Is Alienware really THAT bad??

[TehCaucasianAsian]

I have a custom built PC, and not an Alienware just to be clear. But, since I considered Alienware before I decided to build my own rig, I've always been curious towards the pricing of the computers and why people think they're so overpriced. I checked the cheapest Alienware Aurora default option today, and saw it came in at about $1500. I then used PCPartPicker to design a PC with all the same specs (since Alienware doesn't really say the motherboard or power supplies, I just used ones that would work and had decently low price tags. and the case is just something big, since the Aurora is supposed to be...well, big) and I was legit surprised at the pricing of a self built Alienware alternative. Here's the link http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2EyFE and you'll see that Alienware doesn't appear to be very overpriced at all. You of course get better quality power supplies and motherboards from custom built PC's, but paying such a small amount extra to have someone build the computer and have a really cool looking case...I just don't see the reason for people saying Alienware is so bad. A $1500 Alienware that costs $1468.87 to build doesn't seem insanely overpriced to ME, at least.

 

[TehCaucasianAsian]

Except it's not. You can get the GTX 680 for $350, which is $150 than what you had in your build: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/galaxy-video-card-68nph6dt6exz
That's instantly heaps cheaper than Alienware with the same parts.
Also, what is inside the Alienware computer? They don't list the brands. Chances are that you're getting a shitty quality motherboard and psu right off the bat. So you're instantly getting a better quality motherboard and psu as well.

Aside from the component area, by building your own you gain knowledge of computers and potential ways to troubleshoot the components should something fail. This is a lot better than talking to their customer service and trying to figure out what's wrong, only to realize you've wasted a lot of time and have to send it in for repair.

I already said in my original post that you can get a better psu and motherboard with a custom build, I am fully aware of that. Also when I was using pcpartpicker at the time that was the cheapest 680 available. Prices are changing, and as I've shown if someone was dumb enough to build an Alienware replica that it can sometimes be easier just to buy from Dell

 

[Skilo35]

Just bought the alienware x51. I5 processor. 1 tb hard drive. 8GB ram, gtx 745 4GB ddr3, 3 year tech and replacement limited warranty. McAfee 36 months. Microsoft home office and student 2013. $1200.00. And that's shipped to my door. It's not terribly overpriced like you would think.

 

[commanderfluffy]

Funny this comes up cause I just went to there website the other night out of boredom I decided to take all the parts they had listed on there $3k PC and see how much it would cost me if i ordered them all off newegg. The result was around $1,000 cheaper to build it myself and have the same specs. You spend a [removed] load of money just cause of their case " which I don't even like their cases anyway"


Now granted way back probably 7 years ago I bought an Alienware cause I was a little kid who did not know anything about building my own. The PC arrived and the CD tray was not plugged in so I was like "WTF why don't work" Google fixed that for me lol. And there graphic card i had was giving artifacts in game so i had to return it. Their support team sucked! and the guy could hardly speak any English lol. But after Finally getting the New GPU my PC was running great. Think I spent like $2,000+ on that thing. OH and the lights where never put in the case so it never even would light up.

I would love to go back in time and slap myself for that. Thing the GPU i had was a Nvidia 7950 or something like that lol.

Watch the language - G

 

[g-unit1111]

Just bought the alienware x51. I5 processor. 1 tb hard drive. 8GB ram, gtx 745 4GB ddr3, 3 year tech and replacement limited warranty. McAfee 36 months. Microsoft home office and student 2013. $1200.00. And that's shipped to my door. It's not terribly overpriced like you would think.

Well for laptops they're not bad but I think there's a lot better you could go with. Plus the cost of the software you purchased drives up the price of the system - and with most laptop manufacturers, all the overhead cost added to your PC comes from the software installed, not the laptop itself.

 

[G1GHOSTRIDER]

Alienware is crap do not buy my x51 just craped out on me one day and when I called alienware support I had to wait 3 hours for them to tell me my hardrive broke when I could have the error code in 1 min then when I replace hardrive graphics card won't work people have had this same problem and can't fix it avoid alienware at all cost I'm now saving up for a new PC because don't buy an alienware because so many people say there's is fine and good alienware is overpriced crappy customer support can't even put you through to the alienware section once you get there they have no clue what they are doing and the build quality is crap look here http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vCeiWct6DoU