Just what the hell is Alienware?

GEC: Discuss gaming, computers and electronics and venture into the bizarre world of STGODs.

Moderator: Thanas

Post Reply
User avatar
2000AD
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 6666
Joined: 2002-07-03 06:32pm
Location: Leeds, wishing i was still in Newcastle

Just what the hell is Alienware?

Post by 2000AD »

I keep on hearing about how people have got Alienware PCs and shit. Just what's so special about them?
Ph34r teh eyebrow!!11!Writers Guild Sluggite Pawn of Chaos WYGIWYGAINGW so now i have to put ACPATHNTDWATGODW in my sig EBC-Honorary Geordie
Hammerman! Hammer!
User avatar
The Kernel
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 7438
Joined: 2003-09-17 02:31am
Location: Kweh?!

Re: Just what the hell is Alienware?

Post by The Kernel »

2000AD wrote:I keep on hearing about how people have got Alienware PCs and shit. Just what's so special about them?
They are the biggest and best known Gaming PC factory. In other words, they design their PC's almost exclusively for gaming, and they have been very successful at it.
User avatar
Vendetta
Emperor's Hand
Posts: 10895
Joined: 2002-07-07 04:57pm
Location: Sheffield, UK

Post by Vendetta »

Basically, they take top-spec off the shelf parts, and charge you an arm and a leg to put them together and paint the case green.
User avatar
Durandal
Bile-Driven Hate Machine
Posts: 17927
Joined: 2002-07-03 06:26pm
Location: Silicon Valley, CA
Contact:

Post by Durandal »

You see, there's this thing called the internet. It has these things called search engines. You can type a term in (say ... "alienware") and find websites related to this term. A very popular search engine, known as Google gave a lot of results for a search on "alienware." The first result is a link to www.alienware.com. Amazingly enough, this is a link to AlienWare's website. All you have to do is click ... and you're there!

So join us next week for tutorial number 2, "Uncovering The Secrets of The 'Back' Button."
Damien Sorresso

"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
User avatar
phongn
Rebel Leader
Posts: 18487
Joined: 2002-07-03 11:11pm

Post by phongn »

Vendetta wrote:Basically, they take top-spec off the shelf parts, and charge you an arm and a leg to put them together and paint the case green.
The cases aren't even that attractive IMHO. I'd rather splurge on something from Falcon NW if I'm going to waste cash on one of those boutique computers.
User avatar
Anarchist Bunny
Foul, Cruel, and Bad-Tempered Rodent
Posts: 5458
Joined: 2002-07-12 02:08am
Contact:

Post by Anarchist Bunny »

phongn wrote:
Vendetta wrote:Basically, they take top-spec off the shelf parts, and charge you an arm and a leg to put them together and paint the case green.
The cases aren't even that attractive IMHO. I'd rather splurge on something from Falcon NW if I'm going to waste cash on one of those boutique computers.
You know what is a beautiful PC?

http://www.junkmachine.com/nintendo/mem ... rial.shtml
//This Line Blank as of 7/15/07\\
Ornithology Subdirector: SD.net Dept. of Biological Sciences
Wiilite
Image
Axis Kast
Vympel's Bitch
Posts: 3893
Joined: 2003-03-02 10:45am
Location: Pretoria, South Africa
Contact:

Post by Axis Kast »

If Dell is the Nissan of the computer world, Alienware makes Bentleys.
User avatar
phongn
Rebel Leader
Posts: 18487
Joined: 2002-07-03 11:11pm

Post by phongn »

Axis Kast wrote:If Dell is the Nissan of the computer world, Alienware makes Bentleys.
Gah, car analogies.

Alienware certainly does not make Bentleys.
Ypoknons
Jedi Knight
Posts: 999
Joined: 2003-05-13 06:02am
Location: Manhattan (school year), Hong Kong (vacations)
Contact:

Post by Ypoknons »

Big differance between the two worlds. In cars, you can design your own mechcanicals - your engine can use more cylinders, a turbo, more overhead cams and displacement. Everyone basically designs their own engines, chassis, and suspension setups - there is a lot of varitation between brands. Few off the shelf parts are used.

In the computer world, everyone is just taking everything from a few sources. A P4 3.0C CPU is always that, a P4 3.0C CPU - and it's not like highly performance memory or a fan on your 9800 is going to mean a lot of differance the way say, a WRX turbo engine separates it from well subcompacts (and I don't think Alienware tweaks your memory timings either, but I could be mistaken). As Vendetta said, off-the-shelf parts are off-the-shelf parts.

Well, I don't really mind that case :) But then again, I prefer non-door cases. Of course, that Voodoo PC paint...
User avatar
Eleas
Jaina Dax
Posts: 4896
Joined: 2002-07-08 05:08am
Location: Malmö, Sweden
Contact:

Post by Eleas »

Durandal wrote:So join us next week for tutorial number 2, "Uncovering The Secrets of The 'Back' Button."
Next question. If I should go visit these people, am I in danger of being anally probed?
Björn Paulsen

"Travelers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves."
--Chinua Achebe
User avatar
phongn
Rebel Leader
Posts: 18487
Joined: 2002-07-03 11:11pm

Post by phongn »

No. We guaruntee it. 100% or your money-back.
User avatar
Shadowhawk
Jedi Knight
Posts: 669
Joined: 2002-07-03 07:19pm
Location: Western Washington
Contact:

Post by Shadowhawk »

phongn wrote:
Axis Kast wrote:If Dell is the Nissan of the computer world, Alienware makes Bentleys.
Gah, car analogies.

Alienware certainly does not make Bentleys.
No, they certainly don't. It's more like a ready-made tricked-out ricer. That costs about 30% more than the parts, labor, and warranty would account for.
Shadowhawk
Eric from ASVS
"Sufficiently advanced technology is often indistinguishable from magic." -- Clarke's Third Law
"Then, from sea to shining sea, the God-King sang the praises of teflon, and with his face to the sunshine, he churned lots of butter." -- Body of a pharmacy spam email

Here's my avatar, full-sized (Yoshitoshi ABe's autograph in my Lain: Omnipresence artbook)
User avatar
Eleas
Jaina Dax
Posts: 4896
Joined: 2002-07-08 05:08am
Location: Malmö, Sweden
Contact:

Post by Eleas »

phongn wrote:No. We guaruntee it. 100% or your money-back.
No, I just wanted to know. I actually wouldn't mind.
Björn Paulsen

"Travelers with closed minds can tell us little except about themselves."
--Chinua Achebe
User avatar
desertjedi
Padawan Learner
Posts: 386
Joined: 2002-11-10 05:06am
Location: Alpine, CA
Contact:

Post by desertjedi »

Seems overpriced for the fancy case. Although the laptops do intrigue me, I found out they ar more or less Seger Notebooks, without the fancy paint job....
It startled him even more when just after he was awarded the Galactic Institute's Prize for Extreme Cleverness he got lynched by a rampaging mob of respectable physicists who had finally realized that the one thing they really couldn't stand was a smart ass. - The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. - Douglas Adams
User avatar
Soulman
Padawan Learner
Posts: 331
Joined: 2002-07-04 02:27pm

Post by Soulman »

My new Alienware is arriving next week. The price isn't actually that much higher than the other PCs I looked at with an equivalent spec especially as most of those PCs would have been built with cheap motherboards and suchlike just so they can jam in a processor with a big number. Another thing is that they fully support you if you want to upgrade unlike most manufacturers and they have excellent tech support.
Post Reply