Ableton Forum

I hope this is not a repost.

http://www.alienware.com/main.aspx


Looks nice, almost Mac'ish

I recently acquired the Alienware 7700. It's really a "mobile desktop" and not a laptop, because it is quite large. It also has 4 fans which can contribute quite a bit of noise. Usually not too much noise, but in my case the two CPU fans have an unfortunate problem - they defectively cycle on and off and create quite a racket.

I'm bummed - after waiting about 2 months to get the damn thing I have to send it back for repair after having it for about a month.

Not only that, they *guarantee* they will wipe my hard drive for me before returning it - I spent two weeks installing software and software updates. So, I went out and got a 2.5" HD USB 2.0 enclosure so I could make a mirror copy of the HD before I return it. What a pain!

But anyway, otherwise I really do think it's a great machine and company, as long as they can fix my problem!

What is better in this than most other laptops, whats in there to make it so big?

I've had the Area51-M(566) for a year now. I will never buy another Alienware again!.

1. My DVD drive won't read any of my 100+ European DVD-Rs (Alienware told me to reload the firmware...did that. I already contacted the DVD Drive manufacturer & they acknowledged the problem & they're looking into).

2. The video card locks up for no reason (other people have the same issue).

3. One of my rubber feet have fallen off.

4. The computer will NOT boot up with my external hard drive in the USB slot.

5. The built-in audio setup SUCKS! Alienware was 3 revisions behind on the drivers ~ I had to get them elsewhere ~ & the sound is just LOW

6. Their forums are moderated & I've had half of my posts NOT approved & when they are approved...you can forget about a quick response as it has taken upwards of 3 days for them to be approved! Besides, they're on some crappy forum structure where the advanced search does not work properly ~ no BBCode at all.

7. Their shipping time bites ~ took 5 weeks! When I bought mine, they dropped the price by $300 beore I even recieved it & they would NOT give me the reduced price!

I'm going with VooDoo next time. I e-mailed VooDoo a question & they replied the same day! I'm not even a customer yet. You'll never see that level of service with Alienware...no matter how much they write it on their website. Don't believe the hype.

alienware is way overpriced. 2 years ago i got a Pro-Star (aka Sager) for $2000 that was the same thing as one of the Alienware offerings costing $3000. of course, mine doesn't have the cool color but i wasn't gonna shell out $1000 for that.

at the time, Centrinos were very expensive and their processing capabilities were not as well known, so i went for the cheaper desktop cpu, giving me a powerful but heavy laptop with a loud fan and medioce battery life. i don't regret the power my 2.4ghz gives - my production increased a lot since i'd bring my PIII 800 to its knees all the time. i do wish it were quieter - i cleaned the fan once as they tend to get louder and louder and louder. it recently stopped booting, and i sent it back and it was the ventilation that required cleaning. i dunno wtf needed to be cleaned because i took the whole thing apart (literally) and cleaned whatever i could.

All these 'botique' laptops are increibly over-priced. If people did some research, they could get the exact same laptops (without the 'cool' alienware cases) for MUCH cheaper.

Keep in mind that all laptops are made by the same few OEM manufacturers, they are just rebadged for certain dealers.

That's not true for Alienware...they ARE unique as it took them 5 weeks to actually build my laptop. I know that there are many other laptops that have the same base, but Alienware is not one of them. Besides, there are only a few laptops out there that actually have the cutting edge power that I'm looking for.

Anyway, in regards to the fans/cleaning ~ as long as you use compressed air in the appropriate places you won't have issues.

They look a bit pooooo

I got a lappy for Digital Villiage and , ok it may look like piss compared to those alienware things ,but it is way more powerful and never had a proplem with it. just a thought for you.

mine was built to order as well, with no OS installed (per my request). alienware is built-to-ordertoo, but you pay lot more for aesthetics - kinda like buying an apple.

tylast wrote:Besides, there are only a few laptops out there that actually have the cutting edge power that I'm looking for.

exactly how fast is this thing?

i'm sure there are comparably fast & powerful pcs at http://pctorque.com/

Keep in mind that it IS a year old :: 3.2GHz P4EE with a gig of ram. I actually had a Sager befor that one...had it for 18 months or so. I was pleased with it, but they were a step behind with the new procs at the time. I'm still open to other options for my next upgrade.

i have NO idea what my next one is going to be, aside from probably being a 2ghz Centrino. laptops seem to be getting cheaper all the time, so i should be able to upgrade nicely if i can hold out for one more year.

Rx wrote:mine was built to order as well, with no OS installed (per my request). alienware is built-to-ordertoo, but you pay lot more for aesthetics - kinda like buying an apple.

In Apple, the design and look are a free bonus. You pay for Superperformance and stability . Lets not start...I also have a pc.

It seems like this Alienware is not made to work on earth.

Nothing worse than bad customer service, deleted posts that are not "company patriotic", and you have payed, now it is your f.. problem.

The "customer is always right" is at the exact oposite these days, everywhere.

this is not for here, but I want to write it,
TODAY, WE ALL HAVE FREEDOM. WE CAN CHOSE WHAT WE WANT AND HOW. WHAT WE DON'T HAVE, IS OPTIONS. we are free to chose from one, or two options. real freedom...
How many os platform you can chose?? (practical, one or two. PC Mac)
How many cable companies you can chose?
How many car manufactures (in america) that are not...the same company.
How many presidents, How many options you REALLY have for most things?
Who makes a big profit $$ from this situation, and how it was called in the past?
What will be said 100 years from now about our time? The dark ages of modern times.

How can you defend the performance, when three posts up you have a whole list of things that are wrong with it? What kind of performane is that?

tylast wrote:That's not true for Alienware...they ARE unique as it took them 5 weeks to actually build my laptop. I know that there are many other laptops that have the same base, but Alienware is not one of them. Besides, there are only a few laptops out there that actually have the cutting edge power that I'm looking for.

Anyway, in regards to the fans/cleaning ~ as long as you use compressed air in the appropriate places you won't have issues.