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Alienware
Tetsugen
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm on the fence about getting a portable SFF gaming chassis or a dedicated gaming laptop. The pricing for both of them are roughly the same but I was curious to see what people here have to say about Alienware ?
Tetsugen on
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Do you have links to them? price and specs would be helpful.
but they're listening to every word I say
Because there are two things to consider:
1: Gaming laptops are, as a general rule, bad. There will be people saying that they totally have a gaming laptop that can totally play games fine and doesn't weigh the same as their car and is cooler than the corona of the sun. Even the lightest, most power-efficient, most powerful, best cooled laptop in the world will still be worse than a desktop at gaming and less powerful, run hotter, and eat through batteries faster than a netbook. Unless you absolutely cannot under any circumstances use a desktop, you can get a netbook and build a gaming deskop for the same price as a gaming laptop.
2: When you buy Alienware, you are buying a cool case and the name of Alienware. Other than that and having customer service there's no advantage to them over building. They are outrageously overpriced with very little reason.
3: Yes, if you haven't built a computer before it can be daunting. The most complicated part of building a computer is using screws. The second most complicated part of building a computer is plugging things in. The third most complicated part of building a computer is there isn't one, all you need to be able to do is plug things in and use a screwdriver. And read. But I assume you can do that already.
Really, getting a gaming laptop, especially getting an Alienware gaming laptop, is paying atrociously high amounts of money for a product that is, while viable in very select situations, inferior to the alternative of building+Netbook
They are great for moving it to one place and another with a nice desk to place it on, I would never consider running it on battery or playing with it on a bus or other public places.
You must have some geek friend who will be more than willing to walk you through building a SFF computer or regular desktop. Its INCREDIBLY AMAZINGLY cheap compared to alienware. I love it when my friends ask me. Putting together a new computer is a favorite thing of mine to do. I get to see all the latest hardware running without having to pay for it.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
But a gaming laptop is pretty pointless, really.
Can you guys suggest a decent set up other than the M17X?
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I build and maintain my own computer and am a huge fan of doing so. However, the most complicated part of building a computer is that when, inevitably, something doesn't work, you have absolutely no one to turn to when trying to fix it. People get by and learn quite a bit doing so, but for some the convenience of not having to spend a week trying to figure out what broke is worth it.
I built my first computer recently. It was actually pretty damn frustrating and not as simple as I would have thought. Now that I look back on it, I am not sure what the hard part was, as it is all just plugging things into other things, but I had a hell of a time.
And actually something is kind of fucked up with it. When I first put it together it would blue screen half the time. It does so a bit less often now. And every once in a while, when I am playing games, spots and tears appear all over the place until I restart. I opened it up and everything appears to be in the right place. Everything is firmly plugged in and all that.
That really sounds like symptoms of overheating. How much of it did you put together?
I'm guessing you didn't actually place the fan and heat sink on your video card so that's probably fine, but did you do manually install the fan on your CPU? If I would go back and reapply heat paste and reseat the fan and heat sink on your CPU. If it isn't that, check your fans and airflow in the case.
Another potential issue is power supply but I'm not quite sure you'd be seeing the artifacts in that case.
I checked newegg for prices and reviews on parts but since they didn't ship to canada at the time I bought my parts from NCIX, checked the "build it for me" box that costs all of $50 and my sweet rig arrived in perfect condition and ready to go. They did an excellent job with the cable management and even installed the OS for me.
I saved at least $600 compared to buying the same Desktop from alienware or dell.
And desktop > laptop for gaming.
You can easily get an extra 2 years out of an old gaming desktop usually by adding a stick of ram and a video card for a couple hundred. When was the last time you heard of someone with a laptop doing that?
Then it over heated an died but thakfully I had a home and a place to have a desktop. So yeah I suggest a gaming laptop if you want to game but have no home base. Just don't expect it to last long.
I mean, yeah the ones with dual harddrives and dual videocards are over the top and just spell trouble, but something a bit simpler with a quad core and a 9800GT on it with a 17" screen would be something I'd like to have so I don't have to carry my huge desktop + 22" monitor + keyboard + mouse + regulator when I just want or need to take my PC gaming someplace else.
No to Voodoo PC.
No to Falcon Northwest.
No.
Their price points are atrocious. Khavall is right when he says :
"When you buy Alienware, you are buying a cool case and the name of Alienware. Other than that and having customer service there's no advantage to them over building. They are outrageously overpriced with very little reason."
Check out these ridiculously similar laptops:
Asus
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9366615&type=product&id=1218092150740
Alienware
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=dkcwqt1&s=dhs&~lt=alienware
Almost the same stats except for the Alienware having 4gb of DDR3 instead of 6gb of DDR2 and a 7200rpm HD rather than 5400rpm.
And for those "upgrades" it's costing you an extra $775?
Let me tell you that a 500gb hard drive at 7200rpm and 4gb of DDR3 isn't anywhere near $775.
Voodoo and Falcon are even worse.
What is your budget?
What are you wanting to play?
Because a gaming laptop will always be worse than a comparative gaming desktop in terms of power, and will always be worse than a non-gaming laptop in terms of portability, battery life, and heat.
Most people who look into a gaming laptop assume that a gaming laptop is a gaming machine that you can take around with you. When in actuality, it's a laptop with extra bulk and problems so you can play games. Gaming laptops are more expensive than a desktop+Netbook combo, they've got bad battery life, heat management, weight, and power, and they can't be upgraded. 99% of the time, people who want a gaming laptop really want a gaming computer and a laptop, and assume that a gaming laptop is just that.
There are reasons to get a gaming laptop, but if you have a place to put a desktop then a desktop and a netbook is a better choice.
I say this because most people who go into getting a "gaming" laptop will almost never run it purely on the battery. It's always plugged in.
When I was hunting for a laptop capable of playing games, I never considered battery life because I knew I would have an outlet handy.
If people are buying a laptop to purely game on, I doubt they would be counting on a long lasting battery.
Your WoW session wouldn't last past flying out of Dalaran if you did.
the hardest part of building a desktop is just figuring out what works with what. other than that it's really pretty easy with modern OSs
Well this is what I said earlier, that a gaming laptop is good for mobility but only for moving it from one place and another, and using it there as a more portable desktop. If I have to travel by airplane I can't possibly fathom trying to take my desktop with me, but a slightly oversize laptop will not be any trouble at all.
I also mentioned that I believe a decently equipped gaming laptop is the way to go, and not the uber top of the line ones that have a 19" screen and 2 cards on them. A laptop with a quad core and a 9800GTM will pretty much run anything out there on medium-high settings.
It's up to the OP if he wants a desktop or a gaming laptop, what I want to point out is that gaming laptops aren't horrible or a piece of shit that should be avoided by all means that everyone is making them out to be.
OP said: "I'll be travelling and moving quite often due to lifestyle changes."
I'm getting a general feeling from everyone that desktops are the way to go (plus the unanimous postings) but what portable chassis would you guys recommend ? Are there a lot of issues with heat in tiny chassis ?
It really is a pain to lug a desktop onto a plane, train or even from a cab into a hotel.
If you're too lazy for that you can check out Tom's Hardware, they publish a pretty good column every month or so detailing exact lists of parts you can buy to build a PC, for every budget range. I think a couple of months ago they built some pretty affordable ones using the FragBox case which looked neat and might be the size you're looking for but I couldn't speak for their perfomance or ease of construction.
"Moving often" doesn't take out a desktop. If you're plugging in the laptop, then the only extra thing you have to set up for a desktop is the monitor and the sound system over the laptop.
If you have no steady home to set up a desktop, then a gaming laptops the way to go, which is different than if you're moving "often". Especially considering what "often" may be. Yearly? Every 6 months? Every 3 months? Every month? Every week? If you're moving every week then maybe laptop. Maaaybe every month. But an extra 5 minutes of setup for a better system isn't really too much if it's more than that.
Also OP... no other than RAM and HDD you simply can't upgrade a laptop.
On the subject of upgrade potential, the people who have said that all you can upgrade are RAM and HDD are actually wrong, at least in my case. Although it will void the manufacturer warranty, I am 100% sure you can upgrade CPUs in ASUS laptops. Graphics cards are always a no-go though, as they come permanently attached to the motherboard.
I wholeheartedly recommend Sager notebook systems, as i've owned one for over three years now.
The performance is still fantastic, the build quality and customer service have been spectacular, and it fits my bill for portability.
I needed one system I could take with me to the studio during the day, and bring home at night, that could run AutoCAD/ADT/Photoshop/etc as well as say, oblivion/mass effect on max settings @ 1920x1200.
A gaming notebook fit my schedule, but many people would be better off with 2 desktops.
http://www.sagernotebook.com/default.php
Now that being said, here's the rub:
-They are fucking hot. Not like sexy - more like you can't put this on your lap or your quadriceps will combust. They need a nice flat surface with plenty of air movement - no laps.
-They are large and heavy. My 17" notebook weighs upwards of 10 pounds with the battery, mouse, power brick, etc. loaded in the carrier. Fine if you only move it from here to there, terrible if you plan to use it in the car, on the plane, or at the library.
-They are noisy. If you game, you will likely toggle the fans over the GPU to full, and that generates a lot of ambient noise. Headphones are the answer, but people around you might not like sitting next to a jet engine.
-They are more expensive up-front than a similarly capable desktop, and they are potentially more expensive/difficult to service. I recommend the 3-year warranty upgrade for any notebook system, gaming or not.
So like I said, if you're like me and need a "portable gaming workstation", then you might be a candidate for a "gaming notebook". But, if you really just need a gaming desktop system and something for on-the-go internet use and word processing, etc, then please heed the advice of those here and don't unwittingly join the chorus of "gaming laptops suck".
for those in the UK these guys will build one to your spec though:
www.icubes.co.uk
Actually, speaking as a technologically inept gamer, the most daunting part of building a computer is picking the parts. I haven't a fucking clue what to look for in terms of value for money. I don't know whether I should spring for DDR3 ram when DDR2 is perfectly adequate at this point. If you go to a parts retailer with a big plan to just buy all the bits for cheap and assemble them yourself, you're just going to get ripped off as they direct you to the most expensive stuff.
That said, my buddy built a near-top-of-the-line gaming PC for about $1100 from parts, which I guess isn't too bad.
As for laptop vs. desktop: Issues of portability aside, a desktop computer is going to afford you opportunities to upgrade your hardware in the future, saving you money in the long run if it's important to you that your machine is current. Also, get a big case - having that extra space for air circulation is a good idea.
Edit: Bear in mind, of course, that it is $1100 without keyboard, mouse, or monitor.
Thank you, Rubacava!
I know because I did this.
I've never gone for a tiny chasis. How often will you be moving? As soon as you go from laptop ---> desktop you can't bring it as carry on luggage ....remember how they make you turn your laptop on when going through security? Not gonna happen with a desktop small or large.
Which means it's going in the suitcase with lots of packing.
Personally I'd recommend buying a well ventilated mid-size chasis that can just barely fit a massive graphics card and small aftermarket CPU heat sink. Shove it in a giant suitcase surrounded by your clothes and transport it like that.
Personally I'd gladly spend an extra 20 minutes packing and lug a clunker of a suitcase than pay the extra for a laptop but I'm a bit of a penny pincher.
as far as b) goes though a slightly bigger bag will fit a mid-size desktop and top end GFX cards like breathing room (as i said above i have to run my SFF case off) so i'd probably go with dman on this one...
The fact of the matter is simple, I'm confused why it's so hard for some people to grasp (I'm not speaking specifically to Darkewolfe or anyone, just in general): building computer setups is not for everyone.
See? Seven words, not that complex an idea.
I'm not saying everyone shouldn't try it once, but I'm definitely not saying everyone should either. Not everyone's mind is automatically on saving money (though a lot of people are), nor does everyone have the time to invest. For some people, reliability and support and paramount. I've done both, and while I'm sure I will eventually build a PC again in the future, I don't see myself doing it now, especially when the pre-built model I purchased is 1) far beyond my capabilities--tool-less installation, cables stored in the walls, etc. 2) exceptionally easy to upgrade.
Returning to the topic at hand, keep your options open besides Alienware. As others have pointed out, you really are paying for the brand. Building a laptop itself is a fairly mind-blowing task (at least from what I've heard), but there are quite a few different brands which I'm sure are as good as Alienware overall--it's really a matter of model-by-model quality.
Why? Because Gateway has none. It's like cake...it's a fucking lie.
Asus has awesome support from my experience. Guaranteed someone has had awful support from Asus I am sure so take the anecdotal for what it's worth.
I know that dell used to make these thin (~6 inches wide) stand up desktop cases; I don't know how they are in terms of heat for gaming, but we had some pretty high end parts in them in the undergrad lab, so they can't be too bad. Quick googling finds a bunch of compact cases that could maybe even go in a carry-on (although you'd have to figure out all the peripherals.)
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
support as in...tech support? Man, I'm looking to buy a laptop (to do school things + sims 3/RO) and I found a gateway that fit my needs and price range. I also found a Dell computer that fit my price range but just had different things from the gateway.
So what's wrong with the gateway before I buy it thinking I totally got away with a good deal.
I got a great Gateway FX series laptop new on closeout that was an amazing deal. Its well built, but heavy. I think their biggest problem is just plain support. Gateway purchased E-machines, and then Acer bought Gateway. I am pretty sure all support for E-machines and Gateway now go through Acer who is still a primarily a EU heavy brand, and they even in the old days back when they were big in the US struggled with support.
tldr: If you want a well built laptop nothing is wrong with Gateway. If you want great support, I would stay away. Specially with Asus usually having similar priced and specced PC's. After comparing the builds Asus might even be a major laptop supplier for them.