Ordering Alienware M15X and equipment (3500$ worth) but Poor customer service.

Origin is too ugly for my tastes but I have to admit that my experience with Dell support is deplorable.
3 months now with a 3378 euro paperweight. Admittedly, they did change a faulty CPU however, it has never worked correctly and continues to crash and lose data 2 to 3 times each day. I have always said the reason is the mother board needs replacing. Following 2 Windows reinstalls, masses of diagnostic tests, and reinstalled drivers, 3 different support techs have all agreed that the motherboard is the problem and it needs to be replaced.

Last Monday I was told "I have escalated your case for a motherboard replacement and it has been approved. You will receive a call from the tech that is handling your case this afternoon between 2 and 3pm to arrange that." Nobody called. Nothing on Tuesday, nor Wednesday, and so far nothing today either. If I treated my customers like this I would rapidly be out of business. Dell don't seem to give a darn.

The only reason I have always remained loyal to Dell is because they allow me to buy what I want and I'm a difficult customer. There can't be many like me who live in France, want an English O/S and an Italian keyboard. Dell accomodate my needs whereas every other manufacturer I know of simply says "Our computers come with French O/S's and French keyboards. Take it or leave it." But this experience is the straw that broke the camel's back. Next time around, I will import a machine from the UK and buy an Italian keyboard separately. I'm not taking any more abuse from Dell.

Yea I have had two aurora's they both had problems along with a buddy that had problems with his. So 3 out of 3 over here. In 2003-05 dell sold 11 million computers with potentially faulty capacitors and when people got their boards replaced they got the same faulty capacitors. So we don't really know whats going on behind the scenes. Not to mention they are an american company with more than half their workers over seas. Imagine if a lot of those jobs were still here in America? Companies outsourcing like this hurt our economy greatly, Capitalism at its finest.

I agree that Origin's arent the prettiest computers.. but they are better and cheaper than Alienware.

That capacitor issue was such a joke... talk about poor quality control lol...

hmm capacitor issue.. not dell;s fault they didnt manufacture the board tis prolly was foxxconn that effected more then just dell but wait  thats not spoken about  :O

anyway nvidia messed up a few years ago with the 8600M GT (256MB ddr3)  i know this cause i had a M1530 at this time and nvidia didnt bother to fix it but to responsibility eventually i had 3 boards before it worked right and 3 years later still runs like a champ did it stop me from buying another dell nope... got a M17X R1 then  all broke loose lol  and i almost told dell were to go but they worked with me and kept me happy even tho the tech bricked my ssystem made me remove drive to get my school work out of it and blah blah blah  lol

and again asus had overheating issues with the G series laptop  and people saying go buy em yet  no complaints  here but well  documented online

msi systems just die..... well documented but oh wait i got one thats proly one fo the first core 2 duo laptops with a  7600GO and its stronger then ( sister has it after i got the M1530)

ive owned alot of different companies and only one so far i havent has an issue that was used for gaming was my toshiba way back when the X200 was a top notch card LOL

The capacitor issue WAS Dells fault. They knew the boards had problems and  they shipped them anyways. People then had to go through all the trouble of having to have it replaced only to get another faulty board. Manufacturers make mistakes but Dell handled it in the worst way. 

Asus did have heating issues but well resolved I actually own one of the older G series that had the issue it was fixed before It arrived. They had nVidia factory downclock the 9800 GT to 9800 GS because of the heat. Only a SLIGHT difference in performance, not even noticeable.  My temps never reach 65c even under load. Not to mention they offer an accidental warranty that is 2 years on top of a 2 year regular warranty, so if you drop it or spill something STILL COVERED. They are new to laptops but are a proven company with top rated motherboards.

Yes, Dell did not actually make the capacitors, but... they were very aware that the boards were faulty and not only still instructed their employees to build the systems anyway, but also Dell employees later came forward and said they were even instructed to lie to customers about.. once the issue escalated then Dell had to become responsible...

Actually, this weekend I found an extremely active Alienware forum covering anything and everything to do with Alienware laptops. While I agree that people come to this forum to discuss problems, the other one has 100's if not 1000's of really enthusiastic, happy Alienware users all sharing tips and tricks.

Nonetheless, it made me rather unhappy because I purchased my M17x R2 only 3 months ago and that forum showed me the new M17x R3. It's so much better than my R2 I would definitely have waited if I had known about it.

So now I have no idea why there is a perfectly fine OFFICIAL forum right here and people choose to go 3rd party?

Possibly because here you are bound by the forum regulations which are pretty much biased in Dell's favour whereas there they are more open-minded. Naturally, they still won't tolerate bad language, flaming, etc., but they have no problem with you discussing competitor brands and linking to competitors. Keep in mind also that as this forum belongs to Dell it is mainly targeted by users requiring answers to product problems whereas a 3rd party forum attracts a community of like-minded users eager to share everything.

The title of this forum "Alienware Club" would tend to suggest that this was also the goal here. I may be wrong however, I get the impression that Dell's forum regulations have contributed to prevent this forum from becoming a true open dicsussion area where nobody gets their posts deleted if they say something that Dell doesn't appreciate.

Well I see people saying ORIGIN lots of times. In fact, they really are cheaper and much, much more powerful. Problem is support is limited, really limited. If anything breaks down, I have to send it all the way back to south australia. Other option is US. Without any service center within physical reach (courier it back and pray everything goes well), I don't think it's worth it. The mods may be biased and it's just my first day here, but though no links, I have seen quite a few competitor's names uttered. And a lot and I mean A LOT of flames.

Indeed, I am surprised the references to Origin were allowed, especially since price comparisons and a link to their site were given. The Asus reference has appeared on numerous occasions but as far as I'm aware, direct price comparisons and links were never given. That could be because Dell and Origin sell direct whereas you have to buy Asus from a reseller and you can't configure it the way you want it.

While on the other hand my post detailing my 'average' experience so far was deleted.

There are also forums with 100's upon 1,000's of unhappy Alienware users...

Origin is only what, a year and half old, they can't be expected to have the kind of support Dell has. Up until the new "Dell/Alienware" branded computers came out, such as the M17x, M15x etc... you had to send your Alienware computer to Houston Texas to be fixed.

I am not shocked that Dell allows my posts, I am shocked that a company that has been around only a little over a year can actually have more competitive prices than them.

Origin though has already gotten themselves well established with companies like Microsoft, Nvidia, and Intel... they are on the way to the top, fast.

Jesse, if you keep on posting like this some people may get the idea that you like Origin computers.