The new direction Alienware has taken

Ok, man I absolutely loved my aw18. It saddens me as many others the direction they seem to be going. It's been re-hashed in many threads.

I wanted to show what I saw at my trip to Walmart this morning to get office supplies. An AW14 and one of those little desktops. Alienwsre once was a botique machine everyone who knew computers was after and it was elite. Now you can get your oil changed, taxes done, haircut get your meds, some groceries and a shotgun and pick up a alienware pc at the same time..

 

Alienware at Walmart? The world is coming to an end.

Spoiler

 

Put it on layaway..

 

Is Dell struggling that bad they had to step down to Walmart...

 

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo.
Alienware must be sold only by web site!

 

Next year at E3... "Microsoft's Surface Pro goes head-to-head with Alienware 13!"

Save money. Live better. Alienware. :thumbsup:

Are you from the U.S.? There's a certain stigma that comes along with Walmart's consumers in most areas. This is a huge step backwards for Alienware.

 

Gotta love the sign - " The most powerful family of gaming systems in the universe (umm..after Clevo) is here with new graphics (but just not maxwell new), and higher performance (except compared with our older machines)"

Wow, just wow.. not one part of that is true. What a sleezy spill. Winning... not

 

No i'm from Italy. There is only the web site option here to buy Alienware. Maybe 1-2 store in Milan, but i'm not sure.

 

They could have at least gone to BestBuy first, lol.

Spoiler

 

So then I guess they are targeting their new clientel then... Hmm.. hoping they won't be educated enough to know BGA = crap
Maybe we'll see them in kiddie stores like Toys R Us next too.

 

The Alienware name is thrown in their face and blinds them from the truth. Alienware has a high reputation (for now) and they're diminishing it.

They're targeting the majority, and we enthusiasts ("loyalists") are the minority.

The way I see it... Frank Azor was offered the position as General Manager of Alienware on one condition: following this new "vision" Dell has set for Alienware, no questions asked. The previous General Manager was fired as he saw things differently and did not want Alienware products to become just another addition to the pile of laptops in our closets. Dell has seemingly forced Alienware to choose money over all else, practically selling its soul. The Alienware name will mean nothing if they continue along this path.

They're doing much more than destroying a brand... They're disassembling a community.

 

I like that they are at walmart for the simple fact that I can go see them in person before I order online.
Its like how best buy is a showroom for amazon.com

 

Walmart is the lowest point. They could at least show some dignity and have a booth at BestBuy like Samsung or Apple does.

 

They have sold at Walmart for a long time, this is nothing particularly new. For whatever reason they never seem to do well at BestBuy... I think the value purchaser hits them up pretty hard and MSI/ASUS seem to do well there, and I think this has a lot to do with the relatively uninformed sales people there. I can just hear the question .... they sell AW at Fry's incidentally as well.

Customer: "I heard Alienware was pretty good... didn't they get bought by Dell?"

Sales Clerk: "(Smirking)... "That's what the kids say, but really, true GAMERS go for MSI or ASUS, just read all the boards. You're right, it's just a Dell!"

This from what is most likely a person who knows very little about how to do more than read spec sheets...

If you buy any brand because it is "boutique" you are likely to be disappointed in buying any of the major lines these days as they all want to have some floor space.

 

More like another step to make Alienware just like any streamlined average computer you ususally find in Walmart.
Perfect in line with the other stupid moves theyve done or look like they will be doing

 

But... but... but it says it has an i5! That must make it the coolest!

Snark aside (and there's a lot to be had here), I'll also say that it's nice to actually be able to put your hands on the model before you decide if it's worth investigating further. I hate the fact that Alienwares are so freaking rare to find in stores. When I bought my R1 back in 2009, we bought it sight-unseen and no, pictures do not count. I had no idea what the keyboard felt like, how much it truly weighed, etc. That's a pretty big financial leap of faith, wouldn't you say?

Why yes, I loved game demos being available to test out before purchasing the AAA title for far too much money, why do you ask?

 

I've never seen them at BestBuy, at least not how I suggested. And I've also never seen them at Walmart until now.

I suppose only "major" stores got them. But it looks like all stores are getting them now.

 

Being able to go into a store to touch a system and see what build quality it has means a lot. I recall being told how great the G70 was but when handled one I was not impressed personally. On paper it sounded great, they are good systems in general, but I didn't care for the "feel" of it taken as a whole.

 

Being sold at Wal-Mart wouldn't be a problem if the new machines were not so crippled. I agree with zombiegoat and Docsteel about the value in look/feel/touch and Wal-Mart is an awesome company in many ways. Since they have made a decision to dumb down the specs and performance, this is a brilliant move to sell more product. Had Sager placed the P570WM3 in stores for look/feel/touch I might already own one, although not likely one with wimpy specs I would expect to find on a retail shelf. That said, the "gaming" notebooks sold in places like Fry's and Best Buy are seldom top notch specs. They are usually the bottom-feeder budget configurations with a price tag that is more conducive to impulsive spending. This is where they have often dumped their second-class CPUs and GPUs that nobody ever wanted when ordering online. For Alienware to offer bottom-feeder machines at Wal-Mart is consistent with what we see taking place with other retailers. In that respect, I don't see a problem having a fancy machine available to tantalize Wal-Mart shoppers looking for a place to dump some money on an impulsive feel-good shopping spree.

The marketing lies and the façade that these new machines are somehow high-end powerhouses is on the edge of being unethical.

As far as the Alienware Social Media Reps being nowhere to be found in forums, that kind of makes sense. Not only have people been losing their jobs at Dell, these Social Media reps are taking a hard pounding from Alienware fans that are not pleased with what they are seeing happen to a brand they have always admired. Also consider that these guys are enthusiasts like us and appreciate the same kind of awesome machines that we do. Think how hard it would be from their perspective. Their employer is blowing smoke up their rear ends just as they are doing to us, but they have to try to remain positive about the brand the represent. My heart goes out to Brother Luis Porras, Mark Obee and the rest of the Alienware Social Media crew. They have been a blessing to us, and I can only imagine that they are in a really awkward spot right now.

 

I would add contrary somewhat to the title of this thread, but this move isn't just Alienware... it's important to bear in mind the industry as a whole is moving this way; Dellienware just jumped in sooner rather than later.

 

Well, I think the thread title is accurate because (a) it involves Alienware, and (b) it certainly is a new direction. Unfortunately, this is a party I wish they had declined the invitation for instead of showing up early. People that know better aren't going to be influenced by this trend. All they are going to do is alienate (pun intended) the people that know better and prey on the suckers that don't. I'm not speaking of selling at Wal-Mart... only speaking in reference to their anemic product lineup.

 

Walmart? Well this is a new low. Wrong demographic, too.

 

The demographic they are looking for is people with money (or credit cards) and sorely lacking in technical knowledge. Seems like a good fit for Wal-Mart to me. Mainstream product for mainstream shopper. Add some lights and a look that kills and it should sell like hotcakes.

The part haven't explored yet is that we are going to paying for it in some cases, just like we already do with the big screen TVs and fancy cars...

"Mommy, mommy, please mommy, please, please, you can buy groceries, beer and cigarettes with the next welfare check."

 

Talking about the economic status of your stereotypical Walmart shopper. They're not gonna be able to afford Alienware.

 

That hasn't stopped them from buying Escaldes, Denalis and Expeditions, so why not an Alienware?

 

Never seen a Walmart shopper drive a nice car. Plus those are gas guzzlers, makes even less sense for low-income families.

 

We must shop at different stores, LOL. The people driving jalopies are the hard-working blue collars like many of us here. The nicer cars are driven by the no-income Wal-Mart shoppers. Those are the ones with the SUVs and shopping carts loaded with steaks and other luxurious food items. But, even the smartest rich people like to stay rich by paying as little as possible and Wal-Mart serves us all with lower prices than most of their competitors. I see all demographics shopping at Wal-mart. But, yeah, can't put an Alienware on an EBT card so they'll have to be creative in their method of acquisition like they were with the fancy cars.

Maybe owning an Alienware will become an unalienable and sanctimonious <del>God-given</del> tax-subsidized right like having a cell phone.

 

Where I live, only low-income families shop at Walmart. Everyone else goes to Target and Costco. Walmart products are inexpensive but low quality. I always tell people to avoid Walmart out of principle--unless there are absolutely no other alternative retailers to shop at--because it's one of the worst companies and employers in America.

 

I disagree. I have purchased a number of name brand products for less than I could find them anywhere else on short notice from Wal-Mart, including many electronics items. The Plantronics Voyager Pro HD hanging off my ear is a great example. Normally over $100, mine got broken and I got a replacement for $60. I needed one pronto and didn't find it cheaper than this price online anywhere. Same one at Best Buy was over $100 and three times the distance to the closest Best Buy store.

Yes, they do offer the low grade garbage as well. I know a number of people that would have no job if not for Wal-Mart. I'm not saying it's a great place to work by any means (although for some people I know personally it can be and has been a truly fantastic place to work) but it's definitely better than no job. I expect Dell to sell more Alienware laptops than they ever have in history by selling them at Wal-Mart. There's no substitute for impulsive buying accessibility and look/feel/touch access if you want to move a ton of merchandise. Those people that like to be seen at Target and Costco will go to Wal-Mart if for no other reason than to get one because that's what little Johnny wants.

 

If one is struggling to make ends meet, I totally understand going to Walmart. But for me personally, my conscience prevents me from shopping there just to save a few bucks or recommending it to others.

Anyway, to get back on topic, I think Dell is making a huge mistake choosing Walmart to showroom Alienware products instead of Best Buy, Target, or Costco.

 

Well I shop at Tesco.....

 

Better than Walmart at least.

 

Looking at what Alienware has either introduced recently or what is rumoured to be coming down the pipe coupled with the complete lack of options compared to what was offered even when I first ordered my R4 and it makes me shake my head. I already know that unless serious changes are made, my next high end laptop will not be an Alienware because I expect more for the price tag I am paying then what they are now offering. Even with the new touch screen options ( which seem comp[letly pointless IMO for a 17 inch gaming notebook) it just isn't enough....

When I compare my Alienware 17 to my buddy's Sager NP9380 with multiple mSATA drives, better cooling, better performance without overclocking, quieter....the list goes on. Now don't get me wrong, I am not saying GO buy Sager and Alienware sucks...I live my 17 BUT , the broken fan tables, loud fans and overall lack of connectivity options IE less USB ports then the R4, only one mSATA slot etc. It is taking forever for Alienware to do anything with the 900m series and their competitors are leaving them in the dust. The notebooks do look more generic then their previous gen counterparts and I don't think that is a good thing. I do like the overall design more then I did when it was first introduced but I still don't like it more then my R4 design. The lack of 3D in the new models if rumours turn out to be true would be a lose as well being that the screen along is such a huge difference.

It scares me to think that the Alienware we all knew, is quickly fading and it isn't coming back.

 

They've already tinkered with other retailers. It's probably safe to say if they are not continuing to use those retail channels that it didn't provide the financial stream they wanted. Maybe Wal-Mart will give them the sales volume they want and need. I suspect that it will. They are a dominant force to be reckoned with and wield marketing power that most consumers cannot even begin to fathom. But, it really doesn't matter at this point. They've done it, and most consumers that decide they want one will not bat an eye about getting it there. Many of those same consumers won't have any idea that what they are buying does not include the best specs available. Some won't care and for others ignorance is bliss... after all, it has pretty lights and has an Alienware logo.

Don't get me wrong, as I can appreciate not giving any of my business to a company that does things that I do not agree with and I support people that allow their conscience to be their guide. It is actually admirable that some do have a conscience and refuse to allow compromises into their life. I also understand that conscience-led shoppers are a tiny minority, just like PC enthusiasts are a tiny minority. Some that pretend to be conscience-led are also totally clueless and are just doing what makes them popular. When pressed for a rationale for their hate they start to stammer and stutter. What we wrestle with most is the fact that what we (informed enthusiasts) want and think is irrelevant, and that is more than obvious based on the circumstances that precipitated the opening post.

Edit: And, if you want a good chuckle, go back to the first post and look at the price tag. It's "on sale" and you can save a whole $1 if you hurry. That's not as good as getting a $50 gift card from Dell on a $5,000 laptop, (effectively a 1% rebate you can use to spend more money at Dell.com,) but hey... you can have it RIGHT NOW.

 

That's hilarious! Even my credit card saves me more (1% cash back) and I can still have it right now.

 

You need to re-paste your system, bro. You're doing something wrong.

 

System is running just fine.....

With both systems running the same game , at close to the same temps his is overall much quieter , not nearly as much fan noise. The paste is brand new as are the heat sinks and fans for the CPU.

I am not trying to pi** anyone off, I love my Alienware, but I have been comparing the two for the past year and I have just been more impressed with the Sager overall. With the reduction in configuration options lately and the mediocre advancements in new models coupled with the heat issues on the new 17's I just can't see getting another one.

 

Not much separating Alienware from the old Dell XPS notebooks if AW18 is discontinued and AW17 becomes solder heaven. I actually owned one of those XPS in my younger daya.

It was plastic fantastic allright

 

A buddy of mine in college had an XPS, and back in 2006 the XPS name actually meant something. Not so much for the XPS these days, unless Dell changed XPS to mean "Xtremely Poor Systems"

 

Wasn't it the XPS system that had that WoW edition laptop?

EDIT: Yep I looked it up lol...I remember drooling over that many years ago when I was really into WoW.

 

That's baloney, LOL. There were a few blunders in the XPS line, but that doesn't mean all XPS are junk. There are some really excellent XPS machines (current and past year or two) that share the same basic build as the newer Precision business class machines. My wife has an XPS 15 Ultrabook and it is excellent for what she needs. It is built extremely well and looks fantastic. It's not a high performance or benching machine, but it's gorgeous... aluminum body and lid, carbon fiber bottom and Corning Gorilla Glass display, backlit keyboard. It's a really sweet machine. And, it's Ivy Bridge with NVIDIA graphics. It plays most games well on moderate settings and has more than enough power for the kinds of games she likes to play. It has an mSATA cache setup and feels like it is running an SSD. To me, this is a great example of what an ordinary mainstream consumer laptop should be, and it was relatively inexpensive ($750 on sale with a decent discount). It definitely beats the snot out of a plastic fantastic turd box with Intel HD Graphics.

It is certainly not my kind of machine, but for ordinary users it's more laptop than most could imagine. She is an ordinary user and feels like she has a Mercedes laptop, and she does. It is about the same size as a MacBook, beats it in terms of performance, looks better and it is built as well as one. If all we have is BGA crap available for gaming notebooks, I would go with a machine like hers and build a desktop rather than settle for having my lap set on fire by a crippled jokebook machine masquerading as a high performance system.

 

Dell XPS then:

Spoiler

In early 2006, this bad boy was the first commercially available quad-SLI system, featuring four Nvidia GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB cards and a Pentium Extreme Edition 955 (dual-core w/Hyper-Threading) factory overclocked to 4.3 GHz on air.

Dell XPS now:

Spoiler

Looks like Alienware is following the same downward spiral into mediocrity. Once it starts, there's no going back.

R.I.P. Dell XPS.

R.I.P. Alienware.

 

I agree about the downward spiral that Dell/Alienware and the other OEMs are going through. HP hasn't made a decent product in years and they destroyed VoodooPC in the blink of an eye long before the other OEMs started producing crap. It was like they were on a mission from <del>God</del> Satan to kill Rahul Sood's masterpiece boutique as quickly as humanly possible.

To be completely clear about the change in XPS, that used to be their competition for Alienware. Those fancy machines in your photos is what they produced before acquiring Alienware and they made a decision to not have two product lines competing for the same business. With that, the XPS line was repurposed to appeal to a different market segment and was never since intended to be viewed as a high performance gaming system. They became more of a high quality multi-media machine for customers that wanted something nice to use, but didn't want or need the strongest and most powerful CPU and GPU(s) in their laptops or desktop.

Some of the pre-Alienware XPS machines were fairly wicked. I had an XPS M1730 SLI beast before switching to Alienware. It was really nice, but couldn't hold a candle to the M17xR2 that replaced it. The Alienware products were an improvement in performance and quality over the XPS line they replaced and Alienware have consistently been the industry-leading superior quality and performance laptop providers up until this newly announced BGA feces that seems to be claiming the mojo of the majority of self-proclaimed "high performance" notebook makers. Even though the 2013 Haswell 17 and 18 slipped a little bit, they were still better than anything else available elsewhere that utilized a mobile CPU. Only recently did Clevo's Ivy-E version of the P570WM change everything in an amazing way for laptop performance extremists, but it was a short-lived run in the sun since Sager stopped carrying it. Hopefully, Eurocom will be able to continue sourcing it from Clevo until something stronger with dual MXM surfaces... I certainly hope they can. I want one, or the X99 replacement for it if that actually materializes with SLI.

The fact that Sager could not sell enough of them to continue offering is a sad testament to the sorry mentality that has become prevalent among gamer-boys. It's downright laughable that Android devices are starting to be viewed as a viable gaming platform, thanks to the Junior High School bubble gum gamers that view themselves as being some kind of a bad-boy... truly legends in their own minds, with no earthly idea what high performance means, is or looks like.

 

I remember this.

Spoiler

Well that's not entirely true. Dell bought Alienware in 2006 but continued to produce high-performance XPS machines until their last desktop in 2009, which was on LGA 1366/X58 and supported up to Gulftown hexa-core i7 Extreme Edition.

 

@Fox: It was meant to be a semi-facetious comment LOL. Poking fun at what used to be an enthusiast oriented extreme performance machine to what is now a decidedly mainstream product. Although what appears to be the gradual decline of Alienware bears a chilling resemblance to what happened to the XPS line.

 

The actual trend is to made lighter and tinner computers, regardless they are for gamers or not. All like clear design. I hope they don't abandon the AlienFX.

 

I like how Octiceps avoids almost all discussion promoting Alienware, and when we are all against it, he joins in and bashes with us.

Anyway, I'm going to miss the good ol' days, Alienware... It was fun while it lasted. :thumbsup:

 

I get your point and mostly agree with it. What we are seeing isn't just an Alienware problem. Aside from a few Clevo models, which will likely end up with their necks in the guillotine like the rest, what we are seeing taking place stands to destroy everything we value regardless of brand. So, to be more on point, what we are seeing with the industry bears a chilling resemblance to what happened to XPS. I don't like it, but if the new Alienware systems (excluding the 13) have the same BGA CPU and GPU(s) as their competitors, plus having the Graphics Accelerator on top of the same core components, Alienware still comes out on top of the competition in spite of the underlying problem of being built on a foundation of an undesirable BGA platform. It is like tolerating the lesser of two evils, which is never something to be happy about.

 

Exactly.
I was proud of my XPS notebook back in the days. It was THE notebook to own, you felt to were the king, and the notebooks although they had a lot of plastic, featured the greatest GPUs and glowing lights on the lid etc.
Today XPS is just a mediocre notebook series, almost like Inspiron.

Alienware seems to be heading toward mediocrity with their machines as well.
Me dont like

 

I talked with my wife last night about the kind of changes that were coming to the gaming laptop market, and after listening to my (admittedly) long-winded explanations about why it was lame, asked if instead of shelling out a lot of money for stuff that we didn't want/like/need, wondered if I would build her a computer next time. She wants a desktop workstation, but she also wants, and I quote, "lots of pretty, glowing lights and something powerful enough that you could play games on if your laptop is in the shop or whenever." Basically, she was asking me to build an Area-51.

And you know what? I think I'm going to do it. I started looking at desktop cases last night and man, there's some pretty sweet options out there these days. Hell, I can even get the case mod to look like Iron Man if I want (red and silver, I think) and for about half the price of what AW wants to charge me for stuff I can't upgrade, I can make a beast that'll chew up anything we throw at it. I have a good friend who recently did something very similar, so I'll have an experienced set of hands backing me up. This is a project I am looking forward to.

Honestly, though, it sucks. It sucks a lot, and here's why; I learned about all this stuff right here on these forums, and I never would have joined up if my wife hadn't gotten me Nemesis back in October of 2009. I learned by meeting all of you folks with your hard-won info, snide comments, good advice, conspiracy theories and occasional outright insanity. This made me an enthusiast instead of a guy who simply views his laptop as a means to an end. I write books; ergo, I need a laptop. Now, though, I want the laptop to be the be-all end-all answer to the entertainment question and I want to add to it, like you do with a fine muscle car. A few years ago, I wouldn't have ever considered that idea, but now, it's something I find intriguing. We won't be able to do that any more, and it's lame. It's like being told you can't put a 427 engine in your classic Mustang. Hell, we can't even get them in red any more... and did you really think I was going to let that one slip by?

What Alienware is doing, and seemingly all the other companies as well, is basically killing off the community that we all belong to. I don't believe they are doing it deliberately; I believe they are doing it for a simple dollars-and-cents reason, and because it's easier to do it this way. Mass-produced at Wal-Mart makes big dollars and cents. It's just business.

So I think next time, I'm going to think like a businessman, too.