can build a really nice box. (I built mine for $800.00 ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggs311 Posted June 5, 2002 Author Share Posted June 5, 2002 Thanks for the responses everyone. I know I could build my own, but I feel a little overwhelmed looking at parts online. I know what type of processor and video card I would want, but stuff like the right case, power supply and motherboard kind of go over my head. Does anyone know of some good webpages online that could help me find the best motherboard and other stuff that I would need? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hateplow Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 Don't buy Alienwares. Sure they look l33t and have that uber black case but they cost alot. I build my rig for a little less than 800$ it has: AMD Athalon 1.3giz 512DDR RAM GeForce 2 Ti 1st Mainboard (don't know specs off hand) Onboard sound 40Gig Harddrive 7200RPM 40$ case w/ powersupply Kept old disc drive, speakers, monitor, 3 1/2 drive I run everything just find, although for some reason I cannot get Morrowind to work. I think its either I need new sound drivers or it could be a bad burned copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iguelmay Posted June 5, 2002 Share Posted June 5, 2002 that comp looks good for the money, but in personal opinion: i'm going to recommend one of the new athlon XP processors... as for Motherboards... get from a good reliable company (e.g. Asus) just take note of what they say on the product page... look out for: -Supported Proccessor Speed -Onboard sound (if you want it) -DIMM slots (ram slots, make sure it's DDR for athlons) -onboard NIC (if you wanna hook up your high-speed internet) -make sure it has a 4x AGP slot (i don't know any that don't these days) -and take not of the PCI slots (expansion slots for sound cards, and stuff) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggs311 Posted June 5, 2002 Author Share Posted June 5, 2002 Thanks for the responses everyone. I've been looking around the web today and found some things I like. Does anyone have any links to some good sites that I can get a case, motherboard and stuff like that from that has a good selection. I'm leaning towards getting a P4 chip though. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chastan Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 Hey, I still have my 2 cents to pitch in about Alienware, if you're still interested I don't really know much about how prices compare, I haven't been in the market for about three years! (My Dell 600 is still holding up well, just need to plop in a GeForce 5 Ultra or something one of these days ). You may want to investigate getting after-market RAM though, some web-order systems make a lot of money of the prices of the RAM. Anyhow, my brother did buy an Alienware system, which is really nice if you are a computer enthuiast. It has a well built full size case, lots of fans (which most likely will make it a bit louder than your current dell ). Everything was built as ordered, and fairly quickly, although it stays in "testing phase" of production before getting shipped for a few days (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). So far he's been running it with no problems for a few months. Anyways my opinion of Alienware is pretty good, as long as they don't cost too much (I definetely wouldn't pay extra for novelty colors, off-white suits me just fine ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUNNER Posted June 6, 2002 Share Posted June 6, 2002 I like Alienware because the cases look cool.. So I went and bought one of their cases. Go to Newegg.com and look for Cheiftec cases. Thems the one.. I got one with out a PS for $49 then threw in a 470W PS from directron for $75 and I'm in buisness. I also cut a hole for a window, added a 120 blow hole and a fanbus for my fans but that's another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggs311 Posted June 6, 2002 Author Share Posted June 6, 2002 I was doing some heavy looking online yesterday, mostly at http://www.directron.com and got most of the prices for what I need/want. When I totalled it up though the price came out to almost as much as an Alienware, and this was without a monitor, keyboard or mouse. Are there better websites for me to look at, and if so what are they? I can't seem to find much of anything at the moment. Thanks everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggs311 Posted June 8, 2002 Author Share Posted June 8, 2002 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
power_ed Posted June 8, 2002 Share Posted June 8, 2002 or.. you could just get the KoolMaxx grill to slap on your new pc so everyone would think it's an alienware :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eben15 Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 I can honestly say that the system I got from Alienware, is the best I've ever owned. It was very expensive tho and I did have some problems: the system failed to load one day after I had owned it nine months, I called Alienware, and we established it was either the motherboard or the processor. So they sent me a new one of each, and they upgraded my processor for free. I used to work for Dell, and I can guarantee this would never happen with them. they would send you one part at a time, not two. If you have the money go with an Alienware system, its honestly too much trouble to build one from scratch. also I dont know if they still do this but they sent a copy of the version of windows with the system. Far as I know most other companies only send a lame OEM system recovery disk...very annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Truthful Liar Posted June 15, 2002 Share Posted June 15, 2002 Yup, Alienware is the best - I'm glad I'm getting one soon enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Hanover Posted June 16, 2002 Share Posted June 16, 2002 I've heard nothing but good things about AlienWare...almost bought one....wound up with a Dell instead(my work paid for it). I'm going with Alienware next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
power_ed Posted June 23, 2002 Share Posted June 23, 2002 it sure is one mean piece of equipment!11 me gotta get one of those!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c.d. Posted June 23, 2002 Share Posted June 23, 2002 if you worry about warrenty issues..... buy from a company (alienware) although you will pay lots of money. If you can build your own go for it (i personally wouldnt just incase i messed something up i wouldnt know how to fix it)...BUT if you know someone who can build pcs go with taht option. A friend of mine built me a 1 gig athlon system for 500. By building your own you get more say in what goes in what, plus you dont have to pay for hard drives and pay for extra ram(although w/ ddr and rdram you will end up buying it anyways.) all you really need is a graphics card, mobo, processor, and case. And you are set. and if u make your own you can buy modified cases that have power plants in them already... i just bought this case for my new pc my friend is gonna build http://www.xoxide.com/noname4.html so in the end building your own is better, cheaper, and more effective when it comes to cooling solutions. But if you want a warrenity buy from a company, but anymore its not worth it... i just bought a new machine to use for business, and in the ELUA thing it said if i break the seal (take off the side of the case) it will void certian parts of my warrenty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arca Jeth Posted June 23, 2002 Share Posted June 23, 2002 Go to pricewatch.com and you can get cheap stuff for your comp... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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