Recent content by Indefatigable

It depends on your luck, really. Some get good customer service. Others do not. No one can guarantee that you will get good or poor service.

"Overrated" by whose measure? What does the word even mean?

This depends on what you want. If you want to eke as much performance as possible from your system, the Alienware is slightly better. It supports BIOS CPU overclocking and has the option to disable Optimus. The AW's warranty is much better, but Alienware's customer service is a bit of a gamble...

The Alienware 18 has mediocre fan profiles and CPU power throttling at the moment. I expect Dell to release a BIOS to fix those issues, but I don't know when that will happen. It still out-performs every other laptop including the competing Clevo P375SM, but I would wait for a resolution before...

When you buy an Alienware, you are paying for Dell's warranty, a factory-unlocked BIOS in which you can overclock and change voltage, decent cooling, and a laptop that you can drop without worrying about damage. If you don't care about any of those things, then buy something else. I think that...

The new Alienware 14 has the only decent 14" screen that I know of. The Blade's screen is not for the trash, but it's even worse than the old m14x screens. If you insist on 14" and want a good screen and thin profile, you might have to give up performance and buy the Thinkpad T440s, which I...

Falcon Northwest sells Clevos (the chassis on which Sagers are based). I cannot think of any reason to buy a Clevo from Falcon NW besides the paint jobs it offers. Your main choices are Clevos, MSIs, ASUS ROG, and Alienware laptops.

Cooling is about the same, but the Alienware runs a bit louder and has intake vents on the bottom. Opening the AW's case does not void the warranty, but I think that ASUS voids its warranty if you change anything other than a hard drive. The AW has more upgrade options: the ASUS has a soldered...

New is better than used, and the Lenovo uses more recent hardware. On the other hand, you can beat your neighbor to death with the m17x and it will take minimal damage. Tough choice.

The Lenovo Thinkpad T530, Dell Latitude E6530/E6540, and HP Elitebook 8570p are decent choices. I'm not certain that the Elitebook gets more than four hours of battery life though.

The AW 14 has better cooling than the MSI and is probably better-built, but it's about as bulky as a high-end 15-inch laptop. In fact, no good options exist under fifteen inches.

I prefer the Razer, but I don't know if it is $1000 better. The Razer seems to have better build quality, design, and cooling. The MSI is lighter, has more options for hardware, and potentially better customer service through resellers.

Well, if you want, I can find you "discouraging reviews" about every other brand. Anyway, the Lenovo y510 with 750m SLI is only a good deal for under $1200.

Are you sure you want to spend everything? Alienware and ASUS ROG have the best cooling and chassis strength in this class. The Alienware 17 and 18 are much easier to upgrade, come with better warranties, and have sturdier chassis, but the ASUS G750 is quieter and cheaper. If I thought to...

Don't look for "cheap Alienwares." Buy them from Dell or buy something else.