I have been having a very difficult time buying a laptop and so I thought I would share my experience to help others avoid repeating it. My parameters are as follows: 17" screen w/ wsxga or wuxga; solid wireless internet connectivity; basically no compromises. I'm willing to pay up to $4,000.
I first ordered the Sony Vaio A-170. 17", wuxga, Centrino 1.8ghz. That was a nice computer, and Sony's service was very good notwithstanding comments I've read to the contrary. I had two major problems. First, it would not play Doom 3. I'm not a big gamer, but I played Doom years ago and I wanted to try the new version. Having shelled out over $3,000 for a notebook, I was furious that it would not play the latest game. Second, the hard drive was "partitioned" such that my 80gb drive acted like a 20gb C drive and a 60gb D drive. That turned out to be a pain in the neck when I tried to move programs from C to D and they stopped working. I ultimately returned the computer for a full refund. Note: Virtually all manufacturers have a 21 day or 30 day policy whereby you can just return the computer no questions asked. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT IF NECESSARY.
Next, I ordered the Hypersonic Aviator GX7. My strategy was to go very high-end so that it would definitely play Doom 3. That system had 3.4 ghz extreme edition, a much more powerful ATI video card as compared to the Sony, a wsxga screen (which I thought was just as good as the Sony's). Hypersonic cannot deliver a computer in the timeframe they say they will. 7 to 9 days became over 30 days. Cost was over $4,000. Result: Would not play Doom 3 even after hours spent with tech support. I was furious. In all other respects it was an awesome machine. Fans were on about half the time. They were only a little annoying -- not a big deal. Hypersonic also failed to configure the raid utility -- I wanted raid 0 and they didn't do it. I returned the computer for a refund. Note: It was destroyed in the return transit, but I had insured it. Whew! If you have the risk of loss in a return, insure the package!
Next I bought a Dell Inspiron 9200. This was the cheapest of the bunch -- about $2,700. Not as good looking as the other two, and the screen (wuxga) did have a weird grainy texture that could be annoying. This game played Doom 3 no problem which I thought was interesting. However, it could not maintain a steady wireless internet connection for some reason. After hours with tech support, they sent a new one as a replacement before I had to return the first one. When I got it, I had the same problem. Tech support could not fix it. Weird, since I have not read about other people having this problem. I finally gave up and returned it. Here is where I came to hate Dell. It was pretty obvious that they were willing to do or say anything necessary to try to wear me down and forget about returning the computer. They told me it was too late to return the computer (it wasn't), that there was a 15% restocking fee (the website says there isn't), that I would need to pay for shipping (I refused). Finally, the Dell rep said that I would be stuck with the sales tax even though the computer was returned. This is absolutely fraudulent -- there is no sales tax on a computer that has been returned for a refund. This post is pretty long, so I won't go into the details of how eggregious the behavior was, but email me if you want to know. DO NOT BUY FROM DELL IF YOU CAN HELP IT -- THEY ARE OFTEN TROUBLE FREE, BUT IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM AND NEED TO RETURN THE COMPUTER YOU ARE SCREWED.
I have now ordered an Alienware Area 51 7700. I'll let you know what happens next.
Michael
I first ordered the Sony Vaio A-170. 17", wuxga, Centrino 1.8ghz. That was a nice computer, and Sony's service was very good notwithstanding comments I've read to the contrary. I had two major problems. First, it would not play Doom 3. I'm not a big gamer, but I played Doom years ago and I wanted to try the new version. Having shelled out over $3,000 for a notebook, I was furious that it would not play the latest game. Second, the hard drive was "partitioned" such that my 80gb drive acted like a 20gb C drive and a 60gb D drive. That turned out to be a pain in the neck when I tried to move programs from C to D and they stopped working. I ultimately returned the computer for a full refund. Note: Virtually all manufacturers have a 21 day or 30 day policy whereby you can just return the computer no questions asked. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT IF NECESSARY.
Next, I ordered the Hypersonic Aviator GX7. My strategy was to go very high-end so that it would definitely play Doom 3. That system had 3.4 ghz extreme edition, a much more powerful ATI video card as compared to the Sony, a wsxga screen (which I thought was just as good as the Sony's). Hypersonic cannot deliver a computer in the timeframe they say they will. 7 to 9 days became over 30 days. Cost was over $4,000. Result: Would not play Doom 3 even after hours spent with tech support. I was furious. In all other respects it was an awesome machine. Fans were on about half the time. They were only a little annoying -- not a big deal. Hypersonic also failed to configure the raid utility -- I wanted raid 0 and they didn't do it. I returned the computer for a refund. Note: It was destroyed in the return transit, but I had insured it. Whew! If you have the risk of loss in a return, insure the package!
Next I bought a Dell Inspiron 9200. This was the cheapest of the bunch -- about $2,700. Not as good looking as the other two, and the screen (wuxga) did have a weird grainy texture that could be annoying. This game played Doom 3 no problem which I thought was interesting. However, it could not maintain a steady wireless internet connection for some reason. After hours with tech support, they sent a new one as a replacement before I had to return the first one. When I got it, I had the same problem. Tech support could not fix it. Weird, since I have not read about other people having this problem. I finally gave up and returned it. Here is where I came to hate Dell. It was pretty obvious that they were willing to do or say anything necessary to try to wear me down and forget about returning the computer. They told me it was too late to return the computer (it wasn't), that there was a 15% restocking fee (the website says there isn't), that I would need to pay for shipping (I refused). Finally, the Dell rep said that I would be stuck with the sales tax even though the computer was returned. This is absolutely fraudulent -- there is no sales tax on a computer that has been returned for a refund. This post is pretty long, so I won't go into the details of how eggregious the behavior was, but email me if you want to know. DO NOT BUY FROM DELL IF YOU CAN HELP IT -- THEY ARE OFTEN TROUBLE FREE, BUT IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM AND NEED TO RETURN THE COMPUTER YOU ARE SCREWED.
I have now ordered an Alienware Area 51 7700. I'll let you know what happens next.
Michael
I think there are very few individuals who have claimed to get fast shipping from Hypersonic. Always one of the items they get hit on and it gets worse if you order the paint. But well worth it in the end. I believe they countered this with the pre-built/painted systems, but not completely sure.
