theBlackman on 24/3/2006 at 01:06
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
I dunno man[...] to be a gamer? I thought "gamer" referred to someone who plays games.
It do. Well said. But then "geeks" always think like that. Face it, STUPID can't be cured.
Agent Monkeysee on 24/3/2006 at 01:24
Then Dell Computer shall have Alienware!
TBE on 24/3/2006 at 01:52
My 2 year old Dell Dimension 8300 desktop beats the pants off of some new systems I've seen. My 4 year old Dell Latitude C840 laptop is still beating the pants off of some new laptops.
People who buy Dell don't always buy them because they don't know how to build their own, they just don't have the time or want to do it. It's like changing your car oil. Sure, almost every guy in the world knows how to, but how many actually do? I take mine to the oil change place because it saves me time from my already busy schedule.
Back to my busy schedule of watching Seinfeld reruns. :p
Aerothorn on 24/3/2006 at 02:02
This seems like it can be a good thing for Alienware. Dell is famous for its good customer/tech support - one of the main reasons they are where they are today. Alienware's, on the other hand (at least when I owned an Alienware computer from 2000-2002) is atrocious. My computer went through 5 hard drives in 2.5 years, and Alienware refused to solve the root problem causing it. They also took months to get around to doing things, played lots of phone tag, were always busy, etc. Secondly, Alienware could use the supply lines.
But yeah, getting an Alienware computer was dumb - for the price of an Alienware computer, I can (as I learned with this computer) pay someone to build it for me, choose my own parts, and still save a lot of money.
The Blob on 24/3/2006 at 06:14
Dude, you're getting an... Intel!
descenterace on 24/3/2006 at 12:16
Furthermore, selecting the bits for a system is not hard these days. It's not like there are ten different CPU sockets and five types of memory (which have to be matched to the one frequency the board supports).
It's largely just a case of choosing Intel or AMD. If Intel, do you want DDR2?
Then you just pick a graphics card (being sure to pick PCI-E, but that's the default these days) and make sure the letters 'PCI-E' are in the mainboard description somewhere.
Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of how computers operate can do it.
Installing the software on the bloody thing is a different matter, if you choose SATA hard disks and a midrange board. They NEVER provide a driver disk for WinXP's install procedure.
Shug on 24/3/2006 at 14:25
Quote Posted by Aerothorn
Dell is famous for its good customer/tech support - one of the main reasons they are where they are today.
Dell techies tend to know what they're doing - but all their phone services are outsourced to places like India. I'm pretty good with accents but bloody hell, understanding a thick Indian accent over a not-so-great phoneline is pretty tough
Fuegan on 24/3/2006 at 14:40
Haha, yes, last summer my Dell power supply sorted of...stopped working. Pressing the on/off switch didn't do anything. I figured I'd need a new power unit, but best run it by the techie at Dell. I open up the case, see a motherboard LED on and whatnot but the PC still won't fire. The conversation went something like this:
Me: "Hi, my computer won't turn on, I've done x and y but fundamentally, flicking the on/off switch has no effect."
Them (thick Indian accent): "OK sir, I need you to try the CD eject button."
Me: "That won't work, since the computer won't turn on."
Them: "Yes, but I need you to try it anyway because its on my list of things to check."
They then transferred me to the sales department, who expected me to buy a new PC. I told them I just wanted a power unit and got shifted to another department who seemed confused that I'd got their number.
It was all jolly confusing.
On the other hand, my ex-housemate was always impressed with Dell's replacement service - her monitor went yellow one day and they replaced it by 8am the following morning.
SubJeff on 24/3/2006 at 14:50
I'm probably being an old stick in the mud here, but I don't see what that story has to do with accents at all.
OT: Dell are a little like MS it seems. People have a dislike of Dell machines for some reason (and the ones I've used are pretty meh). But I keep hearing good things about them too, so maybe AWs will be ok. They were getting overpriced anyway, no?
descenterace on 24/3/2006 at 15:19
People were paying for the brand instead of the spec.
At least Dell is one of a number of companies in the same area of the business, and have to keep their prices low to compete. Although... Alienware doesn't fall quite within their usual sphere, so they may try to take advantage of the brand to increase profit margins further.
