Alienware resellers

Does anyone know of any other resellers besides xoticPC, PNB and BTOtech? Most of them seem to lack the right customizations. XoticPC is the only one that comes closest to my needs.

 

HIDevolution is one I see talked about a lot. They have pre made setups that you can edit and have within a week. Have you checked them out?

 

I am trying to find out what the advantage of buying an Alienware through a reseller would be. I know I would not have to pay tax but what else? How does the warranty work, etc.?

 

Resellers will offer upgrades that Dell/Alienware does not offer. Those upgrades offered may also be different pricepoints and additional discounts that may just make more sense to go with a reseller rather than Alienware themselves. I'd recommend deciding on a build and then seeing who can get you the best price for what you're looking for.

Alienware has recently just begun expanding their reseller offerings and so it's still a pretty new option to most. Depending on when you're looking at buying, the options are likely to have changed again as new options and upgrades are discovered as compatible and possible with the systems.

 

Agreed. Especially where Dell lacks the customization, others have what you might want instead. XoticPC has (IMO) THE best Ram configurations, but I think the Msata drives are a little pricey :S

Also, Derek, do you think we could PM? I would like to know more of this NBR member special.

Just from looking, the prices are already quite a bit higher than my XoticPC build, but their pre-built prices are decent, just lacking the ram configs, though that's easily self-upgradeable. Oh..and they also charge me for tax.

 

Hi christo493,

About the warranty, it is usually registered to the retail store. There's always warranty but the coverage is different depending on the re-seller, you should ask them before you purchase the system. Here's the link to register the system and transfer the warranty to your name.

 

to my utter amazement, Costco.ca & Costco.com sells alienware

Canada
With 2 year warranty and a 90 day return policy, with free shipping

US
FREE 1 Year Kaspersky Internet Security, 2 year warranty and a 90 day return policy

 

Are there any in the UK?

 

A couple of things to keep in mind:

1) The profit margin for resellers on Alienware computers is very slim
2) Hard drives, memory, and add ons are always cheaper when ordered online than through either a reseller or even Alienware
3) Although resellers offer more upgrade options, they also must charge you more for those upgrades than you would spend if you bought and installed them yourself - they are not ripping you off, they simply must cover their costs and overhead
4) Buying from Alienware direct you can often beat reseller's prices by hundreds of dollars
5) Buying from Alienware direct you can often receive a gift card worth 5% of the purchase price of your computer. (A $3000 computer would give you a $150 Dell gift card)
6) If you are a student and buy from Alienware direct you may also receive a $200 Dell gift card
7) The 680M is not in stock or readily available everywhere. Alienware however has them ready to go
8) Resellers do not always have the actual laptop in stock and must order them from Alienware prolonging your order
9) Certain upgrades such as OS Upgrade, Red Laptop Color, and Name Plate Engraving can sometimes prolong your order by up to 15 days when ordered through a reseller as the laptop must be shipped back to Alienware for these upgrades to be performed

Just some things to keep in mind. All items listed do not necessarily apply to every reseller.

 

Just my 2c on Official Dell vs Resellers

At official Dell store, Students get a free Xbox 360 or a 200$ Gift card PLUS a discount based on their negotiating skills (I got a 200$ rebate from a great rep on my R4).

I dont think resellers offer the free gift card or Xbox 360

 

One Alienware reseller we are forgetting about is Computer Upgrade King (computerupgradeking.com). Their base prices are the same as Dell's but their upgrade prices for CPU, RAM, hard drive, optical drive, etc... are priced much much lower (as much as 75% less at times). Also, they provide 0 dead pixel guarantee at no charge as part of their 3 year limited warranty that they don't charge anything for. They have 5000 feedbacks on eBay with 99.8% positive. Also, they only charge tax in VA and most every configuration they sell is in stock and ships within 1 business day even with customizations. On their website, they have just a single product page instead of 2 and it tells you below the specs how long the laptop takes to ship which is not misleading as many sellers mention nothing about the time it takes to ship.

You'll find Computer Upgrade King on such sites as Amazon and eBay as well as online on their website. If you are getting an Alienware with base configuration you'll save on the tax buying from them and if you get upgrades then you will be saving considerably since they do not overcharge on the upgrades like most every other reseller does. In addition to Alienware, they sell almost every other brand of gaming laptop as well like Toshiba Qosmio X875, MSI GT60 and GT70, ASUS G55VW and G75VW, and Samsung NP700G7C. I see they are also getting into Sager now and Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 which costs under $1000 with 2GB NVidia 660M graphics.

 

Hi, I plan on buying a M17x R4 from BTOTECH. With the preset configuration that they have there, I am saving about $300 if I were to buy directly from Alienware. Has anyone else bought from BTOTECH, or have any ups/downs from buying from them as opposed to Alienware?

Thanks

 

Hey I actually just received my m17x r4 from BTOTECH on Saturday. I ordered the 7970m preset config with a few upgrades (CPU, RAM, HDD, Wireless). I ordered on Wednesday, paid for rush production and 2nd day delivery and the laptop was in my hands on Saturday! Even after all that I still managed to pay less than a Dell R4 with fewer upgrades!

BTOTECH seems to be a knowledgeable company. I spoke to one of the live chat reps and they knew what they were talking about. Also after placing my order a couple hours later a guy from BTOTECH called me and reviewed my order with me. He also reassured me that I would have the laptop by Saturday.

All in all, BTOTECH has my support. Pretty helpful. I say go for it.

EDIT: It's also nice not having to wait 3-4 weeks for Dell to assemble my laptop. The only thing that will extend your production from BTOTECH is if you go for the 680m (waiting on shipment) or change your OS (has to be sent back to Dell in order to do so).

 

Nice commercial there, but you still charge 75$ for RAM upgrade from 6gb to 8gb....

75$ for 2GB ?? come on man...

 

I am currently looking to purchase a gaming laptop myself and came across this forum hoping to find some good information to steer me in the right direction, so far I've found some useful input.

I went and visited Computer Upgrade King's site and wanted to clarify that the $75 for 2GB of RAM is an option but it is CERTAINLY NOT THE ONLY OPTION. You can actually get a 2GB upgrade from 6GB to 8GB for only $15, it just 2 sticks of 4GB instead of 1 stick of an 8GB. They also had different RAM speeds, so for $15 you get 8GB of 1333MHz or for $25 you can get the same 8GB at 1600MHz. That $75 option is for 1 stick of 8GB 1600MHz, which I am assuming is relatively more expensive no matter where you look. I looked these guys up on Ebay and they seem to be selling a lot of upgraded laptops with some really good feedback. That same $75 could also get me 16GB of RAM at 1333MHz, which seems like a pretty good deal


EDIT: heres a link to their page http://computerupgradeking.com/prod...id=291&zenid=db4d019cdbd7a27d96f2d8d8970c0c42

 

Take a quick look at my sig. That is the computer Dell is currently building for me. In return for purchasing it from Dell I saved at least $200 from the reseller price, and that is AFTER paying sales tax. For some resellers this amount was even greater.

In addition to this I asked for and received:

Free next day shipping
5% gift card
$200 gift card

No reseller has come even close. In fact most resellers still do not even have the 680's in stock.

The support I have received from Dell has been absolutely amazing, probably the nicest most on the ball people I've yet to speak with at a company. One rep came in to the office on his day off just to check on a problem I was having with receiving the correct power supply and called to let me know it was taken care of. I realize I was just extremely lucky in this, and that your mileage may vary.

In contrast before I went with Dell I had made a similar order with a reseller who not only dropped the ball twice, but didn't really seem too concerned about it. I had to constantly call to find out what was going on and even with doing that my order still fell apart numerous times.

As for 'better selection of addons' - the one big addon I really want is a cache drive, and no one has been able to beat Newegg's price of $70 for a OCZ Vertex 3.

TLDR - If you are bad at haggling and willing to pay cash via wire transfer go with a reseller for a price close to Dell's. If you want a better deal and some free Dell credit on top of that, go with Dell.

 

My landlady goes to the local Costco once week up here in Toronto and knowing my m9750 died on me recently, she mentioned in Aug. they are having upto a 150$ discount on "selected Alienware systems" so I may keep my eye open for that. I just can't see how Costco can offer a system cheaper than online or calling to get a quote.

 

I'm also considering BTOTECH. they replied fast to my emails even on sunday. also told me they usually ship out within 2days if no customization added. I'm torn between BTO and Xotic, since Xotic offers free shipping but looks like it takes longer to ship, price difference is only $10 or so, might have to make a decision very soon!

 

edit: 7/25/2012 update: the $50 rebate finally showed up. Xotic PC does keep their word, it just seems to take longer than expected sometimes. Overall I give my purchase experience a B+. It would have been closer to A+ if the ship time and rebate time had been more on point.

original post:
I can't recommend Xotic unfortunately. I got a m17x from them a bit over a week ago.. great machine I am happy with it, but it took 3.5 weeks to receive and the only customization on it was putting a SSD as the boot drive. Also they promised me a $50 NBR rebate which they continue to hemm and haw on, currently claiming it can take credit card companies 10 days to show the credit.

 

$50 discount doesn't apply when check out? so it works like a rebate?

 

Just placed an order with Xoticpc, their sales rep was definately friendlier than BTO's and was very helpful. Discount seems to apply when you check out and they will ship it out within 1-2 bussiness days once payment is processed. So i think i will probably get it by tues/wed of next week.

 

Already in phase 2!! i can smell my laptop already lol everything going smooth so far.

Package has shipped.. wow within 2days.. very impressive! will put up a review on new thread once it arrives.

 

I am biased as I am VP of Computer Upgrade King. If you are considering buying Alienware and Dell is having a promotion then I'm sure Dell will give you the best price so long as your sales tax is not horribly high. That I will concede. If you are considering resellers and turnaround is important then this next bit might help. For BTO Tech, I know they keep physical stock of what they sell so your order will ship promptly. I know that XoticPC and Powernotebooks accept highly customized orders and this requires that they place order from Dell what customers order from them so it can take 2-3 weeks for shipping. I know Powernotebooks will ask us (Computer Upgrade King), BTO Tech, and also try to work any other options they can to get the laptop faster so you can count on shipping within a few days probably around half of the time with Powernotebooks whereas with XoticPC unless you order a simple configuration they tell you already is in stock then you can expect to wait the standard 2-3 weeks.

Regarding us, we try our best to ship within 1 day but sometimes we sell out so fast we have to up our handling time to 5 or 10 business days in which case customers have to wait. I would say we ship within 1-2 days about 2/3 of the time and when we do take a while to ship we are advertising to the customer before hand of the delayed shipping tme. We certainly don't advertise nor hold onto an order that is going to be delayed without informing the customer both before purchase in our ad which shows the handling time and also by message to the customer after they place the order. Now that we have Alienware distribution authorization from Dell and decent sourcing for more custom configurations directly from Dell, we are having an easier time keeping the configurations we sell stocked. To any customer looking to buy an Alienware, I strongly suggest messaging or calling the reseller first to check on the estimated shipping date and also disregarding customizations like nameplates and red color as those will surely cause the order to have to be the standard 2-3 week Dell special order.

 

Check it out.



Alienware M18X dropped by $200.



Alienware M17X offers $200 off if your order is over $1,998



Alienware M14X dropped by $100



So, I went to Custom Gaming Laptops by PowerNotebooks.com™ - Gaming Notebooks & Custom Built Laptops to see if they are matching these reductions, and they are! Several others are not. PowerNotebooks.com also offers no sales tax unless shipping to Nevada, more variety in upgrades, and a 3% cash discount.

I am on the fence about getting either an Alienware or the newly released Sager NP9370, I was holding out because of rumors of the NP9370. Now with the new Alienware prices it is a toss up for me again. I am waiting to see how owners of the 9370 are liking those systems before I decide to finally make my decision.