Alienware Area-51

...of mine to own an Alienware computer, for years I had lusted after said product but now was the first time I had got enough money together to afford one There is no point in denying they are expensive because they are, very.

Ordering is a case of first deciding if you wish for an AMD or Intel processor, that is if you are not mega rich and can afford a top of the range ALX system, slightly out of my stretched pocket so I went for the ...
...manuals, disks and my free Alienware T shirt together with a large bag of bits and pieces that obviously come from inside a PC somewhere (I am still not sure what that bag of bits is for, they don't seem to needed for the machine to run). Lifting this box out I come to the most exiting bit, my first look at the tower. Here is where beast really does start to be an apt description.

It is big, it is black (other colours available include ... more

It's a bit of a beast, that phrase is bandied about a lot isn't it but in this case is correct on all fronts. Let me tell you a story and as with all good stories I shall start at the very beginning.

Way back in the murky depths of November 2006 I was about to fulfil a dream of mine to own an Alienware computer, for years I had lusted after said product but now was the first time I had got enough money together to afford one There is no point in denying they are expensive because they are, very.

Ordering is a case of first deciding if you wish for an AMD or Intel processor, that is if you are not mega rich and can afford a top of the range ALX system, slightly out of my stretched pocket so I went for the Area 51 7500 which is an Intel powered system.
The next step is to decide what bits and pieces you want inside. The options on offer are a mind boggling display of things that you can upgrade, of course as you upgrade so does the price so don't let your eyes get bigger than your pocket.

The base cost of the system (at time of writing) is £1399.00 and there is nothing to stop you buying as described on their web site and this will give you a more than adequate game playing machine however for me half the fun was changing bits, adding bits and being scared by how much the price was going up, anyway. Decision made, all bits in place, deep breath and push the buy button.

Now for the wait, I knew that it would take longer than the estimated time of delivery which was set at 18 December, oh well might still get it for Christmas thought I. Not quite I finally got it at the start of February. Quite a delay but I must admit that I was kept advised as to what was happening and which bits they were waiting for and once they had all the bits then it was a quick process to getting the system winging its way to me via DHL, bang on time I should put in.

The moment had arrived, excitement reaching fever pitch I waited impatiently for the knock on the door. Its here, the moment I have waited nearly two months for. Would it be worth it? I certainly hope so or my wife is going to give me a right earbashing. A smallish box comes out of the truck followed by a slightly larger one. Monitor and sound system thought I, inspecting the boxes as they come in. The third and last is different, It's big, its black and it has an alien head staring at me as it comes up the path. This box is intimidating, power oozes from it and I can't wait to root around inside to discover my dream.

Moments later and I have the lid off the black box, a very strong good quality box and inside is another alien head inviting me to open the lid to discover the delights it is hiding within. There is a lot to feast my eyes on, keyboard, mouse, manuals, disks and my free Alienware T shirt together with a large bag of bits and pieces that obviously come from inside a PC somewhere (I am still not sure what that bag of bits is for, they don't seem to needed for the machine to run). Lifting this box out I come to the most exiting bit, my first look at the tower. Here is where beast really does start to be an apt description.

It is big, it is black (other colours available include lime green. blue, white and silver) and very intimidating.
It is the unique look of Alienware systems that are half the attraction and seeing this monster there was no way I could not be impressed. It is about a quarter as long again as a normal PC tower and wider at the front although the body shape does taper slightly going toward the back of the box, it is heavy too getting on for twice the weight of my old system.

The look is enhanced by Alien heads on the front and each side. Silver fins sweep back from the front on either side giving the box an almost animal look. All the disc drives are hidden behind a door at the front that opens on a smooth duel hinged system.
So I have it out of the box time to put it all together. If I was a novice and this was my first PC this is where things would start to get a little tricky. There is no instruction leaflet telling you how to put everything together. It is left to the individual component instructions to tell you how to attach each item, not a real problem but I would have liked a simple diagram to show where everything went. I guess it is because each system is custom made that they can't make a fit all leaflet.

Anyway it doesn't take long before all the peripherals are unpacked and attached. Everything is black from the Dell monitor (Yes Alienware is owned by Dell) to the Creative speakers to the Logitech speakers and mouse. All these bits are top quality as you would expect from an Alienware system.
One thing to remember is that this is a big powerful machine so it is going to need plenty of ventilation so don't shove it right back against a wall or in a little cupboard or you could face it overheating.

The moment of truth arrives, time to test the beast's power, the alien head on the front is the on/off button and somewhat nervously I push it for the first time. The beast answers me with a roar as the power comes to life, the alien head and the fins start to glow red as it boots up the intimidating feel is complete. There is no denying the beast in my home now.

Booting up takes a little while as there is so much to start up but the wait is not excessive and once the boot is complete there are a few formalities and it is ready to use.

Time to test the power I reach for a power hungry game and insert the disk. I can't wait to see if my investment is up to my expectations and boy does it do just that. Installation is quicker than on any PC I have ever seen before. The graphics are so smooth; the game play is completely lag free. Oh yes the beast has most certainly lived up to my expectations.

Time to get a bit more technical for a bit.
What's under the hood to make the Alien so special and so expensive?

As I have said all Alienware systems are custom made so it is hard to give an overall view on what you would get should you decide to invest in an alien machine but suffice to say that all peripherals and internal workings used are all top quality branded parts so that gave me confidence before I started.
My system cost me £3770, yes I know. How much? It is a lot of money, there is no denying they are expensive and for that fact as much as anything I would say that an Alienware system would probably not be your first PC. That said however if you looked at any of the big PC manufacturers for a PC of similar spec they wouldn't be that far behind in terms of cost.

So what did I get for my money, well I got a lot that you would not get from a regular PC. Firstly there is the unique look of the thing plus but it is the parts that are hidden inside where as with any PC the real value is discovered.

I don't like doing lists of components but in this case I think it is going to be the easiest way to understand just what you get for your money so here goes.

Operating System: Genuine Windows® XP Professional UK with SP2 - English
Warranty: AlienCare 1-Year Free Phone 24/7 and Collect & Return
Automated Support: AlienAutopsy: Automated Technical Support Request System
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis - Space Black
Chassis Upgrades: Alienware® AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling + AlienFX™ System Lighting + Alienware® High-Performance Liquid Cooling
Power Supply: 700 Watt Alienware® Approved Multi-GPU Power Supply
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce™ 4 SLI Motherboard
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz 4MB Cache 1066MHz FSB
Memory: 4GB DDR2 PC-6400 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 x 1024MB
Video Card: 1024MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 7950 GX2
Physics Processing Unit : AGEIA PhysX™ Physics Processing Unit
Video Optimiser: AlienAdrenaline: Video Performance
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7,200 RPM with 16MB Cache
Storage Drive: 250 GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7,200 rpm with 8MB Cache
Optical Drive One: 18x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive
Optical Drive Two: 52x32x52x CD-RW - IDE - Black
Sound Card: Alienware® Edition Sound Blaster® X-Fi® High Definition 7.1 Audio with XRAM Technology
Network Card: Integrated High Performance Intel Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (DSL-ready)
Floppy Drive: 1.44 MB Floppy Drive - Black
Monitor: 19" Dell UltraSharp 1907FP Black Flat Panel LCD Monitor - Quantity 1
Keyboard: Logitech® G15 Gaming Keyboard - UK
Mouse: Logitech® G7 Laser Cordless Mouse
Speakers: Creative® 5.1 THX® GigaWorks™ G500 Pro Gamer - UK Power Supply
Security Software: Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal Professional - Included!
Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - £50 Value - FREE!
Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - £50 Value - FREE!
Alienware Extras: Alienware® T-Shirt - FREE!
Alienware Extras: Custom Alienware® fUnc Mousepad - FREE!
Alienware Extras: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager - FREE!

So as you can see you do get a lot of bits for your money, several that would not be included in a more mainstream system. The Alien ice and Alien FX are unique features, The Alien FX is a card that allows you to change the colour and the pattern of the lighting effects on the chassis, more on that in a minute.

Alien adrenaline does what it says, optimises the visual experience to suit whatever programme you happen to be running rather than keeping the same settings for all your programmes.

The Alienguise theme manager gives your desktop a themed look and also creates unique icons and wallpaper together with media player.
Most of the other items are pretty much self explanatory suffice to say they are all top spec and top quality.

Bits and pieces.
The chassis is a quick release system so it just unclips by sliding the side back so there is no need for tools of any sort.
Inside all is neat and tidy and all drives are quick release for easy replacement.

There are USB ports available both front (3) and back (6) together with audio jacks at the front for easy access.
Inside there are spare bays and motherboard sockets to enable you to upgrade your system at a later date. At the price I would hope it will be a long time before I have to go down that road but the chance is there should I need or want to.

Any problems?
Yes I have tried out their support. The aliens came and pinched my pretty lights; seems the FX card has gone kapputt. The support was really helpful, the poor man tried everything he could to get my lights back but to no avail but there was no quibbling once he had exhausted all he could think of. They are sending me out a new FX card to hopefully restore my monster to its full glory.

Apart from that slight hiccup and the quite lengthy wait for delivery I am completely happy with my monster.
Would I buy another, from quality and performance point of view I would say a definite yes but from the cost perspective I think it will be many years before I would be able to invest in another system at that price.

Would I recommend it?
I couldn't recommend this machine to a first time PC purchaser I do think that you would need to have at the very least a basic knowledge of how a PC works to feel the benefits of this monster and to get the most out of your purchase. Also the technical support seems to think that you will know what you are doing as the man on the phone had me taking the machine apart plugging and unplugging cables and doing many tasks that a novice would know nothing about.

So for the experienced PC user with plenty of pennies in his pocket I really don't think you can buy better but for the novice I would say try a cheaper system first.

The system is still very new to me at the moment and I am sure I am going to find more that I can do with it as I load more on to it and although I hope not, there may be the odd hiccup so I will update as my Alien experience continues to unfold.

Alienware systems available to customise from WWW. Alienware.co.uk

My overall rating of the machine itself and my happiness with it has to be a full five stars although my overall score on my Alienware experience so far would lose a star for the FX niggles and length of wait to recieve my system

© Docpov February 2007
 

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