The Good, the Bad... the Alien?

I already own an Alienware. Bought it 1.5 years ago. Very happy, good system. The support has been different at times. I am a UK resident so technically I get to enjoy Irish tech support and I cannot say I am happy about it. They are still to send me my floppy drive which they promised roughly a month ago. But it may be due to the fact that they were bought by Dell recently. All acquisitions have a negative impact on organisations at first.

However the American tech support which you can reach whenever Irish are not available has been great. Very helpful and competent.

As for sending the product to HQ for maintenance/repair, well.... never had to. So I wouldn't be able to tell whether it is good or not

Everyone has some horror stories.

In general do your research, pick the machine thats right for you, but find out what you are supposed to do when things do go wrong. Is there a local warranty shop or do you send it to Singapore when it breaks?

Mass market brands... Sony, Toshiba.... Good overall hardware and usually good service. No knock-em-socks off machines here...

"other brands" Alienware.... I have one and got one for my wife as well. These things are rock-solid..... ABS is a good alternate.

Under no circumstances use a Nobilis laptop.

If you are going to spend the $$$ for a high end machine spend a bit more and get the manufacturer's warranty. Also be aware if you have a decent warranty shop locally.

resellerratings.com should help you evaluate a company

Excellent support, upgradable to a 2 year warranty. I stand behind my product.