Dell's Quest For Gaming Cool 126
Slate is running a piece looking at Dell's attempt to grab gamer customers via their acquisition of the Alienware brand. From the article: "Gamers want powerful computers, of course, but they also want stylish systems made by a company that they believe understands them. Dell's XPS line of machines certainly provides the requisite power. The PC giant's market clout earns it premium relationships with component-makers like ATI, Intel, and nVidia, often allowing it to be first to market with the hottest technologies. But devoted gamers have still stayed away from Dell. Halo obsessives are not IT managers: They ogle expensive, flashy machines ... and they buy expensive, flashy machines. That's where Alienware comes in."
Its hard to be cool in those mylar intel suits.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Its hard to be cool in those mylar intel suits. (Score:5, Interesting)
For me as well. They were really starting to slip in terms of reliability and support before the aquisition. The slogan "Build it like it was your own" hasn't been true over at Alienware for quite a while now. I don't think being under the Dell flag is going to help those issues any, at least not from a gamer point of view.
Re:Its hard to be cool in those mylar intel suits. (Score:3)
Re:Its hard to be cool in those mylar intel suits. (Score:1)
Re:Its hard to be cool in those mylar intel suits. (Score:5, Insightful)
Dell is avoided because their computers almost need to be formatted right after they are bought. No computer will run games well with that much bloatware installed.
Re:Its hard to be cool in those mylar intel suits. (Score:1, Offtopic)
That's the joke actually. Many people are so woefully ignorant of divergent political stances that they don't understand the differences between the two. (i.e. Libertarians are just really radical right-wing nut jobs, a la free market... or Libertarians are just really radical Socialists, a la freedom in social situations).
It's supposed to ironic.
and the fact that you're acting like you're victimized when only one of your last 24 posts is modera
Re:Its hard to be cool in those mylar intel suits. (Score:2)
The moral of the story? Dell should stick to it's cash-cow
I got no complaints (Score:2)
It works great for games. and as long as I buy dell, it will generally be approved by my workplace, so the Alienware aquisition is probably going to net me that much nicer of a (gaming) machine next time around.
Re:I got no complaints (Score:2)
But a desktop machine? If you want a gaming machine, you build it yourself. As long as I don't get a bad com
This gamer doesn't (Score:5, Insightful)
Uh yeah whatever. I think a lot of hardcore gamers are more concerned about the performance then the flashy looks. They like quality parts, they like to be able to upgrade without worrying about proprietary parts (Dell I'm looking at you).
Alienware just seems overpriced to me. But then I'm not the type that would by a Falcon Northwest computer either. I'm looking for performance for the price. While I may spend more than average on a video card and extra RAM, I'm not seeking that last 10% performance boost that doubles the cost.
Who really does pay for those $5000 showcase computers that get raved at in magazines like Maximum PC? I always get the feeling that they are put out there more as advertising than actual product. The big rigs get exposure and the fan boys drool over them, but odds are they are buying something a couple notches below.
Re:This gamer doesn't (Score:3, Insightful)
And here we reach a distinction. True hardcore gamers don't care as much about "pimp my case" type stuff as some others do. I'll call these other guys "pseudo-hardcore" gamers. These are the same people Microsoft is preaching to with the Xbox/360. They're also a lot more profitable than the hardcore set, as the pseudo-hardcore generally will spend far more than what something is worth.
Re:This gamer doesn't (Score:5, Insightful)
It's the same reason you'll see advertisements for impossinly expensive products (say, a $25,000 watch) in magazines. It is put there to elevate the brand, so if someone sees the $400 version at their mall, they will be impressed. The same reason Hermes (or any other brand) makes a mint on severely overpriced accessories. Sure, you can't afford (or don't want to buy) the $970 blanket or the $570 enamel bracelet, but, hey, why not get the $90 scarf? Sure, it's a lot for a scarf, but it's a $BRAND scarf and that counts for something.
So what does Dell do? It makes a limited edition XPS 600 Renegade [dell.com] and sells it for $10,000. How many sold? Only about 31 [kotaku.com]. And what does it get them? Tons of press [google.com]. And lots of attention [google.com], much of it by people who've never heard of Falcon Northwest and maybe heard of Alienware one time they were at Best Buy.
So, in Dell's mind, it goes something like this.
Dad is picking out a computer for the family. He's getting it for his kid's homework and because Mom needs it. He'd like to play some games on it, but he's not sure Dell, the same brand he uses in his office, would work so well. After all, those work PCs are always so slow. So now Dad sees a comment about this Dell system in his local paper's technology section and he says, "You know, maybe Dell isn't so bad after all. I'll be OK with getting that."
Whether or not that thought process is actually carried out I don't think is a question. Whether it will be carried out by thousands of people, that's for Dell to find out.
Re:This gamer doesn't (Score:2)
I forget the name of this type of marketing but evedently it is a common stratigy. It is effective at taki
Some stuff is Dell specific (Score:5, Informative)
1. Power supply. The Dell (at least Optiplex and Dimensions I've used) power supply is not standard. You cannot mount an off the shelf power supply because the power cord connector will be blocked by the Dell case.
2. Case connector. The connector that attaches to the motherboard for power switch, reset, speaker etc. is in one solid block which plugs directly into the motherboard. Now the ordering of connectors on the block will not plug into an off the shelf motherboard. So you are generally out of luck if you want to use a non-Dell motherboard with a Dell case. You CAN cut the block off and rewire seperate connectors to allow connection to a different motherboard, but it's hardly worth the effort.
3. Fan. The fan connector that plugs into the motherboard is not standard. Replacing the fan with an off the shelf generic one will not let you connect the fan connector to the Dell motherboard. This means that the Dell bios will think the fan has failed.
Small things, but things that mean replacing a cheap part (power supply, fan) will not be as simple as going to the store. Also a major upgrade such as a motherboard swap is more of a pain than it should be.
You are correct in that add in boards and drives are not proprietary but you may find that Dell skimps in some ways on their motherboards. For example, the mid range Optiplex computers have no AGP slot and no PCI Express X16 slot. So no way you can add in a video card, you are stuck with onboard. Also most Dell desktops have only 2 DIMM slots compared to 3 or 4 on most standard motherboards. You also will need to pay a bit more if you want to get say 1 512MB DIMM versus 2 256MB DIMMS - in order to leave a slot open for future expansion.
I have no problem will Dell's in the business environment. At least their business sales and support is excellent. As a home gaming system, there are much better (and cheaper) options.
Re:Some stuff is Dell specific (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Some stuff is Dell specific (Score:3, Informative)
1. Power supply. The Dell (at least Optiplex and Dimensions I've used) power supply is not standard. You cannot mount an off the shelf power supply because the power cord connector will be blocked by the Dell case.
For starters, http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/dellconverter. html [endpcnoise.com] fixes the pinout problem. PC Power and Cooling and a number of other manufacturers also make native dell power supplies. For space concerns, ok, you'll have to get a dell or dell-style replacement, but... it's not a blocking i
Re:Some stuff is Dell specific (Score:3, Informative)
In fact, after replying to your comment, I went to spec out a system.
Dell:
Pentium 930 (Dual Core 3.0 Ghz) + motherboard
XP home
Dual GeForce 6800 in SLI
2 GB DDR-2 533
160GB HDD
DVD-Rom/CD-RW
20 inch LCD
Sound Blaster X-Fi
Keyboard/Mouse
----------
$2,379
Configured at Newegg:
Antec P-180 Case
Intel 930 Dual core 3.0
Abit Ni8-SLI mobo
2GB Corsair valuram
2x Geforce 6800
windows XP Home
CD-RW/DVD
160 GB DiamondMax HDD
Samsung 20 inch LCD
Creative X-Fi
Keyboard/Mouse
-----------------
$1,985
Total Savings: $394, or 16%. BUT, now you
Re:Some stuff is Dell specific (Score:2)
Oh, and add a $70 power supply to the newegg config, making the markup now $330.
~W
Re:Some stuff is Dell specific (Score:1)
The real question (Score:3, Interesting)
Main Distinction (Score:5, Informative)
Here at work we purchase Dell laptops for our sales force and the first thing we always do after receiving the machine is to reload the windows disk, but not the auxillary software.
Crufty software doesn't belong on work machines let alone a gaming system. Some of the software bundled could even be considered offensive to gamers looking for high performance computers. Why not bundle software that is relevant to your target customers (i.e. quickbooks isn't it).
Re:Main Distinction (Score:2, Funny)
Hey! That's all value-added!
Although in this case it's negative values but then that explains the lower prices.
Re:Main Distinction (Score:2)
Re:Main Distinction (Score:2)
Re:Main Distinction (Score:3)
Anyway...I agree with your point but differ a bit.
These users aren't buying software or even high end hardware. When I spend (and I never would) my $10k with Alienware I'm buying SUPPORT.
Does Dell offer better phone support on these models than the regular crap, because if not they aren't worth a dollar. Not saying Dell support is terrible, but for the money
Re:Main Distinction (Score:1)
Re:Main Distinction (Score:2)
Re:Main Distinction (Score:2, Informative)
Not that I'm saying I agree with it, and yes, the first thing I do when I get a new machine is wipe it completely and re-install the OS -- jus
Dell Cool? (Score:1)
Dell is a waste of money.
This reads like an ad. (Score:4, Insightful)
Dell doesn't understand what they don't undersand (Score:5, Insightful)
High-end gear; top notch performance
Upgradeable, industry standard components for easy upgrading
Reliability
Tuned software as well as tuned hardware. (No Adware, OEM "partner" software, etc...)
Durability (for lugging to LAN parties)
Flashy case design
Dell can handle the first one, but they're notoriously bad at all the rest. If any of the last five of those things change about Alienware, every Alienware customer is going to know. Even if none of those things change, gamers all know that Alienware *is* Dell now. These people all read internet forums and tech news. They're not going to be fooled by a Dell with a different sticker on the front.
Here's an idea for Dell: instead of trying to buy somebody else's reputation, how about you start making PCs that don't suck for gaming. Then, perhaps, gamers will consider buying your PCs.
yeah, you are right, Dell is wrong (Score:1, Insightful)
You are not the target market, and you probably don't even know anyone in the target market.
Re:Dell doesn't understand what they don't undersa (Score:1, Insightful)
I'd put that money towards a larger/more reliable power supply instead.
Of course, AMD CPU all the way. .
Re:Dell doesn't understand what they don't undersa (Score:2)
Alienware as expensive fishing gear (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Alienware as expensive fishing gear (Score:1)
Re:Alienware as expensive fishing gear (Score:1)
So am I the gamer who doesn't know nVidia from ATI? My apartment contains 6 working computers, all homebuilt, serving different purposes, and built to serve their purpose. I work
Re:Alienware as expensive fishing gear (Score:2)
Halo!? (Score:3, Insightful)
On the PC? I know its available on the PC but it hardly spawned obessive PC fans. Nor is it a game associated with high end performance
Re:Halo!? (Score:2)
Re:Halo!? (Score:2)
Proprietary == Bad (Score:4, Insightful)
I actually have a friend who has been screwed by this sort of thing more than once. He bought an HP computer back before the Compaq/HP merge. As he discovered gaming he also discovered that the system lacked an AGP port (the built in graphics card was, technically, AGP). So, he went out and bought a Dell (against my recommendations). It had a better built in graphics card, and the price was right (Dude, you're getting a cheap piece of junk). Once again, no AGP slot. He runs a fairly high end (as such things go) video card on PCI. Unsuprisingly, his video performance sucks.
Give me a beige box, which I built myself, any day of the week. I might run across a few hardware incompatabilities here and there, but that beats the hell out of finding myself without an upgrade path, because the vendor used cheap parts.
Re:Proprietary == Bad (Score:2)
Re:Proprietary == Bad (Score:2)
Re:Proprietary == Bad (Score:2)
Worse yet, I expect Dell to be one of the main reasons why casual users switch to Mac. Proprietary hardware plus all that bloatware that tries to sell you stuff every time you run it gives a terrible impression of the PC world. I see many noobs
Re:Proprietary == Bad (Score:1)
Two and a half years ago I bought an Alienware Area 51 at Thanksgiving. It had what was the then top-of-the-line Radeon 9800XT (I think that's the model number, anyway.) A year and a half later it started going haywire showing giant triangles, green garbagey rectangles, and pink lines everywhere. Reinstalling everything didn't work.
Going to the Alienware live chat room, the tech asked me for my customer order number. They looked it up and said, "We're sorry, your machin
Re:Proprietary == Bad (Score:2)
Re:Proprietary == Bad (Score:2)
I just wish there was someone else out there who made decent mid-range sound cards.
Re:Proprietary == Bad (Score:2)
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=products.list & ID=pciinterfaces
I've been using Sound Blaster products since the get go - the Sound Blaster 1.0 - and I was VERY dissatisfied with the customer service they gave me. Time to give my d
Re:Proprietary == Bad (Score:2)
XPS 600 Renegade Contest (Score:1, Troll)
Re:XPS 600 Renegade Contest (Score:1)
i wonder if you have to sign a liablity waver before they will let you plug it in
geek flavors (Score:2, Insightful)
Except, of course, for the gamers who are IT managers. Duh? It's not so cut 'n' dried.
Re:geek flavors (Score:1)
Re:geek flavors (Score:1)
I forgot what their big gun was the heavy carried, but you could rocket-jump with it to get your heavy with resupply station and launch yourself way up top somewhere
Re:geek flavors (Score:2)
Unfortunately for Dell, we also know that Alienware is overpriced.
My world is beige (Score:2)
I'll take a beige case anyday! It's like how people think they're cars are flashier and better by placing stickers and adding snap-on car parts.
It's what's under the hood that counts!
Re:My world is beige (Score:2)
Dell has not the gaming cool (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Dell has not the gaming cool (Score:2)
Re:Dell has not the gaming cool (Score:1)
Guilty!
I made sure I got the Alien Blue with the green glowing eyes for "alien ice" cooling system. Don't get the cable management system thing, though. It's just a plastic grating that forces all cables through a 4x5" opening, where they all spread out again.
I wonder what the point of the cooling system was given the Radeon went on the fritz 1.5 years later...
Actually, I ran the numbers, and I'd have
Haven't done that either (Score:2)
I haven't. I love gaming especially on the PC, but PC gaming is expensive as hell. Even those nice guides like the $500 "modern" gaming machine from Toms Hardware. Put it this way; if a person can't afford to buy a 360 and 1 game, they can't afford the $500+ PC system built for games either.
That begs the question do you think gamers who don't or can't build their own systems, are "gamers" at all? Rent, food, bills come first. After
Re:Haven't done that either (Score:2)
Correct Order (Score:2)
Not an avid PC gamer then
The real order is Rent (a place to put your pc), bills (need the power and interweb), PC hardware, Games (not free, but get in enough betas, and you can lower the costs a lil) then food.
As for the transport thing, walking is my prefered method, with the cost of fuel, vehicals are more expensive to run and maintain than my pc, and i know what i prefer to spend time with
Re:Correct Order (Score:1)
Re:Haven't done that either (Score:2)
Mixing in those circles, his claim is perfectly plausible, and the underlying idea that gamers aren't the clueless morons that Slate (read: Dell) makes them out to be, is certainly correct.
Re:Haven't done that either (Score:2)
Not to mention ya know, the public humiliation factor. Who wants to be the guy rolling in with a Celeron pc (made by Compaq) to a LAN
Re:Haven't done that either (Score:2)
Re:Dell has not the gaming cool (Score:2)
That being said, there's no reason that Alienware has to integrate fully with Dell. If they're able to leverage Dell's purchasing & supply management folks, it could be huge for Alienware. Companies have brands that don't fully integrate all the time. Ford owns Volvo, Jagua
Re:Dell has not the gaming cool (Score:2)
Alienware is cool? (Score:2, Interesting)
I even help run a LAN that has a secret prize we give away to one of the few that brings an alienware to the LAN.... a trashbag to cover the ugly stupid thing up with so he stops getting made fun of.....
Only one problem with Dell's Gaming Computers (Score:5, Informative)
From a harocp article a few months ago, the Dell XPS 400 gamers rig wont run Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Quake 4, or The Sims 2 because of conflicts with the bloatware.
After reading their out of the box experiences, and add in their additional customer support ordeal trying to remove the bloat, I think I will be staying away from dell and alienware for gaming purposes.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTI0LDEsLG hlbnRodXNpYXN0/ [hardocp.com]
Re:Only one problem with Dell's Gaming Computers (Score:2)
That's a software problem. Dell bundles crap software. You know what, though? Get a copy of the windows XP OEM disk and use the product key on the sticker outside the case. Reinstall. Blammo.
~Will
Re:Only one problem with Dell's Gaming Computers (Score:1)
We bought one, and tried to install Doom on it (to paraphrase Scotty, "No I, II, III, or Magnificent Gold Super Duper Everything Pack".) It wouldn't run. We called Gateway and they said...
So back it went. I'm
Re:Only one problem with Dell's Gaming Computers (Score:2)
Re:Only one problem with Dell's Gaming Computers (Score:2)
Re:Only one problem with Dell's Gaming Computers (Score:2)
Re:Only one problem with Dell's Gaming Computers (Score:2)
Premade Machines (Score:1)
I would have to agree that Dell's premade machines do offer a good chunk of quality for the price, but the price starts to spiral out of controll once you reach a certain limit.
For example, If I were to make a system that would be used for little more than web surfing/MS office, then I would be hard pressed to beat dell in it's prices.
Once you start reaching beyond the 1k mark, where you start entering the realm of decent Comps with respectible hardware, Dell becomes less of a bargan and more of a liab
I thought devoted gamers BUILT their own PCs? (Score:2)
If you're that hardcore into gaming that you w
Re:I thought devoted gamers BUILT their own PCs? (Score:2)
Not in terms of building computers, no. I'm definitely a gamer, but have never overclocked anything in my life as it just doesn't appeal to me. However, I still always assemble my own systems. I'm also looking forward to building my latest PC next week, dual core Athlon 4400+ with 4 gigs of RAM and a pair of 7900 GTX video cards in SLI, should be pretty sweet :)
I honestly don't think the situatio
Re:I thought devoted gamers BUILT their own PCs? (Score:1)
I'm typing this on a Dell XPS (Score:1)
yay
My next computer is an Apple.
Erm... Dell? (Score:2)
eMachine > Dell and I can't figure out why! I'd prefer Dell, I'd like to suggest Dell, but in the end, well..
When their Sales Rep says that we need Media Center Edition + a Remote Control for a simple workstation that will NOT DO any type of sharing, local networking, microsoft networking, etc... because it's for work-at-home person, I can't even trust their Te
Lack of discretion (Score:2)
There are glowing reviews, there are biased reviews, there are paid ads masquerading as reviews, then there is this.
I'm going to post a link to this story whenever Slate tries to say anything of importance from now on.
Dell + Alienware = both ripoffs. We DIY for less (Score:1)
Re:Dell + Alienware = both ripoffs. We DIY for les (Score:2)
AMD (Score:2)
For the last three years AMD's FX and AMD64 based gaming machines have blown intel out of the water.
Dell simply failed to capitalize on this market by not shipping amd pc's.
Alienware is a too little too late move for DELL. Alienwares machines are insanely expensive when compared to a custom built rig. Sure, you get "support" but what self respecting gaming geek is not going to be able to support his own machine? The value is in the l33tness of th
Re:AMD (Score:1)
> be able to support his own machine?
And what support you get evaporates as soon as your warranty expires, as I quickly found out when my 3D card went bad. Thank goodness Radeon supported a return and replacement, against their policy of supporting OEM-installed product directly.
Stick to buying laptops From places Like dell..... (Score:1)
Re:alienware (Score:3, Funny)
Congradulations.
Re:alienware (Score:1, Funny)
Learn to spell kthx
Re:Feh, premade machines... (Score:5, Informative)
In the last week, Dell has been selling QUALITY machines for prices that you can't beat by putting together the components from mail-order-madness from PriceWatch. At the low end, you could spend $370 and get a "basic" machine with a 19" LCD and a licensed copy of Windows. After that, the "basic" computer is free. $1000 machines have been 40% off for weeks, with stackable coupons, free shipping, free 19" flat panels...you're paying $600 for a solid machine, great monitor, licensed software, home delivery, and A YEAR OF ON-SITE SERVICE.
The answer to most people is, in fact, Dude, you're getting a Dell. [And you're getting it at a good price, with solid features.]
Re:Feh, premade machines... (Score:1)
Or is this one of those razor-thin-profit-margins-to-kill-competitors-jus
Re:Feh, premade machines... (Score:2)
The quality of the components is "normal," and certainly the margins are thin. Good news for the consumer.
Try hitting eBay to see the sort of Dell Coupons available as well.
Re:Feh, premade machines... (Score:2)
We run Dell's for all of our Windows computers at work, so I'm pretty familiar with them. Here's a few things I've noticed:
1. You may have problems replacing a power supply, fan or swapping the motherboard with a standard off the shelf PC part. They tend to have proprietary connectors.
2. Depending on the model you buy you may not have an AGP or PCI Express
Re:Dell is NEVER first to market with "hottest tec (Score:2)
Re:Dell Support Sucks (Score:4, Informative)
From what I hear their standard support sucks ass. I guess it's a "you get what you pay for" situation.
Re:Dell Support Sucks (Score:5, Interesting)
My good friend's mother bought a Dell not long ago, and when the power supply broke they called me in to take a look at it. After examining it, I called Dell tech support on her behalf (she was afraid to talk to them since she doesn't know much about computers). They had paid for gold service, but when I called the number, the very first thing the gold service tech told me was that I had called the wrong department and that he was forwarding me to the real tech support.
This got me transferred to India or thereabouts--the connection was poor, and while we understood each other fairly well, the man tried incessantly to get me off the phone. Despite his pleading for me to call back later, I refused, and I did my best to work with the guy. After I had convinced him to actually help me, he informs me that I qualify for gold service and sends me back to the assholes that transferred me there in the first place.
The third tech, however was very courteous and helpful. After verifying the problem, he put out a work order in minutes.
My experience was this: Gold support is wonderful, but Dell is going to make you fight for it.
Re:Dell Support Sucks (Score:2)