why didnt you buy AW

Features, functionality, and cost were the factors that drove me to the Sager 8790. I looked for a long time and at lot of different configurations from many companies. AW was just a very brief "stop" as their prices were too high for my "Wallet" and I was a bit turned off when I couldn't get into their forum (Thought they might have had something to hide).

Agreed. Quality is virtually identical between the two, so for me it was just a choice between a fancy look and a big name, or more features/power/performance. An Alienware system configured to Sager specifications and features typically runs around 500-700 more.

-Hal

price all the way for me

price, alien ware is way overpriced. You are paying for the name and nothing else.

Price was my largest factor. Sager was about $500 cheaper.
Also, I wanted a box that people would look at and be like "ooo, what is that?" rather than "ooo, alienware. move on, it's just an alienware."

cost. AW is out of my budget.

When I bought my 5680 the choice to go with sager was the 15" uxga screen, dual channel ram, and better service and support.

Alienware charges way too much. I figured I'd saved about $800 buying from sager then alienware.

Cost: I wanted to pay less so I could afford more. Customizing my current 8790 configuration to what AW has now (May 31), would cost $4,419. Customizing PCT's to match the configuration (May 31) in AW turned out a $3,245 price tag--significantly less. Try it out; you'd be surprised (especially when I went from looking at Eurocom to PCT). With AW, you get a more popular brand and a different case (you could pay PCT to paint your case for less than the AW model).

Name: I had a Sager brand for laptop number four, so I was going to have it for number five.

Components: AW does not offer the 256MB graphics card on their Area 51m configuration. AW didn't offer a choice for the TV tuner and subwoofer.

Ease of Use: PCT had their choices lined up in a nice format where I could go down the list and customize every part of the laptop quickly. I prefer dropDownLists to radioLists.

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I believe PCT owns these forums. Since they were still in consideration after the factors above, I decided to spend my money there because I thought these forums were a nice idea for business and wanted to reward them with my business. Before I found the forums, I had no idea whatsoever of PCT's existence. Anyway, I love the idea of my laptop outclassing desktops and will continue to buy cutting edge computers for increased cost in the future. However, my next purchase is an SLR digital camera--something like the Nikon D1 or so; the camera doesn't have to be state-of-the-art and I will refuse to purchase a camera that costs more than my 8790.

I have a sager, alienware, and a xps

Hello, I own 3 laptops one is a sager 8887u series I got on 3/19/03 I paid 3025.00 no tax. the specs are p4 3.06, 16.1 screen, 1024 pc 2700 ram, ati 9600 128mb, 60gb hdd,dvd-rw, win xp pro, 3yr warranty. this computer was superfast at the the time but cant really upgrade stuff and I broke the screen. The company was good, didnt have any problems with the computer at all. got the system shipped very fast. if I had a question on how to do something tech support was right there. loved this computer. only complaints is I could not upgrade the video.

So then I found alienware the area 51m I got it on 10-23-03 the new one alright I paid 3602.00 no tax. The specs are p4 3.2, 1024 pc 2700, 16.1 conspiracy blue, 60gb 7200, nvidia 5600fxgo 128mb, 2x dvd-rw, xp pro, 3yr warranty, this computer is awsome it looks great plays flawlesly, But I wanted to put in dual channel memory to get the extra boost it does make a difference, so I called to make sure it wont void the warranty and they said it does not support dual channel, Im like no way, what kind of computer is this. they said the new one supports it and they could swap out the mother board and stuff, so when I talked to sales they said it was like 1000.00 to do the upgrade now this is 5/02/04 so I said and for around 3000.00 I get a new computer right and they said yes, so ok now im in the process of ordering a new alienware, we get to the memory i say I want pc3200 dual channel, then the guy laughs it doesnt support it so Im like well then other then the new video card in the laptop whats the difference between the one I have now and the new one he said will it does cost more to get the 16.1 screen now, Im like thats all he said ya pretty much. so I said c-ya.

Ok now I was at the mall and saw dell said hey lets see what they got, well the guy said what do you do, I said play games, he showed me the inspiron xps, ok not the hotest machine ive seen but tell me about it, he told me about it and the warranty, here is all I remeber him saying, upgradable graphics, extreme edition,dual channel, complete care, I was sold right then and there, here is what I got ordered on 05/05/04 I paid 3834.75, I got p4 3.4 EE, 15.4 awsome screen, 512 pc3200 dual memory, ati 9700 128mb cool, 60gb 7200 rpm, 4x dvd+r, 1350 wireless, bluetooth,all there installed crap, the skullz cover and win xp pro, 3 yr warranty with complete care. media center with remote. I have to say this machine blows the alienware away, the space ship had to cum down to pick up the pieces. this computer is way faster then the sager and alienware, but I know the new sagers are on the same level but not alienware.

sager
pros: price, performance, options, tech support, painting options,shipping.
Cons: no complete care, big ugly.

alienware
pros: looks, colors, feel, performance is good, hey its a alienware.
cons: behind in technology, price, long wait.

Dell: performance,options, coupons for discount, shipping, complete care.
Tech supports good.
Cons: customer service in india come on it takes 6 calls to find someone who understands you. If your with dell for the long haul learn there language it will help ya.
any questions or want pics or aee recipts pm me.

I was more interested in AW before the 5690 came out. I wanted the 9700 which was the main factor. AW didn't have it yet. Second was the $900 I saved on Sager.

I couldn't be happier with the 5690. I think the uxga appears better than the 15.4 on the AW. If you go to the 16.1 to get an equal screen, it was $570 more, $1470 overall. Now that AW has the 9700 on the 5690, if I had it all to do over again, I would go with the 5690. I'm really impressed with this laptop, and I was sold on AW for a long, long while.

What

Lets go over a few things (compare to an 8790).

1) 2 Drives + RAID - not 1.
2). 1GB Memory - Not 512MB
3). 17" WSXGA+ LCD - Not 15.4
4). 256MB 9700 - Not 128MB
5). TV Tuner - None
6). No Complete Care
7). Price - About the same
8). Performance - Tips to the 8790

I wish you well with your new configuration.

hey g-omaha

Ok well I dont need 2 drives one is good for me.
I ordered 512 because I ordered 2gig pc 3200 for it.
The 15.4 is big enough dont need the 17
there is not any noticable difference in the 256 versus the 128, my friend has that computer they spec about the same.
I have to have complete care after breaking the sager, I found someone who would cover this for me.
Performance is about the same.
the only computer that really doesnt par up to the dell or sager is the alienware.
Im not knocking sager at all there great computers but for me I had to have the dell with the warranty and the fact I never have to mail it is great they come to the house so Im only down for a day.

I had a new A51-m and it was horrible, forced a refund 3 months in because they were committing consumer fraud in a sense by not disclosing product line issues as well as baiting consumers out of the 30 day return period by telling them fixes were on the horizon (they never came) while also discouraging it with a massive 15% restocking fee.

To name a few problems:
Washed out display (backlight/gamma too high) - had to change settings in ATI control panel under color, settings would go away after leaving a game and would have to navigate back to reset them. Still no fix for this

Poor DVD quality - grainy image and poor color saturation, everyone also had this issue. It was assumed by customers on the forum that they needed to provide real screen drivers rather than the WindowsXP plug n' play. DVDs looked awful, like watching one somewhere in between 8bit and 16 bit color.

Wifi card - They eventually changed the card manufacturer due to all the complaints, but as far as I know they didn't send out exchanges for the people they screwed over. On my old Presario 2800t down the hall from my router I had an excellent signal, on the A51-m it was poor and sometimes dropped. Probably less than 25' away with only one wall.

They overheat, big issue now on their forums. I returned mine finally because it overheated and smelled like something burned, still worked but I could tell something singed. A lot of people have it crash and shut off while playing games, mine was idle.

AW is bad news and they have bad support policies. They force you to keep it with the 15% restocking and have a horrible month turnaround on RMAs. I gladly ate the $550 to get rid of that expensive POS.

STEER CLEAR. If you don't believe me, ask them to give you a visitor account to view their forums. They won't for a reason...full of complaints.

Hey guys, not to troll or anything and I do not want to start a flame war, but I want to just point out a few things with Air.

1. DVD quality has been fixed
2. WiFI card has been fixed. people now say it is great.
3. Overheating an issue with a lot of people? Where did you read this?

It's a hot topic in their forums under mobile.

Took them long enough to fix those issues then, paying $3.5k+ there shouldn't be compromises like that. They passed an incomplete product to the customer and falsely advertised it as a gaming/multimedia powerhouse. Fake advertising and bad customer service any way you slice it.

oo you mean the actual AW forums. I gotcha. Well people here, on these forums, have not had much of a problem. Also, I guess you're right it did take a long time to fix them, but atlleast they ARE fixed now.

I guess you could say that Air had a bad experience. It has nothing to do with the topic but anyways... Sager is a real nice machine. I have heard a lot of great things and most recently from a regular of the AlienwareForums (here at talknotebooks). But you already have the pleasure of that reply. Knowing Lurking from the forum I would accept his opinion of Sager as not only true but heartfelt. and Air, ...consumer fraud, baiting consumers, smelled burning, could tell something cinged, steer clear??? You have a vivid imagination.

thier case mostly, im not to keen on how "bubly" it is i guess. that and it seems that they put too many features "excluding user upgradable grafix" and chocked the price because of it. that and i liked the 8790's more square sleekish look, not so much crap goin on.