Alienware Assimilates Dell's Gaming Business: XPS Gaming Machines On the Way Out
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Dell is killing its four big balls XPS gaming machines (not the entire XPS line, like the standard notebooks, which are selling really well) to focus all of its juice on Alienware as its sole gaming brand. The timeline isn't overly specific, but the clock is ticking for Dell's XPS WoW notebook and their car-sized (and priced) 730 tower. We actually sorta figured this was coming.
While the cross-competition issue is obvious, our suspicions became more solid because of the bit buried in the announcement of Alienware's mondo 17-inch gaming notebook that Alienware was going to move into budget gaming PCs for more mainstream gamers. Why cannibalise themselves on both the upper and lower ends? Course, this just means the Alienware name is going to be tied even more closely to Dell, so whatever cachet left in the name is probably toast, like your wallet after buying one. [WSJ]
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For the record, upgrading the GPU in a laptop is possible, for certain companies, but is slightly difficult:
[www.mxm-upgrade.com]
PR-0927
PR-0927
NO, XPS 410, MY DREAM COMPUTER D:
man_in_gauze
I'm wanting to buy a dell xps 630 (if they ever get refreshed with the 45nm quads) but if this happens soon, they'd better have a nearly identical Alienware model.
gamecrazychris
I am considering a gaming laptop - the Dell XPS having a nice mix of price, performance and style. Alienware is overpriced, and ugly as heck.
And yeah, you can buy better desktops for cheaper, but that has been true ever since laptops came out.
But the reason for my wanting a laptop are minor portability (try hauling around a computer, keyboard/mouse, monitor, etc around), but more importantly, power consumption. The only way to have a decent PC that won't spike your electricity bills these days are going with laptops. And i'd like to replace my current desktop (drawing sub-200W) with something current, but also drawing just as much. Heck, some high end videocards draw as much as my PC! (And it's old - 800MHz)...
Worf
lol stupid dell, gaming desktops are for real pc companies!
aznplayer213
Haha Shuttle not Shittle.
cubensis
@bjarnia:
OK you pay 2x as much for a laptop that with the same money you could build a Shittle and a 20" flatscreen that WILL play Crysis for half the money. I still stand by my comments, only a retard with a lot of money and no common sense would buy one.
cubensis
@Mandatory_Field: You also forgot Mr. T!!!
Ryanraven
this seems logical. Im sure XPS machines are good but it seems pointless to have two high-end gaming lines. If they keep it just downgrade it to a multimedia machine or something.
archercc
I really like my xps 1730
I think the nice thing is I could just buy them via Dell Corporate...Alienware was a seperatate division - they need to just merge it into Dell.
twylight
@flyboy: Actually, it's obsolete when you buy it.
soggy_cheerio
You can upgrade graphics, and processor on alienwares and it plays crysis on high 20 fps
TheZomb
@cubensis:
everything is outclassed in 3 months.
everything.
flyboy
Gaming laptops for retards? Right
Maybe if you want an ULTIMATE gaming rig or something stupid like that, but anyone that buys a laptop knows it's just that.. a laptop.
So what exactly are the cons of a "gaming" laptop?
Weight/Size? I'm going to be carrying my laptop in a backpack anyway, I don't care if it's 2x heavier than a puny laptop and slightly bigger.
Not being able to upgrade the graphics card? WTF? It's a freaking laptop, you don't upgrade them. It's not like graphics cards get outdated every 3 months here... Get real.
Price? It has better hardware (as in more powerful) and as such it will obviously be more expensive.
"Outclassed in 3 months"? I partially covered that above, but seriously. Even though something that is SLIGHTLY better might come out ever 3 months, it's nothing that a sane man would even considering upgrading for. Maybe ever YEAR if you really want to stay on the bleeding edge, otherwise 2/3 year cycle will suit you fine.
bjarnia
Gaming laptops are for retards. You pay a premium for something that will be outclassed in 3 months. Also you can't upgrade the graphics card, even though you are supposed to be able to. My first 2 laptops were "gaming" laptops, a Toshiba 5005 and a Dell XPS Gen2. Never again. I will stick with my boring ass Thinkpad, although my brothers XPS 1530 is a solid machine. I am jelous of the wifi catcher and the HDMI out.
cubensis
I knew as soon as ding-dong Dell assimilated Alienware, their machines would become somewhat questionable. Lo and behold, it has happened!
Bitstuff
@soggy_cheerio: Because we all know that worse computer cases have been made. I submit for your consideration the Blue Dalamation and Flower Power Apple iMacs circa 2001.
Done puking?
And as for your comments on stackability, I completely agree! When I first started working at this company, nothing was rackmounted. Now we have a 42U enclosure full of servers and we need another one pretty bad...
Oh and I have a HTPC with a nice brushed aluminum finish, on top of which are a HT receiver and a DVD player.
So yeah, stacking rules. If your horizontal space sucks - go vertical!
jamesuschrist
That laptop looks lovely, however gaming laptops are kind of pointless. If you're seriously into gaming they're never going to have the power you need.
Oh, and...
Crysis?
Sleeper_Service
Ha ha ....well I,ve just scored a new and empty Alienware desktop case on E bay and I,m well pleased with its looks even it the plastics have the tensile strenght of cheese
fastmike
Dell sells on price mainly. I don't see where alienware fits into Dell's Plan. Alienware notebooks are twice as expensive as other notebooks and there's really not much more to them besides the alien logo.
Archbob
@Mandatory_Field: You forgot "what does porn have to do with gizmos", "this was news last week/year/decade", "I didn't read the article but I'm going to comment anyway."
nojo
@jamesuschrist: Why just say Alienware's laptop styling is awful? It's all gaudy as hell. The upper end XPS stuff is almost as bad. I prefer rackmount stuff, or stuff that that actually resembles a piece of electronics, or *gasp* a computer. That angular or wispy architectural crap is for the birds.
I am one of those people who enjoys flat boxes for my computer gear because it makes it easier to stack stuff on top of it(usually more computer stuff.) Having equipment rackmounted and housed in a closet is the way to go.
soggy_cheerio
Alienwares are ridiculously overpriced. You can get WAY better setups from various companies or by building a computer yourself than buying from Alienware.
They aren't even an option to me.
And their quality isn't too great either - you're paying for aesthetics. Even the materials aren't very solid (I've found the casing for desktops to be rather weak, as well as one laptop I saw).
- PR-0927
PR-0927
One more thing! We've got a bunch of Dell OptiPlex 330's in the building now, like 25-30. Not a single failure in a year of any sort. One arrived with a dead PSU that was repaired in-house by a Dell tech within a few days.
Also, we've been buying more and more Dell servers. Only had one failure, a HD died but it was in a RAID array so whatev...
jamesuschrist
@regnez: Oh and you are right with the Latitudes getting better, I've got a D630 and it's pretty much awesome. 7-8hrs of battery life with a media bay battery, no BS. 6 hours with everything on full blast.
Although, I must admit that the MacBook Pro 17" that fell into my hands recently is way up there on the hardware quality front. That thing is just beautiful. 3 hrs of real battery life feels anemic compared to the Dell though.
jamesuschrist
That kinda sucks, the XPS machines are the only Dells that have a few dollars worth of style. I hope they don't eventually kill the m1330/m1530.
I've always thought that all Alienware cases, especially the laptops, are butt-ugly. Like, something you'd buy for a 10 year old.
My PC is all black, boxy, and has two lights: power and hdd. I built it myself specifically from parts with 0 light output and 0% crappy looking plastic.
jamesuschrist
@rdldr1:
The quality of Dell notebooks has been questionable in the past, but their recent Latitude notebooks and refreshed Inspirons have actually been garnering some pretty good reviews.
That, and the XPS 1330/1530 are pretty much universally acclaimed.
Realizing that not everything Dell makes is top-notch, a blanketing statement such as "Everything Dell makes sucks" is not true.
That said, I am not particularly crushed to see the XPS line go. Buying a pre-built "gaming" computer has always been a costly endeavor, and gaming notebooks just don't make any sense.
regnez
@Final: That would be like saying that the iPhone would be cheaper if... if... I got nothin'. But at least I worked the iPhone in there, thereby adding one (1) mandatory comments element. Oh, and Microsoft sux (2). And in Communist Russia, Alien wears YOU (3)!
[Also Blend, Mayer, Ubuntu, and Jibba jabba. There, I think that's all of them. Oh, and Iron Man rules/Hulk sux. And I almost forgot: CES prank bad. There, now I think I've got them all.]
Mandatory_Field
Dell quality with Alienware prices is a bad mix.
rdldr1
@Final: No :)
Earthslide
But does that mean Alienware will be any cheaper?
Final