Alienware, should I go for it?

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  • roosevelt
    Senior Member
    • Jul 2004
    • 227
    • 5.0.X

    Alienware, should I go for it?

    Hello everyone,
    I have been thinking about buying a new computer because my current one is not suitable for Digital Video editing at all and also works like graphics and such. So, I am looking for the best computer deal... so far I liked the online finance system available by Alienware. Like, I can pay $120 per month for a $4000 computer without paying it all together. My target is computers containing the specifications of Area51 700 found in www.alienware.com. So, was wondering do you guys recommend such PCs, or better deals are out there?
    Out to Change the world!
  • filburt1
    Senior Member
    • Feb 2002
    • 6606

    #2
    God no. Part out the Alienware and you save literally $1000 as I determined from a $2500 system parted out on Newegg for $1500. Exact same components except for the case, obviously.
    --filburt1, vBulletin.org/vBulletinTemplates.com moderator
    Web Design Forums.net: vB Board of the Month
    vBulletin Mail System (vBMS): webmail for your forum users

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    • ChrisLM2001
      Senior Member
      • May 2003
      • 1451
      • 3.6.x

      #3
      If you're considering this as a video editing computer...



      with this...

      1GB Dual Channel DDR2 PC-6400 SDRAM at 800MHz
      Forget it.

      In video work memory and I/O speeds are what counts. If you can use the Windows 64 OS (and get it to work with all your drivers), you can cram 4GBs of memory and make decoding/encoding a three hour movie a breeze. Not a I/O chugging chore.

      Also put $4000 in video friendly hardware instead (which the pro level proggies will cost 3x the amount of that computer alone). One TV video production software Techi relative has goes for $10,000 alone.

      Chris
      "Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to Authority
      is not using his intelligence, he is just using his memory."
      ~~~
      Leonardo da Vinci

      Comment

      • filburt1
        Senior Member
        • Feb 2002
        • 6606

        #4
        32-bit Windows, by definition, supports up to 4 GB of memory which is about how much you want for video editing. More important are a fast hyperthreaded or dual-core processor plus ludicrously fast storage, like some sort of SCSI 10,000 or 15,000 RPM drives in a RAID configuration.

        I have yet to do any HD video editing (no HD camera) but it would be a dream to do it on a machine like that. It could still work in real-time. Uncompressed NTSC 480p video is about 6 MB/sec. At 1080p, it must be astronomical.

        edit: if you're really serious about video editing, as in it's your career, look into an Avid machine which is what the professionals all use. You can also take an alternate route and look into getting a Quad PowerMac G5 running Final Cut Pro which is quite capable.
        --filburt1, vBulletin.org/vBulletinTemplates.com moderator
        Web Design Forums.net: vB Board of the Month
        vBulletin Mail System (vBMS): webmail for your forum users

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        • ChrisLM2001
          Senior Member
          • May 2003
          • 1451
          • 3.6.x

          #5
          The 64bit system has a memory limit of 16TB. And if he ever wants to break into CGI, or at least 3D rendering, he'd be needing every bit of that memory (and looking forward to a quad processor setup)!

          On the more practical side, there's some 2D image files at NASA (for print work) that folks with 2GB of memory have a hard time opening. And with 32bit systems 2GB is the limit on applications (the rest is shared with the kernal). 64bit system can open the most high res images and videos currently available <-- which is wonderful if you want to do high res pre-press work.

          Chris
          "Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to Authority
          is not using his intelligence, he is just using his memory."
          ~~~
          Leonardo da Vinci

          Comment

          • patriotcow
            Senior Member
            • Nov 2004
            • 392

            #6
            Never understand why people buy premade when you can build your own and have money left over to make it alot better.

            Comment

            • KingSpade
              Senior Member
              • Aug 2005
              • 538
              • 3.5.x

              #7
              You're basically paying for the name with AlienWare. If you're unsure as to how to build your own computer, before you spend $4,000, I'd learn . Building your own really isn't as hard as some people make it out and you will save $1,000-$1,500 in the process.

              Comment

              • MGM
                Senior Member
                • Aug 2002
                • 3653
                • 3.6.x

                #8
                Originally posted by patriotcow
                Never understand why people buy premade when you can build your own and have money left over to make it alot better.
                Not everybody knows how to build a computer, although I usually suggest to anyone that wants to buy a new pc to go custom... Sometimes I even do it for them (with a little extra money added in for labor, of course)

                MGM out

                Comment

                • Wayne Luke
                  vBulletin Technical Support Lead
                  • Aug 2000
                  • 73981

                  #9
                  Originally posted by MGM
                  Not everybody knows how to build a computer, although I usually suggest to anyone that wants to buy a new pc to go custom... Sometimes I even do it for them (with a little extra money added in for labor, of course)
                  Even Wal-mart sells a magazine that tells you how to build your own computer in under an hour. Costs like $10.00. Of course that brings the savings of buying an alienware down to $990.00.
                  Translations provided by Google.

                  Wayne Luke
                  The Rabid Badger - a vBulletin Cloud demonstration site.
                  vBulletin 5 API

                  Comment

                  • Zachery
                    Former vBulletin Support
                    • Jul 2002
                    • 59097

                    #10
                    Originally posted by patriotcow
                    Never understand why people buy premade when you can build your own and have money left over to make it alot better.
                    Its never cheaper in all realitiy with all the extras you will need to buy.

                    Comment

                    • BamaStangGuy
                      Banned
                      • Mar 2004
                      • 1475
                      • 3.6.x

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Zachery
                      Its never cheaper in all realitiy with all the extras you will need to buy.



                      What are these extras?

                      Comment

                      • Zachery
                        Former vBulletin Support
                        • Jul 2002
                        • 59097

                        #12
                        Windows, Keyboard, Mice, Monitor, any additional software that might come with it, limited tech support.

                        Comment

                        • filburt1
                          Senior Member
                          • Feb 2002
                          • 6606

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Zachery
                          Windows, Keyboard, Mice, Monitor, any additional software that might come with it, limited tech support.
                          The only real expensive things there are Windows ($85, or luckily for me $15 when my school still sold it for that price) and a monitor ($200 for 17", $400 for 20").

                          I would consider the main downside of building a computer is no warranty. If something goes wrong, it's up to you to find out what it was and fix it. For me that's not a problem but a strong argument for those on the fence. Not that I know anything about computer fires. Don't be ridiculous.
                          --filburt1, vBulletin.org/vBulletinTemplates.com moderator
                          Web Design Forums.net: vB Board of the Month
                          vBulletin Mail System (vBMS): webmail for your forum users

                          Comment

                          • patriotcow
                            Senior Member
                            • Nov 2004
                            • 392

                            #14
                            I find its more hassle buying package pc's, if somthing goes wrong you have to keep nagging them to fix it even if you know whats wrong with it. But if you build your own you can go out and get a new part the same day

                            But its definitly cheaper to build your own, in my experience it is anyway. Laptops you can't obviously

                            Comment

                            • Zachery
                              Former vBulletin Support
                              • Jul 2002
                              • 59097

                              #15
                              You can, its 3-4 times the cost.

                              You can still replace any parts you want in a prefab computer, you just need to be mroe careful about it.

                              I upgraded my gf's pc after I got it from dell, added more ram If something goes, short of the motherboard, I can buy a part and replace it.

                              Prefabs are CHEAP and easy. No reason not to buy one from dell as long as you can find a mid ranged ones, as they are much better. The high end ones are even nicer. The cheap very low end systesm are not worth the money.

                              Comment

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