Alienware Success Stories

Hi everyone,
There's been entirely too much negativity on this forum. I'm calling all the happy owners. Please post your experiences here. This is not an invitation for users to post negative comments. This is not an invitation for users to post complaints. If you have issues, I'm sure the other negative threads will welcome you.

Gabe

 

What's the point of getting any of the mZZx series if you don't get the illuminated keyboard! you are already throwing down 3k.. what's 50 more!



As a side note, I am very pleased with my system so far.

 

I'm sure I'll be happy with mine as well. It's a beast. As far as the keyboard, I was going to have to wait until at least July 24th (if there were no further delays in getting the keyboards in), and I couldn't wait that long.

Don't get me wrong, they look sweet with the illuminated keyboard, and I'd love to have it. But it's just a timing issue. I would have loved to have it.

 

Jumping from m15x hate to spread to the m17x? GG Milcs

 

Hein??? :|

Not at all... I have no idea whatsoever about the M17x.
I just wanted to know what's kefka's thoughts about the question I made (about the M15x).

I won't be posting any more on this thread to avoid disrupting it. Sorry.

 

I love my m15x, once i replaced my video card everything is running wonderful again. Actually that is the reason i haven't posted in a while just having too much fun gaming. I even have fun at work just because i like when people stare at the lights trying to figure out what model of a thinkpad it is (i work for IBM so most people have thinkpads there).

 

I can imagine the looks I'll be getting when I'm servicing Dells using an Alienware.

Gabe

 

When my system arrived a year ago, at was flawless, it even arrived earlier, but the 2.5gb limitation was a stomp, otherwise AW were very smooth with my Order. i even got a cap, mousepad , and a shirt without ordering them! haha

 

you are technically use a Dell laptop since AW is a apart of dell

So far i have no problems with my m15x. Im one of the happy customers.

 

i've been extremely pleased with my system so far. games fly on this thing and i haven't had any of the major problems reported here. love the blu-ray as well...just got the john mayer live concert and it looks/sounds amazing!

 

I'm happy with my m9750. I've had to do general maintenance on it like I would with any desktop (fan cleaning, applying my own thermal paste, etc). I've installed 2 new 7200rpm 200GB hard drives and 2x2GB ram and it screams in my oppinion.
My stock system had a lot to be desired though.. slow hard drive performance, high temps, but all is right with it now and I solved my issues without the need to call tech support. These forums have been invaluable.

Faults I see with this system that I consider another companies responisiblity are:
SLi Performance: Sucks on new games and drivers are pretty hit or miss. New drivers are too heavily realied on 3rd party people who do this 'for fun' ie. Laptopvideo2go and XG.
3gb limitation: I blame intel and their chipset on this one. I didn't purchase my 4gb of ram from Alienware so while it does suck, I don't think I lost too much money for purchaseing 4gb vs 2gb. Also.. now that I'm a bit more informed, I'm really in no hurry to try and install Vista 64 on my system even if my laptop COULD see all 4gb of RAM.

I have never had a BSOD on my system. Ever. For all the time I've owned it. I can say the same for my desktop as well which I built myself and have used BSOD free for the past 3+ years.

 

It's really nice to have a positive thread about the M15x. Gets my hopes up a bit.

 

Same here. MY m15x is doing great!

 

I absolutely love all 3 of my Alienware laptops, especially the m15x!! My 15 yr. old son now has the m5550 i had and he can't stay off it. LOL! Just like i can't stay off this m15x. My other m5550 is always on-guard, recording anything unusual around my premises 24/7 for over 1-1/2 years.

 

I love my m15x and wouldn't trade it for anything. I have no major complaints whatsoever and consider it a completely worthwhile purchase. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I can't think of any other notebook that has ever offered this type of power, battery life, mobility and aesthetics in one complete package. Any criticisms I have at this point are minor.

Oh, and I never get bored playing with the AlienFX lights. By far, the coolest lighting system on a laptop I've ever seen.

I'd definitely purchase from AW again unless something drastic happened to change my mind.

 

Gabez, I noticed your system shipped out! Hope you enjoy it buddy. Be sure to keep us all updated with the first impressions and post a review.

 

The Alienware m9750 I received was a lemon from the start, however this did not stop Alienware from doing its best to resolve the issue, and after some unsuccessful attempts, they have decided to give me a store credit towards a system that will perform much better. Usually dealing with customer support is a hassle, but all the Alienware Support agents have been very helpful in my case. I just hope my m9750 survives the journey back to Florida.

 

When I first ordered my m15x, first thing I did was found this forum. Happy to have ordered, I became disheartened by the negative feedback about the video cards downclocking... I slowly read (over the course of almost a week) all the discussion about the downclocking and other issues.

As time progressed, I thanked myself for getting the 8700, which SEEMED to have fewer problems than the 8800. When I recieved my m15x I loved it, despite the problems. I've slowly worked through and found fixes for just about every problem this computer has portrayed with few persisting.

Overall, I wanted to do a full video and review about this laptop for everyone, however, I wanted to go over the weak points, since everyone knows the strong points (considering they're used for advertising...)... Problem is: every time I find a 'weak point' it tends to go away...

though many can complain about AW's CS, they've systematically eliminated all major flaws with the m15x and made it one incredible gaming powerhouse in a small package. Despite the minor grievances about the "quality of the case", It's a pretty solid computer.

With such a shady and uncertain path that led to this point, I'm frankly surprized how far we've come, and how excellent this machine is.

This is the first laptop I've bought for myself, and certainly won't be my last Alienware.

 

Here's a heck of a success story for Alienware: They got an m17x shipped out this evening (mine). They're on my good side again.

But in an effort to escape my self-indulgence...

The m15x's have been a nightmare from the start, according to many of the posts on this forum. Lately, however, a lot of new owners are coming forward with no heating problems leading to underclocking etc. They're also saying the build quality is very good.

I'm glad to see Alienware fixed the issues with those systems. It's always 50/50 when a company releases a new product. They came out on the lower 50, but they've made extremely impressive strides toward the upper 50. I'm glad to see they're putting forth effort to satisfy their customers.

It's extremely expensive to make changes to an existing model, and they've apparently sucked it up and delivered a quality product in the m15x. I'll give them a thumbs up for that one. Now they just need to address some of the faults with the customers who got the earlier versions of the m15x.

Edit: Oh. It would seem I just mirrored Mystik's post (for the most part). Sorry about that, Mystik.

 

No problem. In fact, I'm really okay with it... The more the merrier.

the m15x problems seem to have faded into the background for the most part (even the 'case cracking' issues)...

They've gone away so much so, that I'm starting to debate about ordering some Turbocache and trading up to a 8800M GTX card... hmmmm

 

whats your story Gabez?

 

I am very very happy with my alienware. I still need to make my review, but just haven't had the time.

I got my M15x 2 weeks earlier than the expected day of arrival. So far the laptop is amazing and works flawlessly. The gaming is awesome, and the laptop doesn't seem to stop amazing me.

Because of my experience, I would highly recommend alienware.

 

I'm a very happy chappy.

I have an aurora m7700 that's been a bit problematic, but I've also had help well beyond warranty, including a new Go 7800GTX! My "pops" has a Aurora 3500 Desktop that's been going strong for years, and my Brother has an Area-51 m5550 which he seems pretty satisfied with. Overall I'd say kudos to Alienware, and to be honest I can't wait to order me an m15x (thanks to all you guys' hard work problems seem pretty well gone now!).

I wouldn't recommend them (because there's no real upside, but if things go wrong YOU end up being blamed; we've all been there), but when people see an Alienware it tends to speak for itself

 

I love my m15x!!! I would not trade it for anything else.

 

Hi Lethal Lottery,
My story is similar to a few users on this forum. I actually started out with an Area 51 m9750. Unfortunately for me, it was a lemon out of the box. It seemed like Alienware and I were spending more time on trying to resolve the problems than me actually using it. It was a long journey of diagnosing, repairs, and phone calls. However, Alienware was more than willing to pin point the problem, and their professionalism surprised me. Although there was some miscommunication from time to time, they always worked towards resolving the issue. About 2 months into it, Alienware decided that it was no longer worth repairing (being that it went from new refurbished). They surprised me by offering the m15x as a replacement. I was more than overjoyed, being that the m15x was a higher quality machine in my eyes. In addition to building the machine, they offered three upgrades: Nvidia 8800, 120Gb Hard driver, and the fx keyboard. To me, these upgrades were Alienware's way of showing me that they pride themselves in customer service, and they're doing everything to insure my experience is a good one.
Now, if you're good at your researching skills, you can easily dig up all my past stories that may have appeared to be on the negative side of spectrum. Like many users here, I was a little upset with the system, and failed to see the reason. Because I'm human, I let my anger get the best of me, and I failed to think in a professional manner. As I came to know Alienware a little better, I realized that despite my many shortcomings, they were always there and willing to help. Well all have to realize that computers aren't perfect, and it's a challenge to always be pushing the newest technology. Alienware does its very best to put together the best computers they can, but there will always be flaws when you're testing out the newest processor, or the newest video, or that great new small form factor. Alienware understands this, and that's why they have a dedicated support team, as well as warranty support. The fact that the m15x got a little bit of a bumpy start is no exception to this scenario. It could have easily happened to any other company that chooses to push the envelope on the lastest and greatest technology. I'm confident that as long as we support Alienware and their products, they will continue to support us in the same great way that they always have. Alienware reads these forums daily, and I've noticed that there's even a few representatives that read and never reveal themselves in a post. So they are well aware of our experiences, and are most likely working as hard as they can.
I may not be able to claim that all of my experience has been the very best that it could have been, but Alienware has definitely gone above and beyond in customer support. They have done everything they possibly can to insure that my future business with them is one of satisfaction. I have never received such personalized support from any computer company, and a lot of companies can learn from Alienware. When I buy a computer, I don't think of just the machine, but I consider how well they will support me. Just like I provide the very best support I can to all Dell customers, I expect to see that in return. Alienware is the closest to what I feel is the best support you can find.

Gabe

 

Please keep the posts helpful, thanks. Several were argumentative and I deleted them.

 

Hi,

As some of you know I have recently had a problem with my M9750 after only having it for 4 months...

However I would like to say that so far I have found the technical support to be simply brilliant, they were very quick to give me the information I needed to return it etc.

t1c

 

Hey there, i been using mine for a few month and would be happily to share my success stories. I was disappointed with my m15x, at first, when the gpu downclocking and i cant play some of my favorite games to the fullest extent which is a total disappointment for my first AW notebook... And because of that i have to uninstall some games and just use my m15x for surfing and light gaming...

But with what keep me going and still love my m15x is actually the sleek ripley design, keyboard lighting and my constant upgrading of the HD and smartbay until 500GB both which in total of 1TB... with that many storage i was happy and felt satisfy a little bit but being patient and keep hoping have given my m15x gpu a new light with the very new GPU drivers!!! HELL YEAH!!! i was soo happy that DC isnt happening anymore!! And now im enjoying every game to the fullest extent!! WITH MIND BLOWING GRAPHICS!!!

p/s: yes this is my first high graphic system ever... since my desktop graphic card sucks so bad... and im waiting for my GTX280...

AW keep updating their M15x and solve problem one by one, such as the new bios V41 which fixes the touch control... So if we wait again, there will be more fixes in the near future making your m15x fully functional as well as problem free and you can enjoy many great games!! ( i know i have )

 

Congratulations. I'm glad the m15x is working out better for you now. I can't believe how many problems can be addressed with just a little bios tweaking. I'd like to do some research on bios programming and see what all it's able to address.

 

I LOVE my m9750! A few things I love about it:

Order confirmation email received June 18th
Shipping Conformation received June 20th
Laptop Received June 24th

1 day shy of 1 week turn around! Yes I know Im a lucky one that order a config that was canceled but I still love it!

As far as the system...works PERFECTLY! Actually better then expected. My system is fairly low end compared to a lot of the orders BUT I have run MEII:TW at full settings, LOTRO at full settings, SWG at full settings, POTBS, FS2004 at full settings, EQII at ALMOST full settings lol. All of them ran perfectly smooth...Im not used to this kind of power! I LOVE IT!

On top of that the build quality on my laptop seems fantastic compared to my old HP. A couple people thought it was one of those panasonic toughbooks and I could drop it without fear of breaking it. (one person even said please dont drop it here...it will break the tile lol).

So in all...I have NOTHING negative to say about alienware...I just look forward to the time I can upgrade my processor and throw in another 8700GT card.

 

I've been pleased with my m3200, so I just talked my wife into the m15x. Order process was easy, and the system shipped 3 weeks before the estimated date (Thanks Alienware!). So far, it's been great. Swapped out the 1 GB memory for 4 GB. I'll try to get a review up soon.

My only regret is that AW no longer makes smaller laptops. I like lighter machines, since I carry lots of stuff. I would love to see a 13.3 with binary graphics like the Sony SZ series or the Asus U3 series. Or something as light as the new Voodoo Envy 133 or the MacBook Air would be nice. They could use the Dell XPS m1330 as the base with better graphics options and the AW lighted keyboard--I'd buy that in a heartbeat. As it is, my next laptop will be either Sony or Voodoo, only because Alienware doesn't offer anything smaller (hint, hint...).

 

Also, I owned a m9700 last year for a short while and had 100% positive experience. My only complaint was that I was able to purchase the 2nd SLI card as an upgrade for half the price that they charged on the website, but every manufacturer is pulling those types of tricks. Upgrade went smooth and it was an absolutely beautiful and stable laptop. I sold it to a soldier in Iraq because I couldn't deal with the gaming issues with SLI. It wasn't AW's fault but Nvidias. I swore to never go SLI again until it had matured and become more well supported which was a big reason that I didn't even consider the M17x and went with the m15x instead. (among many other reasons...) Anyway, I had good experiences with the CS and TS. The TS sent me the wrong part at one point but I've had the same thing happen with Dell many times in the past so it wasn't a big deal. They fixed the mistake fairly quickly.

 

I love my M9750,

A Little pain in ass.. before its was actual delivered.. i have been waiting for a long time on parts to build it. ( maybe released it a little to soon ?)
After sending it back just one time for repair AW updated the Bios. and after that my system run like no other that fast without any problems

I ordered a new M17X a week ago, and yes waiting on parts again
but I think it's worth waiting for. I hope that Alienware learned a lot from their problems with the M15X and put all experiences "solutions" inside that M17X

but i am a happy camper with Alienware so far

 

I got an m15x and have had no problems. Everything is working fine and ive had nothing but a positive experience.

 

I haven't had any problems with mine so far other than regular Vista issues (having to go in and get it to stop crashing on games, etc). I've owned a toshiba laptop and a macbookpro before as well as HP and Dell desktops and this laptop is a dream. It was from coming out of the box.

Also with CS... they were always very good and kind with me when I called them during the phase processes and they even gave me free swag for writing a retailer review for them.

When I get out of college or if I come into a large amount of money not being spent on school, I'm definitely going to invest in one of their desktops.

 

So far (touch wood) my m15x has been a blast. Have played crysis, airbourne assult, mass effect, call of duty 4 each for several hours at a time, no downclocking, mega fast, all except crysis on maxed out settings! Asisdes from gaming, this thing is like a race horse jacked up on steroids, i mean quick with an attitude Sure the case isn't mega strong and can't be hurled around he room, but hey, if you've put so much sweat and blood into buying it, i don't see why you'd want to. Happily sitting on my desk and small journeys are fine. My only advice when doing gaming big time (i.e several hours) get a decent laptop cooler as it just give you peace of mind that your hardware isn't being fried. After two hours of mass effect using a 'akasa' 17 inch cooler for my 15inch m15x, the bottom of my 15x was still cool and wouldn't fry my nads of if i put it on my lap To conclude, fast, fit, ferocious and fun.....what more could you want

 

How's it going Harry88,
That last part about putting your computer on your lap made me laugh. I'm glad to see that your'e having a good time with it. I can't wait for mine to come in on Tuesday.

Gabe

 

Good luck gabe, hope it lives up to your expectations, mine definately did!

 

Mine is a success story in he making. I original ordered an M15x but it had it's share of problems. While trying to get them sorted the M17x became available. I was offered to upgrade to the M17x.

As most know there has been a series of delays with the M17x but with each new delay Alienware is quick to address my issues and make sure that I am kept a satisfied customer. Through out the 4 month process They have been very aggressive in the customer service and have met my expectations despite the 4 months in various order queues and repair shuffles.

I'm working on a very detailed report on my entire process as somewhat of a "How to work WITH Customer Service" guide. I really think that more people would be happier if they approach CS reps as if they are on the same team and not against them. It is their job to help keep you happy, but you have to help them with that.

I will post my "guide" when I get my M17x late next week.

 

Thank you for this post. I'm a new member and looking into getting an Alienware M15x. Everything about is awesome. My cousin has an Alienware Sentia and ever since he got his I've always wanted an Alienware laptop. I'm thinking of getting one ordered in a couple months. Hopefully they'll iron out all the kinks by then.

 

THAT's a rare story. most of us encounter some adversity, and have to do patches or updates.

CONGRATS! These stories are the BEST!

 

ive had mine for over a week and no problems here!

 

Well I have not got my m17x yet but I am immensly impressed by alienware building time and CS. I ordered my m17x on the 9th of July and it shipped out this afternoon that is FOUR business days that's amazing got a newly launched customized product (this was not the quickship edition) just absolutely amazing couldn't believe it when i got the tracking numbers and I know its the laptop because its a 24 pound package and the CS just great I ordered my laptop in the phone because I was told it gets processed faster and it sure did and the lady I talked to has emailed me everytime the phase has changed without me even asking it was absolutely great I have dealt with tech support for laptops from dell, Sony, hp and many more and never gotten such prompt responses and I should be getting my laptop by this weekend I can't wait just overall a great time buying my laptop will hopefully be posting here again in 2 weeks to talk about how great the laptop is

EDIT:
here are the specs of my m17x:

Area-51® m17x

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8700M GT – SLI Enabled
Display: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology – Black
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Red
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 2.4GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital/Analog (ATSC) MiniCard TV Tuner with Express Card Media Center Remote Control
System Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 500GB (250GB x 2) 7,200RPM (8MB Cache)
Optical Drive: 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW) w/ LightScribe Technology
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound

 

very happy with my system. ordered mine around the end of january. would recommend to anyone looking for a high-end gaming system. the downclocking, heating etc. is bothersome, but all we can do is wait till updates, final bios, etc. come out

 

I must admit i was a bit worried when i started reading all the post on the site after i had ordered my m15x and i thought what did i get myself into but what i did get myself into is the best computer i have ever owned and hopefully own for a while i was just happy that i can finally play some of those cool new games that are out and coming out. so far no major hiccups the only thing was with AW financing other than that i am extremely happy so far.

 

I LOVE MY M15x and there is no product on the market that compared in style or speed right now. plus you get AWESOME battery life with intergrated graphics, and using a battery pack you'll get 5 hours life (using wifi in airports). just kickass and plug it into power and the thing flys. The screen is fine a little flexibile but just be careful with it. The LIGHTS ROCK period and its fun to change colors every couple of days. its the best looking laptop you can buy and almost the fastest.

My m15x eats up every game i've tried (except crysis of course), I had issues playing Surpreme commander on my old computer and on this beast I can put it all on highest graphics and put it on speed +10 and its wickly fast.

Highly recommend you ignore most of these people with issues and buy one of these things. Most issues they might of had are solved and i'm on a Ripley design too, Skullcap came out 1 week after my laptop arrived doh. only took 10 days to make and ship from UK.

Sam

 

Now... that's a bit rude, no? Ignore people that come here sharing their experiences and problems? Just close your eyes not to see it?
I think you should show a bit more of respect for people that have paid so much for the M15x and keep having and reporting about the several problems they have been facing. I think we all deserve a bit more of consideration than someone coming here and saying "Just ignore them...".

 

I agree be grateful you don't have a $3000 disaster