My Alienware Review By Leyla.
March 11, 2007 - March 22, 2007.
The Beginning.
I didn't know what made me buy an Alienware laptop, but it all started with me being at the Gamestop.com site until the AW ad caught my eye. I simply clicked on it and I was taken to the AW site, all the flash animation of the banner and the pics of their signature computers lured me into buying it. After all, I remembered that I did in fact wanted a laptop for so long, and I believe it is time now to buy one. Despite the price, I'm eager to buy it. I did remember I wanted a fast gaming computer, and this is my one and only chance to be able to buy one from a company that they so claim to say "The Ultimate Gaming System."
What made me buy the M9700 is the quote "Best Gaming Notebook." I shrugged and say "Why not?" And then I immediately jumped into the Customization page and did my thing. I don't remember what I chose, but most of them were Alienware "Recommended". After finishing what I needed to do, I paid for the laptop, which skyrocketed to over $3,000.00, and then I waited.
Phrases and M9700's Maiden Voyage:
The phrases went pretty well, the only sudden heartbreak was when the phrase jumped back to 2. Till then, I deleted all of my emails containing the order number, thinking that "Great, I will never be able to have this laptop. Might as well leave it at that." But that was a stupid move on my part. I expected a phone call from the reps there about my payment, but after days of no calls, I suddenly recieved an email from AW about payment confirmation. I jumped for joy. I later emailed the reps at AW about my comp's phrase status, and to my relief, the phrase has done a mega leap to number 5. Over joyed with happiness, I let AW finish their job on my lappy, and when the emails arrived that they have been shipped, I was excited. My laptop has finally set sail to its final destination - my home. <3
Shipping and Delivery
Fedex was a mega hassle. They've become the next USPS in terms of tracking systems (then again, so did UPS with my other non-AW related packages). It was not until March 21st, extremely late, about 10-11 p.m. or so, that they've finally updated. I was urged to check it constantly days before. Even though I know, it would never update. I even bothered to contact the reps there about it, but they were not much help. Although it was quite relieving to hear that my laptop will be delivering to my house "by the end of the day."
Luckily, it didn't quite ship at the end of the afternoon, rather, sometime early-mid afternoon or so. Just 5 minutes before 3 pm. I waited impatiently for my laptop to come, and when I saw Fedex Ground drive into my hairpin-shaped driveway, I sprinted down the stairs and out of the door. The truck had some trouble trying to drive into my small driveway, but nothing too serious. I signed my name on their... little device thingy, and was handed over a heavy box and two small ones on top of it. I then proceeded to make my way back home. Although it was a bit of trouble trying to open the door, I managed to make it back to my room.
The Merchandise
Besides the obvious lappy, I got the usual stuff that comes with the laptop inside the black box (t-shirt, leather binder with user manuals, cd's etc). I was impressed at the organization of the items in there and how beautiful it looks. I also got a Ozma Headphone (I wanted this for sometime too), a logitec mouse, some flash drives, usb cable, and a norton antivirus program. To name a few. I had the backpack for a 2-3 years already, so I didn't need to buy one.
NOTE: I apologize for the flash.
The Computer
This baby's big! The size of my older brother's laptop is nothing compared to AW's large laptop. It's pretty heavy too. I laughed to myself thinking that I would probably not be able to take it to school due to the weight of it (that is, combined with my binders and books altogether), but I didn't mind. I didn't play with it too much when I first opened the boxes up, but as of the moment, I've seen no errors or huge problems with the computer that'll make me have to send it back for "repairs". not even a dead pixel.
I installed my mouse and cd into the laptop, as well as transferring some files from my dad's ol' seagate circular-shaped flash drive. I've managed to get the laptop working without it getting too warm, and thanks to many of the users here, I've felt better knowing that my laptop is perfectly normal despite the heat. I realized that the laptop needed some room to blow the hot air out, and it's fine now.
Windows Vista is nice. I don't see why it's so bad... I like it.
>.>;; Yeah, I have that plastic thingy on the screen, sorry about that. I left it on there because I don't want to risk scratching the screen.
AW gets their sim-mers on.
Some Sims screenies. Note that Dante is using an Alienware PC. Perhaps one of the many reasons why I wanted one for my own.
Vergil... eating pizza.
Leila and Sims 2
It runs very smoothly. There's a slight lag in neighborhood mode but it's no big deal. The loadtimes are much better than before, although bigger lots with tons of content inside tend to take little longer than smaller lots. But no big deal though. I am happy to see that I can finally play Sims without anymore worry about waiting years and years for it to load. I will test this laptop's awesomeness with later PC games in the future.
Leila's "bed."
I've specially cleaned out a part of my night stand to place my laptop on when it's not in use. Mind you, my action figures (and FFVII highwind model) are also on display. Um, and due to the ridiculously small size of my room (it's about the size of a dorm room, but don't let that confuse you. I'm living in a house), and the enormous size of my bedroom furniture, I had to use my nightstand as my uh.. computer setup. It's so ugly that I refuse to take even a picture of my hideous PC. So you will just take some pics of where my laptop rests, instead.
Other Stuff:
If you haven't read my "The End of the Day" thread, I mentioned that I didn't keep track of my computer specs, so I deeply apologize for this. The reason why I didn't do it is because, I thought I didn't need it. But I regretted it, deeply. I'm sorry, everybody. I would have done so if I knew about this site sooner before I made my purchase. I'm just surprised at how well my compy is. I hope it doesn't kick me in the face and throw a tantrum on me later on though.
Afterthoughts:
I love my new baby girl. I've yet to fully explore the rest of my laptop soon and hopefully get used to navigating around the desktop, as well. But from what I've experienced so far, has definitely been 100% satisfactory. Alienware has impressed me and their customer service (although I've barely spoke to them) has been pretty good. I was happy that they've managed to tell me that my payment has gone through successfully, and sent me a good working laptop. I wish for the day I will buy a PC from them someday, although I won't for quite some time. I am happy with my second alienware purchase and will again, someday consider on buying from them again. But for now, this laptop will be good enough.
THE PROS AND CONS:
Pros:
+ Gorgeous laptop. Graphics and quality of the comp is superb. Speed from the loading screen to the desktop is a plus.
+ Vista is nice, reminds me a lot of the Apple Desktop screen I use at my digital photography class at school.
+ Organizing folders is easy, also it is easier to keep the desktop clean too. A lot better than older Windows (not counting XP of course.)
+ Playing PC games in here felt like a breath of fresh air to me (thank god)
Cons:
- Battery life is not so good. I fully charged it for several hours and while I was installing my games, the lappy suddenly shuts itself off. A little mad, I connected the cable to charge the laptop, and got a bunch of warning/error messages from the laptop that I didn't get a chance to read fully, but when I got back to the windows desktop, I continued to where I was. Assuring myself it was just the battery that did that sudden shut off. So I'm keeping the cable that charges the laptop on for now on.
Other:
- Winrar is a lot different in here than in Win2000, I wasn't sure if it was actually installed or not (since I didn't see an icon anywhere). But when I opened up a winrar file that I had transferred from my flash drive in my pc, Winrar actually opened it up. Ok, cool. Although a desktop icon would have been nice though.
- C-Drive fills up pretty fast. It is 1 gig in there if I remember, but I also notice it was a bit filled up when I first opened the laptop. I have to keep an eye on this just so I won't take up the space. Otherwise, I might have to switch it with my 100gig drive. Or something.
Overall: 10/10. I love it.
[End of Review]
I hope you enjoyed this review, as I did my best. I will try my best to answer your questions, so.... post away!
:mumbles: I need photoshop CS2. The full version. Oh god. Damn prices. :mumbles:
Have a great weekend. <3
March 11, 2007 - March 22, 2007.
The Beginning.
I didn't know what made me buy an Alienware laptop, but it all started with me being at the Gamestop.com site until the AW ad caught my eye. I simply clicked on it and I was taken to the AW site, all the flash animation of the banner and the pics of their signature computers lured me into buying it. After all, I remembered that I did in fact wanted a laptop for so long, and I believe it is time now to buy one. Despite the price, I'm eager to buy it. I did remember I wanted a fast gaming computer, and this is my one and only chance to be able to buy one from a company that they so claim to say "The Ultimate Gaming System."
What made me buy the M9700 is the quote "Best Gaming Notebook." I shrugged and say "Why not?" And then I immediately jumped into the Customization page and did my thing. I don't remember what I chose, but most of them were Alienware "Recommended". After finishing what I needed to do, I paid for the laptop, which skyrocketed to over $3,000.00, and then I waited.
Phrases and M9700's Maiden Voyage:
The phrases went pretty well, the only sudden heartbreak was when the phrase jumped back to 2. Till then, I deleted all of my emails containing the order number, thinking that "Great, I will never be able to have this laptop. Might as well leave it at that." But that was a stupid move on my part. I expected a phone call from the reps there about my payment, but after days of no calls, I suddenly recieved an email from AW about payment confirmation. I jumped for joy. I later emailed the reps at AW about my comp's phrase status, and to my relief, the phrase has done a mega leap to number 5. Over joyed with happiness, I let AW finish their job on my lappy, and when the emails arrived that they have been shipped, I was excited. My laptop has finally set sail to its final destination - my home. <3
Shipping and Delivery
Fedex was a mega hassle. They've become the next USPS in terms of tracking systems (then again, so did UPS with my other non-AW related packages). It was not until March 21st, extremely late, about 10-11 p.m. or so, that they've finally updated. I was urged to check it constantly days before. Even though I know, it would never update. I even bothered to contact the reps there about it, but they were not much help. Although it was quite relieving to hear that my laptop will be delivering to my house "by the end of the day."
Luckily, it didn't quite ship at the end of the afternoon, rather, sometime early-mid afternoon or so. Just 5 minutes before 3 pm. I waited impatiently for my laptop to come, and when I saw Fedex Ground drive into my hairpin-shaped driveway, I sprinted down the stairs and out of the door. The truck had some trouble trying to drive into my small driveway, but nothing too serious. I signed my name on their... little device thingy, and was handed over a heavy box and two small ones on top of it. I then proceeded to make my way back home. Although it was a bit of trouble trying to open the door, I managed to make it back to my room.
The Merchandise
Besides the obvious lappy, I got the usual stuff that comes with the laptop inside the black box (t-shirt, leather binder with user manuals, cd's etc). I was impressed at the organization of the items in there and how beautiful it looks. I also got a Ozma Headphone (I wanted this for sometime too), a logitec mouse, some flash drives, usb cable, and a norton antivirus program. To name a few. I had the backpack for a 2-3 years already, so I didn't need to buy one.
NOTE: I apologize for the flash.
The Computer
This baby's big! The size of my older brother's laptop is nothing compared to AW's large laptop. It's pretty heavy too. I laughed to myself thinking that I would probably not be able to take it to school due to the weight of it (that is, combined with my binders and books altogether), but I didn't mind. I didn't play with it too much when I first opened the boxes up, but as of the moment, I've seen no errors or huge problems with the computer that'll make me have to send it back for "repairs". not even a dead pixel.
I installed my mouse and cd into the laptop, as well as transferring some files from my dad's ol' seagate circular-shaped flash drive. I've managed to get the laptop working without it getting too warm, and thanks to many of the users here, I've felt better knowing that my laptop is perfectly normal despite the heat. I realized that the laptop needed some room to blow the hot air out, and it's fine now.
Windows Vista is nice. I don't see why it's so bad... I like it.
>.>;; Yeah, I have that plastic thingy on the screen, sorry about that. I left it on there because I don't want to risk scratching the screen.
AW gets their sim-mers on.
Some Sims screenies. Note that Dante is using an Alienware PC. Perhaps one of the many reasons why I wanted one for my own.
Vergil... eating pizza.
Leila and Sims 2
It runs very smoothly. There's a slight lag in neighborhood mode but it's no big deal. The loadtimes are much better than before, although bigger lots with tons of content inside tend to take little longer than smaller lots. But no big deal though. I am happy to see that I can finally play Sims without anymore worry about waiting years and years for it to load. I will test this laptop's awesomeness with later PC games in the future.
Leila's "bed."
I've specially cleaned out a part of my night stand to place my laptop on when it's not in use. Mind you, my action figures (and FFVII highwind model) are also on display. Um, and due to the ridiculously small size of my room (it's about the size of a dorm room, but don't let that confuse you. I'm living in a house), and the enormous size of my bedroom furniture, I had to use my nightstand as my uh.. computer setup. It's so ugly that I refuse to take even a picture of my hideous PC. So you will just take some pics of where my laptop rests, instead.
Other Stuff:
If you haven't read my "The End of the Day" thread, I mentioned that I didn't keep track of my computer specs, so I deeply apologize for this. The reason why I didn't do it is because, I thought I didn't need it. But I regretted it, deeply. I'm sorry, everybody. I would have done so if I knew about this site sooner before I made my purchase. I'm just surprised at how well my compy is. I hope it doesn't kick me in the face and throw a tantrum on me later on though.
Afterthoughts:
I love my new baby girl. I've yet to fully explore the rest of my laptop soon and hopefully get used to navigating around the desktop, as well. But from what I've experienced so far, has definitely been 100% satisfactory. Alienware has impressed me and their customer service (although I've barely spoke to them) has been pretty good. I was happy that they've managed to tell me that my payment has gone through successfully, and sent me a good working laptop. I wish for the day I will buy a PC from them someday, although I won't for quite some time. I am happy with my second alienware purchase and will again, someday consider on buying from them again. But for now, this laptop will be good enough.
THE PROS AND CONS:
Pros:
+ Gorgeous laptop. Graphics and quality of the comp is superb. Speed from the loading screen to the desktop is a plus.
+ Vista is nice, reminds me a lot of the Apple Desktop screen I use at my digital photography class at school.
+ Organizing folders is easy, also it is easier to keep the desktop clean too. A lot better than older Windows (not counting XP of course.)
+ Playing PC games in here felt like a breath of fresh air to me (thank god)
Cons:
- Battery life is not so good. I fully charged it for several hours and while I was installing my games, the lappy suddenly shuts itself off. A little mad, I connected the cable to charge the laptop, and got a bunch of warning/error messages from the laptop that I didn't get a chance to read fully, but when I got back to the windows desktop, I continued to where I was. Assuring myself it was just the battery that did that sudden shut off.
So I'm keeping the cable that charges the laptop on for now on. Other:
- Winrar is a lot different in here than in Win2000, I wasn't sure if it was actually installed or not (since I didn't see an icon anywhere). But when I opened up a winrar file that I had transferred from my flash drive in my pc, Winrar actually opened it up. Ok, cool. Although a desktop icon would have been nice though.
- C-Drive fills up pretty fast. It is 1 gig in there if I remember, but I also notice it was a bit filled up when I first opened the laptop. I have to keep an eye on this just so I won't take up the space. Otherwise, I might have to switch it with my 100gig drive. Or something.
Overall: 10/10. I love it.
[End of Review]
I hope you enjoyed this review, as I did my best. I will try my best to answer your questions, so.... post away!
:mumbles: I need photoshop CS2. The full version. Oh god. Damn prices. :mumbles:
Have a great weekend. <3
