The Official Computer Tech Support Thread

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by Circe

The one I'm currently considering is this one. By all accounts the graphics card is absolutely solid and a 2.5-3.5GHz processor alongside it is a very good deal for the price, at least from what I can tell. Have I hit some kind of computer blind spot and overlooked a terrible part of the specs here or does it look good enough to go for?

Really depends on what you're trying to play. Those specs will cover a lot, but if you're planning on playing modern FPS or graphically intense games like Skyrim, you're going to be doing it with some settings turned down lower than you might want.
Also, heat is a factor with games that tax your system, and laptops are notorious for not being good at adequate cooling, so there's that to consider, unless you're planning on playing in an igloo, in which case you should be fine.

[Trollheart]

I freely admit I am not a gamer, but I always thought Alienware were the PCs you would, as a gamer, buy if you came into a shedload of money? Who is better then, just as a matter of interest? Though I stand by my comment that a desktop is better for the reasons I outlined, especially ease of upgrade.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I freely admit I am not a gamer, but I always thought Alienware were the PCs you would, as a gamer, buy if you came into a shedload of money? Who is better then, just as a matter of interest? Though I stand by my comment that a desktop is better for the reasons I outlined, especially ease of upgrade.

No I agree, a desktop is far better. Simply because you can plan your setup, choose your individual parts, and build it yourself, or have someone else do it. You can't do that in the same scope when you're choosing a pre-built laptop, and even less when you're just picking an "Alienware setup A, Alienware setup B", etc.
I'm not much more than a casuaul gamer myself, however I've built many PCs and I know that the entire process of paying more for a brand that does it for you is largely an industry based on ignorance and susceptibility to marketing.

I can, quite literally, build you an "Alienware gaming PC" with the exact same parts, except with a different shell. And for significantly less money. That's what I mean. And enthusiasts know this, which is why Alienware gets most of their profits from the same kind of people you mentioned, but never the enthusiasts that have a bit of knowledge about the fact that Alienware is doing the exact same thing, with the exact same parts, but just putting it all together, mounting it in a custom case, and selling the product for more than it's actually worth. Alienware is not creating CPUs. They aren't creating graphics cards. They are not creating RAM. And to my knowledge, they aren't creating motherboards, nor are they creating chipsets, pertinent drivers, nor any of the things that make a computer perform. They are a brand that creates their own look, and their own perception. That's irrelevant to someone who puts down the kind of money it takes to have a good gaming PC for the right reasons.

There is nothing inherently better about Alienware, nor is there anything inherently better about a pre-built PC, save for the possibility that someone that doesn't know how to Google the relatively simple process might screw something up. Although, I think that the only scenario where people should be paying more than the worth of the parts is if they're getting a custom built laptop, which is largely out of the scope of enthusiasts to do on their own (as opposed to desktops). But even then, Alienware is not the only game in town, and you can still pay significantly less for the same hardware, because you're simultaneously not paying for brand recognition that has absolutely nothing to do with performance.

That's all I'm saying.

[Burning Down]

Heh, I just want a computer that gets Internet, does word processing, and that I can take with me everywhere I go. I'm obviously not a huge computer gamer

[djchameleon]

Yeah Alienware is totally a rip.

You are basically paying for the brand name.

I got burned buying a pre-built Gateway and from that day I said never again.

I build my own rigs.

[FRED HALE SR.]

Originally Posted by djchameleon

Yeah Alienware is totally a rip.

You are basically paying for the brand name.

I got burned buying a pre-built Gateway and from that day I said never again.

I build my own rigs.

I'm not denying that you can build your own setup at a discount, but to call Alienware a rip when its clearly considered the best gaming laptop out there is kind of ridiculous. PC MAG and Consumer Electronics both consider it the best thing on the market.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by FRED HALE SR.

I'm not denying that you can build your own setup at a discount, but to call Alienware a rip when its clearly considered the best gaming laptop out there is kind of ridiculous. PC MAG and Consumer Electronics both consider it the best thing on the market.

Then they're clearly not basing their scores on the actual computer parts involved, which Alienware does not manufactor nor own, but something more irrelevant like the design of their cases. Although, I do concede that this generation of young gamers are HIGHLY likely to see value in blue LEDs and alien-eye shapes on the front of their tower or behind the laptop screen, eager to shell out their parent's money for the very "best" computer... but the fact remains that since you can have all the same parts put into a custom gaming laptop that isn't Alienware, the only difference would be the look.

"Prettier" is not going to get you better frame rates. And to be honest, if there are "reviews" in a magazine about it being objectively better, then I am very dubious about that being good information, and more likely to believe it's a promotion.

[Trollheart]

So in a nutshell then, Alienware = Dell. In other words, people who are attracted by someone who will take all the hassle out of actually choosing their setup and will charge them a premium for the honour will choose Alienware? You know, that's really opened my eyes. Not that I would ever buy an Alienware: I'm not a gamer and alien slanty eyes and flashing lights do nothing for me, I'd rather have a powerful CPU and enough memory. But it is interesting.

[Freebase Dali]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

So in a nutshell then, Alienware = Dell. In other words, people who are attracted by someone who will take all the hassle out of actually choosing their setup and will charge them a premium for the honour will choose Alienware? You know, that's really opened my eyes. Not that I would ever buy an Alienware: I'm not a gamer and alien slanty eyes and flashing lights do nothing for me, I'd rather have a powerful CPU and enough memory. But it is interesting.

I wouldn't say Alienware = Dell in terms of what they focus on. But Alienware will charge a hell of a lot more to do what plenty of gaming pre-builders will do with the same components, because of the brand recognition. What I'm saying is that I don't think brand recognition is worth as much as they charge for it. Actually, I don't think it's worth anything at all, but I'm biased because I build my own.

A casual computer person would still have options outside of Alienware. It's just that they're less likely to know about those options.

[John Wilkes Booth]

I need a way to watch videos that aren't available to the US. I like this program on Al Jazeera English called Empire which until very recently I was able to watch on youtube or on AJE's website. A few days ago I started getting a message on both sites that the content wasn't available in my country/location. I tried using a proxy from outside the country (with the FoxyProxy add on for FireFox) which works on and off but is pretty slow when it does work. Are there any better solutions?