Thursday, September 9, 2010

Dell/Alienware - Horrible, Or Is It Just Me?

Greetings Interwebz,

    I personally have been a Dell customer for just around four years (I know this since my warranty is about to run out, exciting). Throughout these four years, I've experienced some of the worst times of my life, some because of their fail computers, and others because of their fail tech support. I recently received my 5th computer from dell (the 4th replacement computer), and I'm almost satisfied.
   I Started out my Dell customer career with an Inspiron E-1505
After that one failed to work (the day i received it), they went ahead and offered me a replacement, which was an "upgrade," an XPS M1710. I Was ecstatic, the computer had lights all over it!

Guess what happened, that computer broke as well, though this one lasted almost a year. Granted, I did drop it once and the LCD detached from the base, but other than that i had to get multiple charger replacements, and motherboard replacements, and audio card and video card replacements. Really a very "pleasant" experience, right? Wrong...
    So as a replacement for my XPS M1710, I received an XPS M1730, now, I was really excited, this computer was a beast!
For those of you that are complete nerds like I am, with this laptop (Don't remember specs on the others, haha), I received an Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.4ghz, which was pretty good at the time. Also got an nVidia Geforce 8800M, and it was the first laptop with the Aegia PhysX processor unit. Pretty good, right? Well this one lasted almost 2 years before it decided to falter (entirely). Granted, once again, I did some damage to it, but even before that it was pretty awful. So they sent me another laptop....now they're only allowed to go up, and with the XPS laptop line discontinued, they had only 1 place to go...Alienware...


So I received the first Alienware computer I had ever seen in person, was really exciting. I ended up with an Alienware M17x-R1, which featured an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000, an nVidia GTX 260M and an nVidia Geforce 9400M for stealth/power saver mode. But, the screen was only 900p, where my XPS was 1200-, the trackpad didn't work correctly, the microphone array didn't work correctly, and the battery wouldn't charge, so once again, they replaced my laptop, and I ended up with an Alienware M17x-R2. Now, this thing, is the beastliest of beasts. My model featured an Intel Core i7 820QM @ 1.7ghz, with turbo mode up to 3.06ghz, 6GB DDR3 1333mhz RAM, a 500gb HDD @ 7.2k , my 1200p LCD, and a buncha other stuff. So I'm satisfied now I guess, but the microphone array on this doesn't work either, so they're replacing the mic and my sound card and what not. We'll see how it turns out.

What kinda computers do you guys got? Any experiences with Dell that were good? Any that were bad? Do tell.

- Js

60 comments:

  1. My girlfriend has had nothing but problems with her Dell Inspiron laptop.

    I use a Macbook pro, which has been incredible to me, and I have a custom build gaming PC for my home needs.

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  2. xps 1530 sucks .... i have one and have nthing but trouble

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  3. nothing but problems for my dell products too

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  5. i have a dell inspiron desktop... no major problems.

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  6. Alienware is alright. Not great but notbad for a prebuilt.

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  8. I've had good experience with dell tech support but their laptops break way too fucking much. I'm thinking about getting asus next time.

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  9. WOW dude.. so many replacements....
    did u actually have to pay for any of that?

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  10. Alienware used to be the shit, until dell bought them out. I really wouldn't go with anything dell.

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  11. @ La GaGa, only had to pay for the first one, rest were all free.

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  12. The only problem I ever had with my Dell was whenever I closed it to put it to sleep it would sometimes shut down, restart, not sleep, etc..

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  13. Build your own through cyberpower, man! That's the way to go!

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  14. I've owned a Dell, and I've known a lot of people who have owned one as well. They typically die within the first 2 years, I'm not sure what it is about Dell to be honest. They make shoddy computers and overcharge.

    I wouldn't mind getting an Alienware, but once again it's overpriced.

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  15. Eh, I've got friends with laptops that never break. I just seem to get screwed over all the time. :)

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  17. yep, i mean this one is pretty decked, i got radeon 4870 crossfire Xs, haha. and core i7's pwn, turbo mode is teh best thing intel has done so far.

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  18. dud you started with an Inspiron E-1505 and wound up with "Intel Core i7 820QM @ 1.7ghz, with turbo mode up to 3.06ghz, 6GB DDR3 1333mhz RAM, a 500gb HDD @ 7.2k , my 1200p LCD, and a buncha other stuff."

    i'm pretty sure i wouldn't be ******ing

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  19. i never thought the alienware was worth the money you're just paying for the name brand and flash

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  20. Thats some nice gadgets over there. Supporting you daily!

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  21. I got a ASUS laptop it was about 1 /4th the price for the same parts.

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  22. paying for the name and shell basically

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  23. Alienware was good before Dell bought em D:

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  24. i was thinking about getting an alienware when i have the money... my pc is very old :<

    Following now!

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  25. @The Alaskan Reviewer - I only ended up with these upgrades after arguig with them for hours on the phone. You should see the list of part orders i needed. The on site technician has turned into a family friend basically because he's been ehre so many times. He walks in and knows us all by name.
    I realize i was lucky, but i still shouldn't have been given a crappy computer to begin wit. When you're shipped a computer and it doesn't work the day you bought it, that's pretty bull-shitty, isn't it?

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  26. Sorry you had such a bad experience with Dell! I really want to get a nice Asus as my next laptop. After seeing and tooling around on my friend's, I'm hooked.

    Good blog! I'll be following.

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  27. @kent

    Great post, but it sounds like it requires a lot of cash and alienware seems a little overpriced.

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  29. I'm getting an HP computer in a few days, we'll see how that turns out

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  31. cool blog, just showin some support bro

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  32. I built my own PC, it was very cost efficient and runs great. I'm big into gaming and video editing so this was a perfect choice for me, although it is not portable.

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  33. These computers look awesome! great post!

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  34. If you even think that Alienware has good computers you should be shot.

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  35. horribly expensive and over priced.. the xps/alienware can perform pretty well, but thats because they cram in top hardware (laptop wise atleast) which drains the battery in like an hour but produces epic frames and enough heat to cook a steak on :P

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  37. Nice post brother :)

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  39. You've had some bad luck there then. I hope your issue with the Alienware M17x R-2 is solved as it's a very good computer indeed.

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  40. I hate Dell with a passion. It was all we used in highschool and every single time...always a problem, bro. My laptop is a Toshiba satellite and it's been nothing but good to me. Though I AM pretty jealous of your Alienware...

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