Boutique Builders..does dell really class, cough, sorry alienware. I thought boutique building was about squeezing as much performance out of the equipment...not as much profit out of the customer
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AMD RDNA 4 GPUs will allegedly be rebranded RX 9000 — A mixture of new RDNA 3/RDNA 4 mobile GPUs and an RX 7000 refresh is expected to arrive at CES
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I know something that can help the image of Alienware. Take a random person who commented on this article and give him/her that rig tested from the article. I have heard lots business have success in give away promotion especially during times like this. Maybe it's time to give something back to the ppl. I'm a pretty smart shopper and I dont remember ever seeing Alienware offers anything like coupons or promotional discounts publicly online. To me that's a deal breaker not simply because of the greed I felt from such a well-known company, but also how dumb I think it is for a company to just sit there and let other companies to fish all the customers. I know Alienware is like Lexus to Toyota, or Acura to Honda (Premium line products) but no one's gonna touch it when there are many other more affordable options around. All I ever see daily is HP, IBM, Lenovo (IBM), Gateway, Dell, having limited coupons on a number of their units, but not Alienware (Dell). And why bother sending a Alienware PR dude (marcdiana12) here to give everyone a speech, we know he's good w/ words but there's not action. Times like this simply words cannot convince anyone here anything. Provide something physical-like a freebie. You guy (alienware) are trying to buy the hearts of customers like many of us, this is how you do it. I'm not unreasonable, this is what makes sense to me.
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[citation][nom]marraco[/nom]To author Michael Brown:The Alienware is, or is not a standard power supply? Not even have a standard connector?That is VERY important. A review should include that data.¿Can you change the videocards next year? do the connectors are standard? what if the provided power is not enough, and you need a new one?Please, fix it.[/citation]
It was my understanding that Dell quit using power supplies with proprietary connectors some time ago--at least on its consumer rigs. I don't know that Alienware ever used that type of PSU, but I will ping my contact at Alienware to confirm this, just to be sure.
You can change out the videocards and as you can see from the pictures there is room to add hard drives, optical drives, cards, and other devices just as you could on the other two machines I looked at.
Many people build their own machines; many others want to buy something pre-assembled. Any good computer publication should address the needs of both types of readers, in my opinion.
It was my understanding that Dell quit using power supplies with proprietary connectors some time ago--at least on its consumer rigs. I don't know that Alienware ever used that type of PSU, but I will ping my contact at Alienware to confirm this, just to be sure.
You can change out the videocards and as you can see from the pictures there is room to add hard drives, optical drives, cards, and other devices just as you could on the other two machines I looked at.
Many people build their own machines; many others want to buy something pre-assembled. Any good computer publication should address the needs of both types of readers, in my opinion.
[citation][nom]MrMick[/nom]It was my understanding that Dell quit using power supplies with proprietary connectors some time ago--at least on its consumer rigs. I don't know that Alienware ever used that type of PSU, but I will ping my contact at Alienware to confirm this, just to be sure.You can change out the videocards and as you can see from the pictures there is room to add hard drives, optical drives, cards, and other devices just as you could on the other two machines I looked at. Many people build their own machines; many others want to buy something pre-assembled. Any good computer publication should address the needs of both types of readers, in my opinion.[/citation]
Thanks for answering. Although I are ranting about the info I miss, I still think your article is a good one.
I know perfectly that many people want to buy a totally assembled computer, because I are asked frequently about what computer to buy, and sometimes they don't want an user assembled one.
For that reason, I have interest on articles about pre-assembled PCs. They not only teach what computers are good, but also which ones are bad.
I can guarantee that Dell lost dozens of sales on my city because of me.
Thanks for answering. Although I are ranting about the info I miss, I still think your article is a good one.
I know perfectly that many people want to buy a totally assembled computer, because I are asked frequently about what computer to buy, and sometimes they don't want an user assembled one.
For that reason, I have interest on articles about pre-assembled PCs. They not only teach what computers are good, but also which ones are bad.
I can guarantee that Dell lost dozens of sales on my city because of me.
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[citation][nom]marraco[/nom]To author Michael Brown:The Alienware is, or is not a standard power supply? Not even have a standard connector?[/citation]
Okay, I've heard back from Alienware. The power supply is not proprietary and it definitely is user replaceable.
Okay, I've heard back from Alienware. The power supply is not proprietary and it definitely is user replaceable.
[citation][nom]MrMick[/nom]Okay, I've heard back from Alienware. The power supply is not proprietary and it definitely is user replaceable.[/citation]
Now, the mistery is, Why Alienware hide the motherboard model? What modification it contains?
Publicizing a P6T Deluxe is a good selling point, as it is a mother an enthusiast can choose to buy (if does not plan to run 3xSLI/Crossfire).
If forced to buy a trademark, then it can be say, "well, at least the mother is not classic prebuilt crap"... unless some classic big vendors bad practices are added.
I still mistrust Dell.
Now, the mistery is, Why Alienware hide the motherboard model? What modification it contains?
Publicizing a P6T Deluxe is a good selling point, as it is a mother an enthusiast can choose to buy (if does not plan to run 3xSLI/Crossfire).
If forced to buy a trademark, then it can be say, "well, at least the mother is not classic prebuilt crap"... unless some classic big vendors bad practices are added.
I still mistrust Dell.
[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]I imagine it has more to do with perceived exclusivity rather than deliberate misinformation. If the company is able to use a board custom-made for them, it appears all the more big-time.[/citation]
Inexperienced users can't take a clue from it. But for more experienced, it is lack of information. And from big PC vendors, it hint bad things, probably hidden.
Inexperienced users can't take a clue from it. But for more experienced, it is lack of information. And from big PC vendors, it hint bad things, probably hidden.
marcdiana12
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- Mar 23, 2009
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Hey Chris, To answer the motherboard question. We use boards that we feel are the best in class for the price range in which they reside. For example we would not put a 3-way SLI board in a PC that starts at $999 because that would drown our feature set out from a cost point of view and not allow us to reinvest in other features that would possibly benefit that cusomter greater, like larger HDDs or more memory, ect...
The way we look at motherboards is pretty simple- we could spend countless dollars + time and investment into making a fantastic board or we could invest in a partner's board with an excellent name/quality in the space and reinvest our resources on developing new feature sets for the customer, like AlienFX, and Alien Sense (Facial recognition software).
A good comparison would be to take a look at a high performance automobile and the components those manufacturers choose to build their cars with. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is a great example of this- instead of Mitsubishi going out and making their own brakes they get them from Brembo, instead of making their own wheels they get them from BBS, and instead of making their own turbo they get them from Garrett. Each of those manufacturers is arguably a respective leader in what their catagories. So rather than investing in doing it from the ground up, Mitsubishi chooses to invest the resources in other areas that make sense for the customer. Both BMW and Porsche opperate Similarly.
Hope that helps clear things up.
Marc
The way we look at motherboards is pretty simple- we could spend countless dollars + time and investment into making a fantastic board or we could invest in a partner's board with an excellent name/quality in the space and reinvest our resources on developing new feature sets for the customer, like AlienFX, and Alien Sense (Facial recognition software).
A good comparison would be to take a look at a high performance automobile and the components those manufacturers choose to build their cars with. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is a great example of this- instead of Mitsubishi going out and making their own brakes they get them from Brembo, instead of making their own wheels they get them from BBS, and instead of making their own turbo they get them from Garrett. Each of those manufacturers is arguably a respective leader in what their catagories. So rather than investing in doing it from the ground up, Mitsubishi chooses to invest the resources in other areas that make sense for the customer. Both BMW and Porsche opperate Similarly.
Hope that helps clear things up.
Marc
AVADirect_Joe
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- Jul 15, 2008
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Well, I must say there are good points in these posts. I cannot express how amazing it is to see everyone so deep in thought and truly observing what boutique builders should be focusing on. If anything, I don’t feel that companies should be “explaining” to the public about their actions or their policies. If anything, they should take what is said by end-users into consideration and adapt to the current times. It is definitely important, in this day and age, that we as system builders pay attention to detail and do what we can to satisfy the customers. Without that we are losing sales and taking major hits, and appreciation that is well deserved by a PC builder that does much research into new hardware and system development. Without our customers where else would we be, right?
AVADirect_Joe
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- Jul 15, 2008
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Well, I must say there are good points in these posts. I cannot express how amazing it is to see everyone so deep in thought and truly observing what boutique builders should be focusing on. If anything, I don’t feel that companies should be “explaining” to the public about their actions or their policies. If anything, they should take what is said by end-users into consideration and adapt to the current times. It is definitely important, in this day and age, that we as system builders pay attention to detail and do what we can to satisfy the customers. Without that we are losing sales and taking major hits, and appreciation that is well deserved by a PC builder that does much research into new hardware and system development. Without our customers where else would we be, right?
To Marcdiana12:
There is no point in use a P6T Deluxe, and loading it with DDR3 1066, doing no overclocking, and only one RAID.
Speedier memory cost almost the same. The main purpose of that mother is to do overclocking.
From the performance you squeeze from it, you really wasted money on the mother.
There is no point in use a P6T Deluxe, and loading it with DDR3 1066, doing no overclocking, and only one RAID.
Speedier memory cost almost the same. The main purpose of that mother is to do overclocking.
From the performance you squeeze from it, you really wasted money on the mother.
[citation][nom]cangelini[/nom]I imagine it has more to do with perceived exclusivity rather than deliberate misinformation. If the company is able to use a board custom-made for them, it appears all the more big-time.[/citation]
why theres no pics showing inside Alienware rig?
very good "perceived exclusivity" !
why theres no pics showing inside Alienware rig?
very good "perceived exclusivity" !
dragonsprayer
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recent customer got a dual gpu set up from alien it was $5000? he had the same cpu set up but 2 vieoc cards? is this is special THG price? or this as configured? i email him for more details and post it!
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[citation][nom]C_Ray[/nom]Why no ibuypower?[/citation]
iBuyPower sent us a system, but we didn't review it because it didn't fit the specs we had defined (a model number got transposed and we didn't discover the error until it was too late to have them ship us a replacement).
iBuyPower sent us a system, but we didn't review it because it didn't fit the specs we had defined (a model number got transposed and we didn't discover the error until it was too late to have them ship us a replacement).
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[citation][nom]Salsoolo[/nom]why theres no pics showing inside Alienware rig?very good "perceived exclusivity" ![/citation]
The very first photo in the story is of the Alienware Area-51 X-58, and there are two more detailed shots in the Alienware review itself.
The very first photo in the story is of the Alienware Area-51 X-58, and there are two more detailed shots in the Alienware review itself.
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[citation][nom]boudy[/nom]Was shipping accounted into the budget?....thats usually the killer when I build a computer. It takes me from a $1000 budget, to a $700 budget, and thats the difference between an extra video card (a GTX 260 or a 4870).[/citation]
No, we did not tell the vendors to include tax or shipping into their prices because those factors would vary depending on where you live.
No, we did not tell the vendors to include tax or shipping into their prices because those factors would vary depending on where you live.
customisbetter
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- Apr 13, 2008
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Great article Micheal Brown. Really, great job. I only wish that people here would stop the "advirtisment" nonsense.
boudy
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[citation][nom]MrMick[/nom]No, we did not tell the vendors to include tax or shipping into their prices because those factors would vary depending on where you live.[/citation]
Alright, that makes sense.
I have another question though; Is there a article in which you asked for the participants to build around the Dragon platform? If so, could you please give me a link or something?
Alright, that makes sense.
I have another question though; Is there a article in which you asked for the participants to build around the Dragon platform? If so, could you please give me a link or something?
dragonsprayer
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this is what The $5000 alien was:
as for the alienware pricing, I am not too sure, I just customized the system and thats what it came out to be.
Core i7 920
Solid state drives in raid 0
12gb of ddr3
gtx295 quad sli
blue ray drive
Xtreme gamer sound card
and the changeable custom alienFX lighting
4 year parts replacement warranty ( if i dont void the warranty, so if it fails they will replace the parts)
The video cards alone were 1,000, and the solid state drives were expensive...like almost 1000 or 800 bucks...
as for the alienware pricing, I am not too sure, I just customized the system and thats what it came out to be.
Core i7 920
Solid state drives in raid 0
12gb of ddr3
gtx295 quad sli
blue ray drive
Xtreme gamer sound card
and the changeable custom alienFX lighting
4 year parts replacement warranty ( if i dont void the warranty, so if it fails they will replace the parts)
The video cards alone were 1,000, and the solid state drives were expensive...like almost 1000 or 800 bucks...
thepinkpanther
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- Nov 24, 2004
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