Alienware

[Kohan]

Alienware is Dell. There is no difference between the two. There used to be, but what was once Alienware was dissolved some time after Dell purchased the company. So, you can't recommend anything Dell makes and shit talk Alienware in the same breath, unless you didn't realize that all their high-end portable machines are basically identical. If you didn't know that before, now you do. It really is just a brand name nowadays.

[Therin]

I think a lot of the responses here reflect the opinion of Alienware from a few years back. I've had three now, and I noticed some of these complaints with my first machine. Since then, I bought an Alienware laptop in 2005, and a desktop last year in 2008 and both have yet to crash or have any issues whatsoever. I've never been happier with a machine than these two - the laptop especially, since I've had it for almost four years now and lugged it with me pretty much everywhere. The thing's built tough. Another friend of mine bought an Alienware laptop last year as well and she has been super happy with it.

Yes, Alienware used to be prone to problems - but now, I think they're doing a lot better and the machines are extremely solid. Yes, they are expensive, but you're getting a machine built from great components (not the best, but great) by computer experts and not an assembly line. Not only that, but their customer service is actually good (whereas Dell, HP, etc. suck ass) and they're engineered cool as all hell. My desktop is a powerhouse but it's extremely quiet and cool due to clean wiring and good airflow inside the system.

Compared to my brother's powerhouse machine that he got from CyberPower, his is like a 600 HP supercharged Camaro vs. a 600 HP Porsche (I'd say Falcon NW is the Lamborghini of PCs). His costs less and performs about the same, but mine is a Porsche!

[Stee]

XPS laptops are expensive as hell. Their basic setup already costs $1000 and their basic setup is not very good.....

For what it's worth my friend got his from Gaming Laptops - XOTIC PC - Gaming Notebooks - Custom Laptops - Custom Notebooks a few years back and has had no problems with it.

Thanks for this, they look like they have good prices and good service.

Thinking about getting this

FORCE 3310 (Built on COMPAL JHL90)

with a few upgrades.

[Korietsu]

Don't buy from alienware. CS is terrible, parts are terrible, design is terrible.

[mootsfox]

Get that ASUS with the 9800M GS. It's like $900.

[Stee]

Was looking at that one but I looked up some reviews and because of that graphics card it kills the battery life. Think the max was 1.5 hours or something.

[mootsfox]

Well do you want a gaming laptop or a mobile laptop?

It's wishful thinking if you want a killer performance laptop at a reasonable price that gets 12 hours of battery life.

You could buy that new macbook pro with the dual cards in it.

[Stee]

Well I'm looking for the right balance between the two, which I think the other one is a perfect fit for.

I'm not trying to play Crysis on this laptop or anything, just a few games that have come out the last few years which I think the geforce 9600M should do the job just fine. At the same time I'm a comp eng major so I need a average battery life.

[Kainos]

Sorry about the necrobump,

I'm thinking of getting an alienware desktop or maybe a voodoo. Anyone have any suggestions for a good gaming desktop? Money is not too much of a concern, but im not gonna drop $5k or anything outrageous.

The only game I will run on it will be FFXI but I also want it powerfull enough to be able to run FF14 when it is released (I know the specs arent released but i figure in the realm of ps3 gaming)

Other than that my main concern is be able to run multiple applications along with FFXI/14 without losing speed and lagging. Im gonna use my notebook for all media audio/video so thats not a big concern.

thanks in advance

[Pikarya]

Sorry about the necrobump,

I'm thinking of getting an alienware desktop or maybe a voodoo. Anyone have any suggestions for a good gaming desktop? Money is not too much of a concern, but im not gonna drop $5k or anything outrageous.

The only game I will run on it will be FFXI but I also want it powerfull enough to be able to run FF14 when it is released (I know the specs arent released but i figure in the realm of ps3 gaming)

Other than that my main concern is be able to run multiple applications along with FFXI/14 without losing speed and lagging. Im gonna use my notebook for all media audio/video so thats not a big concern.

thanks in advance

The real question, as almost anyone is going to ask. Do you want to build a rig and save a ton of money, plus leave overhead for lots of awesome upgrades?

[Cephius]

Been through this before, and not to be mean or anything but buying a gaming desktop now so you can eventually play FF14 on it is insane. By the time it comes out, your $3000 desktop will be worth about 200 bucks. Not to mention that you aren't looking to play any modern games, and you have a laptop for other stuff.

My advice: Wait until the game actually has a solid release date and recommended specs before buying something. Also, Alienware is a waste. Just get a XPS Dell or an HP.

[Kainos]

The real question, as almost anyone is going to ask. Do you want to build a rig and save a ton of money, plus leave overhead for lots of awesome upgrades?

Im not too hardware savy, if you mean build it myself and install parts definately NOT

[Kainos]

Been through this before, and not to be mean or anything but buying a gaming desktop now so you can eventually play FF14 on it is insane. By the time it comes out, your $3000 desktop will be worth about 200 bucks. Not to mention that you aren't looking to play any modern games, and you have a laptop for other stuff.

My advice: Wait until the game actually has a solid release date and recommended specs before buying something. Also, Alienware is a waste. Just get a XPS Dell or an HP.

Im not a fan of dell at all, I have 2-3 year old Dell XPS now but i want to get rid of it. I see ur point about waiting for FF14, I want to at least be able to run FFXI on highest res/graphics I can. Currently If I try to do increase graphics and resolution it slows the game to shit

[Cephius]

Well Dell owns Alienware and they use many of the same components so...

Have you thought about just upgrading the video card and RAM in your current machine?

[Pikarya]

Or CPU if possible, since that ultimately is going to affect FFXI in particular.

[Kainos]

ya not gonna upgrade current pc, plan on giving it to someone. I just wanna be able to run ffxi at it's highest quality and not lose speed or lag while running multiple apps. been looking at Voodoo firebird atm

[mootsfox]

FFXI does not take a powerhouse to run well.

Also buying a prebuilt is going to cost you anywhere from 20-40% more than if you built it yourself.

Plus people could call you a noob for buying a prebuilt to game on...

[Boyiee]

You can build a PC that will run FFXI at max settings, and probably 14 at max settings (if they develop it like they did xi) for 500-1000$.

Don't spend more than 1000-1500 and you shouldn't have any problems for those 2 games. You're better off waiting, and if price is no option, then build a 500$ pc to run ffxi now and when 14 comes out build a decent pc for 1k-1500.

[Vile23]

Dude. My first two PCs I owned were shitty Compaqs from Walmart and Best Buy. They all handled FFXI great. The first one I purchased was 500$ and the second one was around 1200$ (GG best buy) Slapped a 150$ gfx card in both and was set... you see where Im going with this ..?

[Furtwangler]

XPS laptops are expensive as hell. Their basic setup already costs $1000 and their basic setup is not very good.....




Thanks for this, they look like they have good prices and good service.

Thinking about getting this

FORCE 3310 (Built on COMPAL JHL90)

with a few upgrades.

I also got my laptop from xotic. I got what is currently the Sager NP5797 (it was the 5790, and one of the first released models when i got it) and I for the most part couldnt be happier. The only regrets I have is how much the prices have dropped, but you'll get that in buying any gaming laptop thats close to top of the line. My hinge also snapped once but I think I overuse this thing too much as a portable laptop, not more of a desktop replacement. Their customer service is pretty good too.