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General discussion

Alienware Review by Computer Gaming World

by gamerdad Apr 12, 2005 9:58AM PDT

For those of you into computer gaming like me, this should prove enlightening. I just received my copy of Computer Gaming World (April 2005) and headed straight for the gaming hardware section. There is a review of the Alienware 7700 gaming notebook there.

I recently bought a "mobile desktop" as the (high end gaming notebooks are called now) from Widow PC. So, I was dismayed to see that the Alienware 7700 beat the previously reviewed Widow PC Sting 9096 in performance tests. I bought my Sting because the March edition of Computer Gaming World rated Widow PC as the fastest gaming notebook.

So, I got out my March copy of Computer Gaming World (CGW) and found that the Widow PC Sting 9096 that CGW reviewed featured an nVidia 6800 go (256mb ram). Whereas the Alienware 7700 that they reviewed featured the newer and faster ATI Radeon x800 mobility (256mb ram). Despite that the Alienware 7700 only passed up the Widow PC Sting 9096 by a few frames per second. After reading, anandtech's face-off of the nVidia 6800 go versus the ATI Radeon x800 mobility, it's obvious that the x800 is going to trump anything else out there. (see the link above)

I'm hoping Widow PC will submit a similarly specced laptop to CGW for review so that the two companies can be reviewed on a level playing field (ie both with ATI's x800 mobility video card).

Personally, I have the x800 version but I've added so much stuff to my resident memory that I know my benchmarking would be screwed up. My bet is the Widow PC at least breaks even and maybe even pulls ahead since it seemed to beat the rest of the gaming laptops hand's down in the March edition.

References used in this article:
- Computer Gaming World
-- not available online
- Alienware
-- http://www.alienware.com
- Widow PC
-- http://www.widowpc.com
- ATI x800 mobility versus the nVidia 6800 go
-- http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2268&p=5
- ATI
-- http://www.ati.com
- nVidia
-- http://www.nvidia.com

Anyone else notice this disparity in the CGW review? I'm interested to know if anyone has an Alienware AND a Widow PC of similar specs and has reliable benchmarking skills.

Discussion is locked

4 Posts
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Did the review cover support and repair?
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Apr 12, 2005 10:22AM PDT

There's a few disgruntled owners that have posted here. One had a 1.5 year old laptop with a dead board and Alienware said "Sorry, we don't have the parts."

Imagine if you plunked it down and in 18 months it was a doorstop?

Bob

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I'm happy with WidowPC tech support
by gamerdad Apr 26, 2005 7:14AM PDT

Yeah. I have heard that as well.

So far WidowPC has been awesome. I needed some tech support due to some nasty virus and I got someone on the phone right away and they were really easy to talk with. Technically, viruses are not covered in the warranty but they didn't charge me anyway. I actually had a good time talking about World of Warcraft while we were at it.

I highly recommend WidowPC. I'm seriously considering getting one of the Arachnid SLI systems. Dual 64 bit processors with dual video cards is hard to beat and the price is waaay lower than an Alienware ALX system.

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Alienware
by UKBananas May 22, 2005 11:46PM PDT

Hi There,

I have recently ordered a 7700 mobile desktop from Alienware, I've been uncertain which video card to go for, but I've finally decided on the ATI X800 Mobility.

One thing - for future reference does Widow have a UK outlet? I went for Alienware as they are in the UK and have a good finance deal. Should I have gone for the 2 year support option do you think? (instead of 1 year)

Best regards,

Nick from London.

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Alienware Vs. WidowPC
by Wyler6 May 24, 2005 2:47PM PDT

It just so happens that i do have a WidowPC and an Alienware ''mobile desktop'' on my desk. Both systems have 2GB DDR2, 200GB (2x100GB hard disks RAID 1), nVidia GeForce 6800 GO 256MB DDR3, and 17'' WSXGA+ displays. The systems are exact except for the CPU. The Sting 917 has the Intel P4 660 3.6GHZ 2MB cache and the 7700 has the Intel P4 560J 3.6GHZ 1MB cache. Each system was a minimal install (OS and Drivers).

I ran 3DMark05 to bench the systems. The Sting 917 Scored 3711 and the alien scored 3700. Looking at the details there were only .2 FPS difference in the two systems. So what that tells me is, there is no real significant difference in the system.

In fact after some careful research a company called Clevo is the original system manufacture for both these companies and for many others.

As for which company to go with, I would choose which ever company you feel better with. I can say I have had a pleasant experience with Alienware and my co-worker has had a pleasant experience with WidowPC.

Hope this helps and does not confuse anyone more than I already am.

Jamie

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