So someone I know is selling an Alienware laptop to me for $300. It seems like a good price considering that it is an Alienware, with pretty good specs, but wanted to see if you guys think this is worth picking up or not. I’ve been needing a laptop and I think I might bite on this. Here are the specs:
Year: 2011
Model: M14x R1
CPU: i7-2630QM @ 2.00GHz
RAM: 6 GB
HDD: 500 GB
GPU: Geforce GT 555M
14 inch screen with 1600 x 900 resolution
It seems to be in excellent condition, providing everything check outs. I’m not looking to really game on it, besides some light stuff that I’m sure it can handle. My biggest worry is that it’s a 4 year old laptop, would I be better off buying a newer laptop or is this too good to pass off?
Even new Alien-ware are good products. People who say otherwise are just being internet armchair experts who have no idea what they are talking about.
I would try to drop linux on that sucker. Dell has had some good compatibility with ubuntu in the past. So drivers might be well supported for it. Fedora 22 has been flawless for me on about everything I throw it at. Would be a hell of a workstation productivity PC for 300 bux very nice!
I completely agree, my Alienware has been a bjtch as far as drivers go, and I've had a lot of problems with different Linux distros I've tried to use on it. Not that Dell updates their drivers, but it's all that really works...
Alienware is pretty specific to it's drivers because they work for what it was designed for. Alienware updates its drivers as needed, rather than to keep pace with the market, and for the most part it works and keeps their systems stable for what they do.
My alienware laptops are all pretty stable and long lasting systems.
The only problem is that if you need to buy a replacement part for an Alienware, good luck. Not enough people will buy Alienware to make a demand for replacement parts. A lot of that is due to the shitty attitude towards alienware and the bashing. They make great baseline systems and good purchases, but they don't sell enough units to get a good supply of spare parts on the market. Kinda sucks, but at least their hardware lasts a long time and it's not built cheap. Check out a Sager/Clevo rebrand vs an Alienware and you'll see the immediate quality difference. Alienware are built like a tank and handle so much more abuse for a similar cost.
I completely agree, I wasn't trying to bash Alienware at all, in fact I'm very happy with mine and I've had is since 2012. But like you said, they don't keep up with the market and unfortunately upgrading OS/using different OS's doesn't always work very well.
I've got the classic Killer N 1103 driver issue where it drops into limited connection randomly all the time, and I've run into roughly 200 other people with the same issue all related to the fact that Dell's drivers haven't been updated to address the bugs related to an OS upgrade.
I definitely don't like the negative stigma people attach to Alienware (or gaming laptops in general), especially because for people like myself they can be perfect for a mobile lifestyle.
That's actually a Killer Wireless issue not really Alienware's fault. I know I've talked to Alienware about it before, and they've gotten little to no support for Killer stuff in the past. But people keep demanding it so they keep stocking it to meet consumer demands.
That's why I went with the 6250N card instead because I knew Intel actually cared enough to do proper drivers. I have centrino cards in all 3 of my laptops and they never have an issue.
Yeah, I'm very much considering doing some maintenance to my laptop (adding ssd, repasting GPU/CPU, removing keyboard to clean underneath, etc.), and I've been looking into replacing my wireless card. It's a shame because I really like the Killer cards, they're amazing and aside from drivers I was very happy with its performance.
Yeah im really happy with the intel centrino wifi cards, they do pretty fantastically.
The drivers to install are kinda hard to track down on intel's site. but I found em. Very nice wifi cards. I have a 2 6250s in 2 of laptops and a 2230 in my oldest laptop. They do very well.
from what I was told by dell alienwares can have there warrenty extended as long as the laptop is under 5 years old and is in operating condition with no physical damage.