-----<<Alienware>>------

[chazz]

Any one have any experience with (newer)Alienware ?
I have never seen one in person, know they are well equipped gaming machines with hefty price..
wondering about their fit and finish, keyboard, screens ,ergonomics and overall quality,
services ect..ect..compare to thinkpads (I know its an apple to orange comparison ) ..

Iam looking into their larger models 17-18inches
comments from user's experience who have used/owned both brands
thanks very much

[ausmike]

I would buy M6400 ,,,,, or M6600
for THAT PRICE = you get IPS screen................ far outway any LOGO Lighting etc you might want to see on those aliens ,,,,, which are now NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE.........
M6400 = ONLY LAPTOP with 15 inch IPS display in industry! Ibm/lenovo can only manage 13 in max size avalible in X1 ..... and price for that is OF RIDI>>>>>>>>>

cheers

[ajkula66]

I've never owned one but have worked on several of them, and they are somewhat of a pain - then again after a decade of ThinkPads everything is - but the build quality was quite impressive.

Keyboard...huh...not my cup of tea, but once again, well-built.

Excellent fit and finish.

Screens on the ones that I've seen were lousy, but that's the state of affairs today unless you want to dish out $4K+ for a proper IPS-equipped EliteBook...

All of that said, I'd absolutely *love* to grab one for my daughter...

My (very limited) experiences only.

[lead_org]

Alienware is impressive. if i wanted a dual gpu gaming laptop, i would get it.

[chazz]

Thanks all,
on spec its impressive, but my desire ended..after seeing someone posted some videos on youtub
on the Flex(Ability) of the Alienware keyboard ..
it looked like a soft bed

[ajkula66]

You just have to remember YouTube videos of T400's keyboard...

People sometimes tend to over-react when they see something like that...

Meanwhile - short of atrocious screen - T400 is one heck of a good laptop in my not so modest opinion...

If I were really interested in obtaining an Alienware, I'd check Dell's return prolicies and take it from there...

My $0.02 only...

[jdrou]

I would buy M6400 ,,,,, or M6600
for THAT PRICE = you get IPS screen................ far outway any LOGO Lighting etc you might want to see on those aliens ,,,,, which are now NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE.........
M6400 = ONLY LAPTOP with 15 inch IPS display in industry! Ibm/lenovo can only manage 13 in max size avalible in X1 ..... and price for that is OF RIDI>>>>>>>>>

cheers

You mean (Precision) M4600, not M6400. M4600 is the 15" little brother of the M6600; M6400 is the two-generations-back predecessor of M6600.

[ausmike]

sorry for confusion......grr hate 'auto-correct' on ipads...> still no excuse! sorry
dell page for Mobile WORKSTATION ...M series

[chazz]

thanks for everyone comments, the soft keyboard I saw on Youtub was from the new Alienware M18x, theres some similar videos for the new Dell workstation as well..
my first notebook was a dell and it was ok..and 8 Thinkpads followed,
so kinda hard to use anything else after that..
This week I upgraded my T60P to a Core2Duo T7600.just for fun ..Hoping to increase its performance... short answer is "yes"-- but 15 inch form, single fan does not work well with video work at all--so I can't recommend anyone doing any long hours (like 1-2 hours)of HD video conversion to use a 15in single fan unit --new or older models...my machine shuts down (overheat) after 2 hours on the first DVD conversion in the thinkpad default power mode, so from now on it has to be on a lower power setting which= lower performance...I guess thats just the reality of the limitation of the physical form factor of the unit ..unless it has 2 fans to keep the machine cool, this is just my own personal observation..
(un)fortunately I am still a "fan" of the thinkpad design for its simplicity of function and form
so I end up picking up a w700DS..and we'll see how that goes...thanks all..

[lead_org]

i got the W701ds...

[chazz]

hi lead_org
can I ask you how u like your w701ds?
brightness and colors of the LCD?
W701 was on my short list but I got a good deal on a W700ds with warranty was hard to resist.
the reviews on the W700ds were pretty right on, uneven keyboard , ok to average screen (needs a sweet spot on the screen), color calibrator was kinda of a joke, overall build quality was average,
I thought the t60p was still better in many ways (KB,screen, fit and finish).
But..... the CPU/GPU thermal on the W700ds is Amazing! set on max setting for all Video conversion and stress test of 34 loops (I originally set it at 100 loops but the temp never budged so i gave up after 34 loops) and the temp never broke 46 degree ..

[lead_org]

the machine is still in transit, i haven't got it in my hand yet. But i should be getting it this week. But the W701ds main RGB LED screen should be pretty good. The small screen is pretty crap, since it is TN and it is turned on its side.

Keyboard issue should be fixable by using the T60 type keyboard. The W700ds and W701 that one of my workmate got, is hard to fault when i was playing with it last time.

[AvalonXIII]

Have an M14x myself. Best graphics card for its class. Sturdy build, with on-site 1 year warranty by default. Alienware tech support is separate from Dell tech support, and they're worlds different.
LED lights are fun for the kids, I don't enable them myself.
Normal price for Alienware systems are hefty, but refurb'd models are surprisingly cheap. Got mine with quad core and 6GB RAM for only $1000 including tax.
By the way, the palmrest and trackpad are rubberized (same for the lid), and great for resting your arm while typing. Keyboard is great, and Alienware is among the few that doesn't utilize island-style keyboard.
Only downfall is excessively glossy screen. You can see yourself even indoors, so make sure you're okay with glossy screen.

An alternative I would suggest is Vaio Z1. Matte 13.1" 1080p screen with superior IQ is worth the price alone. Now that the Z2 model is out, the Z1 is getting cheaper. I can play modern games with medium quality with the GT330M OC'd. Carbon fiber build makes the laptop super light weight. I replaced the DVD drive with a 2.5" 1TB HDD, so now it has 64GBx2 SSD in RAID with a 1TB HDD, all inside a 13.1" laptop. A very impressive beast indeed. I actually prefer it over my X61SXGA in my signature.

[lead_org]

just got my ThinkPad W701ds, the main screen is excellent in both the colour and view angle (but not as good as the IPS ones), but it is on par with the FHD LCD on the W510 and W520.

While, the secondary screen is pretty bad, but close in colour, viewing angle, contrast to the X301 screens that i have used.