Would you purchase again?

Hi guys, so I'm in the market for a new laptop ~2,000+ and have been eyeing the R3 @ $2400, I was wondering though...would you guys really buy it again if you were looking to get a new laptop?

I have been looking at other laptops and alienware, actually seems to be cheaper than most of its competitors by a wide margin. I've been getting recommendations to go for the Sager NP9870-S, and I matched it for the R3 and it's actually about $500 more expensive than the alienware and it only has the 6700 i7 instead of the R3's 6820HK i7. To be fair, it does have the 980 desktop version instead of the mobile and taking that out would level it out to same price as alienware but...it would have a less powerful cpu for the same price :/

Anyway, component for component, would you guys go alienware? I do like how well put together it looks as the Sager looks a little more "blocky" and bigger. Also...the display on the alienware is 100% adobe rgb? that's pretty good no? I can't seem to find it on sager's, but I'm assuming it's not as good?

I also heard customer service for dell is terrible and that they're based in costa rica and india, and...I actually try to buy as "small" and local whenever I can, so it seems sager is a good way to go, no?

I do find the "amplifier" aspect of the alienware something interesting though I may like to take advantage of in the future...(probably not though)

Well...any help or maybe even completely different suggestions on laptops is appreciated.

 

I would definitely buy Alienware again, My AW 17 R1 recently got replaced with an R3 and this new revision while it isn't to the liking of previous AW fans, it still is a very good gaming machine. The 4k display must be one of the best I've ever seen and the GTX 980M is a very good as well. I was surprised by how different the new revision felt to the previous but in a good way. While Dell does have it's annoyances with customer support, their warranty is still one of the best and i would say crucial for these types of laptops.

 

@Klk450 yeah, right now I'm trying to decide between this and a sager/clevo. Like things from both, and leaning sager right now but they are pricier.

 

Keep in mind that 6700k is a much better CPU than the 6820HK. The 6700K is the top end desktop CPU, clocked higher stock, highly overclockable and much higher power limits, and is socketed so it can be changed out if needed.

 

I would NEVER buy another Alienware again, even if they paid me to. Take the time to read through some of these posts and the reasons become abundantly clear.

If you enjoy having your time wasted and the inconvenience of never ending warranty issues, by all means; PLEASE buy an Alienware laptop.

If I had a dollar for every time I said "I told you so" to people who asked for advice but don't take it.... I'd invest it in growing potatoes with superior brain cells that far surpass those in their head capable of nothing but their poor decisions.

 

@Porter

yeah, I just assumed the 6820 was more powerful cause of the higher number So, definitely good to know and hopefully can be easily changed out from the sager if I wanted.

@Daniel1983

I actually have read through a few of those threads but it always seemed either hit or miss. Like they just got it new and the next day it exploded. Then there are other people who seem super happy with it and it's been running perfectly since 1985. I was wondering if there were people who maybe were in between who maybe got it and wished they had read that it wasn't "VR-Capable" or were bummed out it didn't have "g-sync" but despite those things also really like it because the "whatever".

Or maybe kind of wished they had gone with an MSI cause they saw their friend's and it ran Skyrim on uber high setting in a virtual machine, I dunno.

There definitely doesn't seem to be a good overall appreciation for the machines they're making though...I do get that.

 

This forum has great info but to base ONLY on what you read here? No way. There are a vocal minority that just hate on DELL with NOTHING to do with failures. Others have issues including some horror stories of poor quality and service. Reality is between.

Decide what you need and what support you require. If near a service Depot of your brand preference or if they have on site service, that would be +1 to that brand.

 

@GNandGS

Yeah I'm not basing my $2,000+ purchase on just one website I've got threads across multiple forums, NBR has probably been the most active one though.

You're also quite right, most of the hate I've heard (not from this forum actually) has been on on the "alienware tax" and how it looks like a spaceship- which is totally unwarranted seeing as how the ROG is actually way more flashy than current alienware laptops and alienware-tax is somewhat subjective since the pricing is pretty on par with other laptops out there.

I have heard that service for Dell is really good, but...I honestly would rather not HAVE to deal with servicing and just have my computer work. It's the one thing I LOVE about apple, I never once had to send it in for repair, or even go to a genius bar, never had to reformat because its registries started running slow for whatever reasons- it really did just work- I like having stuff that works even if you have to pay a little premium-I do realize most of that is probably just OS related but I digress.

After comparing prices though and looking at how a lot of the technology around alienware seems to be around this gfx amp and having already contacted them myself by phone and being transferred multiple times to customer service from around the world who sounded like they had something better to do than answer my questions...I think I'm going to go Sager for now

I really do hope alienware or maybe even sager can get their stuff together and establish an apple counterpart to pc (maybe google?), since having a machine running smoothly without having to fiddle around too much with it starts to be more important when you're actually using it for work.

 

double post

 

Forums are used for spewing negative experiences mostly to begin with. There are thousands of happy users out there and dont think that other brands dont have similar issues. I tried m all and i saw my fair share of issues. Happy with my aw15r2.

 

Also apple machines have ton of issues experienced those myself and the after service market is enormous for apple since there are so many issues which apple only would service for ridiculous pricing. Apple laptops are only nice if you dont use them under full load most of the time. Osx gets slow too if handled incorrectly.

 

Completely true, it's usually those who have the negative experiences who are the most vocal. Which is why I was hoping on an alienware board, to get some positive user experiences :/

I'm sure they're ok though, but glad I ran across the sager; seems like a nice machine that's a good bit more powerful than the r3 and only marginally more expensive.

 

I own an AW17R3 and love it, would def buy again many times over. I have owned several AW's in the past, I've looked at other brands each time of purchase and always come back because of the quality, build and reliability.

So far, 6 months in, best machine I've owned so far.

#hatersgonnahate

On the flip side, I also own a macbook and Surface Pro 3 and I think all my machines are fantastic for their purposes.

 

I have bought an AW M15x, AW M17x R2, AW M17x R3, M17x R4, AW 14, AW 15R1, and AW17 R3.
Only the M15x and the AW15 R1 gave me problems as they both had a design flaw which affected every one produced.
Both times Dell corrected the issue by either refunding me to purchase a better model or they exchanged it for a better model.
Other then that only twice have I had to replace parts. Those two times I received next business day parts and had my system up an running in less then two days.
This is in contrast to most systems where you have to mail your system and wait a week or two to get it back.

I know there are people out there that say there is all these quality issues with AW...
However I feel that the amount of systems I have had if there truly was quality issues that were worse then other companies I would have ran into more issues.

It should be noted that I have also had Clevo systems as well. I like them too but as of now for my needs I prefer Alienware. I like the onsite techs / Next business day parts.
I also like the size of the Alienwares.

 

duplicate!!!

 

I once had to change an iPhone 6 five times... **** happens and sometimes you end up with a couple bad ones. What I do know for sure though is that the warranty for these laptops are necessary and it's one of the best in the business because of the onsite tech. I hate clunky laptops or bad looking ones which is why I've stuck with AW so far.

 

It is more powerful at the cost portability and size. So it might not be your cup of tea if you mind extra bulk.

 

I probably would purchase again. First one I got the track pad stopped working after a week. Second one has been rock solid though but that track pad issue is still stuck in my mind.

I had a Sager machine before this and almost purchased another Sager machine with the same exact specs as my 15R2. I decided to go with the 15R2 because it was local and on sale for $200 less than the Sager.

Does it do the job though? Yep!

The graphics amp is a nice addition as well. Sager doesn't have that option so I guess if I did buy the Sager I'd be stuck with the 970m forever.

 

By getting an AW you will save $500 but at what cost? That sager will outperform the AW any day with a 6700k and a 980 (non-m). I have the AW17r2 with the 980m and the 4720hq and no I wouldn't buy an Alienware product ever again. Instead I would get some laptop with 6700k and 980 just like the one you mentioned.

 

i really enjoy the quality of Alienware products .. i own an Alienware m14X r1 for 5 gears ... it gets hot as FU** but it is still alive, working as first day ... only repaced the HDD once because i let it fall out of the desk. the battery dont last too much, it have 40 % wear but is still working. I love my alienware 15 R1, the only complaint is the i7 4710hq, but is an INTEL problem not an alienware problem... in this moment i run it at 3Ghz stable without throttling.... 3ghz instead of 3.3ghz dont make a big difference on my main games ( multiplayer FPS). I like so much the warranty, I bought my laptop in USA and i live in Colombia; They dont sell Alienware laptops here, but i always have next day technician repair if i need it. I like the materials on this new models, the sound blaster card, the keyboard light less, but the quality strenght of the keys are really better than my previus AW.

I think all laptops need a re-paste, dont care if is new ... all brands use cheap thermal paste.

but yes, i will definitely buy another alienware when my main model cant run my favorites FPS games

 

TBH if in your country dell has better service, you may buy the alienware 15/17 but if not then please stay away; i am having a horrible experience dealing with service team, and when you have such issues even the alienware reps will ignore you on these forums

To conclude, if the service is known to be good in your country, its doable but if not stay away