Hi all, I've been reading this forum among others for months now learning and reviewing others' experiences with different rigs. I recently speced both a Dell XPS for around $4200 and An Alienware M9700 for $3200. After much deliberation and waffling I ordered the AW!!! I'm really happy for a number of reasons. First of all here's where I've been and where I'm going:
out with the old Dell i8600
Intel PentiumM 1.8, 1g ram, 80g HD, GeForce FX Go5200
in with the new Aurora m9700
Processor: AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile ML44 2.4GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 - Free Upgrade to Windows Vista Premium! - None
Chassis: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology - Saucer Silver
Motherboard: Alienware® NVIDIA® Mobile SLi Chipset
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR SO-DIMM at 400MHz - 2 x 1024MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 100GB Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache
Optical Drive: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW & 24X CD-RW Burner w/Software
Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS - SLI Enabled
Sound Card: High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Wireless Network Card: Internal 802.11b/g WiFi Card
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth® Device
My decision to NOT buy Dell again was based on my experience with my i8600 and Dell:
1) I disliked speaking to folks in India that didn't seem to be very fond of me.
2) During the 3 years of warranty on the i8600 my HD fatally crashed once, and I had to replace the optical drive twice.
3) I had to reinstall Windows to rid my systems of all the BS Dell loaded onto it including the useless features of XP that were all running at all times. I'm told Alienware installs no bloatware.
4) My review of the Dell forums confirmed that many of the same issues I've had in the last 4 years are still issues folks have today. I can't bear to do that all over again.
5) The XPS speced out at about $800 more than the AW, the only significant difference being Core2 Duo instead of the Turion64 chip which I'm not concerned about, and I get Nvidia SLI with AW. Hopefully the Turion X2 chip will be socketed the same way hope hope.
6) The AW touchpad has a scrollbar. The AW has a camera. The AW has a manual volume knob.
7) Last but not least the sales rep was cool and stayed after close 20 minutes to be on the phone with me 45minutes while I picked his brain on AW and comparisons. He knew his stuff and we had some laughs.
I've hear people hate on AW, and I've heard people hate on Dell. I can only rely on my own experiences with both companies. I chose AW this time (even though Mike still gets my money
). I hope my expectations are met! (I looked at Voodoo as well, but comon, that's just silly 
)
Thanks for all of the very informative posts that helped me. I hope I can give back in some way!
champs808
out with the old Dell i8600
Intel PentiumM 1.8, 1g ram, 80g HD, GeForce FX Go5200
in with the new Aurora m9700
Processor: AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile ML44 2.4GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB L2 Cache
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 - Free Upgrade to Windows Vista Premium! - None
Chassis: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology - Saucer Silver
Motherboard: Alienware® NVIDIA® Mobile SLi Chipset
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR SO-DIMM at 400MHz - 2 x 1024MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 100GB Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache
Optical Drive: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW & 24X CD-RW Burner w/Software
Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS - SLI Enabled
Sound Card: High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Wireless Network Card: Internal 802.11b/g WiFi Card
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth® Device
My decision to NOT buy Dell again was based on my experience with my i8600 and Dell:
1) I disliked speaking to folks in India that didn't seem to be very fond of me.
2) During the 3 years of warranty on the i8600 my HD fatally crashed once, and I had to replace the optical drive twice.
3) I had to reinstall Windows to rid my systems of all the BS Dell loaded onto it including the useless features of XP that were all running at all times. I'm told Alienware installs no bloatware.
4) My review of the Dell forums confirmed that many of the same issues I've had in the last 4 years are still issues folks have today. I can't bear to do that all over again.
5) The XPS speced out at about $800 more than the AW, the only significant difference being Core2 Duo instead of the Turion64 chip which I'm not concerned about, and I get Nvidia SLI with AW. Hopefully the Turion X2 chip will be socketed the same way hope hope.
6) The AW touchpad has a scrollbar. The AW has a camera. The AW has a manual volume knob.
7) Last but not least the sales rep was cool and stayed after close 20 minutes to be on the phone with me 45minutes while I picked his brain on AW and comparisons. He knew his stuff and we had some laughs.
I've hear people hate on AW, and I've heard people hate on Dell. I can only rely on my own experiences with both companies. I chose AW this time (even though Mike still gets my money
). I hope my expectations are met! (I looked at Voodoo as well, but comon, that's just silly )Thanks for all of the very informative posts that helped me. I hope I can give back in some way!
champs808
is this a fact?? I was holding onto hope that I could swap it out when it comes out (unless it actually is out in which case my feedback to 
