Alienware's Superman-themed limited-edition Area-51 systems

Not to be outdone by parent company Dell's X-men-themed XPS machine, Alienware fired up their factory on the planet Krypton to produce a limited number of their Area-51 laptops (limited to 350) and desktops (limited to 250) with artwork, themes and a mousepad from the upcoming movie Superman Returns. The desktop, which is emblazoned with an impressive mural by comic artist Tommy Lee, starts at $1,899 (without a monitor, of course) but quickly heads skyward when you add upgrades like a 3.4GHz Pentium D dual core processor, liquid cooling, 1TB of storage and the ability to turn back time by reversing the earth's rotation. The 17-inch Core Duo notebook starts at around $2,500 and is slightly less bawdy in appearance, ditching the mural for a sleek blue finish and the Superman shield in place of the usual alien head. You can keep track of how many of the individually-numbered systems are sold via Alienware's website, so we'd recommend you move faster than a speeding something-or-other should you want one.

[LiK @ Jun 7th 2006 12:30PM]

good lord, the picture of the superman on the tower in left pic looks like some fanboy in cosplay.

[Ron smith @ Jun 7th 2006 12:41PM]

I thought Dell bought Alienware, why are they still competing.

[airpolgas @ Jun 7th 2006 12:45PM]

Not to be outdone by Dell? Aren't they one and the same now? I thought Alienware is now Lexus and Dell was Toyota - different target demographic, same company.

[Mark 2000 @ Jun 7th 2006 12:45PM]

like anyone would want kevin spacey's bald head staring at them all day. Bleh!

[Rohit Kapur @ Jun 7th 2006 12:52PM]

I think they should've put in general pics of Superman, and by that I mean sketches. Painting photos of actors from the new movie won't be to everyone's tastes, especially if the movie bombs.

[airpolgas @ Jun 7th 2006 12:57PM]

I have high hopes for the movie, since it's directed by Bryan Singer, the same director of the only two X-Men movies I like.

I agree with Rohit, they should have concentrated more on the comic Superman as opposed to the movie Superman. Can't blame them though, because it's a tie-in to the movie.

[Pete Avila @ Jun 7th 2006 1:00PM]

ewwwwwwww

[Dale Davis @ Jun 7th 2006 1:00PM]

Before buying anything from Alienware, I highly recommend a visit to the Better Business Bureau of South Florida.

http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/nis/newsearch2.asp?ID=1&strBCode=06330000&ComID=0633000004005773

Alienware's membership was suspended April 18th, 2006. You also might check Consumer Affairs' complaints about Alienware.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/alienware.html

I didn't research this company before I bought my laptop from them and it was a total fiasco. Out of the box, the display malfunctioned. Their tech support was completely ignorant of the system and had me reinstalling drivers. When that didn't work, they had me disconnecting the wrong components.

After I sent the unit back for repairs, they wouldn't forward it to my new address. Finally, after dozens of fruitless calls to their customer service, I asked for a refund and was penalized with a 15% restocking fee plus the cost of shipping.

It was the worst online shopping experience I’ve ever had and I’ll never buy from them again, cutesy fanboy graphics notwithstanding.

[McBozo @ Jun 7th 2006 1:19PM]

AlienWare is for sure the worst computer brand ever !
I've never seen such ugly computers. Except, of course the prysma !
I don't understand why Engadget keeps talking about it...

[MuDoggy @ Jun 7th 2006 2:11PM]

The notebook is awesome though. If only it didn't have such crappy specs... 1440 x 900 screen? WTF?

[Bizzay @ Jun 7th 2006 3:33PM]

Am I the only one that thinks the desktop unit looks like an 80s-era steel lunchbox? Does it come with a thermos, or what?

[Matt Turban @ Jun 7th 2006 3:49PM]

Not only do the pictures suck but it makes no sense. "Not to be outdone by dell" Is the biggest BS I've ever seen. Dell owns alienware. Why are they competing?

[Jacob @ Jun 7th 2006 5:57PM]

Man, that paint job on the tower is WAY TOO BUSY.

Whatever happened to minimalism and subtlety?

[Chris Cooling @ Jun 7th 2006 9:23PM]

A close look at the art reveals the artist DEFINATELY

[Chris Cooling @ Jun 7th 2006 9:29PM]

A close look at the art reveals that the artist DEFINATELY did not base any of the likenesses on any existing actors, espcially not from Superman Returns. The scenes shown are NOT based on any from the existing or upcoming films, but rather, iconic artistic interpretations of the generally accepted Superman history. For example, note the "golden era" Jor-el and Lara in the upper left corner of the left side. Also the "Superboy" image contradicting both the current films and comic book continuity.

[3rdsun @ Jun 7th 2006 9:52PM]

some people will critisize their mothers for their birth. its a specially designed system featuring artwork. If Apple did this everybody would be sing praises till next year. But everybody like white so anything else is unacceptable.
They didnt say Alienware and Dell were competing, "Not to be outdone.. " is just a figure of speech as i understand it. They just on the same wavelength.

[a @ Jun 7th 2006 10:21PM]

their way of making money is sick. if you DIY you can make two of the same thing. just build a pc then paint it yourself, or just put on some poster or something. it's gonna be much cheaper. and I think they made a good choice when deciding the number of how many to produce, cause it's not like many people's gonna buy them, especially for the desktop.

[Clark Kent @ Jun 8th 2006 6:44AM]

I bought the laptop version. It is not very good, and the actual computer is buggy. I gave it to Jimmy and he's using it for computer games.

[Perrey Z. @ Jun 8th 2006 2:32PM]

I like the design. But with Alienware's reputation {See above BBB of South Florida comment and the following comment about performance and quality.} why would anyone will want to drop $2,500 for it?

You can make your own Marvel, DC Commics and/or TOEI Anime/Tokusatsu theme notebook. Just use your imagination and you'll see you too can customized your own design with your own preffered specifications at a fraction of the price.

[McBozo @ Jun 9th 2006 6:43PM]

>3rdsun
Yes, but Apple wouldn't have done that. Apple has taste and a good designer and it's made for mac-users not for pc-users (nerds)...

[waxman @ Aug 1st 2006 12:32AM]

I like it. The guys at smooth creations did a great job on the paint work :o)
waxman

[JZ @ Sep 1st 2006 10:35PM]

I've bought from Alienware in the past and have not had any difficulties or problems...unitl now.

I placed my order for the laptop on 06/08/06, only 2 days after they started selling. I was given a 07/10/06 anticipated ship date. I fully upgraded the system with the best processor, DVD burner, 200GB hard drive, 2 GB RAM. Total system cost of roughtly $4300.

My order was stuck in phase 1 (Order Confirmation)and did not move until I e-mailed them on 06/18/06. They said i needed to return paperwork to them. When I e-mailed back and advised I never recieved any paperwork, I was advised...oops you are a returning customer so no paperwork was sent and no confirmation is needed from you, we will now move your order to phase 3.

Fast forward to 07/09/06, the day before the anticipated ship date. I receive an e-mail adivsing that my system is missing the memory chips AS WELL AS THE CUSTOM SUPERMAN DISPLAY & CASE. They have no anticiapted date that they will receive the parts and cannot give me an expected shipping date. This is TEHIR OWN CASE that was one of the major selling points and they don't have them?!?!?

I continue to call for the next 3 weeks and am told either, they have the parts and are begining assembly, that they anticipate the parts arriving within a week, or they do not have the parts and do not know when they are going to get them; depending on which day and which customer service rep I spoke to.

Finally on 08/01/06 I get a voice mail message from Alienware offering me $100 off the price of the laptop or $100 off an upgrade on the unit because of the delay. I call back and confirm this and then I am told...oh by the way the new anticipated ship date is 09/04/06.

I give it a rest for a while and call them on 08/23/06 for an update. I am told that my order is in Phase 4 (Pre-Production) and that systems usually take 2-5 business days to complete and ship once reaching this phase. When I ask why the order status web page still reads Pahse 3 I am told "oh the web page does that and is usually wrong". I aks if they have actually recieved the missing parts and I am told that they "Think" they have recieved them.

Here I am now 08/27/06 and the web page still shows Phase 3. given their anticipated 2-5 business days once the unit hits Phase 4 the unit will need to hit pahse 4 tomorrow to have a chance at being shipped by 09/04/06.

It has now been almost 3 months since the initial date of the order and the date that I will get the actual computer is no where in sight.

I guess I should be thankful that they have only placed a hold on my credit card for the amount of the laptop and haven't actually charged me for it yet.

[Superman @ Oct 2nd 2006 11:26AM]

Anyone have this system and want to sell me the skin/theme that comes with it?