Alienware laptop?

Im planning to buy a new laptop within a year or year and a half. Im looking for an laptop with hdmi input&output like the alienware laptops and possibly use it for console gaming too. My main concern is how is Alienware laptops? hear alot of complain about it for every laptop they released. complaint such as overheating, graphic issues and speed issues. Also what new technology is coming soon for gaming laptops? will sandy bridge make a big difference in graphic, speed or battery?

 

they just upgraded their whole line to the newest stuff. new graphics cards and Ivy bridge and better ram.

the reason there are more "bad reviews" is because the amount of alienwares sold DWARFS the amount of any other gaming laptop sold by any other brand. Thus the are more complainers. Dell has a solid warranty so if you have any complaints with your machine, just return it, or they will fix it.

Only the 14x r1 has real heating issues, and thats if you leave it flat on a desk for a long period while doing intensive gaming (something that will make pretty much all laptops overheat), and now that the R2 is out, apparently the heating problems are a lot less noticeable. I haven't heard of them having graphics or speed issues. Most of the time when people are having problems like that they just need to download a new driver for their vid card.

Now that ivy bridge is out, you should expect about 15% to 20% better performance over sandy.

 

- Alienware is the only one I know of that has the HDMI input
- Ivy Bridge is the one that just came out. It's a little faster and uses a little less power than Sandy Bridge. The graphics integrated into it is much better, but it doesn't mean much since any of the dedicated GPUs on an Alienware is much faster

 

has anyone experienced graphic, motherboard, fan..etc failures?
alot of people stated they had hardware problems

 

I'll quote Defengar:

 

why quote it when it has nothing to do with my question?
im pretty much askin does alienware have high hardware failure rate

 

Any laptop with "gaming" grade specs will have a higher chance to fail.
Ergo, AW laptops have a higher chance to fail compared to most other laptops.

I can't remember the article from pcmag that I think pinned failure rate at about 17% for alienware laptops, but bear in mind that this article was sadly pretty biased as it took completely different sample sizes and compared them. Apple products had like a 10% failure rate but 150 more broken laptops than any other company..

So I'd say that if something breaks, don't be surprised, but don't be scared of it when making a purchase.

Also know that Dell/AW systems have incredible warranty service, so in the event that something does go wrong, you'll be getting better support than anywhere else. (Example: I've heard that if your Asus laptop breaks, you're waiting 6-8 weeks to get it repaired. Though not having a laptop myself, a family member has had several issues with his dell laptop (he mistreats it though, so don't look at this as a stat) and had it back in under a week, having to send it back to the factory etc. If I'm not mistaken, he didn't pay shipping either.)

 

Also Apple laptops are the only ones that have the potential to catch on fire and/or violently explode due to poor battery construction.

 

Its funny that you ask a question and then someone answers it, then you ask it again and someone quotes a previous answer that WAS legitimate and you don't think that it was an answer.

The reason why gamerish quoted defengar was because HE did answer you and gamerish saw no reason to repeat a valid answer. He felt quoting was sufficient! If you don't want answers don't ask questions.

Im not hatin, just statin!

 

just because alienware sold the most gaming laptop doesnt mean thats the reason why theres alot of complaints. i just want to be cautious before i buy an alienware. saw alot of people who complained about hardware failure within first year of purchase and along with other computer issues. most of them spend 2k+ had to constantly send in for repair through the horrible costumer services. it doesnt seem like theres quality control on these laptops. side question does anyone know a gaming laptop with a hdmi in besides alienware?

 

I totally understand the desire to be cautious when spending the amount of money these laptops cost. If you spend any time on here at all you will know that most of the folks here are power-users who really push these machines to the limit. And there seems to be very little complaints from them about any type of quality control. Most rave about the quality compared to other brands.

And everyone (even those with problems) seem to acknowledge that the warranty service is second to none. I, too, have spent a great amount of time researching and seeing how pleased most everyone is with their machines and how hard they push them, I am totally sold on the brand. Particularly with the strong Alienware presence on this very forum.

And I do think the answers the OP were given about complaints being higher, etc, are very valid answers. Go to any product or service providers forum and you'll see a lot of complaints generally. That's the nature of internet forums in general. Think about how many negative posts you see then think about the total number of systems they sell (keeping in mind an unhappy consumer will normally go out of their way to complain anywhere someone will listen)...quite a small percentage no matter how you shake it.

 

guess the only way to find out is ordering one myself, which is probably in fall.
it will be my first time purchasin an alienware and lets hope its not the last time like others out there.

 

Thats pretty much how I did it, I always heard Dell had horrible customer service and never really liked the brand which is why when I was first looking for a new laptop I went to sager/clevo because from what I saw the people there were good and the resellers had a high presence in the forums, but I have come to find out that the customer service is overall really good, Ive had to send mine back twice now( Motherboard replaced twice) and I got it back within a week both times. one time was my fault, the other was the s/p dif port which I'm assuming has been resolved by now. I'm not a huge power user but ive pushed mine pretty far with a gpu two generations old and Ive had no heating problems and mine starts up and is ready to use in id say 20 seconds with a ssd so definatelly not sluggish at all.

 

Now as an Alienware owner, i call BS on all of that and you've obviously been mislead by false accusations.

If they had issues within the first year 1) everything would have been covered by warranty, and b) Dell would have been sending techs to do in-home repairs, you do NOT send your Alienware to a Depot for repairs within your warranty duration.

That in itself is the major selling point for Dell - the fact that you never have to send your laptop away for anything; you make a warranty claim, the replacement parts get sent to the techs via overnight express who then come to your house the following day and fix it right there in front of you.

 

I'm calling BS on you, I am well within my warranty and Ive had mine overnighted to them twice, both times for motherboard replacements, it maybe that I don't have a tech within distance of where I live (Highly Doubtful "Major City) but they have never offered to send a tech to me, that would have made it easier since the first time I was on the phone with them for 2 hours after I got it back because there fix made me BSOD. I know alot of other people also had to send theirs out when the audio port came about and everyones audio was malfunctioning because of the enlarged adapter that came with the m17x R3's.

 

I was in northern Vermont on holiday and they got a tech guy out to my little lodge in the absolute middle of nowhere. He replaced the motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, and LCD display. I didn't request or insist on it, their first course of action was to send out enough parts to almost rebuild my M11x, and he replaced them on the kitchen table the next day. I talked to him the entire time, and he said he drove over 2 hours to get there and had to call me for directions twice (which i was unable to provide, as i didn't know the area).

Unless there is an absolute base warranty cover i am unaware of, as far as i know they all include in-home repairs within 2 business days at least for the first year. That's what Dell is well-known and praised for. People buy Alienware laptops over other brands in part because they can't afford the 1-2 week downtime of having to send their laptop in for repairs.

Unless the motherboards for the bigger m17/18x are too big to courier so they have to be sent in for replacements? I wouldn't know. I can only go by my experiences and from what I've read in the M11x section.

 

I am also surprised where they are getting this news about AW's bad reputation. I've been spending sometime in this thread What Notebook Should I Buy? trying to explain that what they think about AW is not exactly true.

Just really surprised about AW's negative reputation in some parts of this forum.

One guy even quoted a thread yesterday about complaints and I noticed it's a complain in 2008
And they think that AW voids the warranty once you open the back panel and all others dont.

 

I spend enough time on these forums that I can say with absolute certainty that there's a select few posters who spend all their time on these boards bashing Alienware non-stop. Some of these guys don't even own Alienware's too. The negative rep comes from A) people who can't afford one and are jealous; B) noobs who own one, but have deleted their GPU drivers for example and then claim Alienware is crap because it can't run games (without even looking for a solution).

Just a couple months ago for example, there was a guy in the M14X spreading lies just because he didn't like the brand. He said the M14X couldn't run any games on medium or high - all modern games couldn't handle more than low setting. Nearly 100% of his post history were committed to misinformation. He was trying his best to scare people away from purchasing a M14X. I argued with this guy for quite a while, but in the end, I realized it was most likely a disgruntled troll.

For the record, it handles all modern games that I've thrown at it on high+ (including BF3; SWTOR).

 

I will say this now: Make sure you get a warranty that's as long as you plan on using the laptop. Yes, Alienware machines have a high failure rate. The same is true of any gaming laptop on the market. When you have components (even of the highest quality) that are experiencing very high thermal fluctuations every day for years, they will fail eventually.

The cost of extended warranty is expensive, yes. The cost of after-warranty GPU replacement would be more than that.

And as said before, the reason you hear a lot of complaints about Alienware is because so many people buy them - the failure rate is the same as any other gaming brand out there, but because there's a lot more people buying them, there's also more machines failing, and so more complaints.

Furthermore, Dell has one of the best warranties on the market. A lot of gaming laptops out there would require you to send your machine in to their repair depot, and the repair may take weeks (or months, even). Dell sends someone the very next day to your house to fix it. If you can't risk going without your machine for weeks at a time, Dell is the only way to go for gaming machines. (Either that, or build your own desktop system.)

Trust me, it's a reputation that many PC gamers appear to both believe and spread. Part of this might come from the 'old' AW before Dell purchased them and subsequently built the machines themselves. Older AW machines generally weren't built as well, were far more expensive than competitors, and their support wasn't anywhere near as good as Dell's support. (Then again, that's still only from what I've heard.)

Let the haters hate. And smile if they to send their alternative gaming laptop in for repairs and have to wait weeks to get it back.

There's a reason Alienware laptops have consistently come out with very good reviews and recommendations, particularly from professional hardware sites like Anandtech, for the past few years now.

 

If you have NBD (next business day) service you shouldn't have accepted to send your system in the first place.
Check you warranty type and next time tell them to dispatch a tech to your location.

 

Hello everyone!

I am thinking about buying an alienware computer.
I am confused thought..i do not know if i should buy a desktop or laptop?
I am sure this has come up alot of times before, but i am wondering
why i should chose a laptop.or desktop.

And i am wondering about the laptops more, i am wondering about heating issues i had a laptop a long time and i had some serious heating problems with mine (not alienware lol)
and im wondering if this problem exist in the alienware laptops aswell.
And i have tried playing games on my computer, is not really a gaming computer but i do get alot of lag, and i am so worried about getting lag on my next laptop after a few months or such.

So can alienware laptops handle all games really well (no lag or freezes etc)

I am so grateful if someone would help me with this!

 

It's a pretty simple solution: Do you EVER play on moving your computer from one place to another? Say to an event, a friends house, or maybe even to the basement/couch? If not, get yourself a desktop by assembling it yourself, a.k.a. DO NOT buy an alienware desktop. You'll overpay far too much for what desktop parts are going for nowadays.

Now if you do want to go the laptop route, I'd assure you that from everything I've read (I'll be getting my laptop tomorrow so I can get a more personal experience) they do not overheat as easily as other laptops. These machines are built to handle hours and hours of gaming sessions with great air flow and heat spread. I'd recommend a cooling pad if you plan on using it for a while just to give it some more breathing room.

How much it lags or doesn't lag is completely proportional to how much money you invest in configuring your system. This also depends on what size of a laptop you're willing to go with also. With an M17X, you can get yourself the latest Ivy Bridge as well as a 7970M and be set for years down the road in terms of performance/power.

My 2 cents.

 

If you move around a lot, or you really want to be able to game anywhere in your house, go with a laptop. I can highly recommend AW laptops if you decide to go that rout. For lag free gaming on high settings for years to come, I would recommend upgrading their base models to the 7970 graphics card and the 1080p screen.

If not, get a desktop. Much cheaper and more power for your buck. But... DO NOT GET AN aw DESKTOP!!!! WAAAAAAAY to overpriced. If you don't want to build one yourself (the cheapest rout), go configure one on Ibuypower.com and buy it there. You will save yourself like a thousand dollars at least.

 

If you like to surf in bed, on the couch, travelling to a friends ...a laptop is the ultimate choice.

Personally, I will never, ever own a desktop for the simple fact that it's stationary.

It's all up to you - If you plan on moving at all, get a laptop.

 

I bought myself my first AW laptop last month specs in my signature below and since then I have sold my gaming desktop with my 27" monitor. I really cannot see myself ever going back to a desktop either. I love the fact that I can pick my computer up and bring it to the couch, a friends or away on vacation and still be able to play games. I feel that a good gaming laptop is the best of all worlds. My preference would be the M17x and make sure you get the 7970m which will get you by for at least 3 years (probably longer). I have not had any heat issues with my laptop even after hours of gaming. I use the Cooler Master U3 cooling pad and highly recommend it.

 

Yeah, I probably shouldn't, I figured it was normal since I was reading about a bunch of people having to ship it in when I had my first problem with the optical audio port. Maybe I just got really bad reps, granted they were stupid, but I guess I just got a bad rep.

 

Don't worry, you are not the only one. I'm just telling you how it should go. Maybe have a read thru Dell's warranty terms and agreement when you have time, it'll help you.

Good luck

 

Honestly I prefer a laptop even though I never really go any where. I love the fact that if i need to go some where and game I have that option. If im going to a lan party (yes is still go to these quite often ) I can take both my alienwares, and my m18x is a beast even after a year of having it.

The heat issue IS NOT A ISSUE the colling system on alienware is top notch you should not have a problem. Not to metion the warranty is the best is the you can get with in home service.

 

imo your better off getting a laptop if your wanting an alienware. desktops not worth the money imo. my laptop does just fine with heat. just keep it elevated and you'll be fine. i recommend either the m17x or the m18x. m18x will have dual gpu support and will be more future proof than the m17x,

 

I'm not planning on having any more problems, but if I do Ill most likely use some other word combination than demand but forcefully ask for a GPU upgrade.

 

They're awesome laptops. I can no longer imagine being satisfied with anything else. They're built very well and having excellent cooling.

They are expensive, so get the advanced warranty with on-site service and accidental damage protection for 3 or 4 years. It will pay for itself if you ever need it. If you need it and don't have it, you'll regret it because the parts are expensive, too.

Feel free to spend a little time browsing the forums or use Google to search for key words in the Alienware forums (using the following search prefix: site:forum.notebookreview.com/alienware + key words) and you will find hundreds of posts like those you received in response to your question.

Now, do the right thing and buy one.

 

I think alienwares get a bad rap from two things

1) bad history, when i first got my alienware in 2007/8 just before dell had bought alienware there support was terrible. I remember having to send in my m15x in every time the hinge bust and i think at minimum it took them 1-2 months to get my laptop fixed and back to me.

2) overpriced desktops, alot of people see alienware desktops as totally overpriced which they are. This rubs off on to the alienware brand in general and its what a lot of non laptop gamers instantly think when they think of alienware overpriced and you pay for the name.

and to some degree you do pay a bit for the name and the lights but not much when you consider the discounts that they give you if you call up. and to some degree you are paying for there amazing next buisness day warranty in the uk anyway.

 

Yeah, I think if they lowered their desktop prices to Ibuypowers level (maybe a little higher because of warranties) it would do a lot to repair their image. They literally charge 3-4 times what their desktops are really worth.

 

I dont think they really care the people who buy alienware desktops are schools and businesses which get heavy discount and its easier support wise and people who dont no anybetter and see alienware have to much money. Anyone who knows enough about computers is going to build there own i think. and alienware/dell make far more money on the schools and business side