Area-51 m5550, Moving Right Along

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09/22/2006 - Delivered
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Hey everyone, I ordered my first notebook, the m5550, 09/03/2006 and thought I'd post it's progress here to give other prospecive buyers one more idea of how things are moving along as of now. Here is what I ordered:

[1] Area-51® m5550

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5600 1.83GHz 2MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Display: Alienware® m5550 15.4" WideXGA 1280 x 768 LCD - Saucer Silver
Motherboard: Alienware® Intel® 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Hard Drive: 80GB Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Video/Graphics Card: 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7600
Sound Card: Intel® 7.1 High-Definition Audio
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
Alienware T-Shirt: Alienware® T-Shirt - Black - Price Includes $5 Instant Rebate - XL
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager

[1] Instant Free Shipping!; on Select Systems
[1] $100 Instant Rebate; Save and Play on Select Notebooks!
[1] Special Financing Offer; No Interest for 6 Months! - Valid only with the Alienware Credit Card

SubTotal: $2,094.00
Shipping: $79.00
Discount: $179.00
Tax: $0.00
Order Total: $1,994.00

I had ordered the notebook on the holiday, so I wasn't sure if that would afftect my order time at all, but it didn't seem to have. The website had shown that I was through phases 1 and 2 by the end of day 1, and I believe I was at phase 4 by late thursday, 09/07/2006.

Phase 4 was hopefully the longest I'll have to go through as it was not updated on the site until about an hour ago, although I know it to have been there since at least yesterday.

I'll keep it's progress posted and maybe write up some kind of review whenever it gets here since I haven't seen any others with my exact configuration.

09/03/2006
Ordered
Phase 1
Phase 2

09/04/2006
Phase 3

09/07/2006
Phase 4

~09/14/2006
Phase 5

09/15/2006
6:11pm: Recieved email stating "Your system is now in production."

09/16/2006
Jump to Phase 9*
Phase 10*
9:12pm: Recieved email stating "Congratulations! Your Alienware order has been shipped!"*

09/18/2006
8:24pm: m5550 system picked up by FedEx from Alienware Corporate Headquarters in Miami, FL.

09/19/2006
1:53am: m5550 system arrived at FedEx location: Orlando, FL.
6:37am: m5550 system departed FedEx location: Orlando, FL.

09/20/2006
4:55am: m5550 system arrived at FedEx location: Grove City, OH.

09/21/2006
12:52am: m5550 system departed FedEx location: Grove City, OH.
6:36am: m5550 system at local FedEx facility: Groveport, OH.
7:32am: m5550 system on FedEx vehicle for delivery: Groveport, OH.
12:05pm: m5550 system delivery exception: Groveport, OH.

09/22/2006
9:42am: m5550 system on FedEx vehicle for delivery: Grove City, OH.
5:46am: m5550 system delivered: Columbus, OH.
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*Updated on a Saturday; I thought that was odd.

Thats crazy; when I called their customer service line the connection was terrible, like some bad VOIP, but the guy I talked to was great. Try them again. Was your configuration much different than mine? One of the people I talked to said they didn't hear anything about any current backorderes, but that could have easily been wrong.

Some of their offices are open at different times; they way I contacted them was likely only Mon - Fri: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm EST; 800-ALIENWARE (254-3692) Option #2.

Wow, my m5550 has jumped from phase 5 this morning, to phase 9, to shipped, and on a Saturday no less. I'm not sure if it was a mistake or not though, the order number in the email does not match the order number I have been using to track my progress on the website; although the website does say phase 10 now. FedEx still says the order hasn't been recieved by the system yet.

To streetz: I think the hard drive you ordered is on short supply, check out the website, that might be the reason your notebook seems to be taking longer than others.

The alien has left the factory! ETA: 1-5 days.

I missed the truck. Oh college, how I loathe your time constraints. One more day...