The Changing Face of Alienware Notebooks

[ImaNihilist]

http://www.tgdaily.com/2005/12/08/al...-changingface/

The final goodbye to the high end market, and the final transition to cheap crap. Yaay!

[mynameis]

I like some of their current mid-range offerings. I never could see myself spending over $3k on a laptop.

[ImaNihilist]

My guess is they will actually start making their own notebooks now. They have the money.

[Ashpool]

No big deal.

They were generally crap anyway.

[Soul Assassin]

No big deal.

They were generally crap anyway.

In what way? Having quality parts? Good construction? A decent warranty? American support? Neat looking products?

Or is it because they cost more for all of the above?

Let me guess, you think BMW is crap too.

[ImaNihilist]

In what way? Having quality parts? Good construction? A decent warranty? American support? Neat looking products?

Or is it because they cost more for all of the above?

Let me guess, you think BMW is crap too.

Hahahahaha. BMW makes cars. Expensive performance cars with all inclusive 4-year, 50,000 mile warranties.

Alienware buys notebooks from another vendor, slaps cheap paint and plastic on them, puts a light on it and gives you a standard 90-day warranty. Alienware isn't even that expensive anymore. Just a few precent more than say, Dell.

Read the article.

[pudad]

I thought alienware was crap in general. I could build anything those assholes make, for 10x less. Now take a powerbook or thinkpad -> they have character and build quality. Look at dells business class, they are cheap, and reliable. Who the hell wants to pay alienware prices?

[Soul Assassin]

Hahahahaha. BMW makes cars. Expensive performance cars with all inclusive 4-year, 50,000 mile warranties.

Alienware buys notebooks from another vendor, slaps cheap paint and plastic on them, puts a light on it and gives you a standard 90-day warranty. Alienware isn't even that expensive anymore. Just a few precent more than say, Dell.

Read the article.

I did read the article. Just because they are becoming crap doesn't mean they always were.

I was responding to the statement "They were generally crap anyway." as is indicated by my quote. That statement is past tense, not present/future tense as the article is stating.

Pretty simple if you ask me.

Besides, they offer 3 year warranties, and as I said, it's not outsourced to India.

[ImaNihilist]

I did read the article. Just because they are becoming crap doesn't mean they always were.

I was responding to the statement "They were generally crap anyway." as is indicated by my quote. That statement is past tense, not present/future tense as the article is stating.

Pretty simple if you ask me.

Besides, they offer 3 year warranties, and as I said, it's not outsourced to India.

They have been going downhill for a while now. Everyone "offers" 3 year warranties, but few are standard. It's outsourced to Cuba...more or less--Miami, same thing.

The only one I can think of that actually builds quality systems today, is Falcon Northwest. Too bad their markup is ridiculous.

[Soul Assassin]

I thought alienware was crap in general. I could build anything those assholes make, for 10x less. Now take a powerbook or thinkpad -> they have character and build quality. Look at dells business class, they are cheap, and reliable. Who the hell wants to pay alienware prices?

Powerbook? You mean like titanium that wears off, hinges that break, an aftermarket of 3rd party parts that would make automotive companies cringe? Wireless quality that's just about as bad as one can get? Keyboards that need to be replaced more often than on any other brand ever?

I could go on and on. The last thing Apple products have is build quality. Great character, definitely. Great design, of course. But build quality? Not on your life.

[ImaNihilist]

I thought alienware was crap in general. I could build anything those assholes make, for 10x less. Now take a powerbook or thinkpad -> they have character and build quality. Look at dells business class, they are cheap, and reliable. Who the hell wants to pay alienware prices?

Check their prices today. 5 years ago they were pricey, today not so much. Then again, 5 years ago they really had the good stuff.

[Soul Assassin]

They have been going downhill for a while now. Everyone "offers" 3 year warranties, but they aren't standard. It's outsourced to Cuba...more or less--Miami, same thing.

Yeah, nice one, equating American citizens to Communist in Cuba. I'm sure the Cuban refugees in Miami will thank you profusely for being so nice.

Trying to find reasons to discredit Alienware simply because they make decent products is ridiculous. So they charge more, who cares? If you're that much against capitalism maybe you should move to Cuba and do phone support for Alienware.

Overcharging != crap. Crap is crap, expensive products can be crap or they can be good, but the two have nothing to do with each other.

[ImaNihilist]

Yeah, nice one, equating American citizens to Communist in Cuba. I'm sure the Cuban refugees in Miami will thank you profusely for being so nice.

Trying to find reasons to discredit Alienware simply because they make decent products is ridiculous. So they charge more, who cares? If you're that much against capitalism maybe you should move to Cuba and do phone support for Alienware.

Overcharging != crap. Crap is crap, expensive products can be crap or they can be good, but the two have nothing to do with each other.

rofl.

What are you even talking about?

[Soul Assassin]

rofl.

What are you even talking about?

I try to use basic grade 5 grammar to reach the widest audience, so if you can't follow I apologize. I do know a special needs teacher that I could possibly bring in to break it down for you, if you'd like?

So let me try once more, in a single sentence so you can try and understand: Alienware doesn't make crap products.

[ImaNihilist]

Yeah, nice one, equating American citizens to Communist in Cuba. I'm sure the Cuban refugees in Miami will thank you profusely for being so nice.

What? What are you talking about? Alienware is based out of Miami. Have you ever been in Miami? I've been to their factory in Miami (which is a BEAUTIFUL BUILDING). I used to live in South Fla. When you call them, a lot of times you speak to someone who isn't so good with English, and doesn' t really know what they are talking about. That was very different years ago.

Trying to find reasons to discredit Alienware simply because they make decent products is ridiculous. So they charge more, who cares? If you're that much against capitalism maybe you should move to Cuba and do phone support for Alienware.

Ummm. What? Why do I hate capitalism? Why would I want to move to Cuba and do phone support for Alienware? What are you even talking about?

Overcharging != crap. Crap is crap, expensive products can be crap or they can be good, but the two have nothing to do with each other.

Huh? Who said anything about this? What?

Alienware has gone downhill since they started getting government contracts about 2 years ago. They no longer use quality parts they used to. They use cheap PSUs, extremely cheap desktop cases...with I think painted plywood on the bottom, stock Intel coolers on Prescotts, non-enthusiast motherboards, reference cards, etc. They were a very, very different company 5-years ago. They used to compete directly with Falcon Northwest, and now they are more competetive with say, Dell, although at a higher price. That's all I was saying. I don't know what you are talking about.

The only reason I even bring it up at all is because...and I don't really know how it happened, but I do a lot of support for Alienware systems. This summer I had a few of them in my closet. A friend of mine who had one kept having trouble, and I guess a few other people in his guild had Alienware's giving them trouble, which were out of warranty (or 1 still was), but Alienware couldn't give any turn around other than "up to four weeks." 2 systems just needed new coolers, 1 needed a new PSU, 1 had a stock overclock that was too high and the system was actually unstable.

Because they use a sliding scale they start out cheap, and are cheap, but then the price scale goes up on things like the ALX, but the quality is still cheap. However, you do get a free t-shirt if you spend like $4,000.

When you go from competing with Falcon Northwest, to competing with Dell you've completely changed your products, your image, and your entire business strategy.