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Is Alienware really that good?
Matthew
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Ok, just to clarify, I am at the beginning of a large save money/sell off period in order to afford a gamING laptop, hopefully by Christmas. Everything I've read says that Alienware is some of the best, but the cheapest I have seen is 1700.00$. So I got to ask, is it worth it?
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MSI and Razer are also very good.
You can also do some light gaming on a MacBook Pro (Overwatch on Low settings, for example).
However, all gaming laptops occupy a weird space where they aren't great laptops (they tend to be heavy, run hot, and have middling battery life) not great gaming computers.
I have a friend who travels a lot for work, so she spends roughly 50% of her time in hotels. For her, a gaming laptop makes sense. (And she has an Alienware 13.)
In general, you aren't going to find a gaming PC worth your time for less than $1500.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
At that price point though you lose out on Alienware's 2560x1440 OLED display. Their OLED display is a thing of beauty and I wouldn't bother buying an Alienware without it.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
This gives you the ability to use thunderbolt with an eGPU so your home setup is nearly the equivalent power of a desktop PC.
To me it comes back to this. The scenarios where a full on gaming laptop makes sense are pretty narrow.
It runs a bit hot under load, but tweaks such as undervolting can certainly help mitigate that. So can adding further cooling; actually I've found that just jacking the back end of the laptop up by about an inch significantly improves the airflow and thus reduces the temps noticeably, without needing to resort to a laptop stand or cooling pad. But even without that it can run without throttling. It can run a Kaby Lake i7 and a GTX 1080 at full tilt for hours without a hiccup, which is no mean feat whichever way you slice it.
Have a look on the Dell Outlet store for your region, you can save a lot of money buying from there instead of the regular store, if you find a build to your liking. And remember you can upgrade RAM and storage in them easily too, but not processors*, so keep that in mind if there's an almost-ideal build on there.
* - you can use the Alienware graphics amplifier enclosure to add/upgrade to an external desktop GPU later, if you like, similar to the Razer solution over Thunderbolt.
Steam | XBL
But I have read that some people have had challenges getting off-brand eGPU boxes working with some laptops, so YMMV.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Prioritize the best screen you can afford. At the very least, avoid 1366x768 screens. That resolution is bullshit and nobody should ever buy them. 1080p is the minimum. Higher resolution screens often have better color rendering (like Alienware's OLED) at the expense of higher power consumption.
After the screen, prioritize CPU and GPU. GPU will have more impact on your gaming experience, though it is pseudo-upgradeable with a Thunderbolt eGPU enclosure. CPUs are not upgradeable in laptops so you should try to get the best you can afford, but you can compromise a little bit (not too much) on CPU performance without it hurting your gaming experience.
SSD and RAM are upgradeable in gaming laptops so those are areas where you can make compromises.
(Some slim laptops these days have non-upgradeable RAM but that's not relevant to gaming laptops.)
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
You're paying extra for the alienware brand + lighting.
I have the Dell 15 7000 model (or something) from just over a year ago and it was significantly cheaper than anything alienware for the exact same internal specs.
Worth noting: this assumes you're comfortable with Dual Booting OS ("Boot Camp"). Which obviously lots of people are, but you might not be? You'll also need to obtain a license for Windows 10 (whereas if you bought literally any other laptop, it would come with its own), unless that's somehow changed.
Overwatch in particular is not coming to Mac (a break from Blizzard's past tendency to offer Mac support, which in turn made them exceptional; most companies don't bother to begin with).
If you're going to spend that kind of money, buy an alienware or one of the high-end dell laptops.
Steam | XBL
Why the hell would you mention a Mac?
However, it would still be far more better optimized for gaming than a MacBook Pro, weighing the option of dual boot, the included OS, and the vastly improved accessory compatibility. Shit, the SB2 comes with a pair of USB A ports, which not all MacBook Pros--that automatically gives you the ability to use gaming accessories without an include dongle.
There are still way better priced options for Dell that would let you save a stack of cash for a more "conventional" but perfectly serviceable design. But honestly, I'd still say it'd be a better alternative to a 2017 MacBook Pro at a very similar price point--even before comparing the Nvidia and AMD mobile GPUs.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
I've been lucky--I've owned three with such issues (though they're all from the Surface Pro line), but the Surface Book, especially the first models, were known to have issues--not so much cameras, but driver issues certainly. That being said, I don't think it's particularly worse (or even necessarily as bad) as the recent MacBook Pro (but if that's not good enough itself--buyer beware).
https://www.consumerreports.org/laptop-computers/microsoft-surface-laptops-and-tablets-not-recommended-by-consumer-reports/
We had some pretty bad hardware issues at my company when we tried to use Surface Pro 3s in production. Specifically, we had problems with the wifi chips.
I'd give Microsoft at least another year, if not two or three, before buying a high-end Surface.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
The pro 4 did have some driver/software issues at launch that were all fixed via firmware updates.
That particular Consumer Report ruling is actually pretty flawed, and even CR admitted its own methodology (which is pretty normal for how they do this sort of thing themselves) was far from perfect.
Personally, I'd put more weight on your own company's experiences--if they seem to fit CR's warnings, more power to them. Certain hardware did have issues (if returns are any indication--and those dropped quickly), while other devices really never did, but CR was comfortable to issue a blanket ruling, because that's kind of what they do. For example, they applied their ruling to a device that wasn't in production when they came to their findings, the Surface Laptop, because it's a "Surface" device.
I actually don't know much about Alienware or Dell's own reliability (there's a lot of hearsay, both good and bad, but I'm not comfortable to rule definitively).
(The funny thing is that my work PC--a normal HP workstation--briefly froze twice while I was typing this. But I think that's Chrome.)
EDIT - Now that I'm on a keyboard, I can tell you I got this one from XoticPC. Its approximately $450 cheaper than when I purchased it, possibly due to a Back to School Sale.
https://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-gaming-laptops-ct-118-96-98/advanced-laptop-series.html
I had it customized for three hard drives, two of which are SSD and one is standard. I also asked for GPU overclocking services and better thermal paste.
I will second Xotic, I've had two Clevo/Sagers from them and they're great.
A little over a year ago, I ordered a Sager. It wasn't a top-of-the-line model...but I made damn sure that it had a Geforce 980 chip in it. Well...it runs GTA 5 on decently respectable settings, MWO and Sims 4 on max settings, PUBG at reasonable settings, and dang near most everything I want to play on it runs smooth enough for my 60hz screen. The only complaint I have for it is that the fan is exceptionally loud when I play anything released in the past 2 years.
It's been dang near the perfect laptop for me since I got it (aside from the touchpad that's not responsive anymore).
EDIT - prior to getting the Sager, I was using an Alienware MX11...it was pretty decent for its size, but it wasn't long before I had enough and just needed moar power!
MBPs are equally bad. seriously. not even on low settings.
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Agreed. The Surface Book 2 is almost an exception (it's still huge, but it's generally lighter and thinner), but it's also expensive as hell. For most people, you're probably better off buying something more conventional and accepting you have a portable computer, and not an actual "laptop".
Yeah. Mine basically stays plugged in 100% of the time and sits on a lapboard that stays on the coffee table when not in use. Thankfully the one I have isn't on the extreme side of weight, loudness and heat output though.
It is also liquid cooled.
If you're gaming on the battery, you're doing it wrong.
Although it's super easy to use GeForce Experience to limit your gaming framerate while on the battery so it doesn't keel over quite as quickly.
Steam | XBL
On battery, not gaming, most of these gaming computers will default to their on board Intel graphics so you're not wrecking the battery when you don't need to.
https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970666737/
Yup. As I said above, for normal usage (web browsing etc) my 17 R4 gets 3.5 to 4 hours, and that's with the Nvidia GPU draining power all the time courtesy of G-sync. Without that it'd get about double that time.
Steam | XBL
The battery on it has been fucked for a long time, it doesn't even turn on unless it is plugged in, but the computer itself still works.
Of course I don't really game on it anymore... but for a couple of years it was my main computer.