"Business-minded"
and "affordably-priced" are not two terms you think of when it comes to boutique gaming rig manufacturer
Alienware, so when they announced the 12-inch
Sentia m3200 notebook with integrated graphics
and a sub-$1,500 price, we were eager to see how it performed. ArsTechnica has a, um,
thorough look at this
new ultraportable, and seem to come out generally impressed though not overly enthusiastic, as this model does have a
few severe drawbacks. Overall, the system's 2.0GHz Pentium M fares decently for most non-cycle hungry tasks such as web
browsing, basic multimedia, and Photoshop, but the built-in Intel graphics chip means that 3D CAD work or post-2004
games are pretty much out of the question. Also getting knocks were the ~3 hour battery life, limited vertical viewing
angle on the LCD, and sub-par Media Center replacement, the bootless, Linux-based PowerCinema multimedia suite. Still,
if you want a light notebook and won't be straying too far from a power outlet, the m3200 seems like a pretty good
option, and is also one of the cheapest ways to sport that attention-getting, blazing-blue alien head for livening up
stuffy board meetings.
posted Apr 3rd 2006 7:45PM
When I think business, I don't think glowing alien heads.
Linux-based PowerCinema multimedia suite? cyberlink's web site has no mention of this being linux based, and in fact mentions windows driver support
just the thing to break up the droning sea of beige and fake shrubs in an office, the most obnoxious lappy lid of all time...
This reminds me of the episode of the simpsons when Homer comes to work in a pink shirt and gets promoted...
#1 - "When I think business, I don't think glowing alien heads."
You obviously haven't been to many Fortune 500 board meetings.....
Correction: the notebook is 12 inches.
That seems like an awfully harsh review of the Arstechnica review.
Why is Google Search's layout different in IE vs. Firefox?
I have been using nothing but alienware computers for a while. You get what you pay for. If you pay for the cheaper version of alienware you will get the best cheap machine out there. If you pay for the expensive alienware, you will get the best machine. That is just from my experience of purchasing 3 alienware computers over the past few years.
the 3200 is 12 inches, the 3400 is 14 inches.
I agree with Derek, I'm 14 and I'll be purchasing one when Vista is released.
Derek Hail. If you think alienware is the best computers you must not know much about computers. Go read up on alienware their laptops have horrible ratings by their users. A smart person would find the ODM model and pay 500 or more less for the exact model without the glowing alien head.
I can't imagine a business exec walking around with a laptop like that
"13. I can't imagine a business exec walking around with a laptop like that"
Try small game companies. After all, when the word "business" is said or used, it doesn't always mean for corporate customers. I'm sure some guys at Blizzard use Alienware's "business" machines.
Besides, what do you expect? A Dell-looking machine? Oh wait, nevermind.
I find Alienware machines over the top. Too juvenile. I prefer something like the VAIOS or PowerBooks.
Just finished reading the first 17 comments...WOW! I think Engadget just died.
4/3/06 RIP Engadget
#18: And how, prey tell, has Engadget died? Do you find that people's opinions are not well stated, that the opinions stated are universally weak in some manner, or that you simply disagree with what has been said?
*claps for Dean*
A glowing alien vs. a glowing apple. What difference does it make. Business takes place on the screen of the computer. What matters is the performance and specs. If you need a laptop with a compact size and it meets your performance needs, the alien will mean very little over time. it's just another logo.
Let me get this straight.
Dell, known for low-to-medium priced computers for home and business purchases a computer company known for high-end gaming systems... and then uses the brand to produce low-to-medium priced computers for home and business?
Does this whole exercise seem pointless to anyone else?
glowing apple == trendy
glowing alien head == WTF
I'm sorry but you obviously don't work in the world of first impressions. Go into an lawyer's office and have them whip out a laptop across the table with an gilled case design and a glowing alien head. Doesn't exactly speak to professionalism. It would be like putting a tricked out blinking LED case at your receptionist desk. I've never been to a company that has ever done that simply because you dont want to make potential customers go WTF. That case design is a 7 of 10 on the WTF scale.
Dean, I think you mean "pray tell".
Alienware makes crappy laptops.
I bought one and it's video card died after 3 weeks. I had them send me a new mobile video card and that one died after 2 months. They then wanted me to send the entire laptop back to them, which they kept for a month...then sent it back with the speakers disconnected...
On the "Quality Assurance" checklist they included with it had a big check mark next to "Sound Works"....Um...BullShiat. Sound no workey How the fark do you miss that the speakers arent even plugged in.
They tried to blame it on FedEx, saying it was mishandled during shipping.
B.S. If that were true then AW needs better packaging and a sturdier product.
I sent it back to get the speakers reconnected...a month later I get it back with a F'IN CRACK IN THE SCREEN.
Again it goes back. Then it returns and right out of the box... MID-BOOT it BSODs. It won't stay on for more than 30 minutes.
.... A GAMEING MACHINE...that overheats and shuts off with no warning after 30 minutes (MAX) of use.
(And it doesnt need to be a graphics intensive game/application. It'll crash when using WORD, or Firefox.)
Freaking only game I can play on it is solitaire, or minesweeper because the DVD drive won't even read disks anymore. (It was replaced too, at one point).
DON'T BUY ALIENWARE.
If you MUST get A.W., get a tower from them, and the LONGEST warranty you can possibly get... but even then... you could BUILD a better, cheaper, more reliable one yourself.
If you're going to get a laptop and need rock solid reliability, go Lenovo.
If you want decent quality for the price, go Dell.
If you want style, go Sony.
If you want all three with a cult, and limited software, support and still want to pay out the arse...get an mac.
Just whatever you do...unless you're sadistic...DON'T BUY ALIENWARE.
You'll be doing yourself a BIG favor.
6 months after you order a laptop from them (about the time you're laptop arrives) they'll have a new model, and the quality of service you'll get from them will be NILL.
Don't fall for their BS. Alienware "gaming laptops" are JUNK.
I'm sure the logo's backlight can be shut off just as easily as on the Dell XPS laptops.
I think the design is flatly ugly, but as a programmer at a software company, I could get away with it if the system justified it.
What I don't get is why the design is so half-assed. Both Dell and IBM have 14" laptop designs tageted at businesses that don't have integrated graphics. You'd think this might occur to a company that specializes in gaming computers. 3 hours of battery life is pathetic in this segment. The weight specs are on the 14" aren't bad, though 4 pounds for the 12" seems excessive.
Overall, I thought Alienware was supposed to make powerful computers. But in this size class, if you want power, upgrade to a ThinkPad or Latitude. Who would have thought?
When you say Lenovo, do you mean their own brand or their recently-taken-over Thinkpads? I can say that it's best to buy Lenovo-branded if you're going to buy Lenovo, not the Thinkpads. I say this because I was considering getting one, and decided that if the Thinkpads didn't have the IBM engineering behind them anymore, then i'll go ahead and get a Lenovo original. Lenovo originals (non-Thinkpad) are definitely better specs than the Thinkpads, because you can get a cooler-looking, more powerful machine for cheaper like this- http://appserver.lenovo.com.cn/product/channel/product_detail.asp?productid=5147 (look up the exchange rates for yourself, please, they seem to change by the second)
Thank you DJDole, I'm so glad someone is having the same problems as me!
I have 2 Alienware laptops at my company, both stopped working after a few short months (one arrived 2 months late after unexpected delays and finally shipped it to the wrong address). Both have been sent back countless times, and both needed considerable effort to convince the tech support to replace any parts (8+ hours on multiple phone calls before they even START to think about replacing hardware). Paying my employees to sit on the phone for 8+ hours on tech support means it's cheaper to purchase the parts myself--making their warrenty pointless.
I've had Dell laptops, Macs, Toshibas, and Sonys. Alienware is the worst of them all, and their tech support is even worse than the products they sell. DON'T BUY ALIENWARE.
There is nothing special about this. At all. It's 1.6" thick which is absurd. The battery life doesn't come up to par with other business laptops nor do the features. Check out the HP nc6220 or, if you want more graphics power, the hp nc6230. Even the Dell D610/D620 are better than this thing for a lot less. Sorry but I doubt even a single business user will be purchasing this unless they just want the tacky alien head.
People are dragging out the tired question "what kind of business are you talking about when you say business computer?"
The answer everyone else already knows of course is that they're talking about the type of business that computer manufacturers love and that the category was made for. It's the type that buys 200+ laptops (and/or 500+ desktops) at a shot. They want every one of them exactly the same so that IT doesn't have to manage 50 different models and they can buy replacement parts by the case. They want the computer to do a job for a good price and they don't care what it looks like to a sector-G drone. Like it or not that is business.
Maybe that's not your 5 person business with no network where no one visits customers and people come to work in their slippers (don't get me wrong I've worked there) but that's not what computer manufacturers are talking about when they talk about business computers. They're not saying you aren't a business they're just not marketing business computers in your direction.
I bought an Alienware m3400 and for the life of me, I don't know why. Initially, I thought the Alienware logo was unique. But when I saw it in real life, it seemed just too over the top. In terms of performance, no better than average and perhaps 10% more expensive than an equivalent Dell. And yes, it is for use in a business. But in my own defense, if I had thought clients would need to see it, I wouldn't have bought it precisely because of the Alien head. Oh well.