Dell better than Alienware??

but did you look at the system specs though?? it wasn't a matched up benchmark...if you look at alienware, they installed only 512mb, while the dell systems had 1gb......  i'd bet if the alienware system had 1gb, it would beat the dell system.

The differences are so slight one wound never see the difference *except* in benchmarking. Of course the Dell is much less expensive, so it's the best buy even if it didn't score as well. There's no way a boutique computer outfit could ever match Dell's pricing because of Dell's volume and streamlined manufacturing.

I don't think the amount of RAM mattered -- not likely the benchmarking program is designed to utilize all that memory. One could easily devise a benchmark that would make a 1Gig system run many times faster than a 512MB system by just having a very large set of data to manipulate.

I actually decided between a Dell and Alienware last year. I wasn't concerned with price, but I couldn't find anyone who had an Alienware, and could tell me much about them. I wanted to know about service, warranty issues, payment issues, shipping times, just about everything and it was impossible to find any good amount of people with experience.

I tried to log onto the Alienware help forum, but it was LOCKED unless you have an Alienware already?

That was the deciding factor. If I couldnt get in before I buy I wasn't going for it. Also, with Alienware, unless you plan on upgrading it what's the point? I wouldn't ever upgrade anything other than the Video card. Some people wanna upgrade everything, and Alienware makes more sense. I just assume sell this computer before its too outdated then buy a new one with the difference. Considering upgrades can run between 400 for a GFX card to 600 for mother board/ P 4 upgrades, it makes more sense to dump this for good money and put that money towards a new one. Either that or keep this as an extra system.

SO..basically, Alienware is cool if you want a sweet looking computer and a cool name for it. They are definetly legit gaming systems, but an equally loaded Dell is the same ballgame for most of us in terms of PERFORMANCE...not coolness, looks, bragging rights...Alienware wins there! I'd like to meet someone who can tell by human eye which system is faster when equally configured.

I own three Alienwares, you got questions ask away.

I came here as I'm about to get another system.  I have three AMD's, it's time for an Intel with the NV35.

About Alienware's forums, they used to have an open forum, but suddenly they got an increase in complaints about everything under the sun.  When they tried to track these posts down to help the posters, they learned that several of them were not only not customers, but they were posting from computer companies that were there competition at the time.  Because of that they killed the forums as they're a relatively small company, though they've grown tremendously since, so they've opened a new forum for customers only with multiple support categories on top of their 24/7 phone support, and there are several forums for gaming, hardware discussions and the like.  I hang out there a lot.

I read this Cnet review, and of course the memory difference will have a marked affect on the benchmarks, as most suites have a separate bank of tests just for the memory.  It's also important to note that any time you have a system with a resource hog like Win XP, and you run an intensive program like benchmarks or games, the hard drive is the limiting factor as the slowest device.  That means if you use the swap file more, you'll see a marked deterioration in performance, especially on benchmarks. 

If this was intended as a head-to-head comparison, they'd all have as close as similar as possible configurations, and they'd all run on reference drivers, and fresh installs of Windows.  I don't even know if Dell's can run on reference drivers as they have custom versions of drivers, that can be optimized.  Falcon got caught on that one a couple years ago by a magazine.

I came here as I'm about to buy again as I said, so I wanted to check out the XPS.  Here's my number comparison:

P4 3.0 w/HT
Intel D875PBZ mobo (what's Dell use?)
2G PC-3200
2-120G ATA-100 8Mb
DVD-ROM
9800 Pro
SB Aud. 2
XP Pro

AW A51 (5/12)
$2510 - $285 disc. + $71 sh + 0tax = $2296 14 day del.

Dell XPS (5/12)
$2879 + $241.84tax + $120 sh = $3240.84 1 mo. del.

$944.84 more for the Dell?

Check the numbers yourself at AW and Dell.

The AW discount includes $200 off as an existing customer on new systems, so you won't get that unless you've bought there before.  You also get upgrades with full versions of hardware at cost.  You won't pay sales tax on the Alienwares unless you live in Florida, as that's where they're based, but they are online sales only.

At this time I don't see any reason to get an XPS.  They're significantly more expensive, they don't perform as well, you get a proprietary motherboard so upgrades are difficult, and that case is ugly IMO.

At Alienware you get a choice of two cases in multiple colors, you can get AMD or Intel based systems, you get all full versions of hardware with discounts for upgrades and new systems...  It goes on and on.

And for the final word on that Cnet comparison, Alienware won their Editor's Choice Award, Dell did not.

Don't believe everything you read, go to both places and compare.

If you want an XPS, now is the time to buy.  They are offering so many free upgrades as that is the configuration they're sending to the magazines for review.  All the mag's publish is the sale price, so it will be artificially low.  Vary at all from that particular configuration, and the prices shoot skyward.  Even with the free upgrades, the Alienware is still about the same price until you add the tax, then the XPS is much more expensive again.

The word is getting out everywhere online now and there are several articles being published that say Dell costs more than Alienware, so I expect that's why Dell is now giving an additional $150 discount.  Guess these systems are costing them more than they thought...

There's no way I'm paying more for a Dell than an Alienware.  Why would you?

Greatone1601,

Interesting view on performance by eye, but you're forgeting the pace at which the gaming industry moves.  I thought I had a pretty good system still until last year when the Doom III demo was leaked.  It was unplayable on one of my earlier Alienwares, but on the newest I was able to play it enough to get a good feel of the game.

You can look at numbers and say what possible difference does it make that one machine has 180fps, when another has 210fps, but in a year there will be a noticable difference.  Sometimes that difference is what makes on player a fragged pile of goo on the battlefield, and another a succesful playa.

Don't skimp, get the best, any advantage you have you will need when your system's stressed.  I've also never heard anyone into gaming say anything other than to get all the memory you can.  In addition to the benchmarks, it keeps your system from using the swap file, which is in effect using your hard drive to store info instead of memory.  The hard drive is the slowest component in your machine so if you can play on memory alone, you'll get much smoother graphics, the controls will react better, and you won't have that crucial stutter when you are getting shot at.

If you aren't into gaming and need to play all the latest games, so be it, but I've bought a new system or upgraded the video card on my main machine now every year since 1998.  Depending on the hardware scene, sometimes a video card swap gets the job done, but now I need the P4 with HT and the 800MHz FSB, so I need a new motherboard.  So, I might as well get the latest memory, sound card and video card.  I find that getting just the tower from Alienware is only a few hundred more than it would cost me to get all the hardware at Pricewatch.com, then I'd have to put it together, load all the software and update it and the drivers, set the bios...  and hope I didn't have a problem.

I think it's worth it to get a built system with a warranty and let them handle the headaches.  That's why I priced a tower alone, and the Dell is much more expensive.  The biggest difference is in the monitor and speakers.  I don't need any, and if I did I'd get a Sony or NEC monitor and Klipsch speakers.  Why doesn't Dell sell those?

As I posted elsewhere, AW only is more expensive than Dell in certain configurations, just as Dell only is more expensive than AW under certain conditions.

Dell overcharges on RAM and SATA RAID systems, so if you lean heavy in those directions you're in trouble.

Dell deeply discounts optical drives and huge capacity 8MB UATA drives, so if you lean towards that you're in good shape.

For example, if I wanted 512MB, a DVD burner and a WD 200GB drive, Dell winds up being something like four hundred dollars cheaper than Alienware.

So--if you're interested in doing a comparison, do so with the comparison you are interested in purchasing and don't focus to much on price comparisons for other peoples' configurations.

For example, to go from 512MB to 2GB, Dell charges $650 and Alienware charges $357.  That's a huge difference for comparable RAM.

On the other hand, Dell starts standard with a 200GB WD2000 special edition, AW charges $162 premium for that pleasure.

Getting a DVD burner costs $150 for Dell, a minimum $290 for Alienware.

And so on...

Alienware is a very lavish toy like computer system, it never, EVER intended to be cheap or the best deal. It's like buying a Corvette, they dont offer cheaper options, low financing, or any other deals. It's a corvette, its flashy, overpriced, overloaded with features, and you can get something close to as nice (like a Camaro Z28 ) for MUCH LESS!! Same as Alienware computers, they are the vette's of computers, and don't even try to look like a bargain.

I'm gonna get myself an Area 51 in a year or two when this 8200 is considered old just for fun.

Come on Greatone,

You seem to understand AW's product, but I challenge you to sit down and configure your dream system on paper, then go to both places and get a quote.  Also go through the checkout procedure so you have the shipping and tax charges on top of that and I think you'll be surprised.

AW used to compete head-to-head with Falcon, but now the Falcon's are substantially more expensive.  As AW has grown over the last couple of years their pricing has dropped significantly and they really are more of a bargain than most people think.

Really, I'm serious, sit down and put together a list of components you want in your dream system and compare directly.

And I'm not talking about comparing the lowest priced monitor at either place as AW doesn't sell low end stuff, just configure a tower with all the goodies.

I did and I was shocked.  I expected the Dell to be $200 to $300 less, but in my case it was substantially more for the Dell.  I don't think the XPS is equivalent to an A51, so the choice is obvious to me.

I'd really like to know why Dell is saying they're building gaming systems for less, cause they aren't.