Alienware

[dissentowner]

I am primarily a Mac user however I want to get some PC games and I think I am gonna go with an Alienware laptop as I was told they are the bomb when it comes to gaming, anyone have one and can verify this?

[worth]

Alienware is owned by Dell.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by worth

Alienware is owned by Dell.

I am aware of that however they are still independant by design. A Dell and an Alienware pc are very much different.

[photon]

We've got a couple of them in the office and while they're nice, I wouldn't say they're anything super special. Toshiba, Dell and a bunch of other smaller companies do gaming laptops as well.

EDIT: Not saying they're bad or anything, just that if they're a lot more expensive than other ones I don't think the extra cost is justified).

[mykalberta]

From what I have heard, Alienware puts in Dedsktop chips into their notebooks to get the desktop preformance, hence the size, weight, and heat issues.

If you want a gaming laptop, them or VooDoo (now owned by HP but still independently run and Calgary based) might be another option for you.

[arsenal]

Alienware and VooDoo where both highly successful and profitable before they where bought out. So the fact that they are now owned by Dell or HP respectively, shouldn't really matter.

By the way, I have always wanted an Alienware..
Never was a fan of VooDoo even though they are calgary based. Just their prices seemed way higher than anything else out there, and they weren't all that special (tech wise) compared to Alienware or even what you could build yourself.

[llama64]

If you're really keen on PC games, just get a desktop. Cheaper, easier to repair and more powerful.

You can get a really sweet gaming PC for the same cost as one of these so called "Gaming Laptops".

Just my 2 cents.

[Hack&Lube]

Alienware is a waste of money, it's just a boutique brand much like Voodoo Computers of Calgary - which was purchased by HP.

Alienware and Voodoo coincidentally also make some of the most ugly computers ever imaginable with about a 200-300% markup on what it would cost you to put together a similar system (including laptops) yourself. Alienware and Voodoo also do nothing more than use off-the-shelf parts and OEM Taiwanese models and slapped them into cuystom cases with fancy paintjobs. You'd have a higher quality and better designed computer actually buying a DELL proprietary design.

The videocard is the essential part to look for in a laptop as it is rare for a laptop to have a gaming videocard. If you really want to spend about TWICE AS MUCH than what it would cost to get similiar performance just for the boutique name brand, then fine, go get Alienware but as far as I'm concerned both Alienware and Voodoo PC are the biggest wastes of money and PC buyer can make.

The best model Alienware has is the Area-51 m15x which *starts* at $1499 but is completely neutered (ie: 256MB 8800M GTX). If you want a 512MB 8800GTX, it's *surprise* add $500. It's the same for most options. In the end, if you want a good gaming machine, it'll end up about $2500-3000.

There are comparable Gateway models with 512MB 8800M GTX cards that only cost $1200 complete back in December with sales.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1195599780039
It's not on the Best Buy Canada website but it was in Canada Best Buy stores a few months ago. If you want more power, you can then just slap in your own CPU upgrade ($300), sell the old one...and you have a computer that blows away the Alienware in speed at 1/3 the cost.