Hi guys! (and girl/s),
This is a review for those of you that are dealing with Alienware Australia. However, the end product, of course, is the same wherever you live, so this review will probably be relevent to all potential Alienware customers. This review will be long and extensive as there is nothing better (so far as I'm conscerned) than a detailed review of a product by an actual consumer. For sure you can read review after review from PC Mag this and Computer Whiz that, but for all it's worth, it's a biased and somewhat untrue review of the product at hand. It's usually a review that is intended to sell the product. So for those of you seeking a true, and unbiased review of the Area-51m laptop computer, then you have found the right place, especially if you are ordering through Alienware Australia. I'm going to break it up into a number of parts. These parts being; PRE-ORDERING, ORDERING, WAITING FOR ORDER, RECIEVING OF ORDER, INITIAL THOUGHTS, A WEEK INTO IT. In each of these sections, I plan on being as detailed as possible. I will exclude photos as we have all seen what the Area-51m looks like and it is packaged similarly to all the others we have seen reviewed. So, without further bollocks, I'll dive right in.
PRE-ORDERING.
Since early on this year, I had the idea of buying a new computer. I already own a G4 Mac computer which is good and all, but doen't really have the grunt to do what I want to do now. You see I have just finished a 4 year Design degree at university which involved a lot of time based media such as 3D animation, digital video, motion graphics and graphic design. The old G4 Mac got me through University(College as you Yanks know it) without too much problems, but I have to admit, it's not a computer that is suited to such media. Static Graphic design, it's great. Time based media, it comes up short. So having completed my degree I was after a new computer. I wanted something that could pack some punch, run all my design programmes and be a total media centre (ie. DVD, games, music etc.). The other stipulation I had to have was that it was a laptop. Why a laptop? Well I have plans of going overseas in the next 6 or so months, so buying a desktop computer would be impractible. I like the idea of having a laptop that was the equivalent of a desktop, yet I could take it to another room/work/a friends place/town/country at a whim. Having had a look into what Apple Mac could offer me in the laptop department, nothing could outdo my current G4 Mac. So it looked most likely that it would have to be a PC laptop that I would look into. I decided to look at Dell as it was the most predominant computer company in the country I live in (New Zealand). I sussed out a price and considered whether to go for it or not. While in the consideration phase, I decided to see what was on offer overseas. I had always heard Alienware was a good gompany for gaming rigs, so I decided to visit their website. Upon exploring it, I found out they had an Australian department. This got me excited, as I would rather have an Alienware than a Dell, as my impression was that Dell was more for the uneducated masses, and Alienware was for the educated few. Well, upon visiting the Alienware Australia site, I found out there was an Alienware New Zealand (it is still run by Alienware Australia) website, which was music to my ears. I decided there and then I would go for an Alienware for a number of reasons; The first being that they are a dedicated gaming company, and I must admit, while I do a lot of design on the computers I use, I still like to play a lot of games! Secondly, they seemed more high stream than main stream. And thirdly, the Alienware came with better specs, and could be upgradable more easier than any Dell computer I could config. So it was settled. An Alienware Area-51m was to be mine as soon as I could earn the cash. A number of months later, I had the (NZ)$6, 130 needed to purchase the config I wanted, and thus, this leads me onto the ORDERING section.
ORDERING
Having acquired the appropriate funds through a lot of hard work and saving, finally came the time to order. I was perusing the Alienware New Zealand website as I often did, and to my suprise, they had a deal where if you ordered an Area-51m, you got (NZ)$400 off. This being so, I leaped on the offer, and configured my system via the website and sent it through. The system I ordered was as follows:
Area-51m 7700
CPU - 7700 - Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 560J w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 1MB Cache
OP SYS - Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Warranty - 1-Year AlienCare Warranty Return To Base + Toll-Free Phone Support
Case - 7700 - Area-51m 7700 Case with 17" WideSXGA+ 1680 x 1050 LCD Display with Built-in Camera - Xeno Grey - Includes Clearview Enhanced Display Technology
Motherboard - 7700 - Intel® 915P Chipset Supporting PCI-Express
Ram - 7700 - 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 4200 SO-DIMM @ 533MHz 2 x 1024
Video - 7700 - Area 51m 7700 NVidia FXGO 6800 Ultra with 256MB - Ultimate Gaming Performance (May delay your order)
HDD - Mobile 7700 - Extreme Performance - RAID 0
Raid 0 - 120GB (60GB x 2) 7200RPM
Removable Storage - None
Optical 1 - 7700 - 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Optical 2 - 7700 - None
Sound - 7700 - Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA
Ethernet Nic - 7700 - Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Wireless - 7700 - Internal Wireless 802.11a/b/g miniPCI Card
Modem - Mobile - 56K Modem with V.90 Technology - onboard
Mobile Transport - 7700 - Alienware® Premium Backpack
Speakers - None
Notebook adaptors - Area 51m 7700 220 Watt AC Adaptor
Additional Battery 7700 - None
Optional Mouse - Mobile - None
Display Two - None
Security Software - None
Head phones - "ZALMAN" 6-channel Real Surround Sound Headphones, separate front, rear, and center channel speakers + microphone - NOTE Must be used with optional sound card
Blank Media - None
Printers - None
Productivity Software - None
Free Alienware Mousepad - Free Alienware® Mousepad (a $14.99 value)
Free Alienware T-Shirt - Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black (a $19.99 value)
Desktop Enhancements - Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
AlienInspection - AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
Associated Exclusive Online Offers
FREE Alienware Mouse Pad: Worth $14.99
FREE Alienware T-Shirt: Worth $19.99
SAVE $400 off Area 51m 7700 Notebooks: Offer Ends 31st July [Savings: $400.00]
*Total: $6,170.00*
Having chosen my specs, I decided I would pay via direct deposit. The day after I ordered my machine, I went to the bank to enquire about direct depositing the money into the Alienware account. I was told there would need to be a bit of paper work done and some fees paid to deposit the money into Alienwasre's accont. I didn't like the sound of this, so I decided to put my money onto my mum's credit card and pay for it by credit card. So that same day I emailed Alienware NZ/Australia, with a change of payment. Within the hour, I recieved a phone call from Alienware Sales, asking for my credit card number. The caller was very pleasant and friendly. I gave my details, and an hour late I recieved another call to say my details were confirmed and that my machine would begin constuction. The next day I was sent an email asking to contact NZ customs regarding an import/customs number. This was so that when my package arived in NZ, customs had the appropriate clearance to let it through, rather that it be tied up with them and there paperwork, etc.I got a number from customs and sent it through to Alienware and thus began the waiting game.
WAITING FOR ORDER
The waiting process is different to that in the US/UK. We here in NZ or Austalia, don't have the phase game. I'm sure in due course it will be introduced, but being that Alienware Austalia/NZ is sill in it's infancy, it hasn't had the ability to introduce it yet, (I think). So instead of logging on to the website and checking which phase we are in, we just have to wait patiently until it arrives. And this is where my main gripe with Alienware Australia comes in. I ordered my machine on the 8/08/05 and was given a shipping date of the 05/09/05. Seemed fair enough, being that it was a custom built machine. I had also ordered a couple of parts/components that I was told via the website would delay my order somewhat. So from the outset, I knew my order would take longer than the estimated shipping date. Anyway i waited patiently until the shipping date. On that day I emailed though to the sales department to enquire how things were going with my machine. Two days later and no reply. WTF! I pay (NZ)$6, 130, and I can't even get a status report form the sales tem! Piss poor if you ask me. I had dealt with a certain sales rep before this by the name of Nial, so I decided to email the same message to him to see if i could get a reply. This time I was in luck as Nial replied stating that there wiould be roughly another week and a half delay as they were waiting on parts from the US and unforseen popularity of Alienware in Australia had caused delays as well. So I waited for the stated time and sent through another email to Nial, asking how things were going. At this stage I wasn't really annoyed with the delays, just a little worried having paid so much upfront with essentially only good faith that they would deliver on my side. Nial apologised again and said they were still waiting on another delivery and that my new ETA would probably be in a weeks time. So more waiting. To get back to my "main gripe", it just really isn't fair that the customer has to go fishing for a status report. As an Alienware customer,I am paying for a high end machine, so also expect high end support. While everything else has been fine in terms of support (haven't had to try tech support yet, touch wood), There ability to keep the customer informed on the status of their machine is disappointing. They need to implement the phase game ASAP or at the very least, make a point of emailing delayed customers explaining the situation. If I had recieved a short email now and again to explain the situation, I would be most content. However this wasn't the case. Anyway, again I wait, and againno machine. I contact Nial once more and he has it's a sure thing my computer will be shipped out the following Monday as the last component, my wireless card has just arrived. That following Tuesday, I recieve a call from NZ customs confirming my import number and address. FINALLY! It's in the country and will be mine before I know it. It was a relief to finnally know it was coming and that I was going to actually get a computer (I had a very, very small fear that I could be ripped off).
So after work on Thursday, i came home to find a call slip from the couriers to explain that they had called by to deliver my system, but had found no one home! Damn, why wan't anyone home! I almost felt angry that I was going to have to wait another day to get my system. I decided that I would go pick it up before work the next day, and that is exactly what I did. Onto the next section.
RECIEVING OF ORDER
With eager and glee, I woke up early and set off for the couriers, forgoing breakfast. Such things are trivial when you are about to get a new computer. Arrived at the courier, showed them their calling card and got handed over 3 boxes. One large, long one, one small square one, and one medium/large one. I put them in the car and headed for work. As excited as I was, I decided to wait until my lunch break to sneak a peak. Come lunch I went out to the car and brought in the small, square box, and the large, long one. I work in a small design studio, so my bosses (husband and wife; there's only 3 of us) were on hand to see. I think they were just as excited as me as they are computer/technology buffs too and have heard me talk about my Alienware to be enough times. The boxes were in good shape and wrapped in Alienware tape. I had expected them to be black Alienware boxes, but this didn't bother me. I opened the small square one first and found amongst a multitude of foam balls, my Zalman headphones, and one mighty huge power brick. It size really does rival a bricks. The brick isn't much to look at, or play with, so I set it aside and had a look at my headphones. They felt comfortable enough, looked good, had plenty of cable and came with an attachable microphone. (Having used them I definately reccomend them, but a review on these is for another time).
The other box contained my free backpack. It really is a big sucker too. Pockets to Africa and really feels like a quality bag. (Haven't used it yet, but I'm sure its really handy).
Figured that the last box in the car was my machine and all the other stuff, but decided to leave it till I got home from work, as it would only distract me. Once work finished I raced home and piled all my boxes and bits inside to the living room. My parents were somewhat relieved that I had indeed recieved my computer (they are wary of internet purchases). The third and final box. I opened it up carefully and found a another box inside; the famous black Alienware box! Inside this box were couple of large foam packers on either side, with my machine and a laptop between them. I hadn't expected the bag, so this was an added bonus. With a bit of difficulty, I pulled the two out. I went for the bag first as I wanted to leave the best till last. Inside the bag I found my t-shirt, looking very much like an oversized polo-shirt, but I didn't care, it's only a gimmicky shirt. Also inside was my Soundblaster Audigy Sound card and all it's reading material. As well as this was the Alienware manual and utility CD, a small set of earbud headphones, another power brick, two AC cords, and a couple more manuals/cords/bits'n bobs etc. Had a quick check to see if all everything ordered was there and yes indeed it was. Was pleased to see that everything had arrived, in a safe and secure manner. However I hadn't checked my machine, so I was a little nervous. The size of this machine is big in comparison to other machines, but it was not as big as I had envisaged. This rings true for the weight as well. I thought it would be a lot more heavier, but I have no problem moving it around. I'm not all that strong either (c'mon, I work on a computer for a living. The only muscles I have are in my hands/wrist!). OK, you wouldn't want to walk it to work every day, it's not that light, but in either of the bags provided, you could do some light travelling with it. It's more of a "pop it in the car" sort of machine, rather than a "walk under the arm". But the size and weight were never going to be an issue anyway. 90% of the time it will sit on my desk and act as a desktop anyway.
Popping open the lid of this unique looking machine, revealed a very glossy looking screen. It looked very sharp, as well as the full zized keyboard, and scroll/tracking pad. Now was the moment of truth; will it work.
INITIAL THOUGHTS
Holding down the power button, I saw the button light up in a blue halo, as well as the eyes of the alien on the lid light blue. Cool. The machine booted up fairly quickly, and I was introduced to the Windows set-up. I was asked for a couple of details as well as a SN, which was located on the bottom of the machine. Once entered, it booted into windows, and I could really get a feel for the 17-inch screen. It really is a beauty. It totally shits all over my G4 Mac's screen, and is probably the best I have ever seen. A quick scan for the dreaded dead-pixel, and none to be found. To be honest I don't want to look to hard in case I do find one, which will totally obsess me! For the next hour I ran the machine off the battery to drain it. Sitting it on my lap, I did feel a bit of heat. It actually got to the point after half an hour that I decided to put it on a desk. It wan't burning hot, but was pretty uncomfortable. I don't think I will ever need to use it on my lap, so again, no bother. The palm rests, especially the left hand side, gets very warm. Hot almost. I haven't done much typing on it but I imagine it could be annoying. A cold winters day, it could be welcomed! I had pre-bought a keyboard and mouse so this solved this problem. Remember, it's going to be on my desk most of the time. The keyboard however is full size and really feels nice to type on. It has a really nice push/click to it, and I actually prefer to type on it, but for the heat. The tracking pad is a real gem to. I normally hate them and refuse to use them, but this one is somewhat easy. For the initial hour or so I had my machine I used the tracking pad, and found it responsive, not over-the top sensitive and quite easy to locate a file and click on it. I put my sound card in and hooked up the headphones. Playing around with the settings, I got the thing to play some sound demos, and they sounded great over the headphones. Really sweet. Bass but not too much bass. Once the battery had run dead, and I had configured the look and feel of windows too my liking (the default Alienware skin Alienware provides is actually pretty nice, better than the default XP look. One thing Macs definately have better is OSX. Much better than windows as far as appearance goes, but the Alienware skin does a good job), I installed the copy of Rome: Total War I had bought a couple of weeks earlier in anticipation. It installed with no bother and loaded quickly. I maxed out all the settings and had a play. Everything ran smooth as silk, and loaded very quickly. Rome Total War isn't the latest game out with the highest specs, but I'm sure the Area 51-m will run those high end games, not a bother.
So all in all, my initial thoughts of this machine are good ones. Actually great ones. It's smaller and lighter than thought, has an absolutely beautiful glossy screen, nice feeling keyboard and touch pad, and runs like a gem. And best of all, no problems/issues!
A WEEK INTO IT (Well a little over a week.)
10 days later and everything is still running like a dream. No dead pixels, fast loading and performance in games (FM 05 and Far Cry), stable and powerful performace in design applications such as Photoshop CS2, After Effects 6.5 and Maya 7.0 (pleased with its performance for a gaming video card; NVIDIA GO Ultra 256mb). Has run hot a bit, but I keep it in check with get thermal and an external keyboard and mouse. Have watched a couple of DVD's and they sound and look awesome with the Zalman headphones and upgraded screen. I haven't used the webcam or the wireless card yet, but initial looks tell me they are working. I have used this machine daily and haven't had any issues. It's locked up once or twice in games, but nothing a simple reboot hasn't fixed.
So an overall verdict. If I had to give it a rating out of 10 I would honestly give it an 8.5. Where it drops points is its customer support in the waiting phase. This is essentially an Alienware Australia issue but I would like to see an improvement in this area. It also runs a little too hot for my liking. Plus I don't believe any product can score a perfect 10, so an 8.5 it is. Anyone thinking of getting one for games, multimedia or the likes, and plans to use it predominantly as a desktop computer, I'd say go for it. You won't be disappointed if you want it/use it for the same things as I do.
I hope this review has been helpful, and if there is anything in specific you would like me to go in to detail on, PM me.
Go get 'em Alienware geeks!
This is a review for those of you that are dealing with Alienware Australia. However, the end product, of course, is the same wherever you live, so this review will probably be relevent to all potential Alienware customers. This review will be long and extensive as there is nothing better (so far as I'm conscerned) than a detailed review of a product by an actual consumer. For sure you can read review after review from PC Mag this and Computer Whiz that, but for all it's worth, it's a biased and somewhat untrue review of the product at hand. It's usually a review that is intended to sell the product. So for those of you seeking a true, and unbiased review of the Area-51m laptop computer, then you have found the right place, especially if you are ordering through Alienware Australia. I'm going to break it up into a number of parts. These parts being; PRE-ORDERING, ORDERING, WAITING FOR ORDER, RECIEVING OF ORDER, INITIAL THOUGHTS, A WEEK INTO IT. In each of these sections, I plan on being as detailed as possible. I will exclude photos as we have all seen what the Area-51m looks like and it is packaged similarly to all the others we have seen reviewed. So, without further bollocks, I'll dive right in.
PRE-ORDERING.
Since early on this year, I had the idea of buying a new computer. I already own a G4 Mac computer which is good and all, but doen't really have the grunt to do what I want to do now. You see I have just finished a 4 year Design degree at university which involved a lot of time based media such as 3D animation, digital video, motion graphics and graphic design. The old G4 Mac got me through University(College as you Yanks know it) without too much problems, but I have to admit, it's not a computer that is suited to such media. Static Graphic design, it's great. Time based media, it comes up short. So having completed my degree I was after a new computer. I wanted something that could pack some punch, run all my design programmes and be a total media centre (ie. DVD, games, music etc.). The other stipulation I had to have was that it was a laptop. Why a laptop? Well I have plans of going overseas in the next 6 or so months, so buying a desktop computer would be impractible. I like the idea of having a laptop that was the equivalent of a desktop, yet I could take it to another room/work/a friends place/town/country at a whim. Having had a look into what Apple Mac could offer me in the laptop department, nothing could outdo my current G4 Mac. So it looked most likely that it would have to be a PC laptop that I would look into. I decided to look at Dell as it was the most predominant computer company in the country I live in (New Zealand). I sussed out a price and considered whether to go for it or not. While in the consideration phase, I decided to see what was on offer overseas. I had always heard Alienware was a good gompany for gaming rigs, so I decided to visit their website. Upon exploring it, I found out they had an Australian department. This got me excited, as I would rather have an Alienware than a Dell, as my impression was that Dell was more for the uneducated masses, and Alienware was for the educated few. Well, upon visiting the Alienware Australia site, I found out there was an Alienware New Zealand (it is still run by Alienware Australia) website, which was music to my ears. I decided there and then I would go for an Alienware for a number of reasons; The first being that they are a dedicated gaming company, and I must admit, while I do a lot of design on the computers I use, I still like to play a lot of games! Secondly, they seemed more high stream than main stream. And thirdly, the Alienware came with better specs, and could be upgradable more easier than any Dell computer I could config. So it was settled. An Alienware Area-51m was to be mine as soon as I could earn the cash. A number of months later, I had the (NZ)$6, 130 needed to purchase the config I wanted, and thus, this leads me onto the ORDERING section.
ORDERING
Having acquired the appropriate funds through a lot of hard work and saving, finally came the time to order. I was perusing the Alienware New Zealand website as I often did, and to my suprise, they had a deal where if you ordered an Area-51m, you got (NZ)$400 off. This being so, I leaped on the offer, and configured my system via the website and sent it through. The system I ordered was as follows:
Area-51m 7700
CPU - 7700 - Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 560J w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 1MB Cache
OP SYS - Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Warranty - 1-Year AlienCare Warranty Return To Base + Toll-Free Phone Support
Case - 7700 - Area-51m 7700 Case with 17" WideSXGA+ 1680 x 1050 LCD Display with Built-in Camera - Xeno Grey - Includes Clearview Enhanced Display Technology
Motherboard - 7700 - Intel® 915P Chipset Supporting PCI-Express
Ram - 7700 - 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 4200 SO-DIMM @ 533MHz 2 x 1024
Video - 7700 - Area 51m 7700 NVidia FXGO 6800 Ultra with 256MB - Ultimate Gaming Performance (May delay your order)
HDD - Mobile 7700 - Extreme Performance - RAID 0
Raid 0 - 120GB (60GB x 2) 7200RPM
Removable Storage - None
Optical 1 - 7700 - 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Optical 2 - 7700 - None
Sound - 7700 - Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS PCMCIA
Ethernet Nic - 7700 - Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Wireless - 7700 - Internal Wireless 802.11a/b/g miniPCI Card
Modem - Mobile - 56K Modem with V.90 Technology - onboard
Mobile Transport - 7700 - Alienware® Premium Backpack
Speakers - None
Notebook adaptors - Area 51m 7700 220 Watt AC Adaptor
Additional Battery 7700 - None
Optional Mouse - Mobile - None
Display Two - None
Security Software - None
Head phones - "ZALMAN" 6-channel Real Surround Sound Headphones, separate front, rear, and center channel speakers + microphone - NOTE Must be used with optional sound card
Blank Media - None
Printers - None
Productivity Software - None
Free Alienware Mousepad - Free Alienware® Mousepad (a $14.99 value)
Free Alienware T-Shirt - Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black (a $19.99 value)
Desktop Enhancements - Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
AlienInspection - AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
Associated Exclusive Online Offers
FREE Alienware Mouse Pad: Worth $14.99
FREE Alienware T-Shirt: Worth $19.99
SAVE $400 off Area 51m 7700 Notebooks: Offer Ends 31st July [Savings: $400.00]
*Total: $6,170.00*
Having chosen my specs, I decided I would pay via direct deposit. The day after I ordered my machine, I went to the bank to enquire about direct depositing the money into the Alienware account. I was told there would need to be a bit of paper work done and some fees paid to deposit the money into Alienwasre's accont. I didn't like the sound of this, so I decided to put my money onto my mum's credit card and pay for it by credit card. So that same day I emailed Alienware NZ/Australia, with a change of payment. Within the hour, I recieved a phone call from Alienware Sales, asking for my credit card number. The caller was very pleasant and friendly. I gave my details, and an hour late I recieved another call to say my details were confirmed and that my machine would begin constuction. The next day I was sent an email asking to contact NZ customs regarding an import/customs number. This was so that when my package arived in NZ, customs had the appropriate clearance to let it through, rather that it be tied up with them and there paperwork, etc.I got a number from customs and sent it through to Alienware and thus began the waiting game.
WAITING FOR ORDER
The waiting process is different to that in the US/UK. We here in NZ or Austalia, don't have the phase game. I'm sure in due course it will be introduced, but being that Alienware Austalia/NZ is sill in it's infancy, it hasn't had the ability to introduce it yet, (I think). So instead of logging on to the website and checking which phase we are in, we just have to wait patiently until it arrives. And this is where my main gripe with Alienware Australia comes in. I ordered my machine on the 8/08/05 and was given a shipping date of the 05/09/05. Seemed fair enough, being that it was a custom built machine. I had also ordered a couple of parts/components that I was told via the website would delay my order somewhat. So from the outset, I knew my order would take longer than the estimated shipping date. Anyway i waited patiently until the shipping date. On that day I emailed though to the sales department to enquire how things were going with my machine. Two days later and no reply. WTF! I pay (NZ)$6, 130, and I can't even get a status report form the sales tem! Piss poor if you ask me. I had dealt with a certain sales rep before this by the name of Nial, so I decided to email the same message to him to see if i could get a reply. This time I was in luck as Nial replied stating that there wiould be roughly another week and a half delay as they were waiting on parts from the US and unforseen popularity of Alienware in Australia had caused delays as well. So I waited for the stated time and sent through another email to Nial, asking how things were going. At this stage I wasn't really annoyed with the delays, just a little worried having paid so much upfront with essentially only good faith that they would deliver on my side. Nial apologised again and said they were still waiting on another delivery and that my new ETA would probably be in a weeks time. So more waiting. To get back to my "main gripe", it just really isn't fair that the customer has to go fishing for a status report. As an Alienware customer,I am paying for a high end machine, so also expect high end support. While everything else has been fine in terms of support (haven't had to try tech support yet, touch wood), There ability to keep the customer informed on the status of their machine is disappointing. They need to implement the phase game ASAP or at the very least, make a point of emailing delayed customers explaining the situation. If I had recieved a short email now and again to explain the situation, I would be most content. However this wasn't the case. Anyway, again I wait, and againno machine. I contact Nial once more and he has it's a sure thing my computer will be shipped out the following Monday as the last component, my wireless card has just arrived. That following Tuesday, I recieve a call from NZ customs confirming my import number and address. FINALLY! It's in the country and will be mine before I know it. It was a relief to finnally know it was coming and that I was going to actually get a computer (I had a very, very small fear that I could be ripped off).
So after work on Thursday, i came home to find a call slip from the couriers to explain that they had called by to deliver my system, but had found no one home! Damn, why wan't anyone home! I almost felt angry that I was going to have to wait another day to get my system. I decided that I would go pick it up before work the next day, and that is exactly what I did. Onto the next section.
RECIEVING OF ORDER
With eager and glee, I woke up early and set off for the couriers, forgoing breakfast. Such things are trivial when you are about to get a new computer. Arrived at the courier, showed them their calling card and got handed over 3 boxes. One large, long one, one small square one, and one medium/large one. I put them in the car and headed for work. As excited as I was, I decided to wait until my lunch break to sneak a peak. Come lunch I went out to the car and brought in the small, square box, and the large, long one. I work in a small design studio, so my bosses (husband and wife; there's only 3 of us) were on hand to see. I think they were just as excited as me as they are computer/technology buffs too and have heard me talk about my Alienware to be enough times. The boxes were in good shape and wrapped in Alienware tape. I had expected them to be black Alienware boxes, but this didn't bother me. I opened the small square one first and found amongst a multitude of foam balls, my Zalman headphones, and one mighty huge power brick. It size really does rival a bricks. The brick isn't much to look at, or play with, so I set it aside and had a look at my headphones. They felt comfortable enough, looked good, had plenty of cable and came with an attachable microphone. (Having used them I definately reccomend them, but a review on these is for another time).
The other box contained my free backpack. It really is a big sucker too. Pockets to Africa and really feels like a quality bag. (Haven't used it yet, but I'm sure its really handy).
Figured that the last box in the car was my machine and all the other stuff, but decided to leave it till I got home from work, as it would only distract me. Once work finished I raced home and piled all my boxes and bits inside to the living room. My parents were somewhat relieved that I had indeed recieved my computer (they are wary of internet purchases). The third and final box. I opened it up carefully and found a another box inside; the famous black Alienware box! Inside this box were couple of large foam packers on either side, with my machine and a laptop between them. I hadn't expected the bag, so this was an added bonus. With a bit of difficulty, I pulled the two out. I went for the bag first as I wanted to leave the best till last. Inside the bag I found my t-shirt, looking very much like an oversized polo-shirt, but I didn't care, it's only a gimmicky shirt. Also inside was my Soundblaster Audigy Sound card and all it's reading material. As well as this was the Alienware manual and utility CD, a small set of earbud headphones, another power brick, two AC cords, and a couple more manuals/cords/bits'n bobs etc. Had a quick check to see if all everything ordered was there and yes indeed it was. Was pleased to see that everything had arrived, in a safe and secure manner. However I hadn't checked my machine, so I was a little nervous. The size of this machine is big in comparison to other machines, but it was not as big as I had envisaged. This rings true for the weight as well. I thought it would be a lot more heavier, but I have no problem moving it around. I'm not all that strong either (c'mon, I work on a computer for a living. The only muscles I have are in my hands/wrist!). OK, you wouldn't want to walk it to work every day, it's not that light, but in either of the bags provided, you could do some light travelling with it. It's more of a "pop it in the car" sort of machine, rather than a "walk under the arm". But the size and weight were never going to be an issue anyway. 90% of the time it will sit on my desk and act as a desktop anyway.
Popping open the lid of this unique looking machine, revealed a very glossy looking screen. It looked very sharp, as well as the full zized keyboard, and scroll/tracking pad. Now was the moment of truth; will it work.
INITIAL THOUGHTS
Holding down the power button, I saw the button light up in a blue halo, as well as the eyes of the alien on the lid light blue. Cool. The machine booted up fairly quickly, and I was introduced to the Windows set-up. I was asked for a couple of details as well as a SN, which was located on the bottom of the machine. Once entered, it booted into windows, and I could really get a feel for the 17-inch screen. It really is a beauty. It totally shits all over my G4 Mac's screen, and is probably the best I have ever seen. A quick scan for the dreaded dead-pixel, and none to be found. To be honest I don't want to look to hard in case I do find one, which will totally obsess me! For the next hour I ran the machine off the battery to drain it. Sitting it on my lap, I did feel a bit of heat. It actually got to the point after half an hour that I decided to put it on a desk. It wan't burning hot, but was pretty uncomfortable. I don't think I will ever need to use it on my lap, so again, no bother. The palm rests, especially the left hand side, gets very warm. Hot almost. I haven't done much typing on it but I imagine it could be annoying. A cold winters day, it could be welcomed! I had pre-bought a keyboard and mouse so this solved this problem. Remember, it's going to be on my desk most of the time. The keyboard however is full size and really feels nice to type on. It has a really nice push/click to it, and I actually prefer to type on it, but for the heat. The tracking pad is a real gem to. I normally hate them and refuse to use them, but this one is somewhat easy. For the initial hour or so I had my machine I used the tracking pad, and found it responsive, not over-the top sensitive and quite easy to locate a file and click on it. I put my sound card in and hooked up the headphones. Playing around with the settings, I got the thing to play some sound demos, and they sounded great over the headphones. Really sweet. Bass but not too much bass. Once the battery had run dead, and I had configured the look and feel of windows too my liking (the default Alienware skin Alienware provides is actually pretty nice, better than the default XP look. One thing Macs definately have better is OSX. Much better than windows as far as appearance goes, but the Alienware skin does a good job), I installed the copy of Rome: Total War I had bought a couple of weeks earlier in anticipation. It installed with no bother and loaded quickly. I maxed out all the settings and had a play. Everything ran smooth as silk, and loaded very quickly. Rome Total War isn't the latest game out with the highest specs, but I'm sure the Area 51-m will run those high end games, not a bother.
So all in all, my initial thoughts of this machine are good ones. Actually great ones. It's smaller and lighter than thought, has an absolutely beautiful glossy screen, nice feeling keyboard and touch pad, and runs like a gem. And best of all, no problems/issues!
A WEEK INTO IT (Well a little over a week.)
10 days later and everything is still running like a dream. No dead pixels, fast loading and performance in games (FM 05 and Far Cry), stable and powerful performace in design applications such as Photoshop CS2, After Effects 6.5 and Maya 7.0 (pleased with its performance for a gaming video card; NVIDIA GO Ultra 256mb). Has run hot a bit, but I keep it in check with get thermal and an external keyboard and mouse. Have watched a couple of DVD's and they sound and look awesome with the Zalman headphones and upgraded screen. I haven't used the webcam or the wireless card yet, but initial looks tell me they are working. I have used this machine daily and haven't had any issues. It's locked up once or twice in games, but nothing a simple reboot hasn't fixed.
So an overall verdict. If I had to give it a rating out of 10 I would honestly give it an 8.5. Where it drops points is its customer support in the waiting phase. This is essentially an Alienware Australia issue but I would like to see an improvement in this area. It also runs a little too hot for my liking. Plus I don't believe any product can score a perfect 10, so an 8.5 it is. Anyone thinking of getting one for games, multimedia or the likes, and plans to use it predominantly as a desktop computer, I'd say go for it. You won't be disappointed if you want it/use it for the same things as I do.
I hope this review has been helpful, and if there is anything in specific you would like me to go in to detail on, PM me.
Go get 'em Alienware geeks!
