f13.net

http://www.alienware.com/build_vs_buy_pages/

Consider me sold.

Yeah, and they only charge you double what it would cost to build it yourself.  What a bargain!

Alienware can bite me!  Got an Alienware last year - they charged me when I ordered it, it was well over a month until I received it (and that was with contacting customer service several times after they promised it initially within 2 weeks).  Compare that to the 3 Dells I got last year where they didn't charge me until they were sent and I received them in less than a week.  Yea, it is a nice pink computer, but for what I spent and the hassle, it wasn't worth it at all.

You drive a pink computer?

I don't really see the big deal here.  Alienware charges you double price so you have a premade and fully tweaked computer so you don't have to go through the trouble.   What?  You didn't know this already?   It's the same reason Dell (http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/dell.htm) charges $3000 for a $500 processor on a $200 motherboard with a $125 hard drive and $80 video card.  

Alienware also charges a "gamers tax" for rich folk dumb enough to think that spending $5000 on a particular rig will magically allow it to run games better than the computer components that made it up would otherwise be capable of production.    However, the "gamers tax" is evident in any piece of computer hardware with the word "Gamer" attached to it, Alienware or otherwise.

The only reason to be pissed off at Alienware is the envy over their ludicrious success that assures an "Buy Alienware!" pamphlet in every big name game box you buy.

I think Alienware's approach here was mostly bullshit, and actually insulting to a majority of their buyers, since the main point they like to keep bringing up is basically "You're too stupid to make one on your own."

Then there's the lying.

If you're buying Alienware, you ARE too stupid to be building your own.
If you weren't, you wouldn't need the likes of Alienware.

P.T. Barnum lives...

I read through most of the items on the left side of that page and while they definitely paint a "worst case" scenario for the BiY side I didn't see anything that was an outright lie. It might be insulting to somebody who can build her own computer but then she probably wouldn't be buying from Alienware. Those pages seem targeted at a person who has never built her own computer before but was thinking about it and Alienware is trying to convince her not to go the BiY route.

I have no problems with this, it's just capitalism in all it's glory.  Those same retards who pay through the nose for an Alienware are also the same people that buy the brand spanking new video cards when they first come out allowing me to buy the same card 3 months later for around $100.  I say drive on, baby.  Your success doesn't hurt me one iota.

While I think the tone of the presentation is a little condescending, I've got to agree with the folks who don't see a problem with it.  The majority here is technically-oriented geeks, so of course you're going to have a problem with it.  

Saying it's stupid would be along the same lines of me mocking you all for paying $300,000k for your house when you could have done the drawings and GC work yourself for only $175 or so in material and sub work.  They're providing a service for the non-technical and making a profit off of it.  Wooo capatalism, scary.

I absolutely agree.
It's not like anything they claim is untrue, they just paint a really bad worst case scenario. I have an Aurora in my kitchen which I'm reviewing. I disagree with the "First to Market" and wouldn't put any value on the "Extras" claim (who cares about t-shirts and shit). The rest is accurate (allthough I have no way of really testing the warranty-service and 24/7 support... apart from keeping the thing, which isn't going too well...). The only question is, how much is that worth to you?
I'd rather spend the money on more hardware and build myself - but I'm a geek, that actually enjoy looking inside these things.
Most people aren't - that's why Michael Dell is a billionaire.
Alienware is Porsche to Dells Volkswagen and as long as people would like to pay a premium for flash - they're welcome to the business. Capitalism working as intended and all that.

Thats why I got a powerbook. :>

I only game now on my xbox, so I didn't need a PC box. And, if something comes out that I seriously want to play on the pc, I just load it up on my house rig.

'Company in marketing speel describes own product as 'a good thing' and 'better than alternatives' shocker, film at eleven'.


Alienware make high spec computers for people who wouldn't know how to put them together, or for whom $500 is worth a couple of days of their time and a warranty. For some people the factors described on their webpage are probably relevant, for people who browse here, probably less so. I'm sure it pays lot of people's mortgages. Good luck to them.

What's next? Threads about soap powder adverts complaining that they suggest that brand X soap powder gives better results than whatever you use?

"There are many less-than-reputable distributors that are only interested in a quick sale rather than in your satisfaction."

They say that next to windows that look suspiciously like amazon and newegg.  Newegg is a less-than-reputable distrubutor?  Well it appears roughly 95% of the build it yourself crowd has just signed their clusterfuck warrant.

Bah.  I regret this laptop more by the day sometimes.

Yep, sort of pepto pink colored.  ;)

Yes. Because we all know that Apple hardware isn't overpriced. ;)

Whoooosh! That's the sound of his point going over your head.

Apple's the same deal. Use the same money to build your own pc and you'll get way more bang for your buck (which is mostly relevant for gaming). To some people this isn't the most important part, so they buy Apple because they do other stuff good.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd love to buy an Alienware setop for myself (watercooled, because the ordinary one is noisy as fuck) and an iBook for the missus.
Instead I build a powerfull rig for me, let her use the hand-me-down laptop and spend the savings on an expensive camera, which I don't know how to build myself.

You can't build a homebrew Apple Macintosh system. Too many proprietary parts.

Retard.  I sure as hell am not going to waste my money on a cheap Canon when I can poke a hole through a cardboard box and expose the film inside by opening a flap across the hole real quick.

No, but you can still compare most of the specs with what you can build - but those specs just isn't what Apples target demographics focus on.

Hanzii for teh win!!11

 Main reason I got the powerbook, was I got it used from a friend, for a damn good price, and spent the rest of the disposable cash I had on other things.

 Besides, it means I don't need to run a bsd box either for my pitiful coding projects.

Given unlimited funds I'd just have a PC for gaming and a Mac for surfing, productivity, etc.  Unfortunately, I don't live in the world of unlimited funds, so I have a main PC for gaming and productivity and a couple of other older boxes for stuff like doing Xvid rips and acting as a media computer for my TV.

Ah well, such is life.

Yep, I was a sucker - too much money in my hands and it was THE toy I really wanted.  The way I looked at it, why not indulge every once in a while (especially for something you use all the time)?  

I really wanted a pink computer - as irrational as it sounds, that was my main reason for getting an Alienware.  Prior to buying it, I searched all over for pink cases (I had planned on building one), however, when I didn't find the case I wanted and didn't find any other companies offering pink computers, I just bought it.  Now that I have had my pink computer, it isn't such a novel thing for me anymore, but once, what the hell.  In another year, looking forward to reusing the case when I build my next one.  ;)

Aye... I just helped a friend of my with his BiY upgrade, we put the new parts in the alienware case of his old machine.  They are pretty nice cases to work with.

Alkiera

Whoosh! That's the sound of you missing my joke. Or was the wink smilie not big enough? ;)

And I don't want to get into the old PC vs. Mac debate again.

With the exception of the cases, you can build a homebrew Apple system.

Without the Apple firmware chip, you can not run the Mac OS.

Go, go, LinuxPPC.

Damn shame about that. Guess I'll stick with PC. Still gonna buy my Powerbook in February though.

Just in time too. The Macworld Expo is coming up, which more often than not means a new product lineup.

After building 5 PC's over the last 10 years, I decided to buy a pre-made box and got an Alienware Area 51 in May of 2003.  I haven't had any problems with it, but I won't get another one.  A couple reasons I got it was I bought into the "best gaming rig" hype, and the $2700 was being provided by my girlfriend.

Mine is bright yellow.

I'm also pricing out parts to build my next PC.

Their business model is great though.  Buy cheap parts from Taiwan, slap an alien head on it, and charge 1000-1500 dollars more.  That is the power of brand reputation and recognition.

Mine is "Martian Red" heh.

I had a PC back in the early 90's, but I've always been more of a Mac user (i.e. less savvy than your average PC geek). I still use Macs for just about everything else, but the Alienware machine is here for "gaming".

It's OK, I guess, but I won't do it again. Getting back into the PC world helped me brush up on a few things, so I know more than enough to build my own the next time around.

Gotta love capitalism! :)

And don't forget one of the most important factors of owning an Alienware PC(this is actually part of their buisness mode, believe it or notl), having the ability to say to Joe User that you have an...ALIENWARE PC!

Like it was stated before. Its just like buying a car. Why does my buddies neighbor have the GT500? Because he can buy one with his X-mas bonus, and those around him can't and it runs reeeeaaaalll nice :P

What are ya, some kind of girl? Oh, wait...

If I had the disposable income, I might buy some ridiculously overpriced thing at Alienware just for the geek cred factor. Until such time, I am just as happy  having the local store throw a custom system together for me for 1/4 the price.

ColorCases.com (http://www.colorcases.com)

(http://www.colorcases.com/Cases/images/100series/CaseBase/devilcat.jpg)

If you're not running Mac OS, it's not really an Apple system.  Nor can you run mainframe OSes on PCs, or vice versa.  Yes, your OS instruction set has to match up.  Then again, your motherboard form has to match the case form, etc.  Can't slot an Intel CPU into an Athalon mobo, but that doesn't mean you can't build an Intel homebrew...

Main difference between Apple and PC homebrews is the limitation of choices (and it's a BIG difference), but yes, you can build your own apple box.

If you catch one of the many good promos/stackable coupon codes at sites like http://www.fatwallet.com, it is very easy to buy a Dell pc for less than the do it yourself cost.

Some of these boxes are sold at negative gross margin to Dell, and Dell gets a much better deal on components than you will.

Too bad it is red and not pink, but it is kind of cute anyway.  :)

Edit - not that anyone cares - but just found pink cases for sale now (http://www.tekido.com/sample_pc6070_hot_pink.htm).  Starts at $449.90 for the case alone and with keyboard/mouse it is $599.85.

Except that 99.5% of people define a Macintosh as its operating system. Building a Motorola CPU box running Unix is easily doable, but very very few peopel will call it a Macintosh.

So is it a monopolistic practice if I can't run your OS on anything but your overpriced hardware because of a proprietary chip? In other words, it is something I cannot remove even though I don't want it. ;)

Naw. I suppose you need the majority of market share before the word monopoly can really apply. Ah, well. I can dream.

It's an implementation of Open Firmware (which is what DIY PPC machines use), with the addition of some Apple specific code to bootstrap the OS, among other things. Not having it would be like not having a BIOS on your PC (though it's a little more than that). It's one of the reasons why Macs are more hassle free and appliance-like than PC's.

Yeah, you want it.

It's not really monopolistic though. This is the way most computers, consoles, and digital devices are made, with the exception of the x86 PC and a few others.

Apple hardware isn't that overpriced though. That was true pre-2000, but it's somewhat of a myth these days. Nowadays, there isn't that much difference between equivalant PC's. Rumor has it that they'll be announcing a sub-$500 Mac at Macworld this week too.

True geek cred comes from building your own rig, and modding your own case (bonus points if you used a chainsaw!).  Movie Geek cred comes from shit like owning an Alienware, hacking the fucking Gibson, or reprogramming communication satellites from Tim Robbin's laptop.

I'll spray paint a case pink for you for $10 labor.

That cat shaped one will cost you though ;-).