Best way to talk my friend out of a Alienware?

[Shakezilla]

Ok so my friends current comp was built by his brother and they both ran into problems with random restarts and such.

And he said to me when I get my next computer I am going to get an alienware that way I dont have to worry about anything. I tried to tell him that they pretty much charge double what the parts are worth and you only get a T-shirt in exchange.

His argument was that alienwares are ment for gaming(he only plays DAoC and thats doesnt really require much.) He also said Alienware has to have good customer support and such so if something break he ownt have to worry about that(he might have a pint there.)

I think my best argument would be that he could have a site like monarch make his system and then if he does run into problems he could send it into a shop to get fixed. And in the end the price of having a shop fix it and order it from monarch would still be a lot cheaper than ordering from alienware. Anyone wana help me with my arguement.

An exampe of what I am dealing with was when he had random restarts before doing anything else he ran out and bought a new PSU. And when that didnt fix the problem he got pissed and did nothing. I was like what kinda PSU did you get, he was like "It a 400watt PSU so it has to be really good!" I was like well the wattage doesnt really mean anything. ANd when I looked in his case its a powmax ;)

So anyone got any ideas besides mine to convince him?

[0mega]

Im thinking check ResellerRatings to see what alienware gets and find a better System Builder :)

[Tman]

I have an alineware and have only had a few small problems.
and they really arent that bad of a company.


if you want a really good pc go here- http://www.velocitymicro.com/

or

go to thic company that is just about to open up- http://aquaboxpc.com/
My really good friend is going to open this compnay up any day now. And I have already
sent 5 people to him. And all 5 have placed orders with him. If you have ever seen the
show Pimp My Ride and like their paint jobs... then guess what? They paint his computers
and Do one hell of a great job on them!!!!! Not to meniton he is extreally cheap!!!!

[Leon2ky]

Personally if someone wants to buy an alienware, let them. It just allows you to laugh in their place when they're finding out just how good their customer service is when he's on the phone with them all the time.

My favorite saying for OEM builders is that good customer service is when there is no need for customer service.

[Shakezilla]

Leon I would laugh in his face but I want him to be happy with what he gets AND not have to spend a ton. I will probably try and pint him in another direction but if I cant so be it.

I will just have to stop him from trying to tell my other friend that the reason his 9800 Pro is so good it because it has 256mb ram :rolleyes:

[Leon2ky]

Leon I would laugh in his face but I want him to be happy with what he gets AND not have to spend a ton. I will probably try and pint him in another direction but if I cant so be it.

I will just have to stop him from trying to tell my other friend that the reason his 9800 Pro is so good it because it has 256mb ram :rolleyes:

Well if it gets to the point where he has to send it back he'll be refunded and you can still laugh at him :p.

[Paul_Johnson]

An exampe of what I am dealing with was when he had random restarts before doing anything else he ran out and bought a new PSU. And when that didnt fix the problem he got pissed and did nothing. I was like what kinda PSU did you get, he was like "It a 400watt PSU so it has to be really good!" I was like well the wattage doesnt really mean anything. ANd when I looked in his case its a powmax ;)
Pow to the max i think is how the kids are saying it these days ;)

So anyone got any ideas besides mine to convince him?

Show him the pricetag :p

[elite.mafia]

Show him the computers at www.abspc.com .. Cheaper for the same shit, plus I bet he'll like the looks.

[GeForceX]

Shakezilla, I know for a fact that he will be happy. Let him spend it and he'll realize later on if the costs was worth the whole thing.

And Leon, their services are commendable to say the least. It's at least worth the "double the part price".

I should clear up that myth-- they don't charge double. They charge approximately the same parts but it's really their labor/service charges that you don't see being tacked on.

-J.

[Shakezilla]

wow I am really impressed with that abs site, nice deals and nice customization options.

[aZn_plyR]

I know of a way to show him...well at least make him feel stupid... when he buys his system, for the price of a brnad new car..you build one that will dust his for half the price :) hehe

[Shakezilla]

I know of a way to show him...well at least make him feel stupid... when he buys his system, for the price of a brnad new car..you build one that will dust his for half the price :) hehe
In a few weeks I am building a comp so we'll see :p

[jojor512]

I don't know why everyone is so against the likes of alienware, voodoo, falcon, etc... If you have the money and want a nice computer, why not spend the money? Can you build one a lot cheaper yourself? Hell yes. Could it possibly be better? Likely, I know mine was when I built it. But when you buy a custom PC from the above manufacturers and others, you are getting a product & support, not a bunch of components hooked up together in a case. For someone who doesn't know or want to know about the inside workings of a computer, there is nothing wrong with spending extra to get a unique and powerful system from someone else. I have plenty of friends who just want to be able to play the latest games and surf the web. They could care less what processor or graphics card is inside as long as it gets the job done. Alienware and the likes do very well catering to this market, and I see no reason why you should discourage anyone from them provided they have and are willing to spend the money.

[-=MrStalinsOpus=-]

If he wants an alienware, let him get it. It is his money after all. Not everybody wants a hand build, tweaked rig made of all retail parts. The average user sees such rigs as warrenty-less and tech-support less computers. Building isn't for everyone.


But is building more affordable, yes. More fun? Hell yes.


But to the "normals" out there, building a computer is a "hassle".....So let these people buy dells, alienwares, or whatever. It's their dollar.

[Shakezilla]

I can see your guys points, the thing that pisses me off tho is that he thinks the alienware will be better because he has to pay more.
But yeah I will probably talk to him once more than wipe my hands clean of the matter. If I could talk him into that ABS site that would be an improvement too.

[aZn_plyR]

lol....I got my computer from ABS..... but now everything is all different from when I got it :) but anyways...

when I was looking for a pre built computer...it was either Alienware or ABS ( Always Better Service) (and price too I may add)

In alienware section...this was almost a year ago.. it was either going with alienware and my 2000 dollars budget... athlon 64 3000+, 1 gigabyte ram, 9800pro, nice looking case, no mouse/keyboard onboard sound and the basic for 2000 bucks..... heard about ABS, went over there.... for 2000 bucks.... athlon 64 3200+, 9800XT (wootwoot), 1 gig ddr400, logitech z-680/ microsoft keyboard/ sound blaster audigy 2 zs :) etc etc etc...

[AchTuNG!]

If you keep arguing with him, and he eventually builds / buys something based on your recomendation, then you will be the one he's going to call every day with problems.

http://www.mentallyretired.com/h3/index.cfm/u_125681 (http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_summary.php?u=125681)

[-=MrStalinsOpus=-]

I can see your guys points, the thing that pisses me off tho is that he thinks the alienware will be better because he has to pay more.
But yeah I will probably talk to him once more than wipe my hands clean of the matter. If I could talk him into that ABS site that would be an improvement too.



If he thinks that.....Let him buy an alienware....then build yourself a better rig at 2/3rds the cost. He'll wise up.

[-=MrStalinsOpus=-]

If you keep arguing with him, and he eventually builds / buys something based on your recomendation, then you will be the one he's going to call every day with problems.

http://www.mentallyretired.com/h3/index.cfm/u_125681 (http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_summary.php?u=125681)


QFT.


I built my older sister a cheap office box. I swear, everytime i go to her house she has some problem. Not system failure problems....but little crap she expects me to take care of....Dust, software installation....ect.

I paid for it and built it for her because her old machine wasn't cutting it. What i didn't realize was that i had to provide free tech support for life for a machine i paid for. LOL!

At first it was cool....but 6 months later.....urrrgghhh!

[Shakezilla]

If you keep arguing with him, and he eventually builds / buys something based on your recomendation, then you will be the one he's going to call every day with problems.

http://www.mentallyretired.com/h3/index.cfm/u_125681 (http://folding.extremeoverclocking.com/user_summary.php?u=125681)

True true, I usually have fun fixing stuff but with him it would probably be a fight lol

[MemoryInAGarden]

If you think the person would be constantly bringing you the PC every time that something went wrong, you'd be best not to build them one. Newegg is now selling full systems from ABS and maybe other manufacturers. That would be the easiest way to get a non-major brand but still reasonably priced system. Unless your friend is a hardcore gamer or power user, what does he really need the power of an Alienware or other high priced PC for? My rig was less than $800 (but a lot of it is second hand) and I'm able to play most games at 1600x1200 and the system does everything else I need to quickly and efficiently

[BossNoodleKaboodle]

Thanks to careful shopping, I just got a dual 3.0Ghz 64bit Xeon Dell workstation with Windows 64bit pre installed, 2GB of ECC RAM, a Quadro 3400, all in a small form factor case and all for $3400!!! OH yeah and since its not some consumer garbage, Dell will send someone to my house any day of the week to fix it or replace it if it breaks with guaranteed problem resolution within 24hrs. You can get a dual core system with a 256MB 6800 for ~$1700 at the moment from Dell too. It will likely be just as fast or faster than the Aliencrap he's looking at, and be about half the price as well. That should convince even the most computer-illiterate shopper.

You should tell your friend to be a smart shopper because he's going to pay out the ass for a stupid looking alien head case with a bunch of junk in it, when he could get a serious machine for less money. I couldn't even build the machine I got for less money. Dell's are a remarkably good deal at the moment. I'm partial to IBM and SUN but their products are WAY more expensive than Dell for similar support and hardware.

[elite.mafia]

If you think the person would be constantly bringing you the PC every time that something went wrong, you'd be best not to build them one. Newegg is now selling full systems from ABS and maybe other manufacturers. That would be the easiest way to get a non-major brand but still reasonably priced system. Unless your friend is a hardcore gamer or power user, what does he really need the power of an Alienware or other high priced PC for? My rig was less than $800 (but a lot of it is second hand) and I'm able to play most games at 1600x1200 and the system does everything else I need to quickly and efficiently

umm on an overclocked celery stick you can run most games at 1600x1200??? ummmm... that celeron is a huge bottleneck for a 6800gt..

[4b5eN+EE]

doesnt mean he can't play on 16X12.......

like a few others are saying, let him buy it...then go out...and build the EXACT SAME rig for (less than) half the money

even go out and spring for an alienware knockoff case just to make fun of him :p

[texuspete00]

Well, you could clean off any and all spyware... replace the powmax and probably have a good working computer. Of course the downside is you can't point, laugh, and ridicule. You'd actually be being "nice" to a "friend." :confused: If they are not that good of a friend you can ask for fair payment. Seems they go running for a new comp when their's is broken so they should have the change.

I know about not wanting to be tech support... believe me. But you don't have to build the machine.. if it comes to that direct them to ABS. I dunno, it also seems like I'm the only one catching on that their is most likely a decent box around. Just frigging help 'em.... you know because he's in a jam. ;) Probably take a few moments to recognize the waek link (probably cheapo parts often neglected by joe blow - ala the PSU). Then after that worse comes to worse... tell em...eh reformat. :p

[Aaron_ATX]

Like others have said, unless you are building/servicing the machine for him, don't try and talk him out of it.

So he thinks its magically better somehow because alienware sprinkled magic uberleet fps dust on it....good for him.

Anyone who actually knows anything about computers will know this isnt the case.

And the people who believe him when he brags about it? Just think of it this way, it's an easy way to separate them from the people who don't eat paint chips for breakfast.

[4b5eN+EE]

And the people who believe him when he brags about it? Just think of it this way, it's an easy way to separate them from the people who don't eat paint chips for breakfast. lmao!

[magoo]

its funny,but id like to do a poll sometime to find out how many people who badmouth prebuilt machines have ever owned one that they speak so lowly of.
well I have two alienware computers. I like them just fine. I have also built three others, i like them just fine too. They were fun to build,research and are solid computers. I built the one I game on. i would not hesitate to recommend an Alienware to your friend, but his reasoning is not too solid though. Hes paying for the labor to build and the support of the company, plus their advertising and marketing costs. They are a private company so they need to turn a profit to pay the bills. Are they better than Falcon, Voodoo or Dell??? I dont know because I dont own any of those. Id recommend resellerratings to your friend before the buy so he can make his mind up a bit better. :D

[Shakezilla]

I have never said anything bad about the quality of Alienwares. My opinion is that they are just to overpriced to possibly justify them when there are other companies out there and such.
Right now dell has good deals too. If only there customer support wasnt total crap and in India. :p

[Elios]

if your going to get an overpriced pre-built get a Falcon Mach V lol

www.falcon-nw.com :p

[ashmedai]

I have never said anything bad about the quality of Alienwares. My opinion is that they are just to overpriced to possibly justify them when there are other companies out there and such.
Right now dell has good deals too. If only there customer support wasnt total crap and in India. :p

I've always thought rather highly of Dell's support. As far as I'm concerned the number one reason for getting a prebuilt system is the support - if you could (or wanted to) support it yourself, you'd have built it yourself. I rate Dell's support highly, so they're at the top of my list for prebuilt systems. If you don't feel the same about them, find someone whose support you DO like, and buy from them. EOS.

I think Alienware is overpriced and undersupported, so I wouldn't recommend buying from them. Try Dell, and make sure your friend knows to call THEM and not you.

[Shzitt]

I have an Alienware and with the rebates it was about the same price as ordering all the parts from newegg (with shipping). As for the company itself there sales staff is not always on top of things, but customer support is good. The machine comes expertly packaged, all cables routed and tucked away, zip ties cut close and it worked right out of the box. Getting a pre built for the same price I would have done it myself comes out as a win in my book. However, if you are not able to catch them with the rebates then they are overpriced.

[n64man120]

I know how to talk him out of it... show him this thread :)

Or better yet, print it out and eliminate all the posts supporting alienware if you want to strengthen your point.

[Brando457]

if you know what you're doing why not build it for him and show him how everythign wroks and comes together and teach him a few basic troubleshooting techniques.

Just my $.02 I try to tell everyone not to buy pre-mades, but if they have to I just suggest Dell or HP something that is simple and useable.

[lesman]

NOTHING is wrong with Alienware except for the fact that they charge too damn much. It's not "double" the price of the parts like some have said :rolleyes: But it IS more than what you'd spend doing it yourself or otherwise. The service is just fine, nothign wrong, and you'll get a good running system from alienware....just at a higher price due to labor and burn in "costs"

[Treyshadow]

I have nothing but good things to say about ABS. They shipped us 50 machines for tournament boxes at the TXGF lan party in February of 2004. All of the machines came perfect, no issues. Each was a screamer (for its day) and the looks were great.

I don't think he can go wrong with one.

[Intel_Hydralisk]

A lot of people in this thread are missing the point. It's not really about alienware vs. homebuilt PC. It's alienware vs. other vendors. Of course a homebuilt pc is cheaper obviously but lacks the customer service. These points are mute however. Alienware is just charging too damn much for "labor" and "service" while another vendor will be much cheaper and still have the same service.

[elite.mafia]

A lot of people in this thread are missing the point. It's not really about alienware vs. homebuilt PC. It's alienware vs. other vendors. Of course a homebuilt pc is cheaper obviously but lacks the customer service. These points are mute however. Alienware is just charging too damn much for "labor" and "service" while another vendor will be much cheaper and still have the same service.
A lot of people have mention abspc.com as well, which I highly reccomend

[Brock]

The reason i've bought most of my machines from Dell over building them myself is the rebates.

With the rebates it becomes so cheap that it'd actually cost more to build it myself.

I have built 2 myself however.

[UnMinded]

look up all the prices on newegg that would be in the alienware and tell him how much cheaper it would be if he wasent a lazy ass and did it himself.

[bob]

I have an alineware and have only had a few small problems.
and they really arent that bad of a company.
Neither is Emachines.

[aZn_plyR]

Neither is Emachines.

I ahve an emahine as a download comp that my bro toss in my room... axp 3200+ geforce4 blah blah...the only thing that is crap about it is that the keyboard died in less than 3 months lol... toss my 7-8 year old compaq one and it works great :)

[Scarceas]

My favorite saying for OEM builders is that good customer service is when there is no need for customer service.

You must be young, then... That's such a simplistic and naive statement.

A better saying is that you don't know how good (or bad) a company's customer service is until you actually need it.

For any OEM builder of significant volume, there are going to be some problems:
1. Unknowledgeable customers (creating problems, or thinking there are problems, when there weren't any to start with)
2. Component failures. If you ship any substantive volume, failures will occur. It's statistically inevitable.
3. If you ship systems, there will likely be shipping damage issues as well. Good packaging will help prevent this.

Now, the true test of a company comes when that hard drive dies before the warranty period expires. How polite are they? How quickly do they *correctly* identify and then resolve the issue? Are there unexpected costs on your part?

[SJetski71]

Since you're friend sounds hard-headed, better let him buy a pre-built otherwise he'll call you and blame you when there's issues. I wouldn't even suggest another vendor because when that rig invariably breaks down he'll blame you once again. I have a few friends who did that with me until i told them 99% of the issues are between the keyboard and monitor (spyware, goofy software installed or tweaks).

you can only lead a horse to water...

[0810]

Show him the computers at www.abspc.com .. Cheaper for the same shit, plus I bet he'll like the looks.

http://www.abspc.com/app/Series.asp?familyno=25&series=75

ya know the second system from the left, i got the almost the same system for 840 dollars at a local PC shop...
plus, i got a 3200, with XP Pro, with DVD/CD-R combo, and the ASUS A8N-E (not sure if that is a plus)

go with a local PC shop, its cheaper.. if something goes wrong, they cant hang up on you... if they do, you do know hwere they work! ;)

[EchoMatrix]

or heck just goto Dell

reasonable customer service and prices are ok

[klowngoblin]

WTF would you ASK someone else to build your pc and screw it up? build it yourself, and do a quality job in both choosing parts and assembling, then you know you have a quality system, same goes for laptops

[JL_Audio_User]

I read the thread title only. No posts......did'nt need to.

Is he using your money? I did'nt think so. So mind your own freakin' business. Tell him your opinion and let him sink or swim on his own. If one of my friends did anything more than give advice I might get offended......and he might lose a tooth.

[soulsaver_8229]

I read the thread title only. No posts......did'nt need to.

Is he using your money? I did'nt think so. So mind your own freakin' business. Tell him your opinion and let him sink or swim on his own. If one of my friends did anything more than give advice I might get offended......and he might lose a tooth.

^hes thinking what im thinking^ :D :cool:


soulsaver_8229

[Shakezilla]

I read the thread title only. No posts......did'nt need to.

Is he using your money? I did'nt think so. So mind your own freakin' business. Tell him your opinion and let him sink or swim on his own. If one of my friends did anything more than give advice I might get offended......and he might lose a tooth.

Me and my friends have been together for a long time, and I have been not mind my own buisness the whole time :D

By the way I have been talking to him and hes sending his breaking down PC into a shop to get fixed. So now hopefully he wont bitch about that. And I got him to take a look over at abspc.com and he liked it. So thanks everyone.

[1c3d0g]

"Best way to talk my friend out of a Alienware?"

...is not to talk him out of it. That's right. Let him have what he's going to be happy with. That's what's important in this case. :)

[Az2]

Just tell him to order a Fostech PC. Fostech uses only the highest quality parts to insure that you get years of joy from your PC. Tell him it will be A LOT cheaper, and of about the same quality. (of course he won't get the alienware case) If anyone wants a fully customized Fostech PC, just E-MAIL ME! (mailto:az2zej@localnet.com)

[JL_Audio_User]

Just tell him to order a Fostech PC. Fostech uses only the highest quality parts to insure that you get years of joy from your PC. Tell him it will be A LOT cheaper, and of about the same quality. (of course he won't get the alienware case) If anyone wants a fully customized Fostech PC, just E-MAIL ME! (mailto:az2zej@localnet.com)

Maybe you should start your own thread and try to pimp that shit in there :rolleyes:

[soulsaver_8229]

Just tell him to order a Fostech PC. Fostech uses only the highest quality parts to insure that you get years of joy from your PC. Tell him it will be A LOT cheaper, and of about the same quality. (of course he won't get the alienware case) If anyone wants a fully customized Fostech PC, just E-MAIL ME! (mailto:az2zej@localnet.com)

Wow was that a comercial? no models? no cute animals? no freebies?

i feel robbed :(


soulsaver_8229

[Eric1285]

I haven't read the thread, but just let him do it. People like that are good for the economy.

[towert7]

Ok so my friends current comp was built by his brother and they both ran into problems with random restarts and such.

And he said to me when I get my next computer I am going to get an alienware that way I dont have to worry about anything. I tried to tell him that they pretty much charge double what the parts are worth and you only get a T-shirt in exchange.

His argument was that alienwares are ment for gaming(he only plays DAoC and thats doesnt really require much.) He also said Alienware has to have good customer support and such so if something break he ownt have to worry about that(he might have a pint there.)

I think my best argument would be that he could have a site like monarch make his system and then if he does run into problems he could send it into a shop to get fixed. And in the end the price of having a shop fix it and order it from monarch would still be a lot cheaper than ordering from alienware. Anyone wana help me with my arguement.

An exampe of what I am dealing with was when he had random restarts before doing anything else he ran out and bought a new PSU. And when that didnt fix the problem he got pissed and did nothing. I was like what kinda PSU did you get, he was like "It a 400watt PSU so it has to be really good!" I was like well the wattage doesnt really mean anything. ANd when I looked in his case its a powmax ;)

So anyone got any ideas besides mine to convince him?


If he wants support, don't try and talk him away from getting a OEM pre built. If he is ready to spend 20% or higher for tech support and the peace of mind that comes with a service agreement, let him. Some people are not ready to troubleshoot their own computers.
Just recommend he gets an AMD computer :D. they are good for gaming as im sure you know.

[aerithchylde]

I have a friend who decided to not build his next PC and went with an Alienware Area 51. In the end he enjoys the hell out of the PC and likes the performance and quality.

What he hated was the 2 and a half months it took to build and ship his PC. He would get a messages to call about something wrong, then nothing would be wrong when he called. Turned out they did not have the color case he ordered the whole time. he also had a co-worker later reveal that he had a hell of a time obtaining his PC that was prdered. They are availble at Best Buy now too, so that may be less of an issue.

But he has had the PC for more than a year now and has never had any issues with the PC itself. If your friend wants on, then let him buy one. I was seriously considering buying from them too, until my friend had his nightmare experience of ordering from them.

[delusion_2005]

First of all Alienware systems are great quality, and yes they are built for performance, they are very powerful systems, and why do you care if your friend is getting a alienware, its his money, you should just be happy for him.

[Himmler]

I have posted this like 2 times on this forum so far about alienware computers. As you can see in my sig, I have two Alienwares. One is a desktop, one is a laptop. They both run GREAT. No problems at all. For all you people saying that their customer service is crap, you need to rethink your statement. I havent really had any problems so I havent really had to call them that much, except when I ordered 2 coffee mugs with my laptop, one was broken on shipping and one had a chip in it. Called them up, had 2 replacements 2 days later (I live in Vegas, they are in FL. So they gave 2 day shipping). Thats not the greatest example since it was only with like $5 coffee mugs, but it still shows something.

I have had to call their tech support I think maybe 2 or 3 times to get help with installing my 2 Raptors and get them into RAID 0. I was talking to one of their tech guys for probably 3 hours until midnight, and he helped me install the new drive, plug it in, get RAID 0 going on a new install of Windows. I have never done a RAID config before so I had no idea how to do it, that is why I needed their help.

Their computers are also perfect for upgrading, their cases are big so they can take a lot of stuff in them. I have only upgraded my graphics card, and the hard drives since I bought it, but it runs everything maxed out at 1680 x 1050, some games even max AA and AF. I have NO complaints, except when I ordered it, it was when the FXs just came out and I got socket 940 so if I want to upgrade anything else, I pretty much have to buy new mobo/cpu. But that was my fault...

Let your friend do it, they are kick ass computers and have the best customer support and tech support I have ever had to deal with. Why would you listen to a bunch of people that have never ordered one and have never owned one but yet they continue to say that their support sucks? Listen to someone that has two of them.

[tazzmissionx]

I have an Alienware laptop and it runs great, after I fixed it that is.

I pulled it out of the box that it came in, plugged it in, turned it on and was greeted with a BSOD after POST then it would automatically reboot and keep on doing it again and again, I reformatted the hd and reinstalled windows, then used Alienware's master/drivers cds do updates here and there and then was working like a charm and running great also.