Who Said Dell Wasn't Buying Alienware?

from the denial-is-de-river-in-egypt dept

Wed, Mar 22nd 2006 4:27pm — Carlo Longino

Despite denying the rumors last week, Dell has bought gaming-PC maker Alienware for an undisclosed sum. Dell doesn't usually like to grow through acquisitions, preferring lately to grow sales by moving into consumer electronics, but perhaps felt its place as "technological leader" in the PC market was being threatened by Alienware and other high-end game PC makers, or it just wanted to take more share of the market for the high-margin machines. Alienware's CEO says the company sold out so it could take advantage of Dell's supply chain -- which is funny, since we sort of assumed it was because of the money. It's a strange match for a few reasons though: Alienware has a really strong brand that enjoys a lot of loyalty from its users and it handles service in a manner quite unlike most other vendors, whereas Dell's reputation for service has taken some hits lately.

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Sean, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:02pm

Ha!
Ha! That's funny. Of course it's for the money!
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Adam, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:14pm

Why not destroy another good brand
While I would never purchase a computer from ailienware (i can build the same thing myself, thanks) it does sadden me to take a good company like Alienware and throw it to the wolves. Give it 2 years and you will open up your brand new top of the line alienware and be looking at a carbon copy of a Dell desktop complete with "high end" onboard video and audio. Way to go guys!
Ok, I have to say it.... where's the annoying blonde guy when you need him??? "DUDE! Your getting and ALIENWARE"
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- Alex, 19 Apr 2006 @ 11:35am
  
  Re: Why not destroy another good brand
  Onboard video? Look @ Dell's XPS line -- some of the most reasonably priced and high end computers out there. I'm not a big suporter of Dell, but their plans with Alienware are to leave that as a self-managed but wholly-owned subsidiary. They did not buy Alienware to bastardize the brand. As for the blonde dude, he got caught with pot a few years back -- big surprise eh!?
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wolfwalker, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:35pm

Alienware vs Dell (who?)
Because of past experience with Dell in various work enviorments I would never buy a Dell, dude. If this is true and Dell has bought out Alienware I will not deal with Alienware just because of Dell.

Alienware was the greatest.........................

Good Bye So Long Farewell thee Well!
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The Woodpecker, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:38pm

The Unfortunate Reality
I can feel a lot people's pain with this one. I'm not a big fan of buying out-of-the-box boxes, but it's at least nice for the above average consumer to know it's out there, waiting for them, should they feel the urge to swoop down and snatch one up.

This is the wicked way of big business though. Just like how Babelfish and TerraServer used to be rather novel and sometimes helpful entities that were gobbled up by the ever-whirring gears of big business, it's inevitable that the smaller companies, normally the ones that care enough about service or product to take a cut in profits in order to delivery a superior offering to consumers, will eventually fall prey to the golden dollar signs that big business can offer them. During the bubble, I worked for two different companies that had actually PROVISIONED for aquisition in their business plans...it wasn't a possibility, it was a goal.

I guess we just have to look for the "next great thing" and be glad that there are still some companies out there more concerned with innovating new and unique products for us tech-hungry consumers.

Although, citing that a company like Alienware is acutally a competitive threat is like panicking over the West Nile Virus, as it's a potential viral threat that could end the human race as we know it. Laughable a best, transparent in all likelyhood, and dishonest at worst.
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Nick, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:39pm

Customer Service
This is bogus. I bought an Alienwar a few years ago and it was the best computer I ever bought. I recently built my own so I sold the
Alienware, but I would pay a good $500 to have the customer service I had with Alienware. When I lost the Windows CD they sent me and I wanted to re-install windows, I called them up, and they had a cd shipped to me arrive at my house the next day. Everyone at the customer service department knows everything, so you don't have to keep getting transfered to the "department of questions starting with the letter 'j' " or the "department of the CPU fan that knows nothing about the rest of the computer." Even if they are, they don't seem to be located in India. I don't care if that makes me racist, which I don't think it does, but I'm sick of talking to Indians who I can't understand and/or don't know anything and are just reading from a script so they don't help me at all. I know Dell customer service, actually I don't because they don't have any, none that I could actually call customer 'service' at least. Dell's gunna go crap up Alienware and now no-ones gunna be able to get help and I'll have to take my samuri sword and slice anyone when their computer breaks to shut them up. Before Alienware could do it, but now it's left to the sword.
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- Triumph, Comic Dog The, 22 Mar 2006 @ 6:00pm
  
  Re: Customer Service
  And that's how we learned:
  
  Nick - not a big Indian fan but hey - the Japanese are OK!
  
  Wait - who WERE the "samuri"?
  A gay band of swashbuckling warriors who also sell discounted plastic swords at Target?
  
  Galactic swordsmen who hone thier World Of Warcraft skills
  in the relative privacy of moms basement?
  
  Perhaps we'll never know.
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Joe Hatfield, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:50pm

Good Riddance
Alienware might have been good originally, but in the last few years they have become a wreck. Customer service sucks (try staying on the phone for two hours while waiting for a support rep!), and their are countless stories on the web of people whose Alienware PC's die for one reason or another before they've barely been out of the box. There is no question in my mind that they sold out to Dell because they knew their days were numbered.
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Dehli, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:50pm

Please To Be Rebooting Aliens Now....
Welcome to Hell, Aliens. Yes, you'll enjoy pointless hours on hold (if your tech support call routed to India actually goes through) while elite 'technicians' flag down a supervisor to ask "how is to say, rebooting?"

"Maybe to letting computer sit and warm for awhile.." suggests your crack technician when the five variations of rebooting on the Dell Solutions Sheet fail to heal your Alienator XPS-SX.

"Look can't you just send the chimp out to replace everything in the case like always?" you ask - expecting at least this for the $4500 Dell took you for.

"Oh thanking you, no very much.." comes the happy reply, "this computer is many too expensive to replace all content and still make profits. Now, to reboointg again please?"

Ah ha ha.

Welcome to Walmart. Having nice day being, please...
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nico, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:51pm

Both companies are overrated
alienware was never good compared to other high-end pc companies such as voodoopc and hypersonic...now that dell owns it its only going to get worse. Although maybe dell will adopt amd!!!
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the_spatula, 22 Mar 2006 @ 5:52pm

BBQ anyone ?
I have a few spare rissoles ? BBQ anyone ? BYO Spatula.
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Ryan, 22 Mar 2006 @ 6:38pm

Sad to see
I think that the quality will likely decline, but Alienware (or other high end) computers do make sense to buy in a lot of circumstances. I travel almost all the time and don't have time to build a dream machine from scratch. Alienware built me a nice desktop 2.25 years ago that is still pretty sweet (3 GHz HT, 1(now 3)GB RAM, 500GB RAID HD, green Area 51 case), but they built me an identical laptop a year later (only an 80 GB HD) that I could not have built myself. My wife uses the laptop and thinks it is hers, but I remote desktop into it all day and use it as an additional node in the cluster.

I compared the Alienware to a Dell when I bought the desktop, and it was a couple hundred cheaper for a little bit better machine than the closest Dell. I didn't bother to check when I bought the laptop. Their support has been wonderful when needed, and the machine is easy to upgrade and bad-ass. Their attention to detail when installing cabling and testing the configuration is something that is worth the premium price. Plus I don't get automation when I call, I get a person.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Mar 2006 @ 6:43pm

thats crap, dell makes garbage computers and now the r trying to ruin another good computer company
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F A DELL, 22 Mar 2006 @ 8:04pm

let me think ouch that hurt my brain i cant think of a single good dell product....oh wait they made a good power adapter for thier dj to F-in bad it was twice the price of a radio shack wall pack... never mind i stand by my first statment... ps thank you radio shack
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DELL LICKS, 22 Mar 2006 @ 8:10pm

ones a fat bloated sack IE a lick bag named DELL and the other was a real pc
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Asher Schweigart, 22 Mar 2006 @ 8:38pm

:(
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Rough Ryder, 22 Mar 2006 @ 8:53pm

This sucks!
One more thing for Michael to screw up.

Printers, switches...so many things take their eye off the ball.

There was a day when I was a Dell-head. Then I had to talk to several dozen people in a far away land for technical support. The experience taught me several things:
1. Dell has a growing quality problem.
2. Dell doesn't CARE about their growing quality problem.
3. Dell doesn't care that many of us CARE about their growing quality problem.
4. Dell changes sales staff like most of us change undergarments.
5. Dell sales staff doesn't CARE that we ask to be taken off the sales list that ALL new Dell sales people call every six WEEKS.
6. Lenovo has slightly better hardware than Dell.
7. On average, Lenovo has a SLIGHTLY higher percentage of english speaking call-center geek-wannabes.
8. BSD on a Mac is a great thing.
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Dellowner, 22 Mar 2006 @ 8:57pm

HA
Your all full of crap, I have 2 Dell Desktops, a Dell Laptop and Plasma TV, when lightning hit my apartment and fried the MB of the first PC dell had a tech out THE NEXT DAY who replace everything he had to internally and a few things he didn't have to to be certain the system worked. When the Plasma TV (first Gen) began to make a buzz noise I checked the website then spoke to a tech, in 10 MIN he told me that the TV would be replaced, and it was done so in less then 2 weeks, TOTALLY FREE. I have had ZERO problems with my Laptop or my new computer which BTW after ordering it I got for free from a contest they ran, so STFU about Dell if you never had one especially, u don't know Dell
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- Bufoon Hunter, 22 Mar 2006 @ 9:09pm
  
  Re: HA
  Thanking you for chosing to off-shore jobs.
  
  I'm looking for but not finding. Please explain again your express service tag number. How you say again, the modemn hags? Hanres? You are looking for "the internets", but not getting them? What? What did you say? Please wait, I must ask a cunning linguist, I mean a supervisor. What? WHAT?
  
  If it was free, you still paid too much for that hunk of crap.
  
  Wait till you have to talk to Apu, who does not "speekie".
  
  You stay at home and surf your 7 second porn sites. When you work in the TECH industry, THEN you can help solve problems.
  
  Now SHOO!
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Certified Microsoft Tech, 22 Mar 2006 @ 9:58pm

IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they number 1?
I happen to be a technician in Dell's Gold Support team. You know the Dell dudes in america. Anyway If you care to look at any of the facts rather than your own biased opinons you would find that Dell's hardware failure rate is the lowest in the industry at a whopping 1 percent, but think about it... how many is that out of the millions we sell a year? I agree hold times can suck when you are calling the consumer support but think of it this way... Since 85 to 90 percent of calls are software related It just means that there are a ton of bozo people who don't know anything about a computer and yet have such an important opinion about how Dell sucks that it makes you wait and Dell pay for extra wages... we aren't here to teach, take a freakin college class for that. If everyone called in with a genuine issue then there wouldn't be a such thing as initial hold time. I agree that it is hard to understand some "unnamed accents" but get over it they are human too. As for all of you who blindly say that any manufacturer sucks without having the numbers in hand.. go take a long walk off a short pier.
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- WhoNu, 22 Mar 2006 @ 10:21pm
  
  Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they number 1?
  yeah, right.
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- Anonymous Coward, 23 Mar 2006 @ 12:16am
  
  Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they number 1?
  dude, you are like really angry about something.
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- Nittacci, 23 Mar 2006 @ 3:51am
  
  Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they number 1?
  Would you like me to list the companies who are number 1 but still suck?
  
  I've dealt with several of the Dell Gold Techs and while they range from fair to awful, Dell has now screwed over the people who bought Dell Gold Service plans by not letting them come out any more.
  
  My neighbor, a rich older lady who bought the most expensive plan just had a hard drive blow out. First they made her go through 5 hours of BS before they sent her out a new serial ATA HD, but then they refused to send a tech and expect her to do the install.
  
  She saw me carrying a laptop so she figured I know all about computers.
  
  Dell is so busy trying to race to the bottom of the price point they just won't produce a good product any more.
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- thecaptain, 23 Mar 2006 @ 5:32am
  
  Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they number 1?
  Wow...the trolls are out tonight
  
  "Microsoft Certified Technician"
  
  Translation...I'm a certified moron.
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  - Microsoft Certified Tech, 23 Mar 2006 @ 9:35am
    
    Re: Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they number 1
    Now begs the questions. Have you ever taken a Microsoft exam? Can you effectively fix any issue with your computer within an hour given you have the spare parts. The reason that time is an hour is because if you didn't know that is approximatly how long it takes to reinstall windows and drivers. Can you build a working computer in five minutes given you have the parts and an imaged hdd. Do you know what an hdd is? OR are you one of those 38 year olds who live with their parent's basement while playing World of
    Warcraft? What background do you have to say anyone with any certification is lesser than you, I imagine it is probably none.
    Have a nice day.
    
    Now, I have to agree that I believe a company such as Dell would do well hiring American Techs. In fact we just opened another call center here. But the same holds true... you get what you pay for. I appreciate those of you who aren't generalizing because it is impossible to keep extreamly close tabs on every tech.
    
    For everyone's knowledge... Dell does not refuse any kind of service onsite or otherwise unless you have no contract because you were to cheap to fork up the cash or your contract expired which by the way we notify AND ask if you would like to extend it. If we didn't that would be a lawsuit. Dell can't spend more than it makes, so stop whining and expecting Dell to pay for your mistakes. I can't believe I need to explain the concept of income and expenditures to most of you.
    
    If you can't comprehend that Dell sells computers with a warranty not a computers 101 class than I suggest you start asking you car dealers to teach you to drive. If you can't understand why Dell has to outsource jobs to handle the stupid questions then go take economics 101. For those of you who decide to be rude and scream and yell at the people who are trying to help you irregardless of their global location... go take kindergarten, treat others the way you wish to be treated... trust me I am more likely to go above policy and try to hook you up if you are nice. SUGAR ATTRACTS MORE FLIES THAN VINEGAR. Glad I could share that lesson that some of you have forgotten. I think that most people are just rascist against Indian Techs and look down upon them putting their own arrogant AMERICAN selves up on a pedestal, for those of you... allow me to remind you who is calling who?
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  - Microsoft Certified Tech, 23 Mar 2006 @ 9:36am
    
    Re: Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they number 1
    Now begs the questions. Have you ever taken a Microsoft exam? Can you effectively fix any issue with your computer within an hour given you have the spare parts. The reason that time is an hour is because if you didn't know that is approximatly how long it takes to reinstall windows and drivers. Can you build a working computer in five minutes given you have the parts and an imaged hdd. Do you know what an hdd is? OR are you one of those 38 year olds who live with their parent's basement while playing World of
    Warcraft? What background do you have to say anyone with any certification is lesser than you, I imagine it is probably none.
    Have a nice day.
    
    Now, I have to agree that I believe a company such as Dell would do well hiring American Techs. In fact we just opened another call center here. But the same holds true... you get what you pay for. I appreciate those of you who aren't generalizing because it is impossible to keep extreamly close tabs on every tech.
    
    For everyone's knowledge... Dell does not refuse any kind of service onsite or otherwise unless you have no contract because you were to cheap to fork up the cash or your contract expired which by the way we notify AND ask if you would like to extend it. If we didn't that would be a lawsuit. Dell can't spend more than it makes, so stop whining and expecting Dell to pay for your mistakes. I can't believe I need to explain the concept of income and expenditures to most of you.
    
    If you can't comprehend that Dell sells computers with a warranty not a computers 101 class than I suggest you start asking you car dealers to teach you to drive. If you can't understand why Dell has to outsource jobs to handle the stupid questions then go take economics 101. For those of you who decide to be rude and scream and yell at the people who are trying to help you irregardless of their global location... go take kindergarten, treat others the way you wish to be treated... trust me I am more likely to go above policy and try to hook you up if you are nice. SUGAR ATTRACTS MORE FLIES THAN VINEGAR. Glad I could share that lesson that some of you have forgotten. I think that most people are just rascist against Indian Techs and look down upon them putting their own arrogant AMERICAN selves up on a pedestal, for those of you... allow me to remind you who is calling who?
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    - Scott, 23 Mar 2006 @ 10:36am
      
      Re: Re: Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they numb
      "I think that most people are just rascist against Indian Techs"
      
      Lose the racism cry, I work with plenty of Indians on american soil whom I respect. Worry about whether you are going to lose your house and car because your job was off-shored then you can speak.
      
      Talk about generalizations....
      
      I know who is calling who, the rich in charge of the company who get richer by "lowering" costs, that is exactly who is calling.
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      - Dude, 23 Mar 2006 @ 12:58pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they
        I too have worked with literally hundreds of Indians and Chinese... Most all of them over here working on H1-B visas and taking American jobs because they're willing to work for 1/3 the pay. I even had one former manager ask who I felt was most qualified after a round of interviewing. I gave him my honest opinion that it was a rather decently qualified African-American. He picked the Indian on an H1-B visa because he could get him $15k per year cheaper!
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        Microsoft Certified Tech, 23 Mar 2006 @ 2:35pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are t
        I agree that American Captialism sucks... truly I do... but you can't just knock Dell for it as they aren't the only ones guilty. Every auto manufacturer is oversees and so is our oil. The U.S. Government is the only authority that can change anything. Instead of whining about it... do something.
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      - Microsoft Certified Tech, 23 Mar 2006 @ 2:37pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are they
        If you are responsible enough you own your car and trust your employer not to decide you aren't worth what they pay you.
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        Scott, 24 Mar 2006 @ 7:53pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: IF Dell sucks so bad WHY are t
        You are an ass, no doubt in my mind. I am not responsible because I don't own my car and can not control the fact that I can't live on 12k a year? This is an entire division genius, not one person here or there, every single person, Sys. Admin., SAN, backup, networking Eng.
        
        Wake up, get real, and when you live in reality come on back.
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Hozer, 22 Mar 2006 @ 11:33pm

dude
NEVER TRUST A COMPANY WITH DUDE! IN THIER SLOGAN
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Unknown, 23 Mar 2006 @ 12:56am

You can't be seroius! I had to send my Alienware in 3 times and there's still problems with it. I payed an extra 300 just so that I could get them to extend the warranty so that they have time to fix everything the broke when I shipped it in. I read some of these comments talking about Alienware's great service. I personally spent around 6 calls 3 hours each with at least 1 hour wait times for each call. I really wished they had better services.
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Harpstein, 23 Mar 2006 @ 4:57am

Point of origin
I just can't take this anymore. Dell, Alienware, Gateway, HP...I can't believe you guys haven't figure it out yet. ALL the parts for ALL those venders ALL come from the same freakin' factories. They are all mass produced by the same machinery, in the same plants, and then just have the venders label slapped on them.

As far as hardware is concerned, you are not going to see one bit of difference between the two boxes. It will all boil down to service and support. I'm with the Dell guy on the point of too many stupid people calling in for sh*t because they can't figure out the difference between turning on their monitor and turning on their CPU.

As for the "India" issue...we're not taking jobs away from Americans. Americans don't want those jobs because no one is willing to put up with that kind of crap with the knowledge it takes to do it effectively for minimum wage. There is just no way tech professionals in the US will do it.
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- souljoy, 23 Mar 2006 @ 6:19am
  
  Re: Point of origin
  I worked for two years as one of the "tech support" folks for a certain isp... and the job was okay...the hard part was not dealing with the customers....although they could be a pain in the arse....it was dealing with the frickin' company policies which changed everyday at the whim of the client.....one day we were told this is how we should do it and the next day we were told scrap that now we do it this way...or when people could not connect there were times we had to say we're working on it...which is tech speak for i don;t know what the heck is going on... plus having to ask to go to the bathroom was demoralizing....I won't even go into the demerit system that the place had...
  
  I do not work there any longer but the place closed and moved the jobs overseas. I probably would still work there as it paid fairly well for my area and it was far above minimum wage.
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- Scott, 23 Mar 2006 @ 6:21am
  
  Re: Point of origin
  "As for the "India" issue...we're not taking jobs away from Americans. Americans don't want those jobs because no one is willing to put up with that kind of crap with the knowledge it takes to do it effectively for minimum wage. There is just no way tech professionals in the US will do it."
  
  One thing here "SCREW YOU" my 60k year a job that I happen to like is being outsourced, as is the entire division where I work. These jobs start at 45k and go as high as 80k. Don't open your F***ing mouth unless you know what jobs are actually leaving.
  
  It is because I can't work for 12k a year, not because I won't.
  
  The reality is the top execs are still getting multimillion dollar bonuses and perks, while they look to find ways to "save" money. This is all about money, nothing more, nothing less.
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- Anonymous, 23 Mar 2006 @ 8:18am
  
  Re: Point of origin
  "As for the "India" issue...we're not taking jobs away from Americans. Americans don't want those jobs because no one is willing to put up with that kind of crap with the knowledge it takes to do it effectively for minimum wage. There is just no way tech professionals in the US will do it."
  
  You're right in ONE respect. You can't expect effective tech support from someone making minimum wage. I work at Canon. I do end-user tech suppport. I deal with stupid customers all day long. Canon doesn't pay me minimum wage. I make $15+ an hour as a level one tech. If you buy a Canon product in the US, your tech support is in the US. We answer approximately 80% of our calls that come in within 60 seconds. If our hold times get over 10 minutes, we have managers running around trying to figure out who else can get on the phones - level 2 and 3 agents - quality monitoring people - email support people - even engineers.
  
  Pay your tech support people what they deserve and you won't have the trouble Dell has.
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- Microsoft Certified Technician, 23 Mar 2006 @ 9:02am
  
  Re: Point of origin
  YOU FREAKING ROCK!!!
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Dell Tech, 23 Mar 2006 @ 6:14am

RE: Dell Sucks
Just to add to the fire... A large # of the software techs for Dells US support is in CANADA!!!! Which I might point out is just as multi-cultural as the US...

and as a Dell software tech in Canada (born and raised & english speaking) I can say that I agree with the Gold support Tech... If the users learn how to read help files and actually learn how to use the PC there would be far less wait times...

Dells price for a base model PC is CHEAP this = cheap, dumb, ignorant users that have to call in alot about simple issues and then B%TCH about the wait times..

Cheap also means easier access to PCs for people that normaly would not be able to afford something like an alienware PC.... and if they can - then they should lean how to fix it themselves!

my 2 cents..
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Dell Tech, 23 Mar 2006 @ 6:21am

RE: Point of origin
and to add to this point.... would you...the bitching ones.. with your ALL POWERFUL KNOWLEDGE about PCs (that you can tell that we are all morons)
support yourselves on the phone???? or would ya freak out and hang up and then quit?? this is a very high stress enviroment... why.. because of people like yourselves.

he's right.... India.. and Canada.. we seem to be nice enough to put up with your shit in order to TRY to help you out... since you can't seem to figue it out on your own...

-regards
disgruntled tech due to dumb all knowing PC owners
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Dude, 23 Mar 2006 @ 7:12am

You are all crack smokers!
I've been using Dell in the datacenter and at home for 10 years now. Never once, have I had a bad problem. Sure, I don't overclock them or use them for hacking, phreaking, and cracking like most who have replied. I also am no gaming child. No, instead, me and my business have relied on them and come to trust Dell as a quality business partner for everything! Laptops, Desktops, Servers... Linux, Windows, you name it, no problems. It's you idiots that have to contantly be tweaking and playing and those that can't just work with what you have that have problems. Grow up...
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- Sanity, please?, 23 Mar 2006 @ 7:59am
  
  Re: You are all crack smokers!
  Well, if you've never had a bad problem, then I'll assume that you haven't been on the phone with many of their technicians. While I can't make a generalization about all of their technicians, I can say that most of the low-level Dell techs I've dealt with didn't really help me fix my problem.
  
  Most recently, my father's Dimension wouldn't power on. I went to Dell's online help wizard, but it didn't display an option consistent with the computer's symptoms. I chose to chat with a tech, and after an hour and a half of troubleshooting which mostly included randomly removing things from the case, we got disconnected. Frustrated, I went to the Dell support forums. In five minutes, I learned that it might be a problem with my RAM, found the bad piece, and had everything up and running again.
  
  That said, once I found the problem and asked them to replace the RAM, they were happy to have a tech come out (that day, even!) and replace it for my father. And you know, I've got to give them a thumbs-up for that.
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  - Dude, 23 Mar 2006 @ 8:24am
    
    Re: Re: You are all crack smokers!
    I have had problems with the hardware, but when it runs 24x7x365 you expect a drive failure or power supply failure. I've never had bad problems with their support. I call, they send someone to the datacenter, to my office, or to my house and fix the problem. My home and office are in the middle of the boonies and I can get onsite service in 3-4 hours. If I have a problem at the datacenter which is a couple hundred miles away in a big city, they are there within a couple of hours, always!
    
    Maybe I should get the lowest level of support possible of buy one of their cheapest computers to find out what kind of pain you are all experiencing. But, having purchased only Precision, XPS, and Lattitudes for the home and office, I have had none of the problems related. Sure, my stuff costs a few bucks more than the bottom of the barrel crap. But, you get what you pay for. Stop cutting corners, spend a couple bucks and save yourselves some headache:)
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Aaron, 23 Mar 2006 @ 7:47am

First-time Dell buyer....
....in fact, first time Any-Manufacturer buyer. I've built my own computers for 10 years. My last branded desktop was a hand-me-down Gateway from 1993, but in November I decided to upgrade everything at once and bought a lowish-end Dell (still better than my 3-year-old home-built).

The LCD didn't work right out of the box, and getting a "new" one took almost a week (and it was refurbished). Inconvenient, but the people were nice, fairly quick, and it didn't cost me a penny. I hate dealing with service folks, but it's not the first time I've had to do it, and this was one of the better experiences.
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Microsoft Certified Tech, 23 Mar 2006 @ 9:37am

apologies on the double post
I apologize about the double post...
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Ryusuke, 23 Mar 2006 @ 9:52am

This sucks
I don't currently own a PC, being that I use Macintosh hardware and software for all of my artwork. But I've always thought that if I did buy a Windows PC, it would be for the games, and I'd really want an Alienware PC; because they seem like they make PC's with all the bell's and whistles that I'd want.
But to now hear they've been bought out by Dell, I don't think I'd be as willing to buy an Alienware PC.
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Mark, 23 Mar 2006 @ 11:32am

Alienware stopped being a good company 2 years ago
Alienware used to rock. Their techsupport and customer service were in the U.S. and they had the best game machines on the planet.

Then they moved their support lines off shore. At the end you needed to speak Spanish to get good tech support. I hired a guy from the Home Depot parking lot, to make my last call to them.

I ordered my last Alienware box (EVER) last May. I didn't believe what others in the call center were saying about the new level of service. It took 6 months to ship a computer that I paid for with Cashier's Check! And almost a year to get my rebate. I got it a few days ago.

Keep in mind, 6 months is huge. My $3000 computer is no longer cutting edge, if I don't get it for 6 months....nor is it worth $3000.

The hype lived longer than the reality. Do not mourn it's passing. Dance on it's grave.
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Jeremy, 29 Mar 2006 @ 10:12am

AMD
What does this mean for alienwares having AMD's in them!?!?
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Maxillarypun, 7 Apr 2006 @ 6:41am

There are good days and there are bad days
I've had pretty good luck with Dells. I have noticed that the quality of Techs vary greatly regardless of which company you're dealing with. I've had a problem that I had to call Dell about that the lower level techs could not handle, and I learned quickly to ask for a higher level tech who knew a little more about the power systems of the laptops. The first time I had a problem, it was within the warrantee period and they had me ship the laptop in, and I got it back within a week with a new motherboard, mouse touch pad, and power supply. Three months later, I had the same problem, but it was out of warrantee. I have to admit I was extremely ticked off and took it out on the tech who was trying to tell me that he couldn't do anything about it for free without a warrantee, but he transferred me to his supervisor, who basically fixed the problem for free even though it was out of warrantee. I then asked for the original tech back on the line and apologized for going off on him.

I used to work tech support and got all sorts of crap from frustrated people and truly appreciated the patience the tech from Dell had with me.
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caisson12, 18 Apr 2006 @ 3:05pm

Alien....Area-51
I think Dell bought Alienware as a public service just to get that crap off the market......Product is terrible.....service/support is nonexistant.....
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