Experience ordering through the military (AAFES)

Hi,
Just thought I would relay my experience of purchasing an A.W. through the military online store. I was unaware the AAFES even had specialty stores which includes Alienware among others.

Using the AAFES store, service members get free shipping and don't pay the taxes so I saved almost $300.00 this way.

Worth mentioning is the fact that it will be delivered to a CONUS (Continental United States) address, so I can't include the amount of time it would take to get to a APO or FPO address overseas.

The AAFES website directs you to a different A.W. site that looks similiar to the regular site accept the only options are the purchase of their products. At that site the only laptops you can buy are the 15X, 17X and M17. The M9750 isn't available there.

When you order through AAFES you can't check the status online. I have to e-mail or call to check.

Also, you don't get the cool build sheet to share your spec's with everyone, but I e-mailed them to request one.

The basic config for my new M17 is listed in my signature.

I hope this helps any service members who didn't know they could do this or weren't sure they wanted to.

I hope it arrives before I deploy in less than a month.

As far as the order status (phase changes) I will add them to this post as they become available.

Here is the link to the AAFES website: http://www.aafes.com/
This site only works for military members and their families.

Note: When ordering through AAFES you cannot make changes to your order. You have to cancel and start over if you need to make changes.

3-14-2009--Ordered M17 at AAFES website.
3-15-2009--Received update e-mail from AAFES stating the order was sent to A.W.
3-16-2009--Called A.W. found out it's in Phase 3 w/3-23 ship date
3-16-2009--Got e-mail from A.W. stating MOBL-VM88XT512MSLVR1 is on backorder.
3-17-2009--no change in order status
3-18-2009--Called A.W. Told that the secondaryy video cards are on backorder and expected on the 24th of March.
The rep also told me they have no Idea when they will get the M17 chassis in stock.
3-23-2009-- Today was the expected ship date Instead, I,m in phase 6 and if all goes well It will arrive a week or two late. Bummer, again.
3-23-2009--I got an e-mail from A.W. and my puter is being prepaired for shipment.Yeah!
3-24-2009--Called A.W. and was told the M17 shipped out on 3-23-2009! It will arrive on Thursday 3-26-2009.
3-26-2009-- Wow, my beast got delivered today. They sure were fast this time around. Thanks Alienware!

How would I rate my experience ordering through A.W.? On a scale of 1 to 10 I'd have to give it a 10. I submitted my order at AAFES on the 14th of March and that order didn't get sent to A.W. until the 15th. I had an expected ship date of the 23rd but that was when I made the order. As stated above, A.W. didn't get the order till the next day. It was shipped on the 23rd and will arrive on the 26th so I am very happy with that. Between the military discount, no tax and free shipping I saved almost $300.00 which I used for the 3yr extended warranty. All I have to do now is go to Safeware to get insurance on it and I'll be set. And install E-Wrecked's latest drivers. And install my two OCZ SSD's. And install dual boot Vista64/XP Pro. And...........................I guess it never ends.

Thanks to all the knowledgable people here at NBR and Alienware too.

For all the others that have ordered or will order through AAFES, I hope your experience is a good one and thanks for your service!

Rob41

 

When I got my m15x about a year ago, I didn't know aafes had a store for AW, I thought it was only Dell and Apple.

 

I don't know if they offered A.W. a year ago. They dostill have apple and Dell though.


Oh boy, here we go again! Just got this from Alienware:

Thank you for contacting Alienware.Unfortunately, there has been a delay with your order. The MOBL-VM88XT512MSLVR1, which your system needs, is backordered and we are waiting for it to arrive. Since we do not yet have an estimated arrival date for the part, I suggest contacting us by the end of the week. By then, we might be able to provide you with an estimated shipping date for your order.

I assume since the website doesn't say parts for the M17 are currently on backorder, that the backorder must have just occured today and caught them off guard.lol

I hope this one won't go weekspast the "expected" ship date like my M9750 did.

Rob41

 

Just got a response from A.W. with the build specs:

Thank you for contacting Alienware.

Please find below a complete copy of your system's configuration, as you have requested.

M17 System

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 - CrossFireX Enabled
Processor: Intel Core2 Extreme X9100 3.06GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Design & Display: Black Skullcap Design
Chassis: 17-Inch WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard Alienware Exclusive Design - Fusion Red
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital / Analog (ATSC) TV Tuner with Adapter
Memory: 4GB« Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz ? 2 x 2048MB
System Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 500GB (250GB x 2) 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel Ultimate N 5300 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card with MIMO TechnologyThe World's First 450 Mbps Wi-Fi Adapter!
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Onsite Service and 24/7 Toll-Free Phone Support
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD ? Windows Vista Edition
Alienware Extras: Alienware Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: M17 Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: M17 Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Avatar: Alien Cyborg
Window Style: Graphite Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead Glow
Power Plan: High Performance
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates Off
Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

*Will also be purchasing insurance from Safeware.

 

What is that MOBL? I ordered mine a day before you, but didn't get that email, so maybe i just missed the backorder? I ordered through AW, but used the employee purchase program and saved 115 dollars, plus since its going to an FPO address, its tax free as well.

 

I agree, AAFES is the way to go. Im a Marine and I only learned about AAFES 'cause what of my friends is a FOBIT on one of the big bases in IRAQ, Anyway its a good deal. I saved like 300 dollars and paid 0 for shipping becasue I bought it durring xmas.

 

I don't know what MOBL is but I'll ask today when I contact A.W. It sounds like a motherboard or m.b. component, just a guess.

Rob41

 

Yep, i just got off the phone on my order, and Alienware confirms they are unable to set you up to check your order online if you go through AAFES to order your system. They can and will give you an Alienware order number (which, I might add, is a six-digit number that is different from any of the AAFES order numbers, and different from the 10 digit purchase order that AAFES uses for the vendor - gotta love extra levels of complication for our beloved military system... ) but they are unable to associate your account with an email address as the purchase didn't come directly from you, but from AAFES. Since you need both an order number and an email address to check the status of your order online, this won't be available to you.

Oh, can also confirm the backorder - they tell me the expected date for the part missing (same as Rob's, above) is the 23rd, which was my original expected ship date. Now showing ship date of 2nd or 3rd of april, assuming parts come in as expected...

To recap: Going through AAFES gains you: No tax, no shipping charges (or so it seemed; not sure if this is always or just a special deal for limited time) but costs you a few days delay in ordering your system (AAFES tells me it takes 24-48 business hours for the order to go through them and actually reach alienware) and will prevent you from online monitoring of the status of your build.

All in all, probably still a good deal - though I will miss hitting 'Refresh' a bazillion times a day to see what phase my order is in....

Oh, a side note - not specific to AAFES necessarily, but another thing that came up; with large AAFES purchases, they will call your bank/credit card/payment method to confirm, in an effort to prevent fraud. I don't know about all banks, but my bank has a limit on daily spending (also to prevent fraud) and the price of the computer was over this limit. You can bypass this by contacting your bank and advising them of the incoming charge, but if you forget to do this it may cause an additional delay, as your order will be cancelled by AAFES and you'll have to start over... (the AAFES rep told me about 90% of the time this happens the first time with big ticket purchases...)

 

Well jefferyac, this is very interesting. I'm going to go to the Alienware website and "mock" build another M17 and see if the new expected ship date reflects the backorer problem. I suspect it won't.

I went to the website and my same build has an expexted ship date of 3-24-09. I called A.W. and they said my expected ship date hasn,t changed from 3-23-09 but the above mentioned MOBL part on backorder is actually the entire laptop case/motherboard etc. She said the eta for this is unknown. Hopefully A.W. has a better relationship with the case manufacturer than OCZ had with their whitebook.

On anotther note, the reptold me the A.W. O.C. software for the M17 should be out by the end of the month. I'll believe it when I see it though, she sounded like she was just winging it.

Rob41

 

Called A.W. today 3-18-09 and more parts are on backorder. A.W. has no idea when construction on my M17 will begin.


Rob41

 

One more note: if you go through AAFES, you can NOT change/upgrade your order through Alienware. Your only option is to go through AAFES to cancel the old order, then re-order the system with the changes/upgrades you wanted....

So, be certain of the config you want before ordering to save yourself some headache...

 

Good to know jeffreyac,
I'll add the info to my first post.

 

Well today was the original expected ship date, 3-23-09. It's not going to arrive today, or even this week. This is my second laptop purchase in a year and a half and the first laptop was weeks late as well. Based on my experience, (which is all I can attest to first hand), Alienware provides an unrealistic shipdate at their website rather than scare potential customers away with longer ETA's.

I called A.W. a few minutes ago and was told my laptop is in phase 6 and the A.W. rep said "HOPEFULLY your computer will ship out in 3 to five days if it passes all the inspections." Fed-ex doesn't ship on weekends so if I'm really, really lucky, it could be here next week. That's only little more than a week late.

 

Mine is in phase 6 as well, oh well though, it will get here when it does. My G1S will suffice until then

 

I hope I don't see in hindsight that they offered Asus laptops .

 

LOL My M15x Entered Phase 6 Last Friday Morning, Still there today! Hopefully none of the parts are on backorder!

 

Looks like A.W. has received a big parts shipment. A lot of peoples phases have been getting bumped up.

 

I just got an e-mail from Alienware:

Thank you for contacting Alienware.

I would like to inform you that your order has advanced into Phase 8 (Quality Control). Your system is undergoing the final stage of the Alienware 200-point quality control process. An Alienware Quality Inspector is tasked with inspecting your machine for any obvious or latent defects.

If your system passes all tests, it should be shipping during the next two business days, at the latest.

If you need further information, do not hesitate to contact me or our Order Change/Status Department at 1-800-494-3382 (menu sequence 3, then 2, then 2), Monday - Friday from 9:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. EST. We will gladly assist you.

Thank you for choosing Alienware.


Best regards,

Still holding my breath.....holding....holding........................................

 

I'm glad your order got bumped up. I'm sorry its taking so long. I had mine a week before it was expected lol. It showed up before It said it was shipped.
I love my M17 and I hope you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine.

 

Thanks,
I got another e-mail today saying it's in final inspection and will be shipped within 24-48 hours or sooner. I can't wait.

 

My biggest piece of advice for anyone ordering a custom built computer (not a stock model that you could get from Newegg or pick up from Best Buy): Plan on not getting it for a month. They are making it special for you and shipping it. That takes time and don't expect instant gratification.
If you go into the process with that frame of mind it makes the wait much easier.

 

Oh I know the deal, this isn't my first rodeo

Haha, just wish I didn't have to wait an additional multiple amount of weeks due to being deployed ugh. Oh well.

That and I can't access my email or alienware because my internet is down in my can, and can't get on either here at work.

 

just checked online at the rec center and I guess i'm still on phase 6, a little upset seeing as I placed my order a day or two before some of you guys on phase 8.....maybe the site just hasn't updated.

 

Hmmm.... This worries me - not for you, Rob41, I'm glad yours is on the way, but i never get anything direct from alienware - I always have to call AAFES, and they call alienware....

I haven't ever heard anything direct from alienware on either of my orders - did you have to set something up w/them to get them to email you updates, or have they done that form the start of your process?

 

My M15x Just got bumped to phase 8 this MORNING! Hopefully it ships soon! Can't wait to post a thread entitled "FirecatF7 Review of the m15x!".

mcdgexxx: I hope your computer comes soon! They look like Decent specs! Are you planning on upgrading the RAM at all? DDR3 Right?

 

Hey jeffreyac,
After the AAFES site said the order was sent, I called A.W. with my info which they couldn't find. I told them I ordered it through AAFES and they still didn't understand but did transfer me to someone who did. That person gave me the A.W. 6 digit order number so I can e-mail, or call A.W. to check my status. When ordering through AAFES you still can't use the A.W. order status site. Their e-mails to me are in response to my e-mails.

I hope this helps buddy.

 

Oh of course, and the 320 scorpio in my G1S is going in it too and i'll eventually get a 2nd 320 to raid 0 them, that or an SSD

 

Hang in there guys, it will be like Christmas when they land. Too bad the AAFES site doesn't automatically update phase changes.

 

Yes yes it will, unfortunatly I have to wait probably an additional month to get mine

 

When I ordered my M9750 a while back I was in the same boat. The order was delayed a lot and when it arrived I was already in the Gulf again. My wife had to send it to me and I got it a few weeks later.

 

Alienware didn't send me an e-mail yet, but I called them and they said my puter shipped out yesterday!

It's supposed to arrive 3-26-09.

I wonder if the Fed-ex guy will realize the awesome power he's holding?

 

Congrats. I'm hoping for a similar update. Though you ordered yours on the 14th correct? So you actually shipped before me ordering through aafes when I ordered through AW on the 13th. Go aafes! haha

 

Thanks,
Best of luck on yours.

 

good luck to both of yall and plase do write reviews i need to write mine its been 3 months

 

Thanks MR.Moo,
I will write a review and might show how easy is is to change out HDD's for SSD's too. Later I'll do one to change the blue led in the alien head to red. Very important for frame rates of course.

 

i can imagine. what will you do with the HDDs?

 

After calling AAFES today, they still hope mine might ship this Friday - which I guess isn't all bad... My guess is that the re-order I did kicked mine a bit further back in line...

Oh, well, if it goes out Friday it'll be here by next week. As long as there weren't any mistakes in there (i.e. I get it as I ordered it!) I'll be a happy guy.

Plus, it'll give me a few days to butter up the wife and explain that I'll need a day or two to spend with the new computer...

 

Most excellent! MY M17 arrived today. A.W. didn't get the order from AAFES until the 16th and here I am using it already. 7 days to build and three days shipping. I'm amazed.

I installed the 9.1 video drivers from E-Wrecked about 20 minutes after I got it and they're working great. Thanks E, +1 rep to ya buddy.

So far I haven't had a chance to play any games on it and only just now got FO3 and the patch installed. I'll install Crysis later.

Vista says I should have a 5.7 experience. Everything is 5,9 accept for the crummy little [email protected] which is of course at 5.7. Whatever.

This site is great and you've all been a lot of help. Thanks!

To sum it all up; my experience ordering an Alienware through AAFES went very well and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

Rob41

 

Congrats, Rob41!! Hope you enjoy it! I'm about to call and check on mine - was supposed to ship today, so hopefully they'll have some tracking info for me.

Oh, and the drivers - in an effort to keep me from starting another thread, is the 9.1 what I want? I saw the thread on driver comparison, and I'm a touch unsure which one I should be grabbing - the AW, the 9.1, 9.2, or 9.3. My concern is I'm a WoW player (yeah, yeah, I know!) and I saw they had some apparent issues with the game and that driver not getting along...

EDIT: I'll put this in the other thread (it goes there better), but the slave ATI cards for the M17 are again on backorder, with an estimated arrival of 13 April. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go cry in a corner somewhere...

 

ohh that sucks sorry but 9.1 are nice and i never had any problem running WoW, but the 8.12's are saposed to be good. I would try 9.1 first then go back

 

Thanks jeffreyac,
I'm kinda in the same boat as you are. It looked like the 9.1's would work well for me which a couple people suggested. I don't play Wow so I can't advise and the only game I've played so far is Fallout 3. I set it to ultra-high and it works great.

To me 3dmark06 is totally different from actual gameplay but......for what it's worth, I got 14,400 @1280x800 with the 9.1's and A.W. got 14,600 with their drivers. I've encountered nothing unusual at all with these drivers. From everything I've read here, A.W. drivers perform better at synthetic benchmarks like 3dmark06 but the 9.1 and other drivers get better FPS during actual gameplay.

I hope ya get your rig soon buddy!

 

Just a note I thought I would add that DOD Civilians stationed overseas can also utilize the AW Military discount through AAFES.

Wish they would have these at the BX/PX so I could see them in person, but I guess that's too much to ask for. They only have Sony/Toshiba/HP at my exchange.

 

Im stationed in beutiful sunny Iraq (USMC 03 Oorah!!!) and ordered a m17 before christmas, I got in Jan. Couldn't be more happy!!!!!!!!!

 

nice to hear usmc another soldier happy

 

I tell ya nothing helps a day go by (other than the random IDF ....) than watching a blu ray or killing some kpa in crysis!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

hope u got more then crysis

 

yeah I have: The two newer COD's, Need for speed Uderworld, Crysis, new Tomb Raider, and Fall out 3. Fall out 3 is incredible!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Plus a ton of blu rays. But my Blu Ray stopped working so AW is sending me a new drive.

 

It is always good to hear good customer service stories.

 

The customer service was suberp, I called at about 5est and spoke with tech support almost imediatly, hardly anytime was spent on hold. "They" worked with me for two hours trying to figure out the problem, in the end a new drive was sent out. I have home replacement but I dont think AW will come to my current location....