Delays...

Thats the same card I am getting, but my order was placed 11/27.... :/

Maybe Chris can help and trying to find out why its taking so long for you.

What video card did have on your order? Mine is supposed to ship 12/14 or so, however I am not 100% anymore...

 Single 1.8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260

So i ordered my area-51 on oct 23, prpopsed delivery date of 11/30 ( 5 weeks).  delay 1, no email no phone call... it was delayed 1 week 12/7.  I called and was given no reason or appology as to why it takes 6 weeks to build a cookie cutter computer.  i had no upgraded parts. i only added a monitor and the WoW install.  Delay 2 no email, no phone call delayed to 12/14.  (happened today)  I called and complained, they "expedited my order" and still gave me no reason why it takes 7 weeks to build a computer.  I would think that Dell/Alienware would WANT my $2,500, and if it gets delayed again ill take my money to HP/VooDoo.  Just had to get that out there.

hmmm, sorry to hear about the runaround/stonewall treatment. My suggestion, call corporate HQ. Keep naggin until you get someone at the Director level, like Director of distribution or some such title. In this economy 2.5K is a LOT of money, so I wonder how many customers Dell can afford to lose?

Good Luck.

Peace.

I'm having the exact same issue.  Of course we weren't told on the phone it takes 2 months to piece together a color coded motherboard and chassis so to speak.  If I had known this I would have built my own.  I also am spending about $2,200, so I'm not sure how many $2k+ customers they can afford to lose in this economy, especially since when I am happy with a company, I'll continue to purchase computers from them every 3 years or so.

Exactly why is it taking SO long... all i want is the computer i ordered almost 2 months ago.... is that SO hard.  i mean its not like i changed anything, i just ADDED A MONITOR AND that WoW install.  is that really that had to slap together.  If i didnt want this case so much id build my own.

This is a interesting question to ask - how come others get theres pretty quick, and other it takes forever even though they have the same setup?

Currently, these are the only two options that are delayed. Everything else says "9 day build time".

Single 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 240....1 Day Delay

Alienware TactX™ Keyboard...3 Day Delay

The builders seem to be running out of parts.  I customized a desktop here on the site and then proceeded to place the order a few hours later - I got a message telling me I could no longer have the system as I designed it because some part(s) were no longer available.  Looks like Dell is out of TV tuners and possibly sound-cards.  The 20% Bing cashback offer is gone now too - I'm in no hurry to shop at Dell.com at this point.

9 days yeah right, ive been waiting since oct 23rd...

9 days yeah right, ive been waiting since oct 23rd...

I believe you, I am just reading from the Dell website.

This is a reasonable question to ask though - why are some orders done so quick, while others are lagged? I never could understand this.

Things I learned about Alienware from look inside:

"The first step is to gather all of the parts. Each part for each system is pulled from the shelves by a real live person and placed into a bin waiting to by hand-assembled by a single Alienware employee. (And for those of you who have waited for systems on order, and you find yourselves wondering how that affects your system, we are told that a system is not “pulled” until all the parts for it have arrived. So if something is out of stock, your system is not built part-way and then placed on a shelf until they can complete it – which is great.)"

...and since Alienware is not really part of Dell (same build area), predicting delays could be difficult, and times to ship could be off as well.

---

EDIT: Well I was wrong. Dell does everything now, besides tech support. So the system is in Dell's hands now, not Alienwares.... :(

This isn't good :(

More info that I found out:

"In Sept 2009- Dells Studio XPS line of computer experienced long delays in shipping, with some costumers waiting over 7 weeks or more from their computers. As of December 1st, 2009 many of those laptops have still not been shipped. Customer support has given no conclusive answers for the delays as reported on Dells own community blog. The Federal Trade Commission has stated over the phone that the best course of action against the companies behavior is to call and file a report. The more reports, the sooner the FTC will start an investigation into the matter."

(and)

"Dell's desktop plant in Austin, Texas was shut down in 2008. It closed its desktop manufacturing in Labanon TN in early 2009. The last major U.S. plant in North Carolina is scheduled to close in January, 2010. It marks the end for most of Dell's personal computer manufacturing in the United States. It's expected that most of the work carried out in North Carolina will be transferred to contract manufacturers in Asia, though Dell said some of the work will move to its own factories overseas."

Looks like there are so many desktops, but no one to build them...so they are moving the work overseas :/

This is a interesting question to ask - how come others get theres pretty quick, and other it takes forever even though they have the same setup?

This is the question that should be asked, placed my order on Nov 28th..took advantage of the free $200 in upgrades, still nothing fancy. Basic Aurora system, upgraded memory to 12GB, hardrive to 750GB, and added a TV tuner. It also has the GTX260 video card. As of this morning it's showing shipped.