Alienware, Dell or Nova?

[Pixulated]

Basically I've got the cash for a decent laptop, something special, something that when I take to college people will be like "is that your laptop?" just like that new car advert.

The only thing is although I want the looks to look really decent the most I'm gunna do on it is homework, surfing and maybe running games like crysis for a bid of eye candy.

So which do you think I should get out of a Alienware, Dell or Nova lappy then?

[Andrew Moore]

Alienware are Dell lol! The m1730 is basically a lovely alienware with a dell badge! As for Nova, you get maybe twice for the money with nova so its a no brainer really!

Andy

[IainK]

if you want something which looks flashy and is branded and everyone will think its great, get the cheapest alienware you can possibly find however, if you want something which looks tidy and gives you great performance for the same price, go Nova, no point going Dell all or nothing i say, either go for best performance for the rice, or best 'street cred' if i'm excused from using that phrase :P

[TheMadDutchDude]

Personally, I would get a Novatech laptop.

However I have to say I am going to have to go with a Dell for my school work as they have a more suited machine for the price (sorry Novatech!) but that does not by any means put me in a situation to judge. I have yet to receive the laptop (or get confirmation that I am getting one) so I will leave the thinking to the other lads (and some lad'esses) here.

[Lambda]

Buy a Macbook Air, they may be pretty slow, and impractical, but you will ALWAYS get people wanting to have a look and play with it, if that's your thing.

[coursemyhorse]

For me I'd rather have a minging looking laptop that performed well even if it was old skool looking.

[Nox]

macbook all the way for looks, alienware for 'gamer' looks, novatech for WAY better performance/price with decent looks (on the X1)

Nox

[JoeJe]

Alienware all the way, very durable plastic, not flimsy like the thin Macbooks (esspecially the macbook air!) Dell sometimes use wierd parts (Last time I checked inside a Dell Desktop Dimension 2400) and as much as I love Novatech, they aren't as big as Alienware, and have lots of awesome reviews: http://www.alienware.co.uk/review_pages/reviews.aspx

[J1993]

could you do a custom build?

[Superewza]

Of a laptop? Not really a viable solution at the minute. It's possible, but it's very hard to do and to source the parts. That or you could be uber 1337 and mod a desktop so that it fits in a much smaller case. Wouldn't run on batteries though, and would cost a fair amount.

[pilgrim72]

Alienware all the way, very durable plastic, not flimsy like the thin Macbooks (esspecially the macbook air!) Dell sometimes use wierd parts (Last time I checked inside a Dell Desktop Dimension 2400) and as much as I love Novatech, they aren't as big as Alienware, and have lots of awesome reviews: http://www.alienware.co.uk/review_pages/reviews.aspx

Alienware are now very poor. Definitely no longer one of the best. I wouldnt touch Dell with a bl**dy great barge pole anymore, as their inherent incompatibility with so many bits of hardware that aren't sold by Dell themselves is really annoying.

Just to put it out there as an alternative, if anything, just to stimulate discussion, the MSI GTX275 (I think thats the name) is a very reasonable price with stonking performance per pound. If you're thinking of playing Crysis on a laptop you're gonna need to ensure the screen and resolution match the graphics card very well - make sure you dont get an Nvidia rebadged G92 gpu in there!

[DoubleTop]

eeepc :)

DT.

[pilgrim72]

eeepc :)

DT.

LoL - Crysis on an Eeepc... Would love to see the fps on that benchmark!

[DoubleTop]

seconds per frame, if attention is what you want, you'll certainly get it :D

DT.

[Charlotte]

Eee PC is good, but only for basic things. Mine doesnt get used so I'm selling it.

[Jano]

Being an owner of an Alienware laptop, although its too big to really be called a laptop, I can tell you that they are very good bits of kit, but you really do pay over the top for them. I have had mine for almost 3 years now, bought just before dell took over, so im not sure how it compares now.

I also think you may want to rethink the wow factor. Your going to college. There will be thieves. A bright shiny Alienware laptop, glowing and sparkling away, will be a big temptation. Might be better off getting something understated, that costs less, but does everything you want it to do, and does it well.

[scottyboy]

Personal experience is not very good with alienware, that's how i ended up here at novatech and where i ended up purchasing mine from.

[I3R0K3N7FEET]

i would suggest to pay for a top nova laptop tbh if youre after a laptop..
though personally i wouldnt spend more than £200 on one ever
wouldnt bother with a mac as with all their products theyre utter***but if you want attention they'll work as it puts you in some mythical 'cool' realm

and heres a few words i have for someone so vain they want attention via laptop..

****
*****
******
***
****
***
what kinda attention do you really want.. oooh laptop.. laptops are for girls and guys who may as well be girls.. 'ooooh laptops are great cos theyre small' like your ****

lol xD no offence of course

ps i voted for you ;)

[pilgrim72]

i would suggest to pay for a top nova laptop tbh if youre after a laptop..
though personally i wouldnt spend more than £200 on one ever
wouldnt bother with a mac as with all their products theyre utter***but if you want attention they'll work as it puts you in some mythical 'cool' realm

and heres a few words i have for someone so vain they want attention via laptop..

****
*****
******
***
****
***
what kinda attention do you really want.. oooh laptop.. laptops are for girls and guys who may as well be girls.. 'ooooh laptops are great cos theyre small' like your ****

lol xD no offence of course

ps i voted for you ;)

LoL. Death, stop beating around the bush and say what you mean, eh?

:p

[I3R0K3N7FEET]

LoL. Death, stop beating around the bush and say what you mean, eh?

:p

i hate laptops xD

[Jano]

you hate laptops because? he'd look pretty stupid carrying his desktop to a lecture to make notes...

[I3R0K3N7FEET]

you hate laptops because? he'd look pretty stupid carrying his desktop to a lecture to make notes...

in my experience not many lecturers and lessons allow people to use laptops without special permisson due to people lacking attention because they use msn etc and mess about and the clicking and typing irrtates the lecturer. besides its just my feeling not saying people shouldnt get them

[pilgrim72]

you hate laptops because? he'd look pretty stupid carrying his desktop to a lecture to make notes...


Nonsense - I used to carry my Cooler Master Cosmos around between lectures in a special wheelbarrow, along with my laser printer and 24inch screen, keyboard and mouse...

:cool:

[Lambda]

Alienware all the way, very durable plastic, not flimsy like the thin Macbooks (esspecially the macbook air!) Dell sometimes use wierd parts (Last time I checked inside a Dell Desktop Dimension 2400) and as much as I love Novatech, they aren't as big as Alienware, and have lots of awesome reviews: http://www.alienware.co.uk/review_pages/reviews.aspx

So aluminium is less durable than plastic? I wouldn't buy a non metal laptop anymore as plastic just feels so cheap, just my opinion though.

[Khaz45]

haha Death900 what a rant. I do have to agree though I'm not a fan of laptops. Hot expensive and slow, although not eco-friendly the best option is to buy cheaply and often. Anything other that simple internet use, word processing or playing a dvd will drain the battery very quickly nullifying its portability bar the use of a socket :)

[DoubleTop]

I have a Latitude E5400 with pretty much the best of what you could spec into it. Battery life of over 6hours when being conservative and about 4 when pushing it and using the 3g dongle.

I use it every day, and it's the best purchase I've made this year, downgraded to XP of cource. It's not fancy by any means, a little black box with a shiny cover that marks and shows all fingerprints, but I can't fault the hardware or drivers. One blue screen caused by using the WII fit remote with the bluetooth since I've had it :)

DT.

[I3R0K3N7FEET]

So aluminium is less durable than plastic? I wouldn't buy a non metal laptop anymore as plastic just feels so cheap, just my opinion though.


good point tbh.. i was thinking that also the macs are fully recyclable.

[asteroid]

go for Dell, Toshiba, Acer or HP

dont bother with Novatech or Alienware, both are rebadged sell generic Tiwainese models. Getting drivers online, or getting parts when out of warranty will be a nightmare, as speak from experience.

[pilgrim72]

How rude, and a terrible sweeping generalisation that is sure to be incorrect (My hipocrisy knows no bounds... :wink: )

Novatech laptops i general have a good rep recently, so really shouldn't be discounted based on historical info, same as Alienware shouldnt be bought now just because they were great several years ago...

See, what I said about hipocrisy?

[Lambda]

you hate laptops because? he'd look pretty stupid carrying his desktop to a lecture to make notes...

Students take notes in lectures??? News to me!

[arusio]

i got a samsung R710 for uni and it does a perfectly decent job, battery life is 2 hours while playing games like SINS and i can get 6 hours when used conservativly. I just spent the money i saved on the laptop on my desktop which i use for all my gaming and intensive stuff.

yes students do take notes..... but not on the subject being taught and not normally on laptops.

[Foxtrot26]

MBP for the win

[thehitmen]

I really do love Novatechs Range of Laptops, i am contimplating getting one.

But If they offered an "Apple care" for students for £50 for 3 years.

I would be sold!

[iGoD ReleNtLeS]

novatech FTW. alienware are dell, alienware charge stupidly HIGH prices for something you could get at novatech a lot cheaper. but if you wanting people to look and be impressed by the laptop then that would be the right choice.

however, if you are wanting a good lappy, and not to catch people visual attention, then novatech is the place.

[thehitmen]

novatech FTW. alienware are dell, alienware charge stupidly HIGH prices for something you could get at novatech a lot cheaper. but if you wanting people to look and be impressed by the laptop then that would be the right choice.

however, if you are wanting a good lappy, and not to catch people visual attention, then novatech is the place.

I love a laptop which looks nice ?

[Jack14112]

Alienware and Dell are the same company

[sniperdude]

read second post mate lol

[FatalSaviour]

MBP for the win

I have to say, and this is coming from the owner of 2 Dell laptops, that I'd also be tempted to get this. (Either that, or an XPS) :)
If you're eligible for Apple's Education discount, it makes the price of some of their notebooks pretty compelling (considering that what you get in a lot of them - barring the MB Air, is normally of a pretty high-end spec).

[Purplepixii]

As has been said already, Alienware & Dell are the same company now. I had an Alienware until last month when I upgraded to a custom Novatech X1. One thing worth bearing in mind; I recently found Alienware support severely lacking - i.e. there was none.

n the old days (before Dell bought Alienware) the support was great but unfortunately this is no more. Annoyingly Alienware did not update their Nvidia drivers as often as Nvidia do which was really really cr*p imo and caused major problems for me.

My tuppence worth
:cool:

[rampageturke]

Alienware all the way, very durable plastic, not flimsy like the thin Macbooks (esspecially the macbook air!)
Last time i heard, macbook airs werew made out of aluminium :rolleyes: