Why buy an Alienware?

[Yiddo]

The 900p and 1080p panels in the XPS line are decent. Also, lid and palmrest are made of aluminum.

I have seen the 900p screen its worse than Asus attempt at high end gaming models.

+ the build quality sucks! My mates after only a week was coming apart.

Should have 'Made in Chernobyl' on the bottom

[Rishwin]

You get an AW knowing that regardless of what happens, in 12 months time your laptop will still be worth more than 75% of what you paid for it. They don't drop the price often and they don't sell in most retail stores (they sell at JB-HiFi here in Aust) which means their 2nd-hand market value does not diminish very much at all. Today you can pickup an R1 for probably half of what it cost when it first came out 2 years ago, and it won't go much lower.

The name "Alienware" is associated with quality and performance. You pay for the aesthetics and you pay for the name. But beyond that, it's still quite competitively priced.

[T-ravisty]

You get an AW knowing that regardless of what happens, in 12 months time your laptop will still be worth more than 75% of what you paid for it. They don't drop the price often and they don't sell in most retail stores (they sell at JB-HiFi here in Aust) which means their 2nd-hand market value does not diminish very much at all. Today you can pickup an R1 for probably half of what it cost when it first came out 2 years ago, and it won't go much lower.

The name "Alienware" is associated with quality and performance. You pay for the aesthetics and you pay for the name. But beyond that, it's still quite competitively priced.

Yeah, I fully agree with this. They maintain their value remarkably!
I've seen them around for sale, still with strong prices and they still do sell!

JB have them in Aust, the only place in aus where they're in partnership with Dell.

I love the build quality personally. I really like the look of the new XPS Ultrabook aswell, but I prefer the AW build and the lights... Light up keys FTW!

So all in all, it's really what you want, a large size with bigger, better specs on the inside, or a smaller lappy with still decent specs?
I was in the same boat a month-ish ago, can't remember... anywayyyy... I have no major qalms with it. Handles everything I throw at it just fine and is highly portable... A 15" lappy becomes a pain to lug around after a while. This little tacker is brilliant.

I'm happy with Dell/Alienware as a whole, there's always people that have qalms about certain products, Dell/Alienware included, but at the end of the day, nothing's perfect...

I hovered the buy button a fair bit... but am thrilled that I did.

[Rypac]

I hovered the buy button a fair bit... but am thrilled that I did.

We've all been there and done that. I've built plenty of machines and added them to my cart, usually for the fun of it or just dreaming...

[T-ravisty]

We've all been there and done that. I've built plenty of machines and added them to my cart, usually for the fun of it or just dreaming...

True that!
Like maxing it out with everything and looking at the total ang going "holy cow... It'll cost THAT much?!?!".... and then later building it from parts for half the price... LOL.

[Voodooi]

We've all been there and done that. I've built plenty of machines and added them to my cart, usually for the fun of it or just dreaming...

I did that with Alienware machines for about 6 months before picking one up.

It's a great feeling finally receiving an item you've been wanting for a long time, but could never previously afford.

Best brand I've ever owned and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[CEUOTC]

I too used to look at AW, however could not justify the cost, and due to my job and where l end up l always opted for 11.6" net-books/notebooks.

My first 15 inch laptop had a AMD Turion + ati x700 and managed a few trips away but started to show wear and tear around the hinges.

After this had an NC10 which managed a single trip.

Then an HP 311c which managed a single trip, donated to my wife then sold onto a work mate for £100 not bad as it cost £250 from Amazon in 2009

Finally just given the missus my old HP DM1 3101ea it managed a single trip, gave it to a work mate to use on the last trip when his laptop went pop and replaced it with an Asus N55SF which l used for the final 3 month of my trip.

Got back and hummed and ha'd over this forum, l do like my N55SF however l would happily sell it as the little M11x R3 does all that l need and for anything else l have my desktop.

It is the right size, has great battery life and when l next go on my trip overseas it will be handy to have the extra grunt that my HP 311c and DM1 3101ea never had.

The screen size is ideal for report writing, and surfing the web, and the extra CPU/GPU grunt will allow me to use it for HD and gaming with out having to resort to 3rd party programmes to utilises the graphics properly.

So that is Why l have bought an AW

[Rypac]

I did that with Alienware machines for about 6 months before picking one up.

It's a great feeling finally receiving an item you've been wanting for a long time, but could never previously afford.

Best brand I've ever owned and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I remember when I was going to get my M11x. The R2 had just been announced but not yet released, so every day I would check the Alienware site (multiple times) and build a machine. One morning I went on and the R2 was suddenly available. I built the machine and ordered it in record time. It felt so good to have it in production and when I finally got it... .

The only other laptop I have ever been tempted by is the Sony Vaio Z series. However after owning an Alienware, I don't think I could ever go for another brand.

[T-ravisty]

However after owning an Alienware, I don't think I could ever go for another brand.

Me too. I had a HP and Toshiba, and both died pretty quickly.
The build of Alienware is my biggest selling point!

[cct1]

I love my M11X and as was said on the first page, I too call it a little monster.