Hi

Steve - No specific comments. Alienware bolts together good performing machines. But, after you've settled on a specific configuration, it might be worth your while to have a local shop give you a quote on the same machine. Or, better yet, bolt it to gether yourself. There is nothing magical or unique about the Alienware boxes, except, perhaps, the rather high premium one pays for the name on the outside.Trip

I agree, good machines, high price tag

Not mine...I got a good machine at a good price...form the link listed above... :-hahShamelessly yours,

Good machine for a good price. Better deal than Dell even. Check out the customer reviews here: http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1650.html

You know, Dell's gaming machines are very competively priced with these machines - and certainly better than Alienware's outrageous premiums.

IMO, taking the time to learn and building a computer from scratch will give youthe best, configurability, upgreadability, and price.

I would never buy Dell for gaming since they use proprietary parts.For the price of a Dell I can have a *better* hardware AND be *fully* upgradable. But I guess some just can't live without brand-name computers.Michael J.

My office machine is a Dell XPS-R upgraded to a PIII800. Lately, the on/off button has been giving me trouble. Now, it moans quite loadly when it first boots up and intermittently (sp) it's making a loud grumbling noise. I suspect the power supply is going out on it. But, being a Dell, I have to order a new power supply from Dell because nothing else will fit. I suppose I'll have to pay a premium to get a proprietary power supply for an old machine. BTW; alienware is no more expensive than a Dell when you compare Apples to Apples and there's no proprietary parts in it.

sorry but Dell is known for using proprietary power supplies..or at least hey have in the past.

Actually, having built several of my own computers, it's nice knowing that when the "name brand" shows up, the darn thing is going to work when it shows up, and you won't be shlepping back to Fry's because you got a bum motherboard or a bad memory stick etc. And the key parts are upgradeable:CPUVideo CardsRamAdn also, I havn't found any built from scratch systems with the same fire power as the new Dell gaming box for substantially less money.

>CPU>Video Cards>Ram>Not enough for me. I want full flexibility including whether I want tower or desktop cases, power supply, Mobo, etc. And I never had to take bad parts back either - I don't build my own computers - I buy them from reputable places that offer warranty and flexibility I want. If I had to trade price for flexibility or reliability maybe I would think twice but in today's competitive market I can have all the above.Michael J.http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

So Michael J, Like you I want that 'full flexibility' in a computer. Would you be willing to name those 'reputable places' from which you buy your PCs. I'm in the market for a gaming system and would appreciate the benifit of your experience. ThanksJack

hi Steve,i've purchased 2 Area51 systems from them. a p41.5 & a p43.06. i've been pleased with both of them. for whatever reason,(i didn't anyway)get that much of a fps increase with the 3.06 over the 1.5 i had to send the 1.5 back after 1.5 mos. something on the mobo. went kaput. other than that no probs. they are a bit pricey but still cheaper (at the time of purchase anyway) than Falcon & Voodoo. hope this helps. best wishes with your new system. Alienware or not. happy flyin, fm

Hello,Since I just purchased one and have been playin around with it for about 3 weeks, I have only one thing to say....SWEEEEET! Although there was a large amount of money involved, it was all worth it in the end. All my games are unbelievable (FS2002 takes minor tweaking but with everything max sliders with Ultimate Traffic at KORD, never gets below 10 fps!) I don't see a hiccup in other games like Tiger Woods 2003 (It looks so damn realistic now!) Games like C&C: Generals and Warcraft III are breathtaking to look at! I like how you can customize the hell out of it too. I don't have anything on here but games and it rocks. The DVD quality is incredible (when coupled with my 6.1 THX sound and a 19 inch monitor) I don't even watch DVD's on my 32 inch TV anymore, it's just not worth it. I watched Tears of the Sun last night, and it was like the bullets were whizzing right past me! You will truly get the most bang for your buck. When I went to pick it up at FedEx, they said it was the largest shipment they had that week, for one individual of course (Grand Forks, ND, what do you expect.) It comes in a huge box about 4 feet tall so you know it stays comfortable while shipped and the tower looks like a freakin Alien, with all the cooling fans in there, it's really quiet and never lets me down.One gripe though, I'll give it to you straight: I ordered the system on April 9 and picked it up by the end of May. The reason for the delay was that the company was shipped bad motherboards at one point and that put a lot of peoples order on backlog, plus Radeon 9800 Pros' were generally new and popularity for them was so great, they had to order more. All I have to say, is that you must have patience. I called the hotline one time and they directed me to a very nice individual who explained why the system was taking so long to ship. She told me when the parts would be available and when my system would be put together and according to the Order Tracking Status, it was started on the day she said. Now this was after 3 weeks of waiting, but I wasn't sour about it, hell, when the system finally arrived, I was happy to see it, but I was really happy when I booted it up and everything worked like a gem, fresh out the box!All in all, patience is the key. They go through many tests with your system, 200 point quality control process and even run Quake III on there to benchmark it at various settings. you even get a binder with your specs and performance and where everything goes for your system. I have little experience building my own PC, and I'm sure it would have been less, but I wanted a PC that kicked ultra-mega-platinum @$$ and that's what I got.Okay, okay, it was the free t-shirt that sold me....EricP.S.: I use ATI Catalyst drivers and they are definitely worth the downloadArea51Intel