Alienware's new MJ-12 7500 dual core workstations
By Paul Miller 
posted January 25th 2006 3:22PM
posted January 25th 2006 3:22PM
So Alienware is busting out their new MJ-12 7500 desktops featuring
Intel and AMD's finest dual core chips, along with NVIDIA
Quadro FX graphics and a liquid cooling option. The systems start at $1500 and shoot up dramatically from there, with
the dual NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 cards jacking the price up $3000 all by their lonesome. It wasn't much trouble for us to
break the 10 grand barrier, but if you're sure you don't need four 24-inch LCDs and 3TB of RAID storage, we're
sure you can find something a tad more in line with your budget.
I bought a dhs2 media center pc a year ago. delivery date was 3 weeks late, had re-ocurring video card issues and power supply failed 1 week after warranty expired. This past week I spent 2 days on the phone with 7 different "customer/tech service" reps, having to describe the issues each time. Finally they said send it back and we'll look at it, but it will cost you a minimum of $750. $750 for a $50 power supply! The CS/tech reps were mindless drones reading from scripts, and unable to think on their own. I finally convinced someone that sending the unit back was not an option, and to sell me a power supply for $80. I installed the power supply in 45 minutes, got the machine running unloaded all important files and shut it down for good. I now have a $3,500 boat anchor. I am pulling off a few useable components and building my own media server. Stay away from Alienware. Support is worthless - and you will have to use it someday.
PS. the DHS2 power supply is proprietory - it can't be replaced unless you go through Alienware.
I must say: Alienware stands behind the products they sell. After affording a $4,000 system I had mother board issues. Alienware had a tech come to my home and replace the board. Never had another problem. Price is often a reflection of what you are getting, and with Alienware you are getting one of the best!!
Has anyone ever had a good experience buying from Alienware? I'm continually tempted by the models they come out with, but the tales of horror that one sees from their customers make me not take them seriously. Considering their (reportedly) shoddy quality, I'm actually surprised that sites like this still echo their press releases. Has anyone had a good experience buying from them?
Yes. I had a great experience buying from them. Purchased a computer 2 years ago and nothing has ever gone wrong. I wouldn't buy from them now given their prices ... back then I expensed the whole system under my new s-corp.
I bought a aurora desktop from them ages ago and had no problems what so ever. The machine performed like a dream. After a year or so i decided to format the HDD and could never get it to run 3dmark with the same results. Dunno what they did but it never ran the same after the format. But as far as service goes no problems here. I did order mine quite some time ago however.
I have an alienware mediapc that runs like a champ. I had trouble with the shipping date but it was a brand new product and i am not very patient :)
Curt
I've bought 5 machines from them in the last few years. Grand total of Zero problems. The last couple were cases where I had set out to buy from the new wave of boutique players in the very high end bleeding edge but Alienware's offering was 95% as good and less than half the price.
Absolutely. I've had an Alienware Area-51 for going on three years now and I've had zero issues.
I purchased a fully loaded Area-51 (Intel) system 2.5 years ago from them. It cost me like $3k but to be honest with you I've never in my life used such a rock solid system. I've never had one problem with it, not one. I've probably assembled a couple dozen systems in my life time from parts and they never came close to this level of reliability. Their new systems are so expensive though I think I might look at Cyber Power Systems for my next machine.
I've got a four yo alienware machine, and the "new" starwars edition from about 6 months ago. They were slow in delievering the starwars machine.
Hoo baby, sweet equipment, suspect any problems folks have had may be linked to faulty parts, so boils down to service, which I have no experience with, as I've fortunately not had any problems.
I will be buying from them again in the next couple of years, if that helps...
Id buy from em, but its soo expensive compared to homebuilding the same as i doo. But my freind has the gaming laptop, cant remember the model name. But that thing PWNS desktops. tho it is huge its easier to carry then your full rig. I had the same specs as he had im my desktop, 3d marked em and the score was close. I beat it slightly because i have better cooling. He never had a prob with it.
Wow. I just wrote a lengthy comment against Alienware, but before I could post it, my system crashed. Now, that's kind of funny. Anyway, I purchased a Rev A Area 51M (their first laptop), and boy did I choose poorly. Tons of problems, coupled with terrible and outright rude customer support. Also, they lied to me! My chip is a 3 gig pentium with Hyper threading, advertised as having hyper threading. Problem is, motherboard doesn't support hyperthreading. Honestly, they're no good. If you need proof, check out the law firm investigation a class action against them.
http://www.dmlaws.com/claim/consumerclassaction.aspx
I think its pretty much a coin flip if you order a pre-built rig from any company. Shipping companies don't exactly treat your cargo with the utmost care, I just ordered a case from newegg and the box was basically shit beat and the case ended up having a dent on the side with sufficient padding, imagine a fully built rig getting tossed around with the parts already connected.
I think if you are going to spend 2,000+ DOLLARS on a good gaming machine, than you should build your own from your preffered companies. It would probably be cheaper to build a rig that is equal or greater than an alienware system for the same price. Im sure there great computers, but i've never trusted pre-made computers, because you cant choose your own parts, Unless you go to MonarchComputers.com and you can tell them what parts you want and they will build it for you.
I wouldn't recommend Alienware, I have an Area-51M 766, it's had several problems, none of which they've ever been able to fix... one of their main selling points was the upgradeable graphics cards but that never panned out and you can't get anything better than a Mobility 9700 anymore, and you can't buy any replacement video card UNLESS you're under warranty (even if you pay for it). Pretty poor customer service and ridiculous prices.
SWEET!!! I LOVE IT!!! I HAVE A FEW COMPUTERS...BUT THiS THING IS GOD!!! PRAISE IT!!! PRAISE IT NOW!!!
SWEET!!! I LOVE IT!!! I HAVE A FEW COMPUTERS...BUT THiS THING IS GOD!!! PRAISE IT!!! PRAISE IT NOW!!!
You bought a non-IBM laptop? That was your first and only mistake buddy :)
10. My chip is a 3 gig pentium with Hyper threading, advertised as having hyper threading. Problem is, motherboard doesn't support hyperthreading.
http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/alienware.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2985
It does, actually :)
"It does, actually :)"
Well, not according to the Alienware tech support people. They told me that is the reason for my computer having so many problems - and then they say tough luck, we can't fix it, and we won't offer restitution. I went through all the steps listed in the FAQ with an Alienware customer support person and it did not fix the problems. Furthermore, the second option listed there, to buy an upgrade is ridiculous - it isn't an upgrade, it was their mistake to not include it in the system, since they advertised it as having hyper-threading. - and is incompatable with my motherboard anyway (it's only a viable option for the motherboard model that came out right after mine.)
>>Well, not according to the Alienware tech support people.
Well, I bought an Area 51m Rev A (the OG 2.4GHz one, not the later 3.0GHz that you bought) and I KNEW that it didn't support HyperThreading.In fact, I bought a SECOND one, and neither have given me any problems, from day one. If you have the 5460D (or something like that) mobo, then it was widely known not to support HyperThreading.