Alien WOW
Written: Jul 31 '01
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Pros: Build some of the fastest computers around. Beautiful cases.
Cons: Not for the budget oriented. Suspect customer service.
The Bottom Line: Alienware is a must have for serious gamers. Wait no longer, search for the change under the couch and put in an order today, you will not regret it!
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| eersnherd's Full Review: Alienware Area51:Aurora |
I am the proud owner of a sleek, new Alienware 1.4GHz AMD Athlon and the only thing I can say is WOW. Before you accuse me of being an Alienware PR rep, let me assure you that I have my questions about the company. Let us start with the ordering process and proceed to today.
Ordering Process:
My P200 MMX from Sony was just not cutting it anymore. It took me 3 minutes for my computer to boot into Win95 and multiplayer games were all but unplayable on my dinosaur. Becoming disgruntled, I saw only one course I could take....BUY A NEW COMPUTER.
I was having a difficult time in deciding on which brand to order. . .Gateway? ? ? Dell? ? ? Circuit City stock? ? ?
NO I thought to myself, I am a gamer and I deserve nothing less than the best. Thus I began my trek to find an awesome Gaming rig.
Thankfully, I am a subscriber to PCGamer and saw quite a few online gaming PC companies advertising in their magazine. I went from site to site: Falcon-NW, Hypersonic, and Alienware configuring my system all the while looking for as much information on each company as I could. I decided upon Alienware after reading the testimonials of satisfied customers and gamers (not to mention it was the middle of the road PC in price: Falcon NW being the most expensive).
After visiting the bank $$$$$$$$$$ and having a cashier's check made out to Alienware, I went online and ordered my system. My specs looked something like this: AMD 1.4 GHZ, 384 PC 2100 DDR, 40 GB HD, GeForce3, Silver mid tower, SB Live Platinum 5.1, Cambridge FPS2000 Speakers, Plextor 16x/10x/40x CD-RW, Silver KB, and Pioneer 16x DVD player.
Myself, I could save some money because I didn't need a monitor (my SONY Trinitron works fine), mouse, or Modem. After configuring my system and ordering it online, I was given an order number and told that I could check its status online. Unwilling to wait for an Alienware rep to contact me, I called Alienware myself to confirm the order. I was told I would receive my PC in 3 weeks time.
TOM PETTY IS RIGHT: THE WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART
I had noticed that my order was not being updated on Alienware's tracking system, and I had heard some people post that they called, and Alienware said they were too busy to update the orders. Becoming curious, I called Alienware the week of the estimated arrival of my system. Then, I was confronted with the ugly truth. . . .my system had been delayed. Alienware had ran into incredible stability problems with the MIC or FIC (?) motherboards that they were using and had to switch to the ASUS A7M266 for DDR.
This depressed me very much as I had planned on having my computer there within the week. Nevertheless, I remained calm and composed. I was told it would probably be a week or two before they started on my computer. I struggled through another two weeks only to call my sales representative and hear that it would probably be Aug 2 before I received my computer. This angered me greatly, but once more, I kept my composure and told my representative that I was sure that this was a stressful time for both him and his customers. . . he thanked me for understanding.
Preparing myself for another 2 weeks, I had to put the ideas of my new system to the back of my head. Then one day, I returned to the Alienware site and went to track my order (I had been for over a month with no change "Order Recieved") and found that my system was in production. I was ecstatic and began to check back frequently. In two days, my system was shipped and on the way. Alienware provided the FEDEX tracking number, which allowed me to follow my system as it traveled from city to city (2nd Day Air).
Finally, on July 24, the FedEx truck backed into my driveway.
POST DELIVERY
I lifted two boxes off of the back of the truck (lazy FedEx man) ;) one being my system which came in a white box with a green Alienware symbol on it, and the other box being my speakers. I rushed inside to get a knife and hurriedly opened the two presents awaiting me.
Of course the speakers were in one box, so I opened the one with the CPU in it. Upon opening the box, I found myself awash in a sea of green packing material. The black book was on top. For those who do not know, the black book contains the specs of your machine as well as benchmarks and a setup diagram. Futher down, I found a white envelope, which had my free FuNc mousepad (with any Alienware order). Finally, the silver case showed itself and I was astonished at its beauty. I pulled my case up and out of the box (somewhat heavy I might add) and then I found that I received a full tower when I had ordered a mid tower system. A piece of paper was inserted into my "black book" stating that my system had been upgraded to a Dragon case. I was happy with this, because I had been hearing of problems with AMD overheatings. The Dragon case has plenty of room as well as plenty of fans. I soon disconnected my older computer and moved the Alienware in its place and connected the neccesities.
POWER UP
The moment I had been waiting for was here at last! I powered up my computer and was instantly gratified. . .the system booted up in 10 seconds....a long cry from the 3 minutes I was used to. I explored WindowsME for a little while and noted that there was not much in the way of software included on the system. So, being the usual gamer, I installed some of my own.
After Day One, I had installed: Half-Life and Homeworld, and was licking my lips to install the many games the came with my SoundBlaster Platinum 5.1 (software package also comes with SoundBlaster X Gamer 5.1). Everything is stable and is as fast as a Lamborghini (sp?)
Thus far, I have burned 2 CDs (very quick I must add), watched Gladiator on my DVD rom (excellent!) and have had a cable modem installed (Half-Life ping went from 150 on my old system to 60 on the new one!)
FINAL THOUGHTS
1. I didn't appreciate Alienware customer reps giving me the runaround about when my system would be produced.
2. This computer is not for anyone except the die-hard gamer, if you want software or a college computer...go for Gateway or Dell.
3. Software package that ships with SoundBlaster Platinum 5.1 includes: Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, Thief II, MDK2, etc.
4. You will be hard pressed to find a more aesthetically beautiful case.
5. Alienware is somewhat expensive. You can buy the parts and put it together yourself for significantly less, but if it breaks, you need to be a computer god to fix it on your own.
6. Benchmark: 3Dmark2000: 9056
7. GeForce 3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8. This computer raises the temperature in my room! I'm hot!!
9. I noticed after the motherboard problem was announced, if you configured a system using the exact components I ordered in early June, you would have to pay roughly $300 more.
If you decide to look elsewhere for a new "Gaming" computer, I recommend you take a look at falcon-nw, hypersonic pc, and voodoo pcs.
Also, I can be contacted at eersnherd@charter.net if you need any further information about my computer.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2,365.89
Operating System: Windows
Processor: AMD Athlon (K7)
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
eersnherd
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Member: Travis Gibson
Location: Hurricane, WV
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
22 year old with BA in Psychology
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