"I was looking for a replacement for my primary system which i use for Video Editing. I compared to HP and Dell but when it came down to it, Alienware had the best system for the price and could deliver a whole week earlier. (Though I wish I had waited to get the back-lit keyboard)
I had an issue with the ordering process as it did not credit the shipping as advertised. However, once I contacted them and they noticed that there was a script error on their website they quickly credited the amount on my account.
Overall I am very satisfied with the system. The only hang-up I have is the redesigned number keys... The period is above and the pad is a bit squished compared to my old HP..but I've already got used to it.
This is the only computer I have had that I actually get people stopping me and gawking over it!
Great OOB experience btw...I brought it straight from Fedex to the local Starbucks and had it running in minutes."
"I bought an aurora with dual graphics cards and a quad core amd processor. It is fast, very fast. The fans do get a bit loud when im pushing the system but I think its worth it for the performance. I would deffenatly buy from them again."
"Everythign about this order has been amazing. The order tracking was fantastic, the system itself is unbelieveable, and the extras were a very nice touch. I had always heard that Alienware was expensive, but the system itself was actually competitively priced. I will definately order from Alienware again."
"I wanted a system that cold play the est games and that I could customize myself. I decided on Alienware because they offered a student discount of 10%. When I ordered my system, for some reason, they weren't able to apply the discount right away and said they would do it by my first bill. I paid by opening a titanium account. My system shipped fairly quickly. But I soon had problems as my screen would have funny colors or just not turn on at all. It took me three tries with customer support and they ended up diagnosing that my video card (which I have a good one) was faulty and they sent me w new one which came fairly quickly. Although, I had to install it myself...luckily I had some small screw drivers, it started working fine. All in all the system runs well, but has some small quirks. Like it overheats without a cooling mat and the battery doesn't last through a movie. My biggest pet peeve though it not being able to pay my Titanium Account online. I bought a new computer and I can't pay online. I only have a checkbook to pay my computer bill."
"I had a bad experience with this company. I wanted a good system but I also wanted a quiet unit and I called their sales people prior to purchase to inquire about the noise level of their systems. I was told that with the water cooling option, I would not even need the acoustic dampening option because the system would be very "quiet". Of course no data was offered. I took the bait and ordered, but I added the acoustic dampening also anwyay (for $99). The system was very noisy when it arrived and probably more than 6dB louder than my 7 yr old Dell, which could not even be heard when the Alienware system was on. When I called to ask them about this, they said the fans could be slowed but the unit may overheat. I finally asked for an RMA to return the unit and was charged a 15% re-stocking fee! The Customer Service rep made the claim that "the system is quiet" and then admitted that he meant the quietest of *their* systems. But he had no data on other systems (even Dell, their parent company) and I really disagree that Alienware and "quiet" should be used together in any sentence. Either they should represent the systems accurately with noise figures in dBA or be honest that such large units with higher power graphics and processors are going to produce more noise and heat than a standard type desktop system, and stay away from the "quiet" claim. My restocking fee is on the order of $350 - as much as a low-end desktop system. I feel that Alienware was completely unfair in charging that. I would have considered them for a laptop or some other replacement, but after the customer service intransigence on the issue, I would not patronize the company further.
Update: Oct 15, 2008: Unit returned 9/30. They acknowledged it. NO Refund was ever received. Company ignores emails! I had to dispute the charge for the returned system with my credit card company.
My new Puget system: (see new review) is truly a quiet system!
Update 11-05-2008: Alien finally issues a credit but makes mistake, then finally after about 10 days makes the correction I asked for which was another $109 in my favor. They called, I called back spent 5 minutes going through maze to reach the original cust service guy who told me the letter I wrote them was read by their President. He said "no way" on refunding the 15% re-stock fee! So there you have it: The President of Alienware believes it is fine for his sales people to misprepresent their products and then blames me the customer for complaining about it, charging me a $360 re-stock fee plus $73 shipping back to them for a unit that was not as described. Buyer Beware!
Update: 12-1-2008: The $109 credit was applied by Alienware. No luck on disputing charge and filed complaint with state's attorney general. Alienware is now emailing/calling me to offer me $50 in "Amazon coupons" to somehow rectify this. They can't buy my satisfaction with coupons, and they remind me each time that they "cannot" refund the restock fee, which is the only right thing to do after a fraudulent sale. While they seem to have devoted a lot of energy to my sale, they have not done the right thing to solve the problem - complete refund and reprimand of the sales person/people giving out false information."
"I have had this m15x laptop for about two months now, and I haven't had a single issue with it. The customer service I have received has been phenomenal and I'm very satisfied. The laptop is absolutely blazing fast and looks better than any laptop on the market if you ask me. I got this laptop for a very good price, and is a mid-range system. My friends all envy the lit keyboard and AlienFX, but little do they know that under the hood it's a beast."
"I ordered the Alienware Area51mx17. I ordered it online and I found the process very easy. I did ask for chat help and I got disconnected the first time when I clicked on the Vista ActiveX alert message, but the second chat answered my question. After the order I had confirmation emails of build date and delivery date. The out of the box experience was the best I have ever had. It was exactly what I ordered. I was very pleased on startup. The Alienware AlienFX system lighting is VERY COOL!! and I highly recommend this option. Everything worked perfectly on startup. I really enjoy it's high-end gaming capability."
"For many years I have wanted to buy an Alienware computer. They have always been known as the BEST gaming computers in the world. I have started a Web/Graphic design company and could finally afford an Alienware. It absolutely lived up to all of my expectations. It is certainly a mobile powerhouse. Buying it was as easy as could be and they provide excellent tracking updates for your order. I highly recommend these computers to anyone looking for true power and I tell everyone I can about it."
"Alienware was excellent throughout the entire purchasing process. I had some bill problems with my bank and Alienware was very quick to keep checking back with myself and my bank to ensure that i get the computer shipped to me as soon as possible. The computer works like a dream and i can play all the games that are and will be coming out in the future. Thanks Alienware!"
"Received the alienware in outstanding packaging. I watched other people on youtube take out their alienware and all of that great stuff and mine was the same exact way. I didn't have any parts missing and the laptop has blown my mind away with it's performance. I was quite wow'd when I turned it on. I love my alienware and will definately buy another one."
"My Alienware laptop is an excellent product 10 stars out of 10. THe only critism is that support is not open nights nor weekends. I had to call microsoft for a Vista driver related problem because Alienware was closed."
"Alienware has great products and great prices. The machine was built and ready to ship in no time. Great customer service. You can't go wrong."
"Tech Support: pretty helpful although they could not definitively tell me benefits of low latency RAM for the cost increase
On Line Chat: very helpful, not as knowledgeable about certain programs
Phone Sales: very helpful; best service offered; able to answer all questions (minus the RAM latency question); knew all programs and made intelligence suggestions. Walked me though the process, got me my military customer perks, and signed me up for the one year same as cash offer.
Payment processing: a little iffy; I had one mistake with my order (I wanted 4 GB of RAM and got 2 (to be fair I can't remember that part of the conversation) The rep easily fixed it but said charging the amount on my Alienware account would delay the order by 72 hours so I used my own card. I also never got a confirmation of the order change and the print out in my Alienware book also has the wrong RAM amount (Vista says there is the correct 4 GB in the system).
Shipping: The order took about a week longer than the orginal estimate on the web site but I customized the entire rig to my liking, Right is better than Quick!
My new Alienware: This is my second Alienware rig in 4 years. It is better in all respects than the first and beat my expectations. The cabling and interior are very well done. The case feels just a sturdy and is smaller. The power supply has the best cable I've seen (I have purchased over 500 systems for different parts of the company I work for). Performance is great and i can't wait to get Crysis Warhead and see how this system performs.
Uses: I am a First Person Shooter FEAR, CRYSIS, CALL of DUTY, etc) so my systems requirements are high.
Low points: Video cards have been dropping in price (as well as other components) I watched the Alienware web site for 3 months and prices did not drop accordingly there. I did pay for the expertise, and craftsmanship but as a savy automation buyer with a brother that does IT for a huge firm I think I paid slightly too much for some components. I opted to buy based on my previous experience, previous sytem performance and Alienware's great tech support should anything go wrong.
High Points: Alienware lets you customize everything and they have higher end parts. I compared about 10 brands (NW, DEll, VooDoo, etc) the price vs the customization made Alienware the best choice for my money. I paid for exactly what I wanted and Alienware advised me when a power supply or RAM or configuration might not be ideal.
Overall: great system design, great craftsmanship, very good performance (I did not buy the highest end system), great sales and tech support, A very good price, Thank Alienware!"
"I had very little trouble with ordering my new area-51 7500. The alienware site allows for easy customization of the computer that I was planning on ordering. The site kept me up on each of the stages of my order and my computer was shipped a day after the expected shipping date. I had trouble updating the machine and its drivers once I got it, but that's what I get for not letting the company do it since I was hoping on getting a earlier ship date. Otherwise I've had no problems with the computer since I've got it set up besides the fact that the case is enormous. It is nice to finally have a computer that can actually run the games I want to play though. "
"Very nice machine very happy with overall looks and performance... greatly impressed with customer service and the speed of which item was ready and shipped.. will definately order from them again.."