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Long time lurker / First time poster

post #1 of 21
1/31/05 at 6:08pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I finally did it! I broke down and bought an alienware, two actually. I cannot thank you all enough for the valuable information that is presented here. This is my first post here but I have frequently used this site for information about different computers and well I finally have decided to replace a Dell Desktop and a Gateway Lappy with Alienware products.

Here is the info on them:

[1] Sentia™

Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundled with AlienAutopsy and Respawn
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Case: Alienware Exclusive Sentia Case
Processor: Intel® Pentium® M 755 2.0GHz 2MB L2 Cache 400MHZ FSB
Motherboard: Intel® 855GME+ICH4M Chipset PC-2700 @ 333MHz
Wireless Network: Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Network Connection
Memory: 1GB DDR PC-2700 at 333MHz - 2x512MB SO-DIMMs
Hard Drive: Hitachi 60GB 7200 RPM ATA100 with 8MB Cache
Monitors: 12.1" Wide-XGA 1280x800 LCD Display
Video Card: Intel® Extreme Graphics 2 Technology
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Pro Compatible 5.1 Digital Audio
Smart Bay One: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Ethernet NIC: Integrated 10/100Mb Ethernet NIC
Modem: 56K Modem with V.90 Technology
Mobile Transport : Alienware® Premium Backpack
Additional Battery: Sentia 12.1" Primary Lithium-Ion Smart Battery Pack
Optional Display: No Monitor
Optional Mouse: Belkin® Mini-Wireless Optical Mouse
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Productivity Software: Microsoft® Works Suite 2005 - Retail
Security Software: Norton™ Internet Security ™ 2005
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad

[1] Area-51® 5550

Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundled with AlienAutopsy and Respawn
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Space Black
Cable Management: Alienware® Cable Management System
Power Supply: Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 560 w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 1MB Cache
Motherboard: Alienware® PCI Express Motherboard with Intel® 925XE Chipset 1066/800MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6800 Ultra PCI Express 256MB DDR3 w/Dual Digital and TV Out
Video Optimizer: AlienAdrenaline: Video Performance Optimizer
Video Cooling: AlienIce™ 2.0 Video Cooling System - Astral Blue
System Drive: High Performance - Serial ATA - 250GB Western Digital Caviar® SE 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Optical Drive One: NEC® ND-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Recorder
Optical Drive Two: Plextor® PlexWriter Premium 52x32x52x CD-RW Drive
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS High Definition 7.1 Surround Firewire (IEEE® 1394)
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
ALX High Performance Network Cable: Alienware® ALX Network Cable
Security Software: Norton™ Internet Security ™ 2005
Display One: No Monitor
Display Two: No Monitor
Speakers: Logitech® Z-3e 2.1 40-Watt Speakers
Keyboard: Microsoft® Multimedia Keyboard - Space Black
Mouse: Razer Diamondback Mouse
Networking : Linksys® WRT54GS 802.11g Router
Thumb Drives: Alienware® USB 2.0 1GB Flash Drive
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Alienware Exclusive Offers: 10% off your next EB Games online purchase
Hot Titles: DOOM 3™
Hot Titles: Half Life 2
Productivity Software: Microsoft® Works Suite 2005 - Retail
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
AlienWiring: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value - FREE!


They say they should ship on the 10th but thanks to this site I understand I may not see them for quite some time which is just fine!

Anyways, thanks again for all the valuable info!
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post #2 of 21
1/31/05 at 6:11pm
Nice specs , I know you said you've been looking around for awhile here but welcome anyway lol
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post #3 of 21
1/31/05 at 6:14pm
if you want to game on the go, the sentia isnt for you, and dont get 2 gigs of ram for the desktop you're also gonna wanna upgrade those speakers to maybe something like a kiplich pro media 2.1 (not the GMX's). i also recommend getting an AMD based desktop.

EDIT: you can also get a 1.0GB flash drive MUCH cheaper from another store, alienware's flash drives are way overpriced.
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post #4 of 21
1/31/05 at 6:38pm
Speaking purely about the desktop--

2 gigs of RAM is a bit of overkill unless you plan on doing some serious graphic design or video editing.

The NEC drive will do everything the PLexor will do and more, so having both isn't really necessary.

The ALX network cable is a complete waste of money.

Definitely go with Klipsch over Logitech. Those 2.1 Klipsch are really, really nice.

Like Astu said, get your flash drive elsewhere.

If I were you, I'd drop the extra gig of RAM, and put a 74 gig Raptor in as your system drive, and the 250 gig as a storage drive, drop the Plexor CD-RW and get the 10-in-1 media reader.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck and I know you will love it.
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post #5 of 21
1/31/05 at 7:26pm
The sentia can play HL2. He might as well keep the 2 gigs and I have the ALX network cable, it's a monster. I do agree about the speakers and the flash drive though.
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post #6 of 21
1/31/05 at 10:32pm
The ALX cable is big time overkill.
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post #7 of 21
1/31/05 at 10:50pm
Nice Buy!!!
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post #8 of 21
1/31/05 at 11:09pm
I guarantee you will see about zero real-world performance increase between the $30 cable and a $8 one.
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post #9 of 21
1/31/05 at 11:12pm
In a pinch it can be used as a dog leash or to tie down cargo in your car.
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post #10 of 21
1/31/05 at 11:21pm
the alx cable is probably just a cat 6 theres no way u can make one cable better than another except coating it but all that happens to copper cables is oxidizing and even when using cable for speakers you cant tell a different when it gets oxidized....so really theres no point in wasting the xtra money
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post #11 of 21
2/1/05 at 12:05am
Looks good...2 Gigs is fine, and the Sentia may be able to play games at least on some level.
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post #12 of 21
2/1/05 at 2:10am
welcome to the forum cgcooper.
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post #13 of 21
2/1/05 at 4:44pm
2 gigs is too much, 1 is more than enough.
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post #14 of 21
2/1/05 at 5:15pm

Long time lurker / First time poster

Really?!?

Has that certain Leykis 101 tone...

Welcome to the forum!
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post #15 of 21
2/1/05 at 5:19pm
I have 2G memory, don't listen to them.

They're just jealous.

As for the cable, I don't have one of those, but I've always bought "Monster Cables". They're heavier construction and heavily shielded. Most people wouldn't notice a difference, but I do.

Congratulations on your two orders, hopefully they'll come at different times so you can enjoy two box opening parties!!

Nothing is more fun than coming home to see those big black boxes...
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post #16 of 21
2/1/05 at 5:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammerhead
I have 2G memory, don't listen to them.

They're just jealous.

As for the cable, I don't have one of those, but I've always bought "Monster Cables". They're heavier construction and heavily shielded. Most people wouldn't notice a difference, but I do.

Congratulations on your two orders, hopefully they'll come at different times so you can enjoy two box opening parties!!

Nothing is more fun than coming home to see those big black boxes...

That is the most true statement here. All of us 1 Gigers are jealous
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post #17 of 21
2/1/05 at 5:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hammerhead
I have 2G memory, don't listen to them.

They're just jealous.

As for the cable, I don't have one of those, but I've always bought "Monster Cables". They're heavier construction and heavily shielded. Most people wouldn't notice a difference, but I do.

Congratulations on your two orders, hopefully they'll come at different times so you can enjoy two box opening parties!!

Nothing is more fun than coming home to see those big black boxes...
glad to see you are feeling ok hammer.

anyway, saying the people with 1 gigs is jealous is a stupid statement, i could easily afford another gig of memory in my pc, but i dont have one. know why? because its useless. there is no program with the exception of photoshop and a few other heavy programs (NOT GAMES) that can take use of the 2 gigs. 1gig is more than enough for games like doom3 and HL2.

as for your moster cable theory. no, there is no difference. you only think you notice the difference because your mind tells you there is because you think in the terms of "you get what you pay for" which is what a lot of alienware desktop owners think. in this case, as well as the moster cable case, you dont. thats a fact.
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post #18 of 21
2/2/05 at 4:31am
Thread Starter 
Well, I love the config that I have chosen. Was is right, was it wrong well....to be honest.....it is all up to the individual.

However, to adress some of the coments here:

-As far as the Sentia goes, it is 90% going to be used for school, the amount of gaming I will do on it is moot.

-As far as the majority of the other comments, well let me ask a few questions about the overkill issuse. The RAM - I remember when i had 512 Mgbs of RdR RAM (Gawd, remember that)and it was considered overkill, Now it barely runs my fav game smoothly with all the graphics turned up, SWG for those that are keeping score. So is 2 Gigs overkill, absolutely! Will it be at some point? Heck no!

- The speakers, I really know very little about speakers however, in the evironment that I play / work in I will NEVER be able to operate this system with the volume more than 15-20%, so how do these speakers fit into that catagory?

- As far as the CD drives, well, I choose the two best options that Alienware offered as I configured. I wanted 2 drives for one reason. The current Dell that I have has a sick drive, only 1 on the system, and by sick I mean that it howels and screams like a (insert explisit here) and I wanted a system that had more than one option as far as drives are concerned. I would be happier than heck if one of two things would happen, Dell would replace my drive or I had another to use.

- The network cable, well, this is me just looking at a configuration and saying "hey, that looks cool, maybee it has some use" and I clicked the button.

- The thumb drive, well this is where my computer ignorance REALLY shines. I explained to the Alienware sales rep what I needed and they recommended this product. Cheaper elsewhere, probably, piece of mind on my end, absolutely not. i got this for my needs and the ability to have tech support from the manufacturer of my comp be able to help me with it.

Lastly, I am a computer iliterate compared to the standard here, I know this and I accept this. A lot of thought actually went into this purchase (at least as far as the componets and lappy are concerned). This is NOT designed to be a HARD CORE TOP O' THE LINE gameing rig. It is designed to be a high end gameing rig that affords me two options. One play any game out there and that WILL be out there with top 80 % performance for a while and school work / business.

The Lappy, soley school (some take home work)with some gameing, but if there is something I can't play, no biggie! If I can that is a benefit. It will be used for school mainly.

I am sorry for not explaining the reason that I purchased this comp, whether it makes a difference or not, I am not sure. I definately welcome the comments and appreciate them. Oh, and I love the Alienware rep and the individual attention that goes into each rig.

The biggest question that I have is the speaker issue, at the volumes that i will be using them, will I notice a different if I upgrade, and I have no place for a surround type system, so i am only looking at 2 speakers and a subwoffer.


Thank you in advance for any comments and I hope this post is not taken wrong from what I have said, i just feel that the REASON that I purchased this set up is valid and aplies, if not so be it, and if my reasons are wrong for what I want, pleas elet me know.

Thanks again
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post #19 of 21
2/2/05 at 12:46pm
I found Logitech speakers to be somewhat tinny, with very sub-par sound reproduction, whereas Klipsch was much richer and far more enjoyable. This applied all over the volume range, so it would definitely be worth the upgrade.

If you are truly concerned about volume and space, Klipsch also makes a 2.0 system, without a subwoofer, that sounds excellent as well. That's more of a personal call for you, though. AW doesn't sell those, so you'd have to buy them from Klipsch on-line, or somewhere else.

And if you want 2 of the best drives, why not break down and get 2 of the NEC drives?
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post #20 of 21
2/2/05 at 1:53pm
The Klipsch 2.1 (200+watt) are excellent! Ive never heard the 2.0 (without the subwoofer). But I agree with the comparison between Logitech and Klipsch. The logitechs 2.1 are still a good speaker system. I have both and the klipsch are a better set.
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