Should I purchase this PC?

[YChang]

Alienware Area-51..here's the specs:
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundled with AlienAutopsy and Respawn
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Martian Red
Power Supply: Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 550 w/ HT Technology 3.4GHz 1MB Cache
Motherboard: Alienware® PCI Express Motherboard with Intel® 925XE Chipset 1066/800MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6800 GT PCI Express 256MB DDR3 w/Digital and S-Video Out
Chassis Upgrades: AlienIce™ 2.0 Video Cooling System with Accoustic Dampening - Astral Blue
System Drive: Extreme Performance - Serial ATA RAID 0 - 240GB (120GB x 2) Seagate® Barracuda 7,200 RPM w/16MB Cache
Optical Drive One: Lite-On® 16x DVD-ROM Drive with Software DVD Decoder
Optical Drive Two: NEC® ND-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Recorder
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Sound Card: Intel® High-Definition Audio (24-bit, 192Khz) with 7.1 surround sound
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Display One: No Monitor
Display Two: No Monitor
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Alienware Exclusive Offers: 10% off your next EB Games online purchase
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
AlienWiring: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value - FREE!

The total on this config w/ s/h/tax is: $2306.00

Thoughts? Opinion? Go build your own?
Thanks

 

[TexasOwnzYou]

build yourself and you should be able to get an SLI system with that much $ and have $ left.

 

[hooklahoma]

if you're into computer bling-bling, pull the trigger. IMHO Alienware is a value if you want the most pimped out rig imagineable that looks like it was done by a pro. You can build a comparable machine for 400 or so dollars less, but you'll spend 40 hours shopping, building and tweaking and it still wont look as cool and have a warranty. How much is your time worth? Its up to you.

 

[NameAlreadyInUse]

I bought an alienware 3 years ago.

I'm using it now to write this post. I wouldn't buy another one, though I've never had any problems with it.

They shipped me a video card with a Nvidia chipset, but it was made by a company I have never heard of. Never heard of the hard drive manufacturer. The NIC was another no-name. They put parts in cheaper than Dell does and charged 2x as much.

It has worked fine, but I would've been better served building my own.

 

[YChang]

that's a good point about the time...I just want to config, click and have one delivered to my door. I think I'm gonna for it...but I would like more feedback from people who used their pcs.

Name: That's a disturbing thought though about generic parts...you would think it would be the complete opposite with these gaming boutiques.

 

[hooklahoma]

Uhhhhh, I just looked at the site. I hadnt been there since I priced out my last box 18 months ago. They're different than I remember them as far as stating ecactly what was in the box. The board is ABIT, which is a decent product, but id never buy from a company that didnt state exactly what sticks of memory were going in. Try ABS. They'll tell you down to what version of firmware there shipping w/ the parts. They use Antec see through cases which dont look like aliens, but are the **** nonetheless.

Good luck

 

[UTinBigD]

is it just me, or is a an AGP based video card better than a PCI based one?

Not sure what AGP is up to these days (8x, 16x) but having the video card on its own bus used to better than having is share PCI bandwidth.

Research the video card so you dont get pissed off when you have to play half life in 640X480.

 

[zork]

The Link

 

[Bottom Line]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[YChang]

man...free 19" flat panel and cheaper on the Dell system. Hmm...Dell or buy into the hype of Alienware system.

 

[EEE]

that machine would cost over 3 grand with a monitor that does it justice. yikes. i would get a really nice tv instead.

 

[Apostle7550]

In reply to:

---

---

 

[Quagmire]

Alienware is overpriced crap if you ask me. They make it look nice and **** but 2300 for a computer is nuts. If you built it yourself you could make a hell of a lot better setup for a lot cheaper.

Does it even come with a mointor?

I just built my buddy a p4 3.0, 512 ddr ram, 80 gig hd, dvd burner for 400.

 

[idigTexas]

Build your own. You'll know exactly what goes in, and you can customize to your heart's content. You'll also save money. It's also a lot of fun.