Alienware vs. Dell

gramschmidt — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 10:59:42 -0800

Alienware vs. Dell: I humbly request personal experiences to aid in the resolution of my notebook-buying dilemma. I'm buying a laptop. I know what I want as far as specs are concerned, so I'm more interested in personal experiences or information about these two companies than in general laptop buying advice.

I seek a reliable, well-built machine (made with reputable constituent parts) from a manufacturer that will either 1) refrain from loading it up with tons of para-spyware and customized versions of software (both necessary and superfluous) or 2) not be stingy about giving me a full install disc for the OS, so I can format the hard drive and do a fresh install and avoid all the nonsense-ware. (FYI: I plan to dual-boot XP and Debian.)

From what I've heard (from word-of-mouth and previous AskMe threads), Dell will send full XP discs, but only if you call and bug them after you've bought the machine (and they're less stingy with XP Pro). This is not a big deal (if, in fact, they'll do such a thing), but it -- and the purported surfeit of crapware -- do not fill me with confidence in the company.

So what about Alienware? I like their reputation. I can get the machine I want from Alienware for $600-$800 more than from Dell. Is it really worth it? Does anyone have any recent experience with Alienware's stuff? Do they really ship full XP install discs? What about crapware?

I also plan on upgrading the RAM the second I get the notebook (which I can do much cheaper than having the manufacturer do it). Does Alienware use readily replaceable/upgradeable modules? Crucial doesn't seem to list all the current Alienware models in their finder.

Also, what is Dell's current level of obstinacy? I've had Dells in the past and found them to be well-built systems, but if their customer service quality has declined and their crapware inclusion has increased, I'm not certain that it's worthwhile to deal with them anymore.

Any and all info and/or personal experiences would be appreciated.

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