Did anybody see the new gaming console Alienware Alpha

[Robert Maxwell]

So, to get the thread back on topic, what gaming console do living-under-the-bridge trolls recommend instead of this Alienware Alpha thing?

In terms of real consoles? A Playstation 4 or an Xbox One. Maybe a Wii U if you are really into the games that has to offer.

The Maingear Spark is probably the best all-around Steambox at the moment. It's worth pointing out that there's nothing special about a Steambox--it's just a gaming-oriented computer that's set to boot right into Steam's Big Picture mode so you can control it entirely with a gamepad. There is nothing else unique about it--you could do this with any off-the-shelf computer.

 

[Mary Ann]

I checked out the Maingear Spark link, and I think I know what my younger son is going to want for his birthday.

 

[Amaris]

I'm not ever gonna touch a Dell computer again either. A friend of mine bought one and Dell has the habit (or at least used to) of using custom mainboards that basically make upgrading any part of your pc a pain in the ass.
No free slots for anything. And damn, how can you possibly sell a PC with no case fan installed. Killed a video card before my friend found out.

Dell makes decent, cheap-ish IPS screens, I like those.

It depended on which model you got, but yeah, the mid-range to lower end systems were usually pretty chintzy.

Funny thing about Dell: their business stuff is actually pretty good. It's not at all like the commercial/consumer-end stuff. I have no idea why it's so different. I suppose it has something to do with selling in bulk.

They're extremely hard to find, of course. But if you know people...

I actually got a small (slightly used) box for $200 that has about the same specs as the Alienware. The chip is only an i3, but it's pretty fast and the video is only 1mb of DDR3. (It's a dedicated card, even.) But it's still more than enough for what I use if for.

I've got it set up as and HTPC.

It's standard cubicle fare, so it's very plain looking, but it's very well built. The form factor is small. It fits on my TV stand. I drilled some holes in the chassis for some extra cooling, but you can't seem them. The hard drive was only 500. I eventually replaced it with a terabyte. And put in a PCIE remote receiver.

The total cost was still under $300. I've had it for over a year now, running almost constantly, and haven't had any problems.

There's no way I could find something this good (especially for the price) at a big box--and certainly not from Dell.

I have a business laptop from them also. (Got it from the same place.) It's older, but built like a shit brick house. I've dropped the thing a few times. It's fully modular and really easy to take apart to clean and upgrade. It also doesn't have those annoying extra "media" function buttons that seem to inevitably short the mobo.

I've compared it to the commercial Dell laptop--Inspiration or whatever it is--it felt like a toy compared to mine.

Really don't know why there's such a discrepancy in build quality.

Dell's business line used to be terrific. When I worked there it was 80/20, with the 80% being corporate customers. We serviced legacy systems going into their 10th year, and working like a champ.

I'm not sure how it is now, since I haven't worked there since 2008 (sigh), but they were once excellent business systems.

 

[Mary Ann]

It depended on which model you got, but yeah, the mid-range to lower end systems were usually pretty chintzy.

I found this out the hard way when I bought some lower-priced Dell laptops for my daughter and me some years ago. They were shite. Four years ago I bought us both MacBooks and they're starting to slow down a bit but on the whole they're still running well.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I bought a really cheap Dell laptop once and, well, you could tell it was a horrendously cheap laptop.

I got a similarly cheap Toshiba some years later and that was (and is) a much nicer machine. Not at all suited to heavy-duty tasks but perfectly fine for web browsing, music/video, and light gaming. The Dell was a joke and struggled to do much of anything.

I've used Dell desktops at work and they seemed basically okay. I don't really know what it is about them that's supposed to be so great, though.

I do know that, when my previous employer switched out their HP-UX servers for Dell servers, support calls went up precipitously. We never had to call in support for the HPs, but the Dells broke down constantly. The company switched to save money, and they sure got what they paid for.

 

[Mary Ann]

Our current desktop is an HP, and we've had no issues with it. No more Dells in our house.

 

[Amaris]

I found this out the hard way when I bought some lower-priced Dell laptops for my daughter and me some years ago. They were shite. Four years ago I bought us both MacBooks and they're starting to slow down a bit but on the whole they're still running well.

I gave my cousin my 2006 iMac about 4 years ago, and her family is still using it. It's running Leopard OSX, but it's running!

Our current desktop is an HP, and we've had no issues with it. No more Dells in our house.

I use an HP myself. I prefer to build, but at the time this PC came out, the price was just way too good to pass up. Now it's about 6 years old (Jesus, it's 2015!), and still running like a champ.

So, as a former Dell warranty technician, who uses an HP, I advise against purchasing Dell computers.