- 7,689
- Michigan
- Rallywgn81
◆ SNAIL [Spec] Racing - Currently Recruiting for GT7 - JOIN TODAY!!Open
- Thread starter zer05ive
- 150,052 comments
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Dragonwhisky
Premium
- 6,860
- the land of green, hills, rocks & whiskey
- Dragonwhisky
Yeah, Dell bought Alienware when they discovered their XPS line wasn't nearly as BA as they thought. I can't vouch for either line being the best but I've always read good things about Alienware. But that was before Dell bought them out. Asus has a line of laptops that I've heard good things about as well.
- 3,073
- Charlottesville
- dabneyd
- deadguy79
Laptops are all the same. There's really not much variation in components anymore; there are only a few component manufacturers. When it comes down to it, get the most RAM, the fastest hard drive, and the best display adapter you can afford. If you can afford an SSD, get it. You'll be amazed how much faster everything is. My past couple of computers have been MacBook Airs. Even with a significantly slower processor the Air feels as fast as a MacBook Pro.
- 7,689
- Michigan
- Rallywgn81
I'm not yet sold on the SSD's. I'll give them a few years, I've heard of quite a few people running into issues with them, including my bro in law and a good friend. I'm going to disagree on not much variation though. Most of the name brands make their own motherboards, and intergrate teh graphics and audio boards. there are lots of variations and a good motherboard is as important as getting a good graphics card or lots of ram when it comes to performance. ASUS and Alienware are by far better then most namebrands out there in regards to their motherboard and supporting hardware. If I could go back in time I would get an AW and not the macbook pro. Hindsight being what it is. I think in the higher end there is definitly differences. Once you get about $1000 and up. $800 and below, i agree, it pretty much gets to be about the same.
- 1,009
- KC Missouri
- Da_Panda_Bear
So I made a video to show you guys what I get to work with quite often and your comment is quite relevant and ironic.
I am tripping over myself a little bit. I only got a few hours of sleep last night and my speaking unit wasn't functioning properly yet. http://youtu.be/MVD3v2RUYRY
- 3,073
- Charlottesville
- dabneyd
- deadguy79
The computer makers aren't making their own motherboards. Intel, Foxconn, Asus, and a few others are making motherboards. When it comes down to it, everyone is making the same thing. DDR3, relatively similar bus speeds for memory, 6GB/sec SATA, USB3, you see where I'm going. You're really not going to see any difference between similar products from different brands. The real differences are going to be in the quality of the enclosure and the quality of the display.
Rally, why would you get the Alienware over a Mac?
Rally, why would you get the Alienware over a Mac?
- 232
- Phoenix, AZ
- martin20az
- 5,911
- Texas
- zer05ive
I've had an Alienware M11x three and half years (it's badass!), but I only purchased a 1-year warranty with it. Earlier this year, I was rushing across the living room (while holding it open), but my foot got caught on top of the baby gate when I tried to hurdle over it.
Unfortunately, this epic fail resulted in me using my open Alienware to break my fall. 
When it slammed into the ground, the screen snapped back and forced the screen enclosure around the hinges break. I then called Dell/Alienware (two years after my warranty had expired) and they shipped me protective box with a prepaid label. I had the my laptop back as good as new in less than a week. Considering Dell bought Alienware back in 2006, I'd say they're taking care of the brand. 👍
- 4,499
- Tampa, Fl
- Ice_Warden
Anyone who has not switched to SSD and is even remotely interested in performance needs to switch ASAP. I have been using SSD for three years with zero issues.
The performance gains are well documented on ANY tech site. To say you aren't "sold" on it yet just means you haven't done any real research on it.
Dabney is also correct about laptop hardware. Most name brands out there source their components from the same place. Most run of the mill stuff comes from Foxconn. I personally use Windows so a Mac is out. But my laptop is an Asus and I have been building my own PCs since the early 90's with Asus motherboards and have NEVER had a failure. As soon as I bought my laptop I took out the 500gb and put it in my PS3 and put 256gb SSD in the laptop.
Use the SSD as a boot drive with all your programs and put any extra stuff (I am a full time photographer) on regular hard drives. I have over 10TB of photos on various WD hard drives.
It's not just a speed advantage in SSD, it's everything...nearly shockproof as well with no mechanical parts. You can drop it off a building with no problems. No heat buildup, less power consumption and zero noise. It is a mature technology.
Horse riders probably weren't sold on the benefits of cars either...but look at us now.
The performance gains are well documented on ANY tech site. To say you aren't "sold" on it yet just means you haven't done any real research on it.
Dabney is also correct about laptop hardware. Most name brands out there source their components from the same place. Most run of the mill stuff comes from Foxconn. I personally use Windows so a Mac is out. But my laptop is an Asus and I have been building my own PCs since the early 90's with Asus motherboards and have NEVER had a failure. As soon as I bought my laptop I took out the 500gb and put it in my PS3 and put 256gb SSD in the laptop.
Use the SSD as a boot drive with all your programs and put any extra stuff (I am a full time photographer) on regular hard drives. I have over 10TB of photos on various WD hard drives.
It's not just a speed advantage in SSD, it's everything...nearly shockproof as well with no mechanical parts. You can drop it off a building with no problems. No heat buildup, less power consumption and zero noise. It is a mature technology.
Horse riders probably weren't sold on the benefits of cars either...but look at us now.
- 7,689
- Michigan
- Rallywgn81
don't get me wrong. my mac has been a decent unit, up until the point that 10.6 stopped being supported by pretty much everyone.
Then there is this. Apple being one of the worst polluters. Along with whom they buy tin from in Indonesia.
Alienwares computers are made in America, which I also like. I may not yet be the most savvy when it comes to companys and their environmental impact. But it is something that has become more important to me. And to be completely honest, I don't think it lived up to its "hype." I'm not a fan how how "propriatary" Apple gets. All of their accessories are over priced, and replacing things like the battery is a pain. i've had to replace 3 memory cards, all coming from Apple through the Apple Store. The DVD drive also went south shortly after I purchased the computer, the second one is on its way out now. My buddies Alienware laptop on the other hand has been going strong for the same amount of time owning (3 years now) has far more options to upgrade, has way more support in software and hardware, cost as much and runs faster/better. I can't even get my gamer2 to connect with my mac because the software I need isnt supported on the version of Mac OS X I have. And I've not paying to upgrade to a newer OS.
Then there is this. Apple being one of the worst polluters. Along with whom they buy tin from in Indonesia.
Alienwares computers are made in America, which I also like. I may not yet be the most savvy when it comes to companys and their environmental impact. But it is something that has become more important to me. And to be completely honest, I don't think it lived up to its "hype." I'm not a fan how how "propriatary" Apple gets. All of their accessories are over priced, and replacing things like the battery is a pain. i've had to replace 3 memory cards, all coming from Apple through the Apple Store. The DVD drive also went south shortly after I purchased the computer, the second one is on its way out now. My buddies Alienware laptop on the other hand has been going strong for the same amount of time owning (3 years now) has far more options to upgrade, has way more support in software and hardware, cost as much and runs faster/better. I can't even get my gamer2 to connect with my mac because the software I need isnt supported on the version of Mac OS X I have. And I've not paying to upgrade to a newer OS.
- 492
- United States
- Adventuruss
- Disasteruss
Good luck to all the people going to the GTA finals. Wish I could have spent some time doing TT's this year. Maybe next year then.
- 7,689
- Michigan
- Rallywgn81
One nice thing about a horse, you can get wasted drunk, and it will get you home. So long as it knows where home is.
- 3,073
- Charlottesville
- dabneyd
- deadguy79
Dude, you can sign into my Apple account and download 10.8 if you want. On the RAM issue, you know you don't have to buy anything from Apple, right? A Mac is a PC. They use the same ram, same hard drives, same processors. Don't replace that internal DVD drive when it dies; get a cheaper USB or firewire one.
- 7,689
- Michigan
- Rallywgn81
All the stuff through the apple store was warranty. So I didn't pay a dime. As for the os. I'm up to date. I'm just not rely pleased with the company as a whole anymore. I used ti be a huge mac addict (even subscribed to the mag) but in recent years their quality had dropped, and their prices have bloated, even more then they were. You can but a comparable pc or laptop for hundreds less. The value just isn't there for me anymore. Any money I have now is going into upgrading my pc anyway, so I'm not really worriedabout it now.
- 3,073
- Charlottesville
- dabneyd
- deadguy79
Ah, good. I used to be a hardcore PC guy, but OSX changed my mind. I remember installing the OSX preview on an old blue and white G3. The way it looked was a revelation. Once they switched to Intel processors, there was not reason to not use a Mac. In terms of value, at my last job, our users wanted thin ultrabooks, and we compared Toshiba, Samsung, Dell, and Apple. The MacBook air was $200 less than the cheapest competitor (the Samsung) and it had every single feature any of the other choices had. I was even able to deploy Windows to the Macs using Windows deployment services.
That said, there is no competition in the low end between Apple and everyone else. Apple chooses not to even compete in that market. I still build my own desktops though. I don't think I could bring myself to buy a desktop computer from anyone. I enjoy picking my own parts and putting it all together.
That said, there is no competition in the low end between Apple and everyone else. Apple chooses not to even compete in that market. I still build my own desktops though. I don't think I could bring myself to buy a desktop computer from anyone. I enjoy picking my own parts and putting it all together.
- 7,689
- Michigan
- Rallywgn81
Yep. That was the route I went with my desktop. I bought a bare bones unit from ibuypower.com with a BA Asus motherboard and case. Now I'm going through and upgrading and replacing. I'll be young the memory to 16 gigs, then I'll be looking at replacing the power supply, graphics card and adding water cooling. My processor is clocked normally at 4ghz. Once I add water cooling I'll be bumming that up with the Asus overclocking software. Should be good for some triple monitor, multi sound card sim racing after that. Right, forgot to mention I'll be adding an extra sound card too.
- 3,073
- Charlottesville
- dabneyd
- deadguy79
My next PC upgrade is going to be a better video card and more RAM. I'm already running a six core processor, 8GB RAM, 60GB SSD boot drive, 2 mirrored 1TB drives, and a video card I don't recall off the top of my head. I really want triples, but I'm reluctant to give up my 28" display. I doubt I'll be able to find two more 28" that use 16x10 aspect.
- 7,711
- Indiana-USA
- OwensRacing
Handlebar
Premium
- 3,969
- Herndon, VA
- HandlebarMustash
Suppose you could say I'm decent.I design and program CNC.
I use these two daily basically.
MasterCam
TorchMate CAD
Proficient with ACAD too.
Hurrah! I'll PM you with a (limited) number of newbie questions, if that's OK.
Have a working Printrbot Plus that I am really enjoying, but I want more ability to make or customize what I print. I'm pretty limited to published *.STL files now and I have some basic custom items I want to make. Including some SNAIL related ones.... (hint).
The local hackerspace has a nice laser CNC that I'm going to get some training on.
- 7,689
- Michigan
- Rallywgn81
yep, 16:9 1080p killed 16:10 almost over night. I gotta imagine you can find some on amazon though, they were popular for a few years.
