My personal experience with Alienware.

[NoctisReitop]

Here's a written account of my personal experience with Alienware so far. My intent is not to speak badly of Alienware, but to simply speak of what has happened. I'm not entirely bitter about what's happened, and I am happy with my computer. I don't regret buying it, but if I would have read something like this, even though the experience of one customer doesn't mean it's the experience of every customer, I would have given it a much harder thought. This is a copy of the letter that I sent to several branches of Alienware. Their response was a simple sentence. They simply said that my experience was atypical.

Alienware Et Al:
In December of 2004, I ordered a laptop custom made by your company. It arrived in pieces. This could have been the fault of shipping and handling, but when most of the screws and panels fell out of the bottom of the computer and into my lap, I thought something had to have gone wrong at the factorial level. Needless to say, I called your tech support and requested new screws, as some of the original screws were never found. Despite your tech support's knowledge of my computer model, when the new screws arrived to my home, I opened them only to find out that your company had sent me the wrong size. Eventually, this was resolved with another shipment of screws. However, some of the screws still come loose and I have to upkeep their maintenance for fear of losing more of them.

Generally, however, I was pleased with my computer, except for the fact that its wireless receiver had a range of - what I could only presume as - about five feet from my own personal wireless router which I know was working perfectly (there are other computers on my network). This did not bother me so very much, as I prefer to use a land line to connect to the Internet, but nonetheless, this problem deserves mentioning. As it turns out, I placed yet another call to tech support. They had me check the location and placement of the wireless card and its connectivity by removing the pieces and fitting them comfortably back in. The first step in doing this was to remove the wireless antenna. I immedediately knew what the problem was - the antenna was not connected! Again, this could have been caused by handling the computer, but personally, that seems a little unlikely. Again, this seems to have been caused by a problem at the factory where my computer was built.

The next problem I had with my computer was its overheating problem. There is a scorch mark just below the keyboard, just above the video card, because of the overheating. I noticed the discoloration when my computer would - without warning - turn itself off in the middle of a graphics-intensive game. The only reason I bought an Alienware laptop is because they can handle the type of gaming I enjoy. Therefore, this problem resulted in a call to tech support. Several calls to tech support, actually. I called every day for about a week, trying to troubleshoot my problem. My computer was put through many diagnostic tests and performace checks, not to mention formats of the drive. As a last resort, tech support sent me a new video card, with instructions to call back for installation help when I received the piece. During the installation process, the tech support employee instructed me to carefully apply the lead paste to the heatsink. It was at this moment that I realized my problem: my old video card and heatsink were joined without lead paste! This, surely, had to have gone wrong at the factory. So I looked in my new video card's package for the lead paste to go with my new parts, but there was none. The tech support said that lead paste should have been included in my package and was very surprised when I informed him that I had not received any. I waited a few more days for Alienware to send some lead paste to me. After carefully applying the paste to my video card and heatsink, my computer and its games worked wonderfully.

Sometime later, upon booting up my computer, I got an error message saying that there was no hard drive present. I can't remember whether or not I called tech support this time, but I removed the panel of my laptop and the hard drive was not held down by anything. All of the screws were either loose or astray in the compartment. When I examined the hard drive further, I noticed that the IDE connector was cracked, forcing a pin belonging to the hard drive to become bent and actually pushed out of its compartment where it was very visible to me. Now, the poor connection of the drive could have been my fault, or anyone's fault for moving the computer too much, but those internal screws should have been better bolted, that is the factory's fault. The solution to this problem was as simple as reconnecting and reconfiguring some cords, but it was a problem nonetheless. I did request a new IDE cable from tech support for my laptop, but when I opened the package, the IDE cable I got was for a desktop, not a laptop. Eventually, tech support sent me the correct cable that I needed.

Most recently, I seem to be having a new problem with my video card. Upon bootup, all of the print on my computer is very distorted. There are stripes of color down the monitor, regardless of what the computer is trying to display. When Windows starts, the system fatally halts. I started the computer in Safe Mode and uninstalled all of the drivers. Upon reboot, all of the display distortions were still there, but Windows booted normally. Inside Windows, there was no distortion at all. Without its drivers, the computer does not recognize the video card. Upon reinstallation of the drivers, the problem came back and the computer fatally halted at Windows startup. Your brilliant tech support team wished to send me a new video card to replace mine, promising me a new model in which the heat sink and the card itself were one piece, eliminating the need for any kind of thermal conductor (i.e. the lead paste with which I had trouble before). I was promised that my new video card would arrive within three (3) business days. At the end of the third business day, I called Alienware tech support once more. As it were, my order had been placed very late, on the date that it was supposed to arrive at my home. My current tech support phone-friend explained to me that there was not even a 3-day delivery system, and that someone had slacked off and given me misinformation. Finally, on Monday, a full week after I made the first call about replacing my video card, I received a package. Very excited about being able to use my computer again, I opened the package and beheld two computer parts when I was promised one. The tech support guy promised me a new model, as aforementioned, but these pieces I received are obviously very old and even used (there are scratches on the metal panels, the lead paste was neither applied correctly nor fresh, and there was a lungful of dust within the heatsink, not to mention the heatsink's cord was missing its white plastic connector piece). I took the new video card (I couldn't even use the messy heatsink) and placed it into my computer to replace the old one (although I will have to make a call about getting more lead paste to go with it). The new video card works with my computer fine, which determines that my problem was indeed the old video card that was producing the distortions I saw on my monitor. With the new video card, these problems are fixed, but it still stands that I received used parts and shoddy service when I was promised, and am paying for, the best.

Most, if not all, of my problems have been documented by your tech support.
I am left to wonder whether or not my Alienware laptop is worth the trouble I have had with it. Sure, my problems seem to be getting resolved in the end, and owning an Alienware computer has always been a dream for me, as they are considered to be the best that money can buy. But I wonder where to draw the line with your company.

[JazzyJake]

another sad, sad story = /
sorry to hear that, man, but i feel this deserves to be a review...
when a company cannot keep their marble together for a customer they don't seem to be worried about post-sale...bad business....

[stinger608]

Yea no kidding, and at the price that they sell there "crap" at!!!!

[Yellowhello]

Hmm, sounds like I won't be recommending Alienware!!

[Stormcrow]

Alienware is now owned by Dell, and if my experience with Dell is anything I'm surprised you received support at all, let alone getting another part in the mail (even if it is used and obviously a returned system pull). After having to deal with Dell, Gateway, and HP, I've decided its actually worth the extra cost to build your own laptop, least then YOU know its the best

[NoctisReitop]

Well, most of this happened BEFORE Dell bought Alienware. =\. I was kind of hoping that, having been bought by Dell, maybe some of their tech support would speak English... but no cigar

[stinger608]

Originally Posted by Stormcrow

Alienware is now owned by Dell, and if my experience with Dell is anything I'm surprised you received support at all, let alone getting another part in the mail (even if it is used and obviously a returned system pull). After having to deal with Dell, Gateway, and HP, I've decided its actually worth the extra cost to build your own laptop, least then YOU know its the best

That is true, you can find the "white box" sellers that build a bare bones system, and then you install the different pieces of hardware that you would like!

[Lead Head]

Heard a similar problem from someone else, except not really issues with screws and broken components, but issues mainly with over heating. His GPU is now fried from over heating, and his CPU easily hit 90*C under load. Just off the record, what model is your laptop?

[NoctisReitop]

My laptop is an Area 51 m7700. I remember hearing something about them upgrading the fans in some new models. Not sure if mine has that or not. I must say, though, mine runs quite warmly. Gotta keep those appendages away from the exhausts; it'll burn you.
I can't have it flat on any surface. I put some small books under parts that don't have intakes, and I have a small fan blowing air under the bottom to keep enough cooler air going to the intakes.