Alienware Sentia vs. ASUS Z33A?

Two great brands, two great laptops. Which one to choose? I'm in the market for an ultraportable laptop. The criteria of selection will be based on price, portability, performance, battery life, and quality. I configured the Z33A on geared2play.com with a 1.73ghz processor, 1 gig of ram, a 60gig 5400rpm hd, and a dvd burner. It clocks in at $1493 as opposed to the Alienware at $1306 with the same configuration. It sounds too good to be true. I've read good reviews about the Z33A and good reviews of the Sentia (the 3200). The Sentia uses a 6 cell battery while the Z33a can only come with a 3 or a 9. A 9 cell is out of the question as I prefer for the battery not to stick out of the side of my laptop...Which one should I choose and why? I need your help. Perhaps you can help sway my decision towards the right laptop, but the question is, which is the right laptop? Any feedback will be very much appreciated. Thankyou.

 

I hate to say this, and I don't know much about Alienware laptops, except they're usually much more expensive and directed towards gamers, but It looks like without knowing anything more, the Sentia 3200 has two +'s on the ASUS.

1. A 3 cell is very limiting, and If a 9 cell is out of the question, then unless you don't need the battery life, which isn't consistant with wanting such a small laptop to begin with (portability), then the Z33a is out of the running for you right there.

2. Surprisingly, The Alienware costs less at almost $200 cheaper!

I'm an asus fan through and through, so If it were me, I'd take the Z33a simply because It's an ASUS. But in your case, at this point without knowing anything more about your wants and needs, I'd say go with the Sentia.

PS, Others will know this better, but while the Z33a might not come with a 6 cell battery, I'm positive you could buy one that's compatible If you really wanted to.

Also, seeing as the Sentia is a 12.1 Wide screen, are you sure a 6 cell battery won't be protruding out the back??? That's important to know, because It would nullify an important advantage to you...and put the Asus back in the running.

Do you prefer Wide screen to regular ratio screens? I think people need to know more about your wants and needs to help you out better.

 

Either or. As long as the screen looks good. The Alienware has an advantage on screen with a higher resolution, gloss, and clearview technology. They use a 6 cell battery though and only get 1.5 movies or around 3 hours of normal use out of it. I'd like to get more but I might have to settle. I would buy a 6 cell for the ASUS if it didn't stick out the back. If it doesn't stick out the back how many hours would I get out of the battery during dvd use and normal use? I'm pretty sure the sentia battery doesn't stick out, I'll have to look into that. Thanks alot for your feedback so far. I still need help lol. Thanks again.

 

You really should rethink getting an alienware have you read their forum here. they have horrible laptop relieability and horrible support one of the worst in the industry. Personaly from all the bad stories on their latops and service im starting to think they use refurb parts in them to save money. Noone has that many issues when other makes with the same model have much less issues.

 

You might want to wait for the z35 i think it is its and asus dual core 13.3 in widescreen that looks like a widescreen version of the z33. its like 4.4lbs

 

Alienware doesn't make their laptops, it's just a rebranded Clevo and Uniwill with a modified lid to include an alien head.

the Sentia is really a Uniwill 223EI0.

While Uniwill is a decent brand.. in terms of build quality, i ALWAYS see resellers (who carry both Uniwill and Asus) to regard Uniwill < Asus...

 

Thats the scary part that alienware doesnt make their laptops. But they seem so much less reliable than any other reseller selling the same thing. Makes you wonder.