Buying Alienware PC Tommorow?!?

[Guest]

I just got a loan to buy my cpu, and I think this Alienware cpu would be nice. I did my "homework" to see what exactly I would be getting, and would like someone to let me know if there are any problems with this system.
*-AMD Athlon 1.3ghz 266MHz FSB http://www.alienware.com/x/sector/systems/prod_info/processor_ddr.htm
*-384MB DDR SDRAM (PC-2100) Apacer
http://www.apacer.com/news/launch/pc266.htm
*-Two 40GB 7200 UltraATA 9.0ms seek HD's (not sure of brand)
http://www.alienware.com/x/sector/systems/prod_info/harddrive.htm
*-Promise FastTrack UltraATA/100 RAID controler http://www.promise.com/ATARaid/
*-19" Pro. .25mm dp SVGA Monitor, Viewsonic PF790 http://www.viewsonic.com/productwizard/productdetail.cfm?productID=000EF2EB-970A-1908-829D80C4C7BE010C
*-NVIDIA GeForce2 Ultra w/64MB DDR http://www.nvidia.com/products/geforce2ultra.nsf
*-SoundBlaster Live! 5.1 X Gamer
*-16x DVD 40x CD Pioneer
*-400-Watt THX Speakers&Subwoofer Klipsch http://www.alienware.com/x/sector/systems/prod_info/speakers.htm
*-MS ME OS
I am going to call Alienware tonight and try to find out the exact model of the Motherboard and Hard Drives. I will post them tommorow. Thanks for the help.

 

[Guest]

The case it comes with is only 300 Watts. Will this be enough? Im not sure if I could "special order" a 400 Watt power supply, so would it work ok? Thanks again for your help.

 

[Guest]

I just checked out alienware for the first time and found something surprising. A) They don't list prices on upgrades, but you can figure it some of it out. B) they are expensive.

I put in your total and came up with $3300. WOW. Micron sells them cheaper than that. Oh and Crucial is now selling PC2100 DDR for $60 for 128mb.

But if you have the money. Good luck

 

[toonces]

alienware is a company that you can trust and will not screw you. their systems are reliable and are generally known as one of the best gaming pc makers out there. if i were going to buy a prebuilt system i would go to them or recommend them to any who could afford it. i would not go with dell or any other broad market pc maker. the people at alienware are gamers with performance in mind, not selling more units by branching out into the gaming market.

<font color=red>yeah baby, my kung fu's the best...</font color=red>

 

[nicewar]

And for all that cash you get to pick out a nifty case and keyboard color!
(the sarcasm is actually envy in drag.) I've read lots of good reviews on Alienware... but they should be good for what they charge.

"Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. My mind is going. There is no question about it."

 

[toonces]

i think it would be a good choice for him, since they offer great customer service and all that for the price. you're not only paying for product, but for service and warranty.

<font color=red>yeah baby, my kung fu's the best...</font color=red>

 

[dhlucke]

I think ~$1500 for service is a bit extreme. Or what is the premium that he will have to pay exactly?

<font color=red>Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.</font color=red>
Pablo Picasso

 

[Guest]

for that $1500 for service if something goes wrong in a years time you will be able to go out and buy the system for that. save your money and upgrade later

 

[Guest]

I custom built almost the exact same machine from pricewatch in January for $1800. If you like getting ripped off, go ahead. Here's my specs:

Athlon 1GHZ 200MHz FSB
Gigabyte GA-7DXC
256MB PC2100 DDR Apacer
IBM Deskstar 75GXP 45GB
Leadtek WinFast GeForce2 Ultra 64MB DDR
Sound Blaster Live Platinum 5.1
Pioneer 16X DVD/40X CD (Slot Load)
Panasonic 2X Superdisk Floppy
Antec Tool-free Chassis with 300W Antec P/S

This box has run without a hitch since I got it. I don't think you'll have any problems since your is pretty close.

Error: The idea generated by your cerebral processor is invalid, reprogram your logic and try again.

 

[Guest]

Yeah, I know that it is a little expensive, but I have the money to buy it, and dont want to take the risk of building my own machine, I know a little bit, enough to upgrade if I have to, but I dont want to risk building it from scratch. All in all though, the system is pretty sweet and will work real nice... right? No one can see any problems with the system (besides price)? If not... I have one more obsticle *talkig to bro-in-law*, then I am going to jump... Thanks for the help. *The Motherboard is a FIC AD11, and the hard drives are IBM's.

 

[dhlucke]

You've got the money, you've worked for it right? Spend it and enjoy...

<font color=red>Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.</font color=red>
Pablo Picasso

 

[rcf84]

Dont buy the system... FIC is worst then PC Chips motherboards. You'll Love a FIC mobo that doesnt work. FIC = VIA BAD.

!!! Leader of the Anti-via army !!!

 

[Guest]

What is wrong with FIC? Have you had any problems with one of those motherboards? If so, what went wrong? If anyone else has any comments on the FIC AD11 motherboard (the one that comes with the system), please let me know. Thanks.
http://www.fic.com.tw/motherboards/ad11/ad11_intro.htm

 

[toonces]

nothings wrong with FIC. the people in this forum are people that would rather build it themselves than pay someone else to do it for them. there's nothing wrong with alienware. if something does go wrong with your system they will take care of the problem. your FIC mobo retails on pricewatch.com at @130$ ... not cheap. i looked up all the parts that you listed in your system and you could save 700-800$ but ... if something went wrong ... trust me, in your situation it's better to go with something that all you have to do is plug the stuff together and let someone else worry about the minutia of it.

<font color=red>yeah baby, my kung fu's the best...</font color=red>

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the help. I think I could build my own computer, but I dont want to risk it. I've worked at a K-Mart for just over 5 months now doing the "dirty work" for the store... I don't want to use the money I have been saving and mess something up because I didn't know what I was doing. That's why I am going to buy a "pre-built" computer, and I want the best I can get. Alienware seems like at least one of the best I can get. *Needs to last 5-6 years* Thanks again for the help, I plan on ordering the system tonight, after I talk to my bro-in-law.

 

[dhlucke]

My first 2 computers lasted 6 years, but don't expect that to happen again. Technology is advancing way too quickly. I've had to constantly upgrade my current PC and I've only had it 2 years. 5-6 years might not happen....

<font color=red>Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.</font color=red>
Pablo Picasso

 

[rcf84]

Well lets see here. I had a k6-2 300mhz FIC mobo w/ via mpv3 chipset. The board didn't work at all. Then i put my First PC on a k6-2 300 on an aopen mobo w/ 430tx chipset. Works fine w/o via or FIC

!!! Leader of the Anti-via army !!!

 

[beans]

Russ -


Now that you have decided to buy rather than build, it would be worth your time to compare vendors who sell the kind of system you want.

For game machines the three best I know about are, in alphabetical order, Alienware, Falcon, and GamePC. Others on the forum may add to that list. At the very least, you should run your configuration on all three of these sites.


The lowest price may NOT be the best buy! Be sure to check resellerratings.com. Read the comments posted there as well as the summaries. No one comment can be taken at face value -- look for problems mentioned several times.

Before you order, find out when your system will be shipped, and exactly when you will be billed. These are likely to be different times, perhaps very different. If you don't ask up front, you may not find out until you're stuck with something you didn't expect and would not have accepted.


You obviously worked hard for this system, and I hope it meets your expectations. Good luck!


beans

 

[AmdMELTDOWN]

right now the best gaming machine that Alienware sells has to be the <A HREF="http://www.alienware.com/x/sector/systems/secure/area51.asp" target="_new">Area51</A>

also take a look at the <A HREF="http://www.cyberathlete.com/" target="_new">Cyberathlete Pro League</A>

"Amd cpu...Gone in 2 secs flat, it truly is a fast chip!"

 

[Guest]

I've had mine for 2 weeks now and it works great.
Like any athlon+good 3d card compbo, get a good power supply.
I use the built-in usb and a firewire card and have not had any problems with that either.

 

[Fltsimbuff]

That's gotta be the 1.333GHz T-bird... The 1.3GHz uses the 100MHz double-pumped bus...(200MHz effective)

 

[Fltsimbuff]

Really? I once bought a Maztor HDD that failed shortly thereafter... Had an old CDROM drive that quit working too... come to think of it, I don't know of ANY company that has never released a faulty product... Just because your board may have been damaged in shipping, doesn't mean the company and all its products are junk.... Consider the Celeron CPU. Intel finds a P3 chip with a bad area of cache...They disable the half that has the "bad spot", change the multiplier, and repackage it as a Celeron.
I'm willing to bet that there are more good FIC boards than bad... otherwise it is doubtful that the company would survive.
IMO, all Celeron CPUs are defective by design....

--Fltsimbuff