DEllienware has begun to take payment for their hats with Alienware logo

DEllienware has begun to take payment for their hats with Alienware logo. The price is almost $ 27. This was free before. Dellienware starts getting greedier and greedier. Tell me about your opinion on this .. I understand that Dellienware charge for Sleeves & Slim Carrying Cases, Messengers & Briefcases and Backpacks but to take charge for hats that were and should be free. Not only Dellienware delivers poorer Alienware laptops than before but they take hefty charge for hardware and now the hats ..

 

Haha don't care about the hats. Gave em away.

Alienware gets worse with each day.

 

New Alienware customers who coming to buy this soldered CRAP laptop's do not know that these hats was free before .. New customers do not know what they have missed earlier ..

 

I noticed this the other day, too - regarding the 'hats for sale' thing......I was gob-smacked. I have a collection of hats and mouse mats from previous purchases when Dell/Alienware made the whole experience of unboxing a pleasurable one. It was little things like the hat and sticker, leather bound owners manual and mouse pad that helped distinguish Alienware from other brands. Seems like they are cost cutting at every possible corner and then passing the buck onto the customer for what once used to be free.

I personally don't use the hat or sticker, so I really don't care about them THAT much, it's just yet another 'let down' from Dell - along with pushing this un-upgradeable BGA crap on us all......

Good moves by Dell? -maybe some accountant sat in an office thinks so, but I really don't think that they have thought of the complete scenario in terms of end sales. I'm not saying that the missing/now chargeable hat will impact sales, but you an bet your butt that many people (myself included) will look at other manufacturers/machines that they CAN upgrade without having to fork out for a whole new machine.

Of course, there will be those people who will run out and buy these new machines because they do not care or are not capable or interested in upgrading themselves, but the beauty of Alienware (once upon a time in a galaxy now far far away) was providing the end user with the ability to keep their machines hardware current and up to date. For those customers who were interested in this aspect (which I imagine was a huge chunk of Dellienware's customer base) I imagine they will vote with their wallets and buy an upgradeable machine elsewhere.

I bet Clevo/Sager etc wil be rubbing their hands together with this latest abomination from Dell.

 

It's quite obvious that Alienware was a huge money pit compared to Dell's other subsidiaries. I'm not surprised after all of this other nonsense that has been going on. My predictions about Dell's plans for Alienware were completely wrong. So much so, I don't even understand how they expect to keep their name & reputation alive.

Michael Dell and Silverlake continue to disappoint.

 

I'm pretty sure this isn't some evil plan hatched by Dell to annoy long-time customers. It's purely a business decision.

Some bean-counter looked at the numbers, and said what was probably obvious to many others: "this whole Alienware division isn't that profitable - let's see what we can do".

A big company doesn't make a decision unless it is likely to make them more money.

Dell clearly decided that going after a more mainstream audience was more profitable that targeting a niche enthusiast market.

Which is sad, because there are already plenty of mainstream gaming companies out there - we don't need another. The ASUS ROG line is pretty much what Dell seems to be aiming to become.

The only way I could see Alienware continuing like it was in the past is if it was spun off and sold to a private investor, who ran it as his own pet project. We need to find an uber-rich gaming nerd who is content with small profits, but takes pleasure and pride in owning THE top-notch boutique gaming company.

 

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... if it is built like trash, runs like trash... Or, if she weighs the same as a duck, and floats... she must be made of wood, which means she's a witch.

Sounds like an evil plan to me. Just because multiple OEMs are building sucky machines doesn't make it right, nor does it make them any good, or more acceptable. Time to play the boycott card.

 

Not sure what the big deal is over hats... how of many of you actually wear your alienware hat?

They realized that not many people actually wear the hat, so why give it away free when its just going to end up on ebay for 12.99 anyways.

edit = added rant
I do understand the whole "unboxing" thing, and how you feel special with all the neat stuff you get. But really, I dont think I would use any of the stuff they give us.
My stickers are still in the box the computer came in, the sleeves are all piled up on my shelf, I didnt get a mousepad, but I would of used my steelseries anyhow.
The whole unboxing experience may be important to some, but for me, its more about playing video games than savoring the smell of a fresh cardboard box.

 

Well, if it is a cost-cutting exercise, why not go the whole hog and start shipping them out in plain refurb/outlet boxes?.......hang on a minute, that's probably next on the accountants list of things to chop. ..... okay, so at the end of the day, the product in the box is where it's at......we all know that's the important part of things, but Dell have screwed that pooch, too......

Packaging IS a huge thing. I don't care what anyone says, we as humans are drawn to look at the things we buy. If they are aesthetically pleasing, we will be more 'persuaded' to buy them. Simple marketing, really. If you start messing about with these little things, they will make the product somewhat less desirable...less 'elite'.....less 'Alienware boutique brand'. Obviously 'Dell' do not care about the Alienware brand and its reputation that was built up BY enthusiast FOR enthusiasts. The bean-counters hve been let loose and they seem to not want to stop cutting corners, pretty soon Alienware will be a thing of the past and just yet another mediocre 'ultrabook' provider charging the same 'boutique' prices to the uneducated masses.

 

While I know packaging is a huge thing for some(see beats by dre) I guess its not much for me anymore.... but that may be a product of how I see product value (see beats by dre again)

I do enjoy some of the deviations from the packaging "bling"
- Caselabs pc cases. Regarged highly in the high end pc builder market, they are expensive and are built well. They come in a plain brown box.
- Mechanical keyboards. Many of the expensive mech keysboards come in pretty plain boxes (black with a logo one it, brown with just text, sometimes nothing at all), yet the cheap ones come in flashy boxes. But the expensive ones are regarded as better (not sure how since both use the same cherry key switch(the keyboard snobs over on overclock.net could never give me a actual reason why the 180$ keyboard was better than the 80$ one thats looks the same, the best they could do was "it has a double sided pcb so you can put parts on both side" what are we build keyboards with switches on the backside now too?))

 

They already did cheap out on the boxes. I saw in Dell Community where new Area-51 owners where posting about receiving their shiny new Dorito-shaped monster PCs with the boxes coming apart, some with damage to the case. One would think that secure boxing would be a high priority for something that fancy and expensive.

 

The Area 51 packaging is a joke. The second it's put upside down (and there's no right side up marker) there's only a 1 1/2 inch foam pad protecting 65 lbs. of hardware.

Idiots.

 

Interesting, the box my Area-51 R2 came with wasn't too bad. Mine was taped well though maybe that's why.

Wonder how the new alienware laptop boxes will be made.

There's just a foam insert on top with two cardboard boxes on the side. Packaging inside could be much better.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LDmTakhm3RU

What a joke...

 

That's the problem with bean-counters: they don't understand the brand, they just look at numbers.

You see this happen all the time when a small business gets sold to a giant. The founders influence slowly fades away, and what made the brand what it was disappears.

For Alienware, the premium packaging and extras were part of that appeal. It's about the overall experience, not just the machine.

Other premium/luxury brands know this, whether it be clothing, perfume or cars. They treat you like a king from the get-go, and even after you've taken possession of your car, you get treated like a somebody. They understand that you're not just buying their product - you're buying the brand, the service, and everything else that comes with it.

If you get to the point where there is nothing else aside from the product, then you're just like all the others, and you can't really charge a premium anymore.

The lack of those little extras, and the cheaper packaging aren't a problem per se - but they do indicate a change of direction/philosophy, and THAT is the problem. When the people making the decisions don't understand what set the brand apart in the first place, you have a recipe for disaster.

 

Wearing my R1 hat right now, and thoroughly bummed.

 

The packaging is lame compared to how it was. If they must cut costs, they could at least have "standard" packaging and offer a "premium packaging" service for like $49. I think it's worth it to protect your investment. These Alienware systems are thousands of dollars... Having them damaged in transport wastes money and time for EVERYONE involved in the transaction. It seems like these guys at Alienware have no idea what they're doing, or they simply do not care. Gotta bunch of amateurs running the business or something?

 

Well, have you guys seen what a Clevo laptop comes packaged in? Until we get to that point, Alienware is still not too bad.

Still, this shouldn't be a race to the bottom. The only Alienware I ever owned was a 14" a few years ago, and I was very impressed with the packaging. I was looking forward to replicating that feeling.

 

Yeah, the Alienware M18x R2 I had ordered came in such an awesome package, lol.

I regret returning my M18x R2. I should've just kept it. But hey, no one could have anticipated this level of crap from Alienware.

 

Did somebody say originpc?

 

not even 10 seconds into the video, "built for the customer who values performance above and beyond", and the bs begins... LOL.

 

Hey, you have to give them credit for saying all those things with a straight face. Good acting there.

On an unrelated note, I used to live in Auckland myself. Well, Mairangi Bay to be precise. North Shore is sort of Auckland.

 

Oh man whatever acting school they went to, they need to sign me up (would be amazing for poker games )

oh nice! I'm around central auckland haha havent been out north for a while.

 

Pretty sure I wouldn't wear a hat anyway. I have a brand new Alienware size Large t-shirt in the closet, anyone want that?

 

Pull an Alienware and sell it.

 

Start shipping them out in plain refurb/outlet boxes?....... All cheap garbage laptops should be posted with such. Also new Alienware with soldered garbage. No difference between garbage .. Thanks

 

You saw the direction Dellienware selected with the model that came after. Ranger and Viking..