MJ-12m 7700 ordered 3/23

[1] MJ-12m 7700

Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
Case: Alienware® MJ12m 7700 Case with 17" WideXGA+ 1400 x 900 LCD Display - Xeno Grey
Motherboard: Intel® 915P Chipset Supporting PCI-Express
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 530J w/ HT Technology 3.0GHz 1MB Cache
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 533MHz - 4 x 512MB
Graphics Accelerator: Alienware® MJ12m 7700 NVIDIA GeForce™ 6800 Go with 256MB of DDR3 memory
Hard Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 100GB 5400 RPM ATA100 - Seagate
Primary Optical Drive: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Floppy Drive: USB Floppy Drive
Modem: 56K Modem with V.92 Technology
Ethernet NIC: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Digital Audio Hardware: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS PCMCIA - OEM
Optional External Displays: No Monitor
Additional Battery: Alienware® 7700 series Primary Lithium-Ion Smart Battery Pack
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
Automated Support: AlienAutopsy: Automated Technical Support Request System

[1] Microsoft® IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 - USB - Space Black

Now in Phase 3. sigh

Thanks. I'm anxious about the whole thing, but these forums have provided a lot of information.

Thanks Ruckdog. I see you got a free shirt. I couldn't get one with my setup. :-( I talked to rep online and he also said they no longer give out basic carrying bag.
I read a lot of bad press too. The pricing claims I read didn't pan out after checking configs from other companies (the instant rebate at the time we ordered really helped that). As for other complaints, bad stuff happens everywhere, I just hope it doesn't happen to us!

upgraded display

Now I've done it. Since I was still early in the phase game, I decided to upgrade to wsxga instead of risking regret later. Supposedly that will add 2-4 days to ship date, making it April 9-13.

battery delay

Back to Phase 2 after upgrading warranty and lcd. On top of that I got an email about a delay:
There will be a slight delay in your Alienware order, because the
part(s) listed below are temporarily backordered. We apologize for any
inconvenience this may cause, and assure you that we are doing everything in
our power to expedite the process.

1- AREA-51M 7700 D900T 12 CELL PRIMARY BATTERY .................
Expected Date: 4/10/2005

thanks yang. i look forward to being able to take pix to post. and i'm sure i'm not the only one hoping to see more pix of your female companions.

back to phase 3 apparently

just called AW and i'm still in Phase 3.
at least RuckDog's order seems to be making progress

hit phase 4 yesterday according to online tracking. supposed to call tomorrow for an accurate status.
seems like people are still getting free carrying cases. is that true?
csr told me they weren't doing that anymore.

another backordered part

wtf? today i get 2 emails. first email was repeat of primary battery backorder. second email was about battery and video card being backordered.

Thank you for contacting the Order Status Team.

Unfortunately, there has been a delay with your order. The following parts, which your system needs, are back ordered; we are waiting for them to arrive.

-AREA-51M 7700 D900T NVIDIA DDR3 6800FXGO WITH 256MB MODULE
-AREA-51M 7700 D900T 12 CELL PRIMARY BATTERY

Since we currently do not have an estimated arrival date for the parts yet, I would suggest that you contact us our Customer Service Department in a couple of days. By then we might be able to provide you one.
We apologize for this inconvenience.

i'm on the phone with aw right now. cs says i should be in phase 6, but i don't have time for all of these delays.

expected ship date is now 4/15

made a second call yesterday, but it was late so i was talking to sales. was going to cancel order after reading some disappointing info elsewhere and getting some bad personal news. anyway, sales guy tells me that they just got in "some" batteries and video cards, but they are also expecting next shipment on the 12th. then he tells me i should receive the laptop on the 15th. not that it will ship on the 15th. i can expect to receive it on the 15th. i asked how that could be possible when they don't even get the parts until the 12th. he didn't have a good answer, just said the 15th or 16th. oh, but the 16th is weekend, so maybe monday or tuesday (18th or 19th).
as it turns out, the info i got was misleading, so i am glad that i didn't cancel because of that. as for the personal news, that still may be an issue, but i will see how it goes.
has anyone gone to the microsoft windows xp game advisor (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...r/default.mspx) and checked how their machine rates against the dells on games such as Far Cry, Doom 3, and Half Life 2? I would be interested in seeing some real results for an AW.

xl bags

on a more positive note, i saw that the XL backpacks were back in the gear shop!