Alienware Aurora 5500 Evaluation @ [H] Consumer

Alienware Aurora 5500 - Area 51 may still be a mystery to many, but after you read this evaluation you will know whether or not buying a big blue computer that looks like somewhat like an alien head is a smart buy. We take a look at Alienware’s mid-range gaming PC.

Of all the big name OEM builders, Alienware probably does the most to give you the same level of service and build quality as boutique builders. The hardware in the Aurora 5500 is solid, and they’re willing to back it up when things go wrong. Everything from gaming to productivity works well on this machine and this is certainly a worthy specimen of the OEM breed.

Click to expand...

As always let's discuss our evaluation once you have given it a read. Should you be wanting to comment on Alienware in general, there are other threads for that.

On page 2:

On the software side, you can order Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security.

Click to expand...

On page 3:

Preinstalled software included AlienAutopsy, AlienGUIse, Cyberlink Power DVD and Nero. Notably absent was any anti-virus solution.

Click to expand...

Nowhere does it say whether an anti-virus solution was actually PURCHASED. If none was purchased, I would not expect to see one there.

Polarhound said:

On page 2:



On page 3:



Nowhere does it say whether an anti-virus solution was actually PURCHASED. If none was purchased, I would not expect to see one there.

Click to expand...

Sometimes we see a free AV installation from the boutique builders with an option to "upgrade" to Norton or another solution. Alienware wasn't dinged for this at all, it was just communicated in the article.

Lol magic smoke. That pretty much sums it up.

Great review. All these Alien___ names are just halarious. I find the front "alien" cover ugly. Just my preference though 'cause I like the clean, not so flashy look.

I love burnt computer smell! It means I get to upgrade.

I like alienware but i dont like the premium price you pay for the name and support.

tskiller said:

I like alienware but i dont like the premium price you pay for the name and support.

Click to expand...

I think you just summed up our entire evaluation.

Chris_Morley said:

I think you just summed up our entire evaluation.

Click to expand...

Let's face it, service and support is what you really pay for from almost any boutique builder worth their salt.

Hm, I came into the review with what I thought was going to be found, and it was the opposite. It seems their tech support was decent, which is nice to hear.

Good review guys. That video card up in smoke is strange. THat would freak my out for sure if I just paid 1900$ for a new computer. That's one of those instances where buying from a builder and not making it yourself can pay off, especially with a quick turnaround.

~Thanks for the review.

kinda odd that [H] usually gets some kind of problem with their review pcs

RoffleCopter said:

kinda odd that [H] usually gets some kind of problem with their review pcs

Click to expand...

Since we actually use these systems instead of running a few canned benchmarks on them we're more likely to expose issues that any particular system may have.

Chris_Morley said:

Since we actually use these systems instead of running a few canned benchmarks on them we're more likely to expose issues that any particular system may have.

Click to expand...

so do u think everyone else's pcs have the problems you've had? or is it simply an isolated incident? sometimes i think [H] has bad luck wen it comes to these things hehe

RoffleCopter said:

so do u think everyone else's pcs have the problems you've had? or is it simply an isolated incident? sometimes i think [H] has bad luck wen it comes to these things hehe

Click to expand...

I don't think this should be an issue. Any company that markets themselves as a top-of-the-line system intrgrater should be able to deliver on that promise, and that includes the PC running problem-free for everyone (hardcore gamers and average joe's alike). I know of several people on here that are as into hardware as you are, but simply do not have the time to build their own system. Alienware markets themselves as being the company for these people, and they need to deliver on that.

That being said, you experience was very similar to my Alienware experience. The first time around the block the tech just had me run the same stuff you did (they've gotta have a checklist or something). The second time around, I got a serious tech who was more specialized. I think they have two layers of techs (real techs and checklisters), you have to go through the checklist people before you reach the real techs.

All around, I think it was a good review and is right in line with my Alienware experience.

Very good read, glad to see it up a day early.

InorganicMatter said:

I think they have two layers of techs (real techs and checklisters), you have to go through the checklist people before you reach the real techs.

Click to expand...

That is certainly what I would do if I were in their shoes.
No sense in wasting specialists' time with stuff like:

Caller: "My system won't boot!"
Tech: "Can you see if the power cord is plugged in ?"
Caller: "No, I can't see anything. The power in our neighborhood went down an hour ago, and it's not back up yet..."

I have read all of the [H]Consumer desktop reviews as they have come out. Great information in this latest one, as always. One trend that I have noticed is the actual amount of hardware problems experienced by each different computer system reviewed! For the ammount of "testing" these "high end" companies say that they do on each system, its amazing how support issues just seem to appear... a few examples:

- Alienware Aurora 5500: The smoking video card
- Velocity Micro Gamer's Edge 1500: Fan falling off, bad USB header
- Widow PC WidowFX: Bad PSU
- Maingear Prelude: Bad memory
- Falcon Fragbox: The video card / Radeon chipset fiasco

Does this seem like an alarmingly high number to anyone? Unless there's some kind of "aura of electrical destruction" going on in the hard bunker, it makes me think twice about the build quality in general. I wonder what % of computers they sell come completely problem free?

EDIT:

RoffleCopter said:

kinda odd that [H] usually gets some kind of problem with their review pcs

Click to expand...

Looks like someone beat me to the punch

AuxNuke said:

I have read all of the [H]Consumer desktop reviews as they have come out. Great information in this latest one, as always. One trend that I have noticed is the actual amount of hardware problems experienced by each different computer system reviewed! For the ammount of "testing" these "high end" companies say that they do on each system, its amazing how support issues just seem to appear... a few examples:

- Alienware Aurora 5500: The smoking video card
- Velocity Micro Gamer's Edge 1500: Fan falling off, bad USB header
- Widow PC WidowFX: Bad PSU
- Maingear Prelude: Bad memory
- Falcon Fragbox: The video card / Radeon chipset fiasco

Does this seem like an alarmingly high number to anyone? Unless there's some kind of "aura of electrical destruction" going on in the hard bunker, it makes me think twice about the build quality in general. I wonder what % of computers they sell come completely problem free?

EDIT: Looks like someone beat me to the punch

Click to expand...

Review mags don't talk about the failures that they get. Talking to the boutique builders, they say that when there's an issue, the reviewer sends the system back for it to be fixed and you never hear about it .

This isn't the last you'll hear about hardware failures, trust me.

That being said, I'd rather us get all the machines that fall within the industry-wide failure rate of 3-4% so that we can test out the tech support and RMA procedures for our readers.

Chris_Morley said:

Review mags don't talk about the failures that they get. Talking to the boutique builders, they say that when there's an issue, the reviewer sends the system back for it to be fixed and you never hear about it .

This isn't the last you'll hear about hardware failures, trust me.

That being said, I'd rather us get all the machines that fall within the industry-wide failure rate of 3-4% so that we can test out the tech support and RMA procedures for our readers.

Click to expand...

You don't help that process along by walking around in your socks, shuffling about the floor then poking random parts do you?

tsuehpsyde said:

You don't help that process along by walking around in your socks, shuffling about the floor then poking random parts do you?

Click to expand...

Hahaha! No, luckily, we are paid enough so we don't have to go around shoeless. =)

Seriously, most of the issues we have had in regards to video cards pop up later in the game and are very subtle that then escalate into major issues/dead hardware. We just play too many games I guess.

tsuehpsyde said:

You don't help that process along by walking around in your socks, shuffling about the floor then poking random parts do you?

Click to expand...

Oh, that's too funny!

Or Have the "ball of fur" cat poke its nose in and see what's in that nice new shiny computer case. ZAP.

Frankley, with the way computers are shipped, im surprised there arn't more problems.

As the owner of a Velocity Micro Gamers' Edge 1500, I appreciate Chris' perspective of the two companies. The VM comes in a more tasteful black aluminum case, with US tech support for a year instead of 90 days, has a great price tag, and they are big enough to support me for years down the road. I am still very happy with my decision to buy Velocity after reading this review.

I admit I was expecting less from AW after what's happened lately, and I thought you should hammer them more for not agreeing to take the system back for 100% refund like VM pioneered, and for shipping very old drivers (this is inexcusable!), but it seems they are doing an OK job with this system. These reviews are getting better, even if I can't still figure out the ratings logic for some stuff like stability 10/10 for a system that died. You could have dinged them one point for that anyway.

Very nice read, and I think you guys are improving the overall PC buying experience, because I guaranty the companies read these reviews and it's got to trickle down to improvements.

First off, an abject apology.

My impressions of the relationship between AW and [H] is of one that is to a degree adverserial. Remarks, articles, little zingers and dings led me to believe that if an AW system was ever reviewed...it would not be one delivered in an impartial manner. Now, before anyone goes off on me, let me state quite clearly that this was MY opinion based on my perception of comments posted by various [H] editors and staff.

So it is with a mouthful of crow stuffed in by a foot, that I beg for forgiveness. I apologise on bended knee and I apologise profusely for assuming what the finished review would look like. I humbly apologise and will do whatever penance you deem fit for doubting a site I have been a fan of and a regular visitor of since it started.

Anyway, with my mouth still vaguely tasting of crow, let me state that your experience of the machine seems to mirror my experiences quite faithfully. I also received my machine ahead of their estimated ship date and I have found my system to be reliable and able to handle any game with ease.

I have had issues...a failed power-inverter and chipset fan, which has been replaced twice and four times respectively. Minor problems I think you will agree. The machine was returned to depot once for a replacement motherboard and received back 7 days later working with all my data intact. Tech-support has never been anything other than superlative in all respects.

I chose to buy one because as a working father of two falling headlong towards his 50's, I just don't have the time nor the inclination to source, build, test and sort out issues. And this Alienware arrived and worked straight out of the box. All component upgrades that I have done were easy to do and I have no complaints. For me, it did what it said on the tin.

Finally, my deepest apologies for doubting that the staff of [H]ard OCP would deliver a impartial and fair review.

EDIT

Is it possible to ask WHY they would not take the machine back? Is there any explanation forthcoming from AW?

Very Good Review.

My only complaints are why was gaming and multimedia not a 10/10?

This is one of the few machines you have tested that worked perfectly in all the game test.
You also said you had no problems with the DVD player or XviD. I would think if the machine
ran perfect in these catagories shouldn't receive a perfect score.

I also would like to know if any performance was relized out of upgrading to newer video
drivers or were you just complaining because they weren't written yesterday?

Hmm...very, very, very interesting review. I love the part where the thing went up in smoke! Never expected to see that from a new high-end card. Hopefully Dell will learn some things from their fairly clean build and make their system free from clutter.

redphyve said:

First off, an abject apology.

My impressions of the relationship between AW and [H] is of one that is to a degree adverserial.

EDIT

Is it possible to ask WHY they would not take the machine back? Is there any explanation forthcoming from AW?

Click to expand...

First off, no apology needed.

The fact is that there is no relationship between AW and [H] at all. We just report what we see on our news page, and we often do it with a jab, well...because their president usually sets things up for it to be easily done. And we love tech news with real entertainment value. I have to say, I was somewhat worried about the evaluation coming back with a hugely negative spin and the fact that it would make us look biased. That said, AW did well, and it actually worked out well showing that [H] Consumer has the ability to make respectable and independent decisions not swayed by the [H] News editorial slant.

As for why they will not be part of the [H] Consumer program is actually not really an issue and I do not think that anyone here is capable explaining AW's motivations. That all said, I am not sure that if I was running AW I would give us a box to beat on either.

Maybe Nelson will show up in here like other company presidents/CEOs/owners? Actually I doubt he will be saying much anything that has not thoroughly been scrubbed by the Dell filtering system of PR and lawyers for a while now.

Excellent review.
I think you are spot on.
As an owner of two Alienware comps, you got better support than I ever did,but I never had smoke either.
BTW, what brand of video card was it that decided to overheat.???

Ive always said that AW does a good job, but is just expensive at doing it.
Ive taken one of those big plastic cases apart a number of times to replace and upgrade, it IS a pain to work with, but you sort of get used to it after a while, plus Ive made a few modifications to help me get less aggreviated.

Good reading. I also believe you're snake-bit.

As always great review. Hopefully they can get on board and will let you guys return any future systems that you test.

redphyve said:

I chose to buy one because as a working father of two falling headlong towards his 50's, I just don't have the time nor the inclination to source, build, test and sort out issues. And this Alienware arrived and worked straight out of the box. All component upgrades that I have done were easy to do and I have no complaints. For me, it did what it said on the tin.

Click to expand...

This sums up the entire boutique build. This method simply _works_ for the people who enjoy a nice system and lack the time to research, build, troubleshoot a DIY rig. I'm partial to DIY for _my_ systems but for friends and family, I really look to these reviews for quality feedback.

The stability issues were worked out, I disagree that others felt they should be "dinged" for that little issue, but ask anyone in the motherboard or video forums, the parts are stable given a working combination used by many with zero issues (which the review comes to the same conclusion).

I'm in the same boat, the value factor is a major factor in any PC I build, but I gotta admit, the tech support was pretty good. I've had much worse experiences with other companies.

HappyJack said:

As the owner of a Velocity Micro Gamers' Edge 1500, I appreciate Chris' perspective of the two companies. The VM comes in a more tasteful black aluminum case, with US tech support for a year instead of 90 days, has a great price tag, and they are big enough to support me for years down the road. I am still very happy with my decision to buy Velocity after reading this review.

I admit I was expecting less from AW after what's happened lately, and I thought you should hammer them more for not agreeing to take the system back for 100% refund like VM pioneered, and for shipping very old drivers (this is inexcusable!), but it seems they are doing an OK job with this system. These reviews are getting better, even if I can't still figure out the ratings logic for some stuff like stability 10/10 for a system that died. You could have dinged them one point for that anyway.

Very nice read, and I think you guys are improving the overall PC buying experience, because I guaranty the companies read these reviews and it's got to trickle down to improvements.

Click to expand...

We'll not ding anyone for not agreeing to participate in our evaluation program, that's just not fair, rather we'll gauge them on the merit of their product.

As to a 10/10 for stability. There is an industry wide failure rate of components that runs about 3-4%. If a company can react quickly and replace a failed part, and the system will then be 100% stable, why not say so? Alienware did not decide that they had to replace an item with a different brand or model because of a poor design decision on their part. In fact, the failed part only did so after we had used and abused it for most of our testing - and I am confident that there was no way it could have been caught inside a normal amount of testing and burn-in and still have shipped in a conservative amount of time.

We gave Maingear the same break...even though theirs was having issues out of the box due most likely to ESD.

Kingofl337 said:

Very Good Review.

My only complaints are why was gaming and multimedia not a 10/10?

This is one of the few machines you have tested that worked perfectly in all the game test.
You also said you had no problems with the DVD player or XviD. I would think if the machine
ran perfect in these catagories shouldn't receive a perfect score.

I also would like to know if any performance was relized out of upgrading to newer video
drivers or were you just complaining because they weren't written yesterday?

Click to expand...

We never give a perfect multimedia score for a system with a single core processor. It's just relative performance compared to what you COULD purchase, and doesn't negatively affect the bottom line score. You could still score a 10/10 perfect bottom line score (though we've never given one) and score less than perfect in any category.

It's the same with gaming, a single 7800GT is going to provide an exceptional gaming experience, but it's just not the same as have a high end SLI setup.

I really like your stealth review process, it's great to see how these companies compare from the customer perspective rather than having companies send special pimped rigs for reviews. [H] gets a thumbs up.

I've purchased several Alienware desktops, the first purchased in 1999, and one laptop from them also. The computers ranged from middle ground to top end systems, and I've been very happy with the peripherals offered like Klipsch speakers and Samsung monitors, keyboards etc... I'm a cheapo at heart, so I've noticed it's worth it to check their configurator for a while before ordering, as it's also been my experience that prices tend to move around pretty frequently both up and down. I was told they pass price changes from their suppliers right along to the consumer, whether it be a price hike or drop, but if you time it right you can get a bargain. There are certainly much more expensive options out there, but to beat Alienware's prices usually you need to go to a much smaller manufacturer. At this point, Alienware is a known factor to me and I trust them, so for me the comfort factor is worth the small amount more you may pay with Alienware than a smaller manufacturer. Perhaps their recent deal with Dell will help them bring the prices down a little if they leverage Dell's buying power. All my systems have arrived with spotless interiors and the tight wiring job Alienware is known for.

I don't know why they don't list the specific motherboard they're using at the time on their website, probably to stop someone from screaming if they didn't receive the exact part listed if they switch motherboards and fail to change the website at the same moment. But in my cases all of my email confirmations of my configuration after order included the specific parts I would receive, including the name of the motherboard, memory manufacturer, optical and hard drive makes, and the video card and sound card manufacturers.

My machines have also all come with anti-virus software, most with a norton disc for anti-virus, but the last machine came with an Asus P4C800E-Deluxe motherboard that included Trend-Micro's PCcillin on the motherboard driver cd. There can be hidden treasures on the mobo cd's... It looks like they no longer ship the binder with the manual, receipts and cd holders in them with the system unfortunately, but I think you can still order them on the website. They're very convenient for keeping specific documents handy, and the windows, motherboard driver and respawn discs in a handy place if you ever need them.

I've also noticed that the machines arrive with somewhat outdated drivers. Not sure why they don't update them quicker, but the answer they give is that they've certified the older drivers and use them to make sure any problems during run in aren't driver related. It's not too much of a hassle to update the drivers. If you're a gamer, you'll be doing that regularly anyway. You'll also want to run windows update right away to get the latest security fixes and make sure it's up to date.

I've also taken advantage of their upgrade plan where you can purchase most of the hardware they sell for 'vendor' cost for life as an existing customer. While you're under warranty they'll take the system back and perform the upgrades for you, rewire the system and run it in again so it's delivered back to you as new with the old parts included in the accessory box, all you pay is the vendor cost of the hardware. The labor and shipping one way at least is on them (they used to pay shipping both ways I believe, but this may have changed). Something to think about when considering the warranty options... Out of warranty I think they'll still do the upgrades, but you pay shipping and labor on top of the hardware vendor cost.

Of all my machines I had one video card fail after several months, and it was replaced after a call to their tech support line and explaining the video anomolies. I didn't have to do the two hour phone call, but this was quite a while ago. They replaced the card with a free upgraded card as the original was no longer available. They shipped the part to me, and I performed the replacement myself and shipped the bad card back to them. In another desktop, I configured the system with a Diamond Monster 400 (I think that was the name) sound card that had issues with a couple of my games. I contacted support and they told me that they'd recently identified the issue and they were aware of it, and they allowed me to swap the card out with a more expensive soundblaster for no charge, and they paid the shipping.

It's a little disappointing to see the video card fail in your computer, but at least it sounds like it worked for a while before starting to cause issues. I'm sure receiving a computer with a dead part in it from the get go isn't very confidence inspiring when it comes to QA, so I'm glad that wasn't the case here apparently. It does sound like they're continuing to work on support though, your quick turn around time and having no problems with the returned system is good to read, as is the fact that they called afterwards to make sure everything was fine with your system.

My last computer was built into the "Alienhead" case like yours. I've learned that once you find the sweet spot on the front door, and side door cover, it's very easy to get it to open with light pressure. I can open it with little pressure, but my wife hasn't figured it out quite yet, so she has more difficulty. It can be fiddly to get the side door off and realigned just right and get the fan plugged in. The space black paint finish on mine is quite a bit better than the finish on yours judging by the pictures. I myself am not too picky about the case though, and most manufacturers that offer high quality paint charge quite a bit for it. I prefer the eye candy to be on the screen...

It would be cool if the outer bezels of the case were metal, but I'd imagine that would cost quite a bit. I myself don't move the case around much, so I've never worried about the outer bezels being plastic, though I have moved it around and not found worrying about any breakage to be a concern. I remember when they first introduced this case on their forums, and their goals were to have a unique alien themed case that didn't significantly add to the bottom line. I like the looks of the case with the AlienIce optional lighting in the side fan and front openings, as well as the little eyes lighting up on the alienhead logo on the door. Looks pretty cool in a dark room.

I hope to see you review a top end 7500 or ALX sometime.

Great review.

I have to say that I'm impressed by the the quality of the Alienware system. I am one of those people who has long thought that Alienware was simply lots of overpriced sizzle, and not enough quality steak. I still think they're overpriced, and all that Alien***** turns me off, but, I'm glad to see they build a quality product with quality service.

As a side note. Chris, it seems most of these systems you're reviewing come with outdated video drivers. What do you think is the story there?

qdemn7 said:

I have to say that I'm impressed by the the quality of the Alienware system. I am one of those people who has long thought that Alienware was simply lots of overpriced sizzle, and not enough quality steak. I still think they're overpriced, and all that Alien***** turns me off, but, I'm glad to see they build a quality product with quality service.

As a side note. Chris, it seems most of these systems you're reviewing come with outdated video drivers. What do you think is the story there?

Click to expand...

For some it may be a balance between proper validation of everything they include in a computer, and providing the latest, most cutting edge components and drivers in their products. That goes doubly for larger integrators where a large amount of sales to a varied segment of users may crop up issues they didn't test for. I know that at BOXX, where they shipped around 500 units of various utility a month (back in 2003-2005), they had LENGTHY validation processes for EVERYTHING that went into a PC. I used to do validation on their high end $25,000 HD editing boxes, and each time a component or updated driver was released, I'd have to rerun all tests and scenerios to make sure it worked.

That doesn't discount the possibility that some companies may just not care to update their builds as quickly as other. Typically you'll have an OS build for a couple of different base systems that is "ghosted" onto a completed system, and updating one driver requires rebuilding the "master" load.

Most smaller boutiques are quicker on the draw when it comes to utilizing the latest drivers. One thing that is a fairly reliable trend with ATI and NVIDIA is that most of the time newer drivers are always better, or provide bug fixes at the very least. However, a new driver doesn't necessary invalidate an old one, but a very outdated driver may have issues with newer games.

It's a careful balance, that's for sure.

Like chris said, I agree that it's a good thing [H] do get pc's with problems.

I'd say its a lot easier to get tech support to sort out an actual problem, rather than one you've made up.

In general, not every system sent out is 100% perfect. I've had two systems from OEM manufacturers (A packard bell in 98, and a Time in 2002) that both developed problems 6 months down the line. For the record, Packard Bell's tech support was wonderful. They actually sent a guy out to my home address to sort the problem, and the next day at that (Which was a dead hard-drive), where as Time (As anyone whos in the UK and has dealt with them) was a nightmare. I had to send the system to them, and it took two weeks to be returned (Again, a dead hard-drive).

Another good review guys. I eagerly await the next one. I've read all of the reviews so far, and i'm very impressed. If I didnt live in the UK, theres no doubt that some of these guys would have got some business from me and my friends.

One suggestion though, I think you could do with more "budget" system reviews. You know, for the people that don't want to spend thousands of mulah, but still want a semi-decent system capable of running a few games.

Chris_Morley said:

We never give a perfect multimedia score for a system with a single core processor. It's just relative performance compared to what you COULD purchase, and doesn't negatively affect the bottom line score. You could still score a 10/10 perfect bottom line score (though we've never given one) and score less than perfect in any category.

It's the same with gaming, a single 7800GT is going to provide an exceptional gaming experience, but it's just not the same as have a high end SLI setup.

Click to expand...

i think you should rethink the individual category scoring system, as it's being unfair to midrange and lower end systems. the systems' ratings should be based on what should reasonably be accepted of such a system. knocking off points because the performance wasn't up to par with a higher priced solution doesn't make sense. i could see taking off points if a system came with an onboard sound card that scratched and popped, as that would effect multimedia, but saying that a system can't score a perfect 10 in a category because there's a better (more expensive) system out there is not the way to go (imo). even if the system wasn't performing relative to it's price, that should come out of the value section. another example of where i'd take off individual category points would be if a company did something to diminish the performance of it's hardware (like dell putting software on that slowed down multimedia and gaming performance), because the system is underperforming for it's spec. most people go from the approach that there's a possible amount of points to start with in each category, and points are deducted for deficiencies in a system, which in this case would be misleading.

that said, i think there's a lot more worth in the review itself than the score at the end. i know alot of people like numbers, and you do need them to rank the systems (if you wish to create a ranking), but i'd argue that the reviewer's experience stands on it's own and numbers aren't even necessary. after reading a review, the individual user makes his/her own decision on the company's product and support.

+
fast gpu (although 7900GT is much better bang for buck)
possible sli down the road
above average components (which can also be a - since we look for "top notch")
great psu
overall the system is upgradeable which is quite nice

-
pathetic cpu (for 2k people build dual-core systems)
just adequate memory - 2x1GB even with higher latencies is better imho
fugly, cheap ass case
99$ for wiring (not everyone gets it for free you know)
do I need to mention the price

just my .02$ (I don't have a cent key in a turkish keyboard)

I find it hard to believe that you gave this system an 8.8 out of 10. Especially when it is the largest known custom gaming system builder on the market where you pay the pretty penny extra for the support and name.

Then to find out that they didn’t even test the computer for simple errors that widely used benchmarking applications and games brought out in the system. Then on top of that they had outdated Nvidia drivers installed on this rig? A PERFORMANCE GAMING RIG!

You have to take into account that some n00b would have likely picked up this machine. Even if the video card had no errors, it still would have been nice if they actually tested out the system prior to shipping just to pick up on any errors that the system may have encountered. A simple stress test can detect many issues, issues that where not even present in this review. Then on top of that seeing how Alienware used out of date video card drivers that MAY have impacted his gaming (depending on what games he plays and at what settings.) For Joe Gamers money, Alienware better update his computer to the latest and greatest drivers AND TEST THEM since that is what Joe Gamers money is going towards.

This is not Dell we are talking about, where some house wife will be using it for Internet Explorer and MS Word, where driver updates are the least of her concern. Even then for the sense of stability it’s always nice to have an up to date box.

IMO this review deserved no better than a 6.0 out of 10. And if this was a Dell XPS review, I honestly belive that the review would have not left on such a high note.

about the drivers I totally disagree with the stability concern, just like BurntToast suggests if a noobie picked up the case - to play a recently published game - and if the newest nvidia driver available included a fix for the noob to play the game properly, he/she would be rightly pissed. alienware is better off including some sort of software to update the drivers automatically the first time you log on to windows if anything...

I figured I'd chime in on this as I've just recently bought an Alienware (was delivered last week). Let me preface this by saying the last 4 pc's I built myself and quite frankly I didn't have the time anymore, I had the money for an Alienware and I wanted someone else to warrant and support the product. I did order mine at the time of the $100 instant rebate as well as a free 1 GB upgrade in RAM. So far I'd have to say I've been relatively pleased, the machine came well-packed, was shipped on time and runs smoothly. When I was pricing it out for similar PC's at the time, falcon-northwest, voodoo, and Dell all came in higher.

In the end, I could have probably built a machine for $500 or so cheaper, but I paid for an aesthetic look, water-cooling (that I've never tried doing myself and am a bit fearful), and support. If you have the money and they're offering updgrades or rebates, I'd seriously consider looking into one. I will agree that their support is not always up to par, however, from purchasing business machines from Dell I find there's little difference.

Oh and to note, all of my drivers/bios were in fact up to date, I did stress test and at this time the machine has had no issues.

If anyone cares I can post my specs.

BurntToast said:

I find it hard to believe that you gave this system an 8.8 out of 10. Especially when it is the largest known custom gaming system builder on the market where you pay the pretty penny extra for the support and name.

Then to find out that they didn’t even test the computer for simple errors that widely used benchmarking applications and games brought out in the system. Then on top of that they had outdated Nvidia drivers installed on this rig? A PERFORMANCE GAMING RIG!

You have to take into account that some n00b would have likely picked up this machine. Even if the video card had no errors, it still would have been nice if they actually tested out the system prior to shipping just to pick up on any errors that the system may have encountered. A simple stress test can detect many issues, issues that where not even present in this review. Then on top of that seeing how Alienware used out of date video card drivers that MAY have impacted his gaming (depending on what games he plays and at what settings.) For Joe Gamers money, Alienware better update his computer to the latest and greatest drivers AND TEST THEM since that is what Joe Gamers money is going towards.

This is not Dell we are talking about, where some house wife will be using it for Internet Explorer and MS Word, where driver updates are the least of her concern. Even then for the sense of stability it’s always nice to have an up to date box.

IMO this review deserved no better than a 6.0 out of 10. And if this was a Dell XPS review, I honestly belive that the review would have not left on such a high note.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts. The simple fact is though a system may score low in a category like gaming or multimedia, the fact is not all systems are targeted towards that niche. Of course we convey that in the score but weight it differently depending on the price and target of a machine.

About the issues we had with the Aurora 5500. We spent about 60 hours with the machine before it exhibited the problems we saw. Quite simply it was a component failure that most likely could not have been caught in even a comprehensive burn in situation. The time to ship definitely would not have been acceptable for most consumers. What is important is how a company fixes your problems. A company as large as Alienware would not have gotten as big by purposefully selling crappy systems. It's just not possible to continually grow at a substantial rate by doing so. Alienware sales were $225 million last year.

The bottom line is that if Alienware would have installed even slightly newer drivers and had charged less, they would have scored well into the 9's.

As for your Dell XPS comment, we have been absolutely objective in all our evaluations. We have no grudge against Dell, and we gave them a fair shake. If this had had a Dell logo on it we would have scored it exactly the same way.