What's the best Alienware PC on the market right now?

Depends on your definition of "best"

To me, the best alienware pc is whichever one is cheapest since they're a waste of money and all look like they were designed by teenagers.

The best is the one where you steal their case and buy the parts yourself.

I'm all for using a PC builder site but Alienware is just awful.

The "best' Alienware PC is the one where you don't pay extra just so you have a box that says "Alienware" on it.

Basically speaking their "best" is the most expensive.

My dad bought the X51 ($900 version) the other day to replace his 8 year old Area 51. He gets his money's worth out of them.

If you want the best bang for your buck, custom built is the only way to go. If you got money and don't care how much you spend, just find the most expensive alienware and call it a day.

This thread is not serious. I think Jack Bauer 24 hates Alienware and just wants to fool us. Oh no you, I'm not going to play your little game, or maybe I already am posting like this--

Sounds like en episode of 24 to me.

Only if you consider the value of your time to be worthless.

Note that I do build my own PCs, but I also know that once I factor in the opportunity costs of time, I'm not saving any money, rather it's probably more expensive by a not-insignificant amount. However, the non-monetary based benefits of building it myself make it worth it.

Time is the single most valuable commodity any of us have, and why I totally understand why people go the prebuilt route.



... However, even when going the prebuilt route, AlienWare is not the answer

If I was going to recommend a prebuilt PC manufacturer, I would say go with Falcon Northwest. They make some very kick-ass systems.

Truth be told, few people actually factor in the cost of their time. Besides, 2-3 hours vs $200-$300 is worth the trade off to me. You will probably be spending those 2-3 hours cleaning off a pre-built's crap bloatware anyway.

Unless you're going with Linux or a just-released version of Windows, installing and patching adds a few more hours, whereas prebuilts usually are significantly further in the patch dept. Business-grade PCs have no bloatware and offer significant warranty incentives, and the cost increase is usually less than that unless looking at overpriced PCs like AlienWare where you're paying for the brand name.

You cannot beat a mass-produced assembly line ran by robots at breakneck speed. It's what lead the world around us to be possible and it's what makes it impossible for you to build a PC for cheaper. You lack the efficiency AND economies of scale. So instead your benefits reside in the intangibles like complete control over hardware, knowing what everything is, enjoyment, etc.

You can't get high end gaming capability from a business grade computer, my dad tried, as he is in charge of buying the computers for his work, he talked with his contacts to see if they could do anything.

Linux systems are very limited in games, so the only realistic option is Windows. Windows has the compatibility that no other OS has.

And the "intangibles " are a major part of the reason to build custom. Knowing the ins and outs of your system help you get the most out of it, and when it comes to upgrade time, chances are you don't need to buy a whole new system because your pre-built uses the lowest end parts to cut by. Building yourself gives you the personal connection to the system and how it works.

I'm not talking about someone being able to physically build a computer faster, that is just silly, but building it better, that is the whole point.