How does Alienware stay in business?

[Anomaly1964]

Is it because they are part of Dell now?

I can understand why an INEXPERIENCED PC buyer might buy from Dell, but I can't see experienced GAMING people buying from them when it seems they are typically at least 50% too high?

Is it maybe those who like to GAME with the best equipment but not necessarily BUILD it that are buying from them?

 

[Arg Clin]

Experienced gamers make up a tiny fraction of the market - I'd claim from my experience - even of the gaming market.

Gaming is a niche, and Alienware is a niche product. DIY is a niche within the niche.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Experienced gamers make up a tiny fraction of the market - I'd claim from my experience - even of the gaming market.

Gaming is a niche, and Alienware is a niche product. DIY is a niche within the niche.

So it's kinda for the guy who wants to drive a sports car but not necessarily build one...?

 

[DominionSeraph]

So it's kinda for the guy who wants to drive a sports car but not necessarily build one...?

It's for the kind of guy who wants to drive sports car but doesn't even want to know what makes it different from an econobox or where it actually ranks among other sports cars -- all he wants is to be shown a scale where "More expensive" = "Better", and to be shown something in his price range.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Would be interesting to know how many units they sold a month...

 

[bamacre]

It's for the kind of guy who wants to drive sports car but doesn't even want to know what makes it different from an econobox or where it actually ranks among other sports cars -- all he wants is to be shown a scale where "More expensive" = "Better", and to be shown something in his price range.

Or people like me who bought a Dell because it was cheaper than building.

 

[Zap]

Is it maybe those who like to GAME with the best equipment but not necessarily BUILD it that are buying from them?

Perhaps.

Not everyone can, wants to or should build their own.

For instance, I build my own computers because I can, and because I want to.

I do not change the oil in my car. I can (have done it with a previous car) but I no longer wish to do so.

Does not changing my car's oil myself make me less of a driver?

Would not building my own computer make me less of a gamer? What about all those console gamers? Nobody builds their own console.

This is an irritating character flaw of most computer enthusiasts. They believe that you should build your own, or you are somehow a lesser person. Just goes to show how narrowly focused an enthusiast mind can be.

 

[Axon]

I know someone who has the cash and doesn't want to be bothered with the DIY experience, nor does he care about "quality" of his parts. As long as his system works and runs his games at the appropriate frame rate, he's indifferent. The fact that he has an OEM power supply and not a Corsair in there means nothing to him.

I felt the same way once I started learning about the DIY community...but there's always the underinformed and the indifferent.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Perhaps.

Not everyone can, wants to or should build their own.

For instance, I build my own computers because I can, and because I want to.

I do not change the oil in my car. I can (have done it with a previous car) but I no longer wish to do so.

Does not changing my car's oil myself make me less of a driver?

Would not building my own computer make me less of a gamer? What about all those console gamers? Nobody builds their own console.

This is an irritating character flaw of most computer enthusiasts. They believe that you should build your own, or you are somehow a lesser person. Just goes to show how narrowly focused an enthusiast mind can be.

GREAT insight Zap (and makes ME feel better...LOL)

 

[DominionSeraph]

Or people like me who bought a Dell because it was cheaper than building.

Budget is a separate thing entirely from Alienware.

 

[lmccrary]

It's all about pride. If you say you just purchased a new Alienware PC, everyone knows you dropped a serious amount of cash. Therefore, making you seem better off than most. Maybe it isn't pride. Maybe it is conceit. That's just my thought.

 

[Anomaly1964]

It's all about pride. If you say you just purchased a new Alienware PC, everyone knows you dropped a serious amount of cash. Therefore, making you seem better off than most. Maybe it isn't pride. Maybe it is conceit. That's just my thought.

I'm all about saving money, but there is the whole aspect of "time is money". When you look at possible frustration of building (for newbs) and how much of your TIME it could take, there is that aspect to consider. Some may be JUST as happy to plug there machine in and get 60FPS as opposed to having to build it to get 60FPS...

 

[DominionSeraph]

Does not changing my car's oil myself make me less of a driver?

Would not building my own computer make me less of a gamer? What about all those console gamers? Nobody builds their own console.

This is an irritating character flaw of most computer enthusiasts. They believe that you should build your own, or you are somehow a lesser person. Just goes to show how narrowly focused an enthusiast mind can be.

Changing oil is binary and single-axis.
9500GT SLI in a i7 920 with 1.75V DDR3 2000 RAM and RAID 0 75GXP's... well... just because you pay for it doesn't make it a particularly good idea.

 

[bamacre]

Budget is a separate thing entirely from Alienware.

Alienware, sure. But not necessarily Dell in general.

 

[piasabird]

I think they sell a lot of high-end Lap tops.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

Building a vehicle is incomparable to building a PC. I get the analogy, but it's ridiculous for obvious reasons. Building a PC is simple enough, just takes a little time and research for a total noob. But like with vehicles, troubleshooting is something most people would rather not deal with.

Dell is alright. But with Alienware the builk of the cost comes from the case, fancy lighting, and the Alienware name. Their base price is laughable and it doesn't even include a monitor. It's also funny that they offer pre-overclocked CPU's but not overclocked GPU's in their "gaming" PC's.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Alienware, sure. But not necessarily Dell in general.

No argument there. I'm rocking a Dimension E521 because it was ~$80 cheaper than I could put together myself. When you factor in the Vista coupon I used for another build, the $20 credit I got for complaining about something, and the additional cost it would've been to upgrade to a case that's actually as nice as the Dell's, it's more like ~$200 in savings. When the Dell itself only cost $350 that's one hell of a difference.

 

[bamacre]

Yeah, I've got an E521 as well. I use it for an HTPC.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

I'm all about saving money, but there is the whole aspect of "time is money". When you look at possible frustration of building (for newbs) and how much of your TIME it could take, there is that aspect to consider. Some may be JUST as happy to plug there machine in and get 60FPS as opposed to having to build it to get 60FPS...

If you don't have enough time to research and build your gaming PC then you most likely don't have enough time to get adequate use of out that uber overpriced Alienware rig.

There's virtually no scenario where buying an Alienware rig makes sense. 99.9% of the poeple who buy them are just plain stupid or ignorant. Their lowest priced Aurora rig is the only somewhat reasonable option if you must have that "Alienware theme".

They probably had to merge with Dell to stay afloat. I'm sure they sell more laptops than anything else.

 

[Anomaly1964]

If you don't have enough time to research and build your gaming PC then you most likely don't have enough time to get adequate use of out that uber overpriced Alienware rig.

There's virtually no scenario where buying an Alienware rig makes sense. 99.9% of the poeple who buy them are just plain stupid or ignorant. Their lowest priced Aurora rig is the only somewhat reasonable option if you must have that "Alienware theme". They probably had to merge with Dell to stay afloat. I'm sure the sell more laptops than anything else.

I just compared an Aurora rig to the price of the parts in total from Newegg; Newegg was just over $300 less...

 

[Patrick Wolf]

I just compared an Aurora rig to the price of the parts in total from Newegg; Newegg was just over $300 less...

Well there's variables like the case, mouse, and keyboard which I assume you included, but $300 more for a 1-year warranty, Alienware case, lighting, software, ect. sounds about right.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Well there's variables like the case, mouse, and keyboard which I assume you included, but $300 more for a 1-year warranty, Alienware case, lighting, software, ect. isn't too bad.

Actually I left out Windows 7 Home Premium AND a case so now you are only saving $150...?

 

[Anomaly1964]

Actually I left out Windows 7 Home Premium AND a case so now you are only saving $150...?

This is the Alienware system for $1,399:

 

[Patrick Wolf]

You have to be very specific to get a realistic estimate.

Alienware Aurora:
Alienware Aurora Chassis
525W Alienware PSU
Unknown Motherboard
Intel® Core™ i5 760 Quad Core 2.8GHz (8MB Cache)
Alienware High-Performance Liquid Cooling (looks like the H50/H70)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English (which is OEM)
Unknown 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
ATI Radeon™ HD 5870, 1GB GDDR5
Unknown 1TB HDD - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 32MB Cache
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Unknown 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Misc. Alienware extras (software, OS customization, lighting)
1-year warranty
No Keyboard
No Mouse
No Monitor
No Speakers

- $1,599.00 (free 5-7 day shipping atm)

Newegg Shopping Cart:
Corsair Graphite Series 600T Chassis -$150 after $10 MIR
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX - $70 after $10 MIR
GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 - $120
Intel Core i5-760 - $205
CORSAIR Hydro H70 CWCH70 - $90 after $15 MIR
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM - $100
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) - $60
XFX HD-587X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5870 1GB - $260 after $30 MIR
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB - $88
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X DVD Burner - $17

- $1,160 + $5.81 (3-day shipping) = $1,165.81
Difference of $433.19. And that's being generous. I could've skimped on the mobo, case, memory, HDD, and PSU. Nor did I price shop.

So even on their lowest priced rig, you're still paying a hell of a lot for the Alienware extras, warranty (pfft), and pre-built convenience.

 

[Anomaly1964]

You have to be very specific to get a realistic estimate.

Alienware Aurora:
Alienware Aurora Chassis
525W Alienware PSU
Unknown Motherboard
Intel® Core™ i5 760 Quad Core 2.8GHz (8MB Cache)
Alienware High-Performance Liquid Cooling (looks like the H50/H70)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English (which is OEM)
Unknown 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
ATI Radeon™ HD 5870, 1GB GDDR5
Unknown 1TB HDD - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 32MB Cache
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Unknown 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
Misc. Alienware extras (software, OS customization, lighting)
1-year warranty
No Keyboard
No Mouse
No Monitor
No Speakers

- $1,599.00 (free 5-7 day shipping atm)

Newegg Shopping Cart:
Corsair Graphite Series 600T Chassis -$150 after $10 MIR
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX - $70 after $10 MIR
GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 - $120
Intel Core i5-760 - $205
CORSAIR Hydro H70 CWCH70 - $90 after $15 MIR
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM - $100
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) - $60
XFX HD-587X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5870 1GB - $260 after $30 MIR
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB - $88
ASUS DRW-24B1ST 24X DVD Burner - $17

- $1,160 + $5.81 (3-day shipping) = $1,165.81
Difference of $433.19. And that's being generous. I could've skimped on the mobo, case, memory, HDD, and PSU. Nor did I price shop.

So even on their lowest priced rig, you're still paying a hell of a lot for the Alienware name.

Did you miss the post just above yours, I don't think you compared "apples to apples"