Why is Alienware praised so much for gaming laptops?

As much as I know it's a good idea to give things a second chance when it's accepted that they've changed; but I believe it's a bit harder to do so the more it costs you to give them a try. I can't blame wingnut for saying he doesn't want to try them anymore, especially since they're more expensive than the other available machines which work just as well in most cases, even regardless of the deals you could possibly get. On the flip side, an Alienware customer twice burned by Clevo might never want to consider them again for the same reason. Like that one guy who thinks his P170EM is the crappiest laptop in the world and has problems with every inch of it. I can't remember his name. Even if his case was special, I doubt he'd go for another clevo.

 

I think that most of Alienware's merit comes from its warranty--I don't think I would buy one without a warranty extension. Alienware is well-aware of that and charges accordingly.

Because Alienware sells more gaming laptops than Clevo, MSI, and ASUS, no one can tell whether a higher percentage of its laptops malfunctions. The "horror stories" about computers dying just out of warranty and terrible customer service are nothing more, just anecdotes. On the other hand, I don't think that Alienware's laptops are more reliable than those of competitors. People don't understand that they pay for components and support when they buy laptops, not smaller likelihoods of failure. That's true for Thinkpads and for $5000 top-performing SLI laptops.

 

I totally understand. I suppose it's based on the individual. Personally, I'm all for second chances.

 

That was the point, a second chance is harder to give at $4k a pop than it is at $100 a pop ^^. Even if we want to try it, it's SUCH an investment that we rather not fiddle around.
Hell, you should see how much I hound mythlogic about the P375SM... I'm surprised they didn't open their live chat sessions with me with "hi, we don't have the 120Hz screens yet, how can I help you today?"

 

Just to clear this up, that was one of your local techs outsourced by Dell. He doesn't directly work or get paid by Dell.
In some places they're great in others they're not. It depends on the company they directly work for.

 

When that happens, try complaining to Dell about it, with luck and if it's possible (more than one business available in the region), they might give the contract to someone else in the future. Or they may not, but if you don't make yourself heard, they won't, that is for sure.

 

Right, I know that, but they need to do something about it. That's why I contacted Dell but they just said they'll send another tech out, the same guy showed up I told him no thanks and shortly after sold the laptop for parts, and let Dell have a piece of my mind.

 

Guess I got lucky with my on-site tech, cuz he was super nice, helpful, and informative. Sucks to hear that others didn't have a good experience like I did in the past.

 

I have nothing against AW laptops themselves. I think they are very rugged, robust, well built machines. But to me part of the package is the before and after sales service, and attitude is part of that too. A rude and inconsiderate tech is not very forthcoming and resending same tech back out just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. I have seen and handled M17x and it has a very solid construction and awesome fit and finish. If they offered a laptop I wanted I would buy it, that's why I bought an M15x and M11x at one point in time in my past.

 

Just out of curiosity, have you ever had to use your warranty plan for your current machine? Or rather the 9150 listed in your sig?

 

When it comes to purchasing a high end gaming laptop, there are 3 (now 4 if you include Asus, who have stepped up their offerings) brands you can choose from: Sager, MSI, and AW. Each has their own perks and drawbacks. AW has the benefit of being the most well known of those brands and can charge a premium for it. AW also has what is generally recognized as the best warranty service of those 3, again allowing them to charge a premium.

When purchasing my machine back in january, my final choice was between the p9170EM and the m17. Even after calling AW to haggle on price (thanks to NBR, wouldnt have known about it without you guys/gals!), I was only able to get the AW to within $200, and that was without extending the warranty. Had price not been an issue, I most likely would have chosen it over my current sager. Don't read that to say I don't like my sager; I adore it.

To answer OP's original question as to why alienware is praised so much on gaming laptops, the answer is simple. They deserve it (just like clevo and msi deserve the reputations they have earned.)

 

AW has decent laptops but its harder to fix certain hardware issues on them than on my Sager. At least in my experience. I'll probably stick with Clevo from here on out though because I've had my 8170 for a couple years now (or a year? I lost track of time) and it's been stellar. Still requires dusting/paste maintenance but what system doesn't. I also like the idea of being able to upgrade my GPU...which I haven't done yet but if all I need to do is flash bios, seems fairly painless. Prior to my Clevo I had an m15x (note not M15x) and it was a POS, plastic was subpar, hinges broke, monitor broke, no upgrades. Yeah - not the best experience with AW

 

I have had an absolutely terrible experience with Sager/Clevo, the laundry list of issues was unacceptable, from failed hard drives out of the box to broken LCD connections within a month of purchase, broken LCD panel (needed to be replaced, they didn't tell me why), failed blu-ray drive out of the box, failed GPUs both of them (possibly on the way out again). Not to mention the abysmal, borderline incompetent support. The suggestion from the tech when this piece of garbage came back and within a week was doing the same things I sent it in for? He asked me if I changes the video drivers when I said yes as most games require drivers after 2009 (the only drivers supported by Sager) he said that driver changes are not supported by Sager... What? So they dropped support for the system the same year I bought it? Awful never again. If I do go for a laptop again it will be Alienware or Asus, when I bought the Sager I wanted cheap, well I got cheap, cheap garbage.

 

Not for 9150, but 8150 I did. They provided shipping both ways, had it fixed and returned in a week.

LOL. I guess we've all had our experiences. It's inevitable. It shows how same the laptops from any OEM are, and how they all can suffer the same fate, and customer (non-)support. If you look at AW, Clevo, MSI, Asus you will find probably 90% satisfied users and 10% not satisfied. We should all shop for the best laptop for our needs and budget.

 

I see. I was wondering how the service was...

 

If your reseller is good they can frequently get them to send you components and swap them yourself. But that can vary depending on the reseller, component, and what mood the tech at Sager is in.

 

I see. Slow after sales service, Enduro problems and then the huge delay in Clevo 7970ms last year was what made me purchase an AW. I had initially placed an order for a Sager. I am pretty happy with them but I was wondering how the service.... might get those the next time.

 

7970m Enduro left a huge thorn in people's sides, and I don't blame them. Although Clevo still refuses to offer a manual switch option like AW. So far nVidia (knock on wood) has been working flawlessly.

 

This is why I'd order a Clevo from Mythlogic because they build, sell, and service everything in house and will perform upgrades at their place or send you the parts to do it yourself. No need to go through Sager or a middleman (reseller). The Clevos I had from them were top notch, but I didn't keep them because work required I go back to Mac.

However, the two Alienware M11x system I owned previously each had at least one cosmetic and technical issue.

 

I can tell you this about AW:

I purchased an M17RX3 when they first came out and had nothing but issues with it within the first month. It took me another month of getting bounced around from tech to tech to haphazardly troubleshoot the system only to have them RMA it and send me an M18X. I was so fed up with AW by that time, that I sold the thing on eBay and swore I'd never go back to them. When AW announced the new 17s I ventured to try and give them another shot, so I did.

I now have another RMA within 2 weeks of receiving it and will not go back to them again - the aesthetics be damned (they do make the best looking POS out there)

Take that for what it's worth but AW is cursed in my eyes.

 

I had a similar issue with Sager once. My sister spilled juice on my keyboard and it broke. I told them it was LIQUID DAMAGE multiple times, and they said it's fine, send it up for replacement. Note I live internationally. So I send it up, then they tell me to buy a new one because it's liquid damage and thus not under warranty. It didn't turn me off Clevo machines though; but I am remiss to do business with Sager again until I live in the USA. That's why I chose mythlogic as they're more competent. And have live text chat. With smart nerds clones.

Either way, there are other warranty services and sellers; like back then XoticPC had its own warranty system (I don't see it anymore) and I'm sure other places had their own too. If you got a lemon of a machine I feel sorry for you; it happens. My hard drive died within three weeks of me owning the machine. While I had Raid - 0 enabled. But if warranty is your main concern, there are other places to get certain brands with different warranties.

On the flip side, it's all your choice in what you wanna get, as long as you're happy ^_^. Just don't write off an entire brand because of one set of bad experiences. I do understand why you would not try them again though; like I said about HTWingNut earlier in the thread, it's easier to give second chances at $100 a pop than at $2000-$4000 a pop XD

 

Simply because it was one of the original "for gaming" computers. Where the company was completely dedicated to gaming.

 

Well ... I have no desktop PC ... a notebook is my workstation and my gaming machine (I do not like XBoxes etc.) ... I am 45 years old and I am a nerd now for 30 years ... within the last 15 years I had around 30 Notebooks from Sony, Asus, Dell, MSI, IBM, LG and so on ... but I had never a relationship to my Notebooks like to my Alienwares.

Why?

Well, the build quality is really outstandig! The machines are fast but they are also very quiet! Their cooling system is way better than the loud fans of a Clevo or something like that ...

Right now I have an AW 18 "complete edition" and even with the 4930 CPU the machine is absolute quiet if I use it in the Office mode ... and even while gaming it is much more quiet than my old MSI GT70 was ... and yes: I am willing to pay for this luxury.

I also like the 18.4" screen, it is simply amazing and outstanding ...

Then ... I have to say, that I cannot complain about the service. In the last 8 years I had five Aliens and I had around ten times to contact the service ... I had never a problem: Within one or two days somebody came and fixed the problem ... yes, service like that costs money ... but I don't want to miss the feeling that, if my machine dies, somebody will fix it within a very short time ... at my home!

Well, for mobile computing I love my Asus Zenbook ... but at home: Alienware is simply a class of it's own!

 

It all comes down to what you want, Alienware machines are basically the most premium line of gaming laptops you can get (assuming you judge such things by price).