Alienware Laptop

Frisbee

Am looking to buy a laptop and Im torn in two at the moment...
I was thinking of getting the Alienware Area51 m5550:

http://www.alienware.co.uk/Configurator_Pages/area-51_m5550.aspx?SysCode=PC-EU-LT-A51M5550&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT


Probably with a modification or two. Like boosting the hard drive to 100Gb.

However thats 1250euro. So just wondering is it worth it or would I be better off getting a dell that comes close to the specs?

AlmightyCushion

I onlt took a quick look but that laptop looks like terrible value for money.

Frisbee

Yeah thats what I was kinda thinking. Just wanted to see what all you lot thought aswell...

RoyalMarine

frisbee i did the exact same..

i wanted that laptop myself!!!
but it was sooo overrated and over priced for it.its not worth the hassle.
plus, i had serious problems with alienware customer service.

my advise it go look at the dell xps m1710 or the dell vostro.

Frisbee

Ok so I had a look at the Dell laptops and have come up with the following:

BASE - Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 Processor (2.0GHz,800MHz,4MB L2 cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Business - English
HARDWARE SUPPORT - 4 Year Business Hardware Support - Next Business Day
LCD 15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) Display with TrueLife™
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Matte Jet Black without Camera
MEMORY 2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
HARD DRIVE 160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
GRAPHICS CARD 256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT
OPTICAL DRIVE Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (56 WHr)


Its the Vostro 1500 aswell btw.

AlmightyCushion

You might want to updrade to the 9 cell battery. Extra battery life is always handy. How much did that come out to?

RoyalMarine

HARDWARE SUPPORT - 4 Year Business Hardware Support - Next Business Day

do you really really really need this???

the 9 cell battery is really great, but it does tend to stick out the back of the laptop by an inch.

Frisbee

Yeah I didnt see the point of the four year business support but its only 15 euro so why not? :P

That works out at 945euro and then a total of 1071 with tax and shipping

AlmightyCushion

Frisbee wrote:

Yeah I didnt see the point of the four year business support but its only 15 euro so why not? :P

That works out at 945euro and then a total of 1071 with tax and shipping

What is the cost if you get the 1 year warrenty? I presume it will be a lot cheaper.

RoyalMarine

what i mean is why not go down to 1 year business support.

the total price of the laptop then would be € 918.39.

and im sure you could haggle that down with the dell agent you speak to and maybe get it for about 880 euro including delivery and vat.

Frisbee

If I keep everything else the same and drop the support down to one year the total cost including shipping and VAT drops to 894.14
Assuming I order before September 26th as theres free shipping till then :P

RoyalMarine

ring them to order it. dont order it on-line.

and just before you give them your credit card details, say to the agent,

right, before i continue, is there anything else you can discount off it just to make it worth while.

they will try stall, but they will knock something off it.

Frisbee

Haha cheers for the advice