Posts: 1,194
Threads: 45
Joined: Feb 2003
Read for yourself.
Frankly, I don't know what to think, except that the time to buy an Alienware rig is quite possibly over.
That being said, I may still try and snag a good, cheap Sentia Laptop in the near future, but somehow I don't think that's going to materialize.
So, any thoughts on this? I'm still rather shocked by the announcement, especially since both companies firmly denied it (when is that new?), but also because the general speculation was that it was nothing more than just that: a rumor, probably set up for PR-spin purposes. Now that it's turned out to be an actual fact, I honestly don't know what to think. I'm not the highest fan of Dell, and Alienware IMHO are a tad overpriced for what they offer (as I see it as a system-builder myself), so seeing the two join forces makes me a little uneasy as to the future of the latter brand. I don't know if I can not see Dell's marketing and influence having at least a slight effect on Alienware, and to me that can only be detrimental. But time will tell.
Roland *The Gunslinger*
Posts: 3,498
Threads: 412
Joined: Feb 2003
Why does Dell need Alienware where they already offer their
own overpriced gaming computers?
-Limited Quantities Available
-NVIDIA Quad SLI Technology - 4 GeForce 7900 GPUs for a total of 2GB!
-Intel Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Dual Core Processor with HyperThreading overclocked to 4.26GHz
-Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi FATALITY
-Dual WD "RAPTOR" 160GB RAID 0 10,000 RPM Hard Drives
-1 7200RPM WD 400GB Hard Drive
-2GB Dual Channel DDR2 RAM @ 667MHz
-Custom paint job with FLAMEZ
-AGEIA PhysX Physics Accelerator
All this for the low, low price of $9930.
You mean there was a time to buy AlienWare?
Im sure it was always good stuff but its definetly over priced. It funny to see them combine with Dell which generally provides a good deal but on a marginal product.
Posts: 1,173
Threads: 66
Joined: Feb 2004
Ghostiger,Mar 23 2006, 08:53 PM Wrote:You mean there was a time to buy AlienWare?
Im sure it was always good stuff but its definetly over priced. It funny to see them combine with Dell which generally provides a good deal but on a marginal product.
[right][snapback]105318[/snapback][/right]
Actually i think this is exactly why the acquisition is a good thing. within the last year dells product has gotten better by leaps and bounds. I just recently purchased a dell myself and my previous computer before this one was an alienware. Dell has pretty much forged a place for themselves based on "if you want an alienware but only want to spend 1500 here's your computer"
what i've seen over the last year are dell computers getting more and more attractive. thus why i now have a dell. the difference between my present computer at 1500$ and an alienware at 3000+ isn't really that much. Alienware will always be better for the Min/Maxers of computer ownership but i've gotten to the point where I dont really need all that and it saves me 1500 bucks.
either way dell now has each market covered. If they continued on as competitors dell would have eventually moved into the Alienware market. The Renegade listed above is just an extreme example of Dell saying "we can do it if we want to". Were Dell to move into that market it would probably have seriously hurt Alienware in the long run. This way they can move on and still completely control the high end market.
For sevaral years really a Dell with a $200-$300 after market vid card has been the best deal gaming PCs outside of building on yourself.
Posts: 1,194
Threads: 45
Joined: Feb 2003
Chesspiece_face,Mar 23 2006, 09:28 PM Wrote:If they continued on as competitors dell would have eventually moved into the Alienware market.
And died a horrible flaming death. Dell neither has the balls, brains, nor the RESPECT to compete in the Alienware + crowd (and Alienware is the mere tip of the iceberg; Falcon Northwest and VoodooPC both blow Alienware out of the water, on all fronts). THAT is why they bought them out. Dell has a solid reputation for churning out decent computers at reasonable prices. Where HP sticks to retail stores, Dell sticks strictly to their own wharehouses, and it's worked for them admirably, even if I'm not a huge fan of their products (nor their pricing, many times - I can actually build a great Sentia for hundreds less than an equally- or worse-equipped Dell laptop). Alienware has a reputation for solid product, but more importantly a very fresh look and feel (compared to the "assembly line" feeling of Dells). They have earned their respect in the high end market over the years, and that's something Dell would be very lucky to ever do.
The merger makes sense from a business point, from both of them (more Dell than Alienware), but IMHO it's just another "big corporation swallows the little independents" case, although Alienware is hardly a small independent these days. ;)
I may still buy an Alienware laptop someday, or I may just built my own. All depends on pricing and available options.
Roland *The Gunslinger*
