Alienware Laptop - worth the money?

I'm thinking of saving for a decent laptop to dual boot with Linux, maybe Alienware. Just wonder what you guys think, is it worth the money?

No.

I guess I could build a more powerful laptop cheaply, but I just love all of the "cool" stuff that comes with the alienware laptops. Not sure if it would be a waste of money though.

I think it is more a matter of opinion. I would spend the money on one if I had it. Though it is useless unless you play games. Otherwise spend your money on parts and build yourself one.

ShadyTyrant wrote: Though it is useless unless you play games.

On a LAPTOP?

I need a hi-end laptop, as I deal with a multitude of RAM-eating apps: 3d imaging, video/sound editing simultaneously. Not looking to play games, but I need a laptop because I've got to be able to take what I produce with me. Alienware looks good and runs well, but it's probably the gimmicks that are attracting me.

I try to view computers (simplified of course) to the following chart.

Why spend a ton of money when just a year or 2 later you can get an equal computer for like a 1/3 the cost.

In other words, I agree with spyware, 'No' its not worth it.

I think alienware in general are too expensive. Go for something cheaper and maybe you can get a new laptop in 2 years again.

stdio wrote: Why spend a ton of money when just a year or 2 later you can get an equal computer for like a 1/3 the cost.

But after a year or 2 you will be getting some new technology and you will not be in the mood to buy the older one.

harry_potter28 wrote: [quote]stdio wrote: Why spend a ton of money when just a year or 2 later you can get an equal computer for like a 1/3 the cost.

But after a year or 2 you will be getting some new technology and you will not be in the mood to buy the older one.[/quote]

New technology - True Not be in the mood to buy the older one. - False

Sure there will always be people who want the latest and greatest, and thats good, bc it keeps companies developing better and better stuff. However, I am not one of those people who need to have it. Call me behind, cheap, but I prefer to think of it as smart.

harry_potter28 wrote: But after a year or 2 you will be getting some new technology and you will not be in the mood to buy the older one.

But if you buy some older technology you can afford more booze.

c4p_sl0ck wrote: But if you buy some older technology you can afford more booze.

This is true. :p I think I'll go for performance over looks, However the look of the laptop does play a role.. you don't want to turn up to show your clients what you have done and have a shack-for-a-laptop. I'm also one of those people, buy older stuff later on. I'm not going to be using 64-bit for a long time for example. Mainly because it's too much of a pain on Linux to sort out all of my application.

Any advice on where to find powerful laptops at a good price? The problem is, I like to either be able to customise my laptop when it arrives, or customise it before it arrives. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find "decent" cases to build a laptop..

stdio wrote: [quote]harry_potter28 wrote: [quote]stdio wrote: Why spend a ton of money when just a year or 2 later you can get an equal computer for like a 1/3 the cost.

But after a year or 2 you will be getting some new technology and you will not be in the mood to buy the older one.[/quote]

New technology - True Not be in the mood to buy the older one. - False

Sure there will always be people who want the latest and greatest, and thats good, bc it keeps companies developing better and better stuff. However, I am not one of those people who need to have it. Call me behind, cheap, but I prefer to think of it as smart.[/quote]

I am not calling you cheap. Just wanted to share my thoughts. Any way no one likes to buy a new one every year. So we all love to work with what we have up to its maximum.

spyware wrote: [quote]ShadyTyrant wrote: Though it is useless unless you play games.

On a LAPTOP?[/quote]

I know many people who have hi end laptops for gaming on the go.

backslash wrote: I need a hi-end laptop, as I deal with a multitude of RAM-eating apps.

Tho since you have other needs that require a hi end laptop it maybe a good investment.

As a previous owner of an alienware laptop, I can tell you now they are not worth the extra money. High performance apps on a laptop is a really difficult thing to cope with, the last thing you want is your money going on anything but processing power and graphics. Now, il probably get some odd looks for this, but had you considered a macbook pro? If you need windows, fine, if not, these are the don. They look ace, go like shit off a stick and are generally good for graphics.

If you need windows, HP do some nice top-end laptops, dual core, 4Gb ram, 320Gb hd, pretty standard but im sure you could find one under a grand.

Shop round, but get a known brand, not a rubbish one that will fall apart.

It made me chuckle at HBHcon when system's alienware was the only one without an external vga to plug into the projector :p

personally you pay for the brand. Go with a dell xps.

Thanks for the advice guys. In regards to the Mac.. have considered it, problem is I need to run Linux on the machine and I've had bad experiences of Linux and mac ;)

I'm tempted to go with HP or Dell, and then just buy something new a few years later. Sill love the look of Alienware though.. could always try and find one on eBay and customise it myself :ninja:

if its looks your going for buy a cover for it, or customize your own. Yes the alien ware look is cool, but it can be achieved without the $500 premium..

mambo wrote:
personally you pay for the brand. Go with a dell xps.

Alienware is made by dell, Never seen a good dell. I get more dell desktops and laptops in for repair than any. From my own experience the newer HP's are very reliable and perform great.

korg wrote: [quote]mambo wrote:
personally you pay for the brand. Go with a dell xps.

Alienware is made by dell[/quote]

-Bought- by Dell. I once heard that Dell didn't interfere with Alienware's laptop building process.

I might be wrong though.

I've had a few for repair and upgrades and they have dell mobo's in them, Along with oem drives.

Spy is right, dell bought alienware, but claim they havn't messed with it at all, they just scrape in the profits.

For your own sake, please dont but a dell! My dad has had 3 in the past couple of years, the keyboards are awful, they're slow, and most of all they're made with the cheapest parts they can get they're hands on, and checked for quality by satan.

Get on HP's case methinks: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06a/321957-321957-3806904-3806906-3806906-3884578.html

As a side note, I have had no bad experiences with linux dual booting on my macbook, the only problems I had were with the wireless, because the inbuilt wifi is broadcom based, so no injection :(

But I have an acer aspire for that B)

Yeah, dell look good on the screen, but when it arrives you feel like you've wasted your money xD

I think I'm going to go with HP or build my own, not sure yet. About Linux on Mac - I've also had good experiences.. Ubuntu works pretty well on Macs. And there is of course the wireless problem.. backtrack didn't seem to like Mac one bit! :(

I would suggest HP workstations they are great little devices.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/guidedSearch.asp?CatId=17&sel=Mfr;Mfr_1549,Detail;98_266_6494_13593,Detail;164_168_1506_1506

These are all 4GB RAM, 16"+ Monitor, 250GB+ HDD.

One even is QuadCore 2GHz ;)

Hope this helps…Alienware is a rip off. They are way over priced and they are nothing but plastic shiny things.

backslash wrote: And there is of course the wireless problem.. backtrack didn't seem to like Mac one bit! :(

Hardware dependencies bitch, the OS'es have nothing to do with each other.

Also; OSx as much a Linux build as Ubuntu is.

backslash wrote:

I think I'm going to go with HP or build my own, not sure yet. About Linux on Mac - I've also had good experiences.. Ubuntu works pretty well on Macs. And there is of course the wireless problem.. backtrack didn't seem to like Mac one bit! :(

…Why would you want to install Linux on a Mac? If you're talking the pre-OSX Macs on PowerPC, so that's understandable, but if you're using OSX…well, it already has BSD components in it, so installing Linux seems like overkill.

And OP:

It's your own money, man. Just buy it if you really want it since all the girls will be lusting for you and all the guys will want to be you for having an alienware.

Can anyone give me feedback on Sony's "VAIO" ?

@harry_potter28: try this url http://tinyurl.com/2j6bh

Thanks for the comments guys!