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Rank: Solidified in our minds.
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Joined: 11/26/2007
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So my computer is taking the dump. Im seriously considering getting an alienware desktop. Anyone have one or know somebody who does. Looking for some input on if they are as good as they makes themselves out to be. Need to be ready for warhammer after all.
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Never bought one, but when I have looked at them before they appear to be pretty overpriced.
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Rank: One of the Main Weird
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Joined: 10/30/2007
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Location: Houston, Texas
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Totally overpriced. I would never even consider Alienware for a purchase. I've priced them since Dell sells them, but I would never buy one.
I have 1 desktop and 3 laptops here at the house. All are Dell, and I'd walk a mile in the snow for them. They've earned my respect over the years with the descent service. (notice I said descent). But they have been pretty good about tech support, even had a motherboard completely replaced for free even though it was not covered due to a lightning strike at the house. A handful of onsite free tech support. There's other examples, but they are really a good value.
People can say what they want about Dell's proprietary hardware and inability to upgrade, but I've never had a problem, minus the powersupply. And even then, they've come a long way, I am sure it's not so "proprietary" these days.
I game on my E1705 laptop with a 7950 in it.. never had a problem coming up against anything I could not run. Desktop is still cranking very well after about 5 or so years (Dell Dimension 8300, Radeon 9800XT Pro and 2GB ram and runs EQ2 extremely well).
I'd start at Dell and then take their value somewhere else...but you'd probably come back to them.
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Agree with Rot and Dardore.
If you feel comfortable enough to build your own, that is by far the cheapest route. If not, go with a good Dell.
I have 5 comps in the house. 4 I have built and a Dell Laptop. Dell is the only company I would buy from if I was not building my own.
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Rank: One of the Main Weird
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Joined: 11/6/2007
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If price is biggest factor - go with Dell. Get an XPS if you can and configure it with the 8800 GT video card. That being said, I've grown less and less fond of Dell due to customer service and the plastic like evolution of their PCs. The box is plastic. The monitor is plastic. The speakers are plastic. And its not even good plastic. They are, without a doubt, built more cheaply now than ever before. And I've been a Dell customer for over 10 years. If you have a little money to spend, and some are probably going to call me crazy, but I would buy a Macintosh G5 (Intel based) and install Windows on in. The G5 is a solid machine (both in terms of build and reliability) and the Windows gives you more software options. I have a G5 and a PC at work and I do most of my stuff on the G5. At home its a Dell E510.
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Rank: One of the Main Weird
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Joined: 10/30/2007
Posts: 296
Points: 747
Location: Houston, Texas
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Dell is not your traditional "chinese manufacturer" who's been hit with massive recalls or hammered for their QC procedures on their product. (Throwing the battery recall is not valid, Dell had nothing to do with that really) That being said, you're right...plastic is cheap. But being used correctly to minimize cost while still being able to provide a quality product, I don't see an issue with Dell using "plastic", or any manufacturer for that matter. The savings is obviously passed to the consumer and is good for competition keeping industry sector pricing down. It's like why we cheer for AMD to keep up with INTEL to keep chipset costs down. Otherwise we'd be paying $800 for a chip.
Again, like with the Alienware line of PCs, XPS is also overpriced, in my opinon. Configuring using the stock hardware and doing the upgrades from there will get you out the door cheaper than starting with the most basic XPS PC with a descent rig.
Today computers are complete overkill. You have like quad video cards running at like 4 qaudrillion Ghz these days... And manufacturers are standing behind their push that you NEED this. Don't go top of the line, even if you're considering buying a PC to last 5 yrs or so.
Again, just my opinon, but I love to debate this.
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Rank: Completly bathed in our weirdness.
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Joined: 11/9/2007
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Location: Manchester, UK
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I "borrowed" the 22" widescreen Dell monitor that arrived with my work pc to game on at home - and yeah, the bezel etc is very plastic - but the colour quality, brightness and sharpness is the best Ive seen on a flat screen.
I'm running the Dell at work - its a Vostro 200 with a Radeon X1300 Pro and 2 gigs of ram in and cost about $1,200 (converted to your risibly weak currency - heh heh, couldn't resist). It runs one instance of EQ2 very merrily and can run a second instance of it on my second screen in balanced at a very playable rate. Not that I do that at work, ever, obviously.
The buzz on Alienwares seems to be that you're paying for very nice design work rather than components, although customer service, at least in the UK, is first class.
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Spyte wrote:
I'm running the Dell at work - its a Vostro 200 with a Radeon X1300 Pro and 2 gigs of ram in and cost about $1,200 (converted to your risibly weak currency - heh heh, couldn't resist). It runs one instance of EQ2 very merrily and can run a second instance of it on my second screen in balanced at a very playable rate. Not that I do that at work, ever, obviously.
lol. I know it's weak. It is so bad I converted all my real world investments into Nagafen Plat and I am sitting on a millions of plat and items in the auction house. We will see who is laughing when everyone starts buying parts too their epics Spyte! Mmahahha.
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Rank: Completly bathed in our weirdness.
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Joined: 11/8/2007
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Location: Atlanta, GA
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Actually, I've gone towards Sony more in regards to Laptops. I started with Dell, but have become less enamored of them, and the prices for the high end laptops are not that far off Sony's prices. Just ordered a VAIO gaming laptop with the works for less than 2 grand. The only thing that's not top of the line is the hard drives- 2x200GB@5400RPM. I love the 7200RPM I installed in my E1705, but the prices buying them in a laptop are insane. For a desktop- Dell has seemed pretty good at work, but I'd look at getting a home built one- I haven't bought one from a major manufacturer in a while. They aren't as cheap as they used to be, but still pretty much so, easier than ever to put together, and you can customise it as much as you want. (And it makes your next upgrade something you can do over time, and still have a second computer).
My task is done/My song has ceased/My theme has died into an echo/It is fit.  
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Rank: Admin
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If you do order a Dell don't forget your coupon. Right now you can get $400 off a desktop that's over $1,300 http://www.techbargains.com/dellcoupons.cfm
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