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Anyone else have an Alienware Laptop?

Discussion in 'General Open/Public Discussion' started by qor72, 27 Sep 2005.


  1. qor72

    qor72

    I'm at my wits end at the moment. My brand-new 7700 has been nothing but trouble. Had it a month (after it taking two to build) and the screen died. Had to go buy a $50 adapter just to use a regular VGA to verify it wasn't a system death. Back to Alienware, fixed.

    Then a random hang started. We're talking random, and deadly. Spent 5 hours with tech support reconfiguring the raid, reinstalling, etc. no change. Lost the system twice. Finally they walked me through the BIOS update procedure. Seemed to work for a few weeks, then it came back.

    The system is now back for a complete mobo change. I've *never* had a system I couldn't trust to boot up - and I never expected that first system to be an Alienware! I saved up for two years to get this puppy and each time I finally get all the apps firing, etc. its imploded.

    Anyone else run into this? The attitude I'm getting from Tech Support is that I'm some kind of evil user - well if running TBird and FireFox is evil, that's me - cause the system hasn't lived long enough to do much else!!

    *GRRRR*

    -qor72
     
    qor72, 27 Sep 2005
    #1
  2. Hamma

    Hamma Commanding Officer Officer

    Officer
    :(

    Never had one - I'd demand they give me a new one :p
     
    Hamma, 27 Sep 2005
    #2
  3. Ingwë

    Ingwë DragonWolf<BR>The Goose!

    I don't have the laptop, but I have an alienware desktop. Whenever I had a problem I just sent my computer back to them and they fixed it.
     
    Ingwë, 27 Sep 2005
    #3
  4. qor72

    qor72

    They do a good job there. Just getting sick of sending it back or being on tech support every few weeks.

    I must have racked up 20 hours of rebuild and phone time at this point and I've only had it since may.

    Maybe its just bad luck *shrugs* I'm not seeing the benefit of the 3y "we'll come to you and fix it" though if each time i have to ship it out to them.

    *shrugs*
    -qor72
     
    qor72, 27 Sep 2005
    #4
  5. Arglaar

    Arglaar


    When you have them on the phone... are you reminding them that you have the 3yr onsite support contract? Sometimes they "convienently forget" to ask....
     
    Arglaar, 27 Sep 2005
    #5
  6. qor72

    qor72

    The last time I did I got the "Our onsite technicians can't fix things of this nature" - ie. ship it back to us. I'll try again though.

    -qor72
     
    qor72, 27 Sep 2005
    #6
  7. Arglaar

    Arglaar

    If they're changing out the motherboard, their technicians damn well better be able to do that onsite. If not, they need to get better technicians.

    You may also see if they have any sort of "lemon" plan.. considering how often it has been in for service.. for the same issue.. it's possible that you may be able to get them to just replace the thing with a new system.
     
    Arglaar, 27 Sep 2005
    #7
  8. qor72

    qor72

    I wish. It is a laptop, so I'll give them some leeway... but still...

    Nope, I sent it out last night 2-3day shipping. They'll have it for "up to 9 days" before I get it back.

    Ya know, I'd be happy if it came back and WORKED. I just have no confidence that when it comes back it will work. Going to set up daily backups this time...

    -qor72
     
    qor72, 27 Sep 2005
    #8
  9. Sentrosi

    Sentrosi Protocol Officer Officer

    Officer
    I can't trust anything with an alien head on it.

    Call me paranoid. Sorry, nothing of consequence to offer here. Just some comedic relief.
     
    Sentrosi, 30 Sep 2005
    #9
  10. Kaikou

    Kaikou

    I have an alienware laptop, haven't had any problems with it yet.

    I also have an alienware desktop, and that is a completely different story. The hours on tech support doing pointless checks that some person in india is reading from the troubleshooting site at alienware.com, finally coming to the conclusion that the computer must be sent back for 2-10 months for repairs. I got a new alienware desktop recently, and 2 weeks after I bought it, the power supply went bad, and instead of sending a tech to replace it on site, I had to send it back to Florida, which is across the US in relation to where I live. Didn't see it for a month and a half. The previous tower I had from alienware was fine at first, but ran into lots of severe problems later on. Weekly corrupted OS files, requiring a complete reformat, not recognizing the hard drive, etc.

    Obviously it wasn't viruses or anything, because I would have to reformat weekly, and it would only temporarily fix the problem.

    I love alienware computers....when they work. But I doubt I will ever buy another one, due to the fact that their description of "onsite repair" means they send a tech over to diagnose the problem, and then they have you ship it to Florida.
     
    Kaikou, 1 Oct 2005
    #10
  11. Hamma

    Hamma Commanding Officer Officer

    Officer
    :lol: Sounds about right
     
    Hamma, 1 Oct 2005
    #11
  12. qor72

    qor72

    You summed up my view too. When it works, the laptop is awesome. They've lost a number of potential customers as well. My friends have heard/seen me grumbling (was supposed to be leading a GW foray last week... that didn't happen)... one of my friends summed it up "Glad [qor] is on point with the Alienware"...

    -qor72
     
    qor72, 3 Oct 2005
    #12

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