Another Spin On Alienware

[HansGroenewold]

Hello,

I read these forums a lot and have the utmost respect for everyone who frequents this web site. You guys have been here for this rookie when I needed it and I have been very appreciative. I've been wanting to do an upgrade for some time now and finally decided to take the plunge. First, I was going to replace just the motherboard, CPU, memory, and video card at a cost of about $1000. That included the 6800 Nvidea Ultra 256mb card.

Then I started pricing what it would cost to build a PC with an AMD 64 3500+, a good motherboard, 1GB PC3200 memory, and a Nvidea 6800 Ultra 256 MB card. To build it from scratch would be anywhere from $1300-$1500. However, my expertise in doing that is questionable at best.

Then, I priced custom built PC's from AddictPC, WidowPC, Deviant PC's and a few others. I ruled out Alienware because of the price until I checked them out. The prices varied from $1850 from Addict Pc to about $2400 from WidowPC. I ended up getting an Alienware Aurora for about $2354. and I end up getting a rebate on the $119. shipping charge and 0% financing if I pay it off in a year.

Truth be told, if I had to lay out the cash up front to do this, I would have built it myself to save the money and I would have been here every day to have you guys sort out my mess. I basically went with Alienware because of the financing. However, I was surprised that their pricing was more competitive than I had previously thought.

I read that long post started by someone who posted that page from Alienware discouraging people from building their own and of course, it's in their best interest to do so although they stretched it to their advantage. I have also read that they sometimes take a long time to get but they make a good gaming PC. I read with interest the claims from WidowPC where they basically slander Alienware that they are overpriced amongst other things. I would think you could advertise your product without slamming someone else's products. However, the same equipped PC from WidowPC would have cost about $100. more. and I would have had to also pay sales tax because they are in my state.

I know most would think why spend about $800. to $1000. more than necesarry to get a PC already made. My reasoning was this: My expertise is questionable, the price was competitive with other custom manufacturers, and the financing was a no brainer. Parting with $1300-$1500. up front is more painfull to me than spreading out $2300. over a year. Plus I get a PC that I can plug in and enjoy right from the start. Here's a kick: If you use the PayPal financing, you pay $84. a month for 118. months on a $2000. balance. That adds up to $9832. can you believe that? $7832. in financing charges for almost ten years.

In closing, are the ill feelings in these forums towards Alienware because people here feel they were slandered by that build it yourself versus buying it from them page on their web site? Other than the fact that they take a long time and some people take issues with certain customer service folks, the consensus about Alienware PC's seems to be positive. Time will tell if I made the right decision.

Sincerely,
Hans Groenewold

 

[DaveSimmons]

As long as you buy quality parts and run everything at stock speed, most people will not have any problems putting together their own system, it just takes a phillips screwdriver and a little time. Spending $800 extra to save a day's work seems outrageous to the people scraping together $1500 for a dream PC.

A lot of people here are on a tight budget -- many are trying to build a complete system for just the $800 that Alienware overcharges you.

Dell is much more reasonable, except that P4s in general are a lousy buy for gamers right now. When I was buying a new system in December '03 the Dell price was maybe $200 over the $1,700 that I spent. Since I work full time I seriously considered being lazy and letting Dell do the work, but they didn't offer some of the parts I wanted like a Pioneer DVD+/- burner.

 

[HansGroenewold]

Trust me, I watch every penny myself and I am of very modest means. I would love to have spared myself the added expense for my dream PC. I don't have any other hobbies so that is how I'm justifying this expense. I just know had I started this project myself, it would not have gone well for me.

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[Looney]

I don't know why people see it as an achievement to build your own system... whoopiedoo, you were able to assemble parts together. I guess if your life is really lacking in achievement, this might be a good substitute.

Not everybody has the time (the most time consuming is reading up on everything) or patience to build their own system.

 

[Alptraum]

I have always built my personal PC's and I like the fact that I can save money that way (though if somebody is building on the extreme low end its hard to beat Dell now) and get the exact components I want.

However, I can understand why Alienware or other makers are appealing to many people. They may not know how to build one and don't want to take the time to learn for whatever reason. Plus they can generally deal with just one company for any customer support wether its how do I install this or that or peice x broke. You certainly pay a premium for many pre-built systems but I can easily understand why its worth it to a lot of people.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I say more power to you Post back with your initial experience when you get it.

 

[HansGroenewold]

Thanks, I will. I certainly don't have money to burn and thought this out well before making my decision. One part of me wanted to try and build my own just to see if I could do it. The other part of me started thinking about what could go wrong and I saw my dream PC turning into a nightmare. The premium paid is worth it to me to get a system ready to go. The financing cinched it for me though. Had it not been for the 0 % financing, I would have gone another way.

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[Todd33]

Well said OP. If you get what you want and are happy, then don't let some net geeks who love to play with BIOS setting and dip switches tell you you got ripped off. I would love to make a few clicks and get a new machine with no hassle, but I'm too cheap and have all the knowledge to build, so I do. Maybe after tinkering around with your AW, you might build next time, maybe you won't. Remember, time is money, so most home build cost more than they seem to.

 

[meltdown75]

Part of building the PC for a lot of people here is the fun factor. If you see it as more of a headache than a challenge, then you are making your own personal decision on buying a complete & assembled system and it is going to be the right decision for you no matter what anyone says.

I've built a few PCs and I know my way around them fairly ok now, but I'm still proud of myself for being able to do it. If Einstein surrounded himself with geniuses, he would probably feel pretty normal. So its easy to come in the forums and say "building a PC is nothin, i do it in my sleep" etc etc. You could even argue that simply being "into computers" is proof of advanced knowledge, compared to your Aunt Millie. On and on, until you are comparing how fortunate we are just to be playing around with the notion of spending money on pleasure devices such as these, when on the other side of the world someone just wants a drink of clean water.

Didn't mean to get too deep with that but my point is, don't feel dumb for considering buying an assembled PC, or for asking questions about your build should you decide to take that path.

 

[Snoop]

In closing, are the ill feelings in these forums towards Alienware because people here feel they were slandered by that build it yourself versus buying it from them page on their web site? Other than the fact that they take a long time and some people take issues with certain customer service folks, the consensus about Alienware PC's seems to be positive. Time will tell if I made the right decision.

Reseller Ratings
A 6.44 rating tells me all I need to know about alienware.
I think you are mistaken. There are constant threads on this forum pimping custom builders as an alternative to building on your own. Many of these builders, ABSpc, Monarch Computer, Gamepc, (countless others, even dell) offer competative prices with good service. The bias shown toward Alienware is due to there insanely high prices and from what I have gathered poor customer service. So if you are happy with your alienware, thats great, but just because you have no problem throwing away money does not mean others will agree.

 

[HansGroenewold]

That's not nice, I don't think I came across as someone who has no problem throwing away my money and that's certainly not the case with me. Their customer service seems to run hot and cold from what I read but the PC's themselves seem to have a good rep. The main complaint seemed to be excessive wait times. I was just curious as to why there seemed to be ill feelings towards Alienware. As far as your point of "insanely high prices", check out WidowPC, they charge more for a PC than the same comparable Alienware then turn around and advertise that they beat Alienware's prices.

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: HansGroenewold
Trust me, I watch every penny myself and I am of very modest means. I would love to have spared myself the added expense for my dream PC. I don't have any other hobbies so that is how I'm justifying this expense. I just know had I started this project myself, it would not have gone well for me.

Sincerely,
Hans

Hans, As you can see, many folks feel that spending more than X dollars seems like throwing money away. Finances are tight with many of us - I'd wager that we are largely working stiffs with families or child support payments etc, some of us have been laid off or have taken cuts in salaries etc. And many are college students are teenagers who don't have much disposable income. I don't think they mean any harm, but to many, spending an extra eight or nine hundred dollars for "convenience" and "peace of mind" seems unreal, since we just don't have that much extra $$. It seems frivolous and many need that to pay car insurance, rent, groceries, kids bills etc. Anyway, please tolerate me as a I was philosophical...

I too am of modest means and maybe a bit old fashion - probably influence of my parents who were depression era children. I have mixed emotions about spending high dollar on a "toy". To a real degree, expensive computers costing well over say $1200 are "toy" because for "productivity" few need anything costing more than $800-$1,000, unless you need high power for specialized work tasks. Most folks here spend big $$ to play games on their computers.

Before you think I'm being overly critical, I recognize that most of us (guys anyway) like to have our toys - I spend hundreds of $$ each year on high quality model trains - at least when my income is good. During past 8 months I've been back in the job market so spending is down on "toys".

All that being said, many folks at Anandtech are here because of a couple reasons, computers are somewhat of a hobby for many, and for many they want to learn to build and trouble shoot computers to save money and maintain something they use almost every day. I probably fit into both categories, plus I've done IT for a living the past 4 years too (geologist normally).

Anyway, based on my parents sensibilities, I would normally say that financing is a bad option for "toy's" since you end up spending a good deal more in the long run, which means a good deal more period. I tend to think financing should be limited to things like a House or Car - essentials. In your case you got zero percent financing so if you pay it off in a year, then that helps allot. If you take, longer, and you might - the decision was probably not a wise one. And as often as not, we find we are short on cash and can't pay things off as quickly as we hoped and you end up spending hundreds more due to interest charges, making an expensive "toy" even more expensive.

In some ways, the high cost of gaming machines almost justifies console games to me. You drop less money on the console (PS2, Gamecube or Xbox) than you do a single video card. The games themselves cost about the same so it seems cheaper in the long run to play console games than play the computer gaming rig upgrade frenzy. It does cost a great deal to have a "top-O-the-line" gaming computer these days. Oh, probably an extra $300 to $400 if you count in the extra memory, an extra $250 average that many people spend on video card, extra for the faster more expensive CPU - usually the A64 etc...

My philosophy is to try to have a machine that will do well with games but be modest in price. I think I've achieved the goal with the 2 rigs in my sig - the most spent was a little more than a grand and that included a 19" LCD and should handle the latest games gracefully. People really pay a premium for a few extra FPS or to minimize the instances when the game stutters - literally many hundreds of dollars for that extra little bit of performance. Yeah, I know we all have our poison!

Ok... 'nuff philosophizing.

If you got the money, then have fun with the new gaming machine "toy"!!!

 

[imverygifted]

Originally posted by: Hardcore
I don't know why people see it as an achievement to build your own system... whoopiedoo, you were able to assemble parts together. I guess if your life is really lacking in achievement, this might be a good substitute.

Not everybody has the time (the most time consuming is reading up on everything) or patience to build their own system.

i've built a ton of computers and after i built each one i felt a sense of achievement unless i needed to RMA something or somethin didnt work

 

[imverygifted]

Originally posted by: Hardcore
I don't know why people see it as an achievement to build your own system... whoopiedoo, you were able to assemble parts together. I guess if your life is really lacking in achievement, this might be a good substitute.

Not everybody has the time (the most time consuming is reading up on everything) or patience to build their own system.

i've built a ton of computers and after i built each one i felt a sense of achievement unless i needed to RMA something or somethin didnt work

 

[Goldbricker]

My problem with Alienware isn't that they overprice systems, I don't know if they do, my problem is that they're hideously ugly. It seems a lot of these custom builders all think they're the next Apple when it comes to design and style. But they're not, they're derivative and tacky and that seems to be what you're paying to get. Apple can make a case look good, but if you can't make a case look good, you shouldn't even try. You should go for functional. Cause a half-ass case that looks like it's trying to be a PS2 is just embarassing. I'd rather have a beige case than most of the cases those builders use.

As for putting together your own system, I don't blame you if you don't want to do it. It can be a bit scary, especially stuff like installing the CPU and motherboard. After that it's pretty easy, but there's some nervous moments for that part. For me there is some excitement for building your own system though and you save a few bucks which may or may not be worth it to you.

 

[HansGroenewold]

Techwanabe,

Your points are well taken.

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[bamacre]

Originally posted by: HansGroenewold
I know most would think why spend about $800. to $1000. more than necesarry to get a PC already made. My reasoning was this: My expertise is questionable, the price was competitive with other custom manufacturers, and the financing was a no brainer.

Well, after all of this, your expertise is STILL questionnable. Can't learn if you don't try.

But if you are happy, well, that's all that matters.

 

[Baked]

I don't view building computers (for myself, friends and family) as an achievement, it's a hobby I do on the weekends. But to each his own, I don't have the money to burn like the PO, I like to budget my spending and buy the parts I want.

The beef most people have w/ Alienware, which was detailed in the extra long Alienware bashing thread, is in summary, overpriced and false advertisement.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Hardcore
I don't know why people see it as an achievement to build your own system... whoopiedoo, you were able to assemble parts together. I guess if your life is really lacking in achievement, this might be a good substitute.

Not everybody has the time (the most time consuming is reading up on everything) or patience to build their own system.

Well, I'll felt a sense of acheivement, particularly with my first build. But the others as well.

This would prolly be no big deal for those who are PC professionals, like I don't feel any sense of acheivement for finishing a client's financials or tax return (something likley more complicated than a PC). But having trained myself to work on PC's, researching the components etc, yeah it felt pretty good to get it together and have it work well right from the start.

I think it's normal to feel a sense of acheivement when the hard work/effort pays off (in this case a good running custom rig).

As far as AW, I wouldn't buy a PC from them cuz I'd rather have the "fun" of putting the parts together myself, and save some $'s . However, AW did inspire me to build the first rig. My son drooled over the AW gaming PC's. But not having $2,000 to spend, I built an AW clone for him and he's really happy (me too, saved a ton of money).

Fern

 

[Ike0069]

Originally posted by: Snoop
Reseller Ratings
A 6.44 rating tells me all I need to know about alienware.
I think you are mistaken. There are constant threads on this forum pimping custom builders as an alternative to building on your own. Many of these builders, ABSpc, Monarch Computer, Gamepc, (countless others, even dell) offer competative prices with good service. The bias shown toward Alienware is due to there insanely high prices and from what I have gathered poor customer service. So if you are happy with your alienware, thats great, but just because you have no problem throwing away money does not mean others will agree.

I 100% agree. If you want a custom system built for you, there are plenty of places that don't way overcharge. I've never been told not to buy a pre-built system here. I personally think a custom barebones system is an excellent way to go. You still get to pick the items you want, but somone else installs the MB/CPU into the case for you. This is really the only difficult part of building (Monarch charges $18 for this).

 

[HansGroenewold]

Hello,

I ended up cancelling the order with Alienware. I ordered the system on 12/31 and cancelled today because they still had not processed my paperwork. I ended up ordering one from AddictPC.com with the same exact specs for $600. less. I just didn't have a good feel about Alienware after doing more research on them and after them taking a week just to approve my paperwork, I decided that was enough for me.

Sincerely,
Hans Groenewold

 

[techwanabe]

Probably a good move Hans,

Applying for financing does take extra time vs just buying with a CC. Also, remember that during the holiday weeks around Christmas and New Years, many business are running with skeleton crews or taking the week off - so it's not surprising the slow response time. AW may be much quicker the rest of the time.

Anyway, it if you are getting the same spec system for $600, and similar warrantee/support - that speaks volumes and you will be happy saving the money. $600 is nothing to sneeze at!

Good luck with your new system!

 

[Budmantom]

What are the exact specs?

My brother in law was approved by Dell in less than a minute and he has so-so credit.



Tom

 

[HansGroenewold]

The system is:

Thermalake Tt Tsunami Silver case with side window and 480 Watt P/S
AMD 64 3500+ CPU 939 socket
MSI K8N NEO2 Platinum Motherboard
2X512MB Dual Channel PC3200 memory
200GB Seagate HD
NEC CD/DVD Burner
Sony CD/DVD ROM
Creative Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 THX 24 bit Sound Card
eVGA Nvidea 6800 Ultra 256MB DDR3 Video card
Windows XP Home Edition
Cool Blue Cathode Case Lighting

$1816. out the door. They ship UPS Ground for free and no sales tax since they're in Vancouver,WA and I'm in CA. I feel a lot better about this deal than Alienware. I think this will be a good gaming rig. I don't want to get involved with PCI Express and SLI until they get through the teething stage and sort out whatever problems are sure to come up. I read the reviews here on the 3500+ CPU that it came within 10% of the performance of the FX-53 except for memory bandwidth. I heard you can't beat it for the money and for gaming. I should have it on my doorstep by next Friday.

Sincerely,
Hans

 

[Baked]

$600 less? Good for you! Looks like a kick ass system to me. Did they give you the NEC 3520A or 3500A? And for the Sony DVD-ROM, do they have an option for either the Lite-On 166S or Toshiba 1912?