Enjoy
the Worst of All Worlds: Weight, Heat, Excessive
Noise, and Rest Assured that you are totally
screwed if your particular computer is a lemon.
 |
| I purchased a 7700M in April of 2005 and the
trouble began the moment my computer
arrived. This thing runs HOT. I mean
REALLY hot. One is advised to keep ones
body parts away from either the sides
or the bottom of this "Mobile Workstation"
to prevent burns. The 4 fans in my 7700M
were no doubt noisy in even a properly
functioning model, however, my new computer
had a squealing CPU fan that you could
hear from another room- this high pitched
shrieking sound that just makes music
production or any productive work very
very difficult.
|
When I initially contacted Alienware
customer support I was told this was
"normal for new technology".
The 7700M is actually a Clevo computer,
made in China, and accessorized and
rebranded as an Alienware. The computer
weighs about 12.5 pounds and the power
supply an additional 4 pounds. For all
the high end components contained within
the 7700M (915 chipset, a FULL DESKTOP
Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 800Mhz FSB
3.2Ghz, DDR2 Ram, 7200rpm SATA drive
with RAID controller...) it benchmarked
worse than my previous 865 based Mobile
Pentium based system but I digress...
Further attempts to service the defect
met little response. I was told that
I could send it back to be examined
and repaired. At this point this computer
was my main computer as I had purchased
it for the purpose of a musical tour
in Europe. I asked if a replacement
could be sent out prior to me shipping
it back and was told this was not possible. |
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Two friends of mine had
purchased Alienware laptops, one of whom
had purchased the same model: the 7700M.
He had to send his back twice. Each time
the motherboard was replaced and it was
sent back to him. The second time it came
back it functioned. The total time he
was missing his computer amounted to about
two months. He mentioned that I should
contact HIS support representative as
he had been helpful. His representative
did help me to logically isolate the location
of the squealing sound to the CPU fan.
At this point I had to leave for my tour
and decided to pursue this matter more
later. Approximately 2 weeks later the
internal soundcard stopped working. This
is a hardware issue as subsequent OS installs
and driver installs have not fixed the
issue. No matter, I purchased and use
an external soundcard now, however there
are some circumstances in which the internal
soundcard is the only thing that will
do. |
I corresponded with various Alienware
representatives and finally found one
that seemed like he was going to help
me on these matters. I asked for a replacement
or loaner computer while this computer
was to be repaired and was told that
this time this was possible, however
the loaner would be a desktop computer,
sans monitor. I informed him that I
had various musical gigs in which I
was to travel and perform with a computer
and that a laptop was necessary for
such. A few days later I was told that
I would be shipped a replacement CPU
fan and a replacement soundcard and
that a local Alienware service technician
would be contacting me about performing
a repair. I received a replacement cpu
fan and some creative pcmcia external
soundcard "solution" that
was supposed to substitute for a functioning
internal soundcard, never mind that
I already possess a high quality external
soundcard. I got a call from the local
technician. We made an appointment for
the following Monday. Approximately
one week after the scheduled day I got
a message from him saying that he had
been on vacation and wanted to see if
I still wanted to schedule the repairs.
I was in Mexico playing a gig at the
time I received this message. I have
not contacted him back on this matter.
I sent an email to the same support
representative that I had been discussing
these issue with that basically stated
that I was done playing games and that
I wanted either my money back or a new
functioning computer. I have not to
this date received a response at all
on this matter. There has been no follow
up calls, no emails. Alienware has terrible
customer service in my opinion and does
not deserve your hard-earned money.
(UPDATE: I have now received replies
from Alienware- basically they are trying
to threaten me to shut up- saying this
website violates my sales agreement...) |
PS: Their warranties - whether 6 month or 3
year extended- are NON-TRANSFERRABLE.
Yes you heard that right. I'm not sure
if this is even legal. Alienware warranties
are non-transferrable. If you succeed
in selling your lemon of a computer
(not likely- look at the prices these
things go for and look at how long they
sit there unsold on EBay...) it will
be sans-warranty.
|
| I am inclined to think that Alienware
never performed any Quality Control
upon my computer prior to shipping it
to me. I do wonder what took them 2
weeks to ship my computer to me, however,
if they were not "testing"
it as they claimed in the various order-status
updates I got while waiting. |
| I will be finding all the Alienware
horror stories I can and collecting
them here to post on this website. Perhaps
a number of us should consider filing
a class-action lawsuit? My friend who
had the initial problems with the Motherboard
on his 7700M has since had an optical
drive failure and a hard drive failure.
I can only imagine it is due to the
thing running TOO HOT. Who engineered
this thing and approved it for public
consumption? My other friend, who has
a discontinued model, has had overheating
problems since day one and finally resorted
to running it clocked lower and using
one of those notebook platforms with
fans built into it to keep his cool. |
I highly suggest to potential Alienware customers
that they reconsider. Get something else. It
may look "cool" with those glowing
alien-eyes and that molded plastic stuff on
the case but it's just not worth the nightmare
you will have to go through to get anything
repaired or replaced, not to mention the downtime.
I have already discouraged several of my friends
who were considering immediate Alienware purchases
and advised them to look elsewhere. I DID endorse
the 7700M in the liner notes of my last musical
release and in several interviews in print and
web publications. I will be contacting those
folks to revise that information in the hopes
of saving others from the struggle I have been
through with this computer.
Please contact me: aaronpeacock@rocketmail.com
if you wish to complain of your Alienware issue
on this site or if you have other concerns you
would like to share.
Thank You and have a great day :)
-----------------------------------------------------
PS: so this gets MORE rich!!! they are threatening
me for violating their "sales agreement!!!"
hahahahah does this mean I get my money back
and they will take their shitty laptop back???
----------------------------------
Please refer to our Terms and Conditions.
http://www.alienware.com/Profile_Pages/Customer_Terms.aspx
Registering such domain would constitue a violation.
Regards,
Alienware Corporation
Alienware Corporation
Phone: 305.251.9797
Fax: 786.388.5668
www.alienware.com
|
My
Alienware Laptop is
a total peice of shit.
It arrived that way.
I've been bitching for
a year. I didn't even
get a reply to the last
customer support email
I sent after Alienware
was supposedly going
to replace my CPU fan.
