Alienware: Good Product, How's The Support?

I'm thinking about buying an Alienware Laptop M15x. I plan on spending under 2K. I like all the reviews and specs but have a few questions about the company.
1. How's the phone support? I've heard and read horror stories about other companies like a lack of understanding English and 2 hr. wait times.

2. How's the Warrantee? I'm thinking about going for a 2 yr. They advertise "in home service" I don't mind if it's in home or if I have to bring it to a local authorized repair shop, but I don't like shipping a comp back, waiting for 6 weeks to get it back, only to find out it's still not repaired and going thru the same process again. My daughter's been thru that 2X with Dell and HP. Is the in home relatively fast?

3.Is there a lot of "bloatware" and can it easily be disabled or uninstalled?

Thanks. I've already done some research on these forums but some of the info is dated.

 

Alienware does not offer at home support. Basically, they will make you ship the laptop back no matter what. On the contrary, Dell will come out to your house and practically build your computer. With Aw expect to send your computer back and getting it back broken (myself and at least 2 other users have experienced this).

In addition, you should not buy an Alienware because your budget is too low. With your budget, you will not be able to get a 2.5Ghz and a 8800GTX as well as a 2 yr warranty, it just wont happen. However, take a look at the Clevo M860tu / Sager 15" that has the 9800GT (equivalent to the 8800GTX).

go to xoticpc.com and check out the sager they have there. Personally I think it is better looking and you will be bale to get a VERY NICE system for that budget compared to Alienware. In addition, if you get your warranty THROUGH xoticpc, you get their domestic service which I haven't heard ANY bad complaints about yet. Post on the Clevo / Sager forums.

Edit: The Dell in home warranty is amazinig. My sister has had her LCD screen, lid, palmrest, and motherboard replaced all at our house (she dropped the computer so I can't blame Dell for having to fix it ).

 

With my experience, they needed to change my heatsink and an Alienware tech did come to my house for it. First they shipped my new heatsink, once the tracker was signed that it got delivered, i got a call from the AW tech to schedule a day to come in.

When i called Alienware, they do speak english and one of them "sounds" like a real hottie! (don't comment on this, i like to live my fantasy!)

One thing i'm really impressed with AW is that there was no bloatware. no AOL trials, or 30 day trial anti-virus or company exclusive games, likes HP's version of solitaire and spyder thingie.

Even though i'm a m15x owner, if you're budget is under 2k, then i'm with stone. For that money you can get another laptop with great specs with another company.

overall i'm having a great time with my m15x. everyone's experience is different, but i'm having a blast at least. Just your budget can be a challenge: I visited the site, leaving everything alone and just upping the graphics card to the 8800gtx puts you at 1999.00. add another 250.00 of upping the CPU from 2.1 to 2.5 which puts you over budget.

Good luck with the research!

 

their support is not bad at all, has low wait times and are decently knowledgeable.

however, the communication between tech support, customer service, and repairs is very poor. in my experience (and im sure in stone's) the wrong part was replaced, the system was not tested etc. and they will normally just tell you to send them the laptop for repairs.
roswell crew is a nice touch, but they are basically the same thing as tech support without all the bells and whistles (and are only available 9-5 or something like that)

im gonna agree with karuru and stone; your budget is a bit low for the best "bang/buck" AW m15x. might wanna go with xoticpc simply because they give 3 yrs labor warranty straight up (1yr parts).

 

You're going to need $2,200+ to get a well-equipped m15x. I like to recommend Alienware since the products I have tested have been solid, but for under $2k you might as well get a different brand. Over $2k, that's a different story. If you complete the FAQ in our What Should I Buy forum, we can give you recommendations.

 

Hello and thank you for considering Alienware,

I would like to answer these questions for you. 1 - We have support in different locations such as UK, Australia, Ireland, US and Costa Rica. Your call is re-routed accordingly.

2 - Unfortunately, warranty does not cover accidental damages but only manufacturer defects. On notebooks we may have the system shipped to our facility if the issue at hand is one of the major components such as motherboard, LCD,CPU. Components such as memory, hard drives, optical drives can be easily accessed for replacement and does not require to be shipped.

3- Our machines come with only a few programs installed such as powerDVD, nero and Command Center which allows you to manage AlienFx.

If you have any further questions do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you.

 

I would actually RECOMMEND the M15x to you if your budget was not so low. Honestly, you are just going to be getting a computer that is TWICE as slow as a Clevo / Sager 15" because you won't be able to get a 8800GTX but only a 8700GT which is actually half the speed.

 

Agreed with Chaz and Stone on this one. Anyone who reads this forum that I'm all for and always ready to welcome new m15x buyers but unless you plan on doing some upgrading later (you could probably get decent specs with an 8600M GT for now and upgrade 8800M GTX later somehow) you won't be getting the most solid configuration.

Thanks for considering though, and don't let us stop you. We're just being honest. As you can see Alienware-Armando and Alienware-James are relatively quick in offering their help to customers so as far as support goes I would say your best bet is Roswell Customer Service, Armando/James and the community here.

 

I got mine for $2200 with tax and shipping. What I did and why.
-720p screen: I didn't get blu-ray, so no point in upgrading.
-T8100 (2.1Gz) CPU: Today's games put most of the stress on the GPU not the CPU. It is not a bad processor IMO.
-1GB ram: upgraded my self to 4gb for $80.
-8800GTX: Point stated in CPU
-120GB hard drive: It's 7200RPM, and has enough space to hold games and main programs. I have a 500GB external drive that has music and stuff.
-AlienFX: only $50, The whole point of getting a M15x
-Alien-respawn: Just is case, $50
-1year warranty: Will upgrade later.
-Bought SB battery separate, saved $45

Support has been very good for me.
I wish more company's had the no-bloat policy. (cough...Sony)

 

It's probably not a bad processor but games are only getting more demanding.

 

And in addition I really don't think 120GB is enough. Hell I have 30GB of music as it is and games are taking up more and more room (especially once you play online and DL CS:S maps).

 

Same, my music related folder is 72gigs and growing. It's preference though really. I'd guess that most normal people have less than maybe 15-20gigs of music.

 

you people keep music on your systems? weird.

that's what I have a server for!

/kidding
//music folder ~20GB on my m15x
///~900GB of storage on server for music/videos
////slashies

 

Yeah, I mean I don't an MP3 player. Waiting for the S9, so my m15x is my mobile music library. I enjoy it.

 

That is why you get a huge external drive. Keeping you C drive clean, Making for fast booting and better performance. I have over 15Gb in music, 30gb in pictures, 100gb in videos, and 25gb of backups. All on my external.
My external 500Gb cost less than $100 becuase it is a desktop drive.

IMO, If you want a mobile music library, I recommend getting a Ipod classic or a Zune 120, instead of lugging a laptop around.

 

You should try googling the S9. iPod is really just for the name, way better out there. Also, I have 4 external hard drives, all my music is on my lightweight WD passport 120gig, then I have a 750gig FreeAgent, 320gig Lacie, and a 500gig WD. Also, I don't lug my laptop around just to play music -_- I just chill in my car 20 minutes between classes because going home would just waste the currently ultra expensive gas.

Even my 160gig HDD is too small, but I'm a pretty serious gamer. I'm looking to upgrade to 320gig 7200RPM or some 500gig HDD.

 

I agree with dwend but my personality is probably drastically different from others.

am going to get mine for $2500 with tax and shipping. What I did and why-
1440 x 900: the higher rez is too small for me and can barely tell anyway.
CPU: 2.5 ghz
-1GB ram: upgraded myself to 4gb for $86.
-8800GTX: Not going to be heavy gaming but having a great video card kicks *** anyway.
-120GB hard drive: I have a 200gb on my desktop where I keep all my heavy files like movies that I'm too lazy to burn to dvds. Im only using 80gb of that and I im not even trying to conserve any space.
-AlienFX: only $50, The whole point of getting a M15x

using microsoft diamond card to save $110 taking some of the edge off of the price for the 8800.

 

remember when someone said they have a total of 1 terabyte of storage we would think "how in the world can you fill that up" and now people are working on filling up to reach 3 terabytes lol

 

Did and it found a Moto bluetooth headset, a coolpix camera, an Idea pad, Golf iron, espresso maker and this. wow, s9 is a popular name.

 

was probably talking about the cowon. I'm looking forward to it too. I was thinking about the odys s9 which is like a keychain type mp3 player but *shrugs*

 

Yep, this. The S9 and the O2 look amazing.

 

They do... I might get one to replace my 2 other mp3 players, a Samsung YP-T8, and my Olympus M:Robe MR100. Both are over 5 years old, and they are perfect.

Back on topic.
1) All the CS people I had spoke good English, slight Miami accent. They are not in India. I did get a busy signal one time then tried back 2 min later and got through.
3) AW has a no-bloatware policy.
If the hinge and lid were solid the labtop would be absolutely perfect. Everything has its downfalls.

 

When being sarcastic in a forum you need to give some hints. Solid LOL

 

Maceto its a hit and miss :O some people had flawless lappies (including me) and others are swimming in problems.

 

I am drowning

 

Drowning? I thought you'd be dead a long time ago with the pool of problems you've been swimming in.

 

still not fixed? o_0 you missed a handful of games i guess..