A Perfect Ns-computer!

PhalckPhalck Join Date: 2002-06-03 Member: 722Members
What could be more desirable on a NS-LAN-party than a hot custom made computer called Hive-Mind.

I wonder if the creative minds on alienware had NS in mind when they chose the color and name of this computer setup?

<a href='http://www.alienware.com/main/system_pages/hive-mind.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.alienware.com/main/system_pages...s/hive-mind.asp</a>

/Phalck

Comments

  • NSCypherNSCypher Join Date: 2003-01-26 Member: 12758Members
    lol, me wants one...
    /me wishes i could afford it <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused.gif'><!--endemo-->
  • ShockehShockeh If a packet drops on the web and nobody&#39;s near to see it... Join Date: 2002-11-19 Member: 9336NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
    Alienware = Very pretty, but hideously overpriced for what you get.
  • teh_Lurvteh_Lurv Join Date: 2003-02-04 Member: 13105Members
    <!--QuoteBegin--Shockwave+Mar 10 2003, 11:24 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Shockwave @ Mar 10 2003, 11:24 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Alienware = Very pretty, but hideously overpriced for what you get. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Exactly, you could build the exact same config for probably as much as 50% less than Alienware's price.
  • SycophantSycophant Join Date: 2002-11-05 Member: 7092Members
    ...so how much would it cost to get <i>this</i> installed? <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
  • CabooseCaboose title = name(self, handle) Join Date: 2003-02-15 Member: 13597Members, Constellation
    Alienware = DELL, on acid and steroids!
  • ShockehShockeh If a packet drops on the web and nobody&#39;s near to see it... Join Date: 2002-11-19 Member: 9336NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
    Some of us are even Dell certified.
  • TeoHTeoH Join Date: 2002-12-30 Member: 11640Members
    I'm running an Alienware system, Alienware uk that is. They recently setup a branch in ireland and are selling to the UK.

    I don't know what the US prices are like compared to other US manufacturers but in the UK prices were quite reasonable, perhaps slightly more than other full system suppliers, but you really should consider the full specs not a couple of headline numbers. I'm impressed with the system, it's not just a pretty case, the construction is very nice. Cabling etc. is utterly immaculate, its so clean i could fit a cat in the case without having to move any wires. The supplied keybaord is horrible but that isnt a major concern :)

    I also got a T-shirt, but i wouldn't be seen dead in it frankly.

    (Note: its a slightly customized area-51, so i can't make any hivemind gags :/)
  • ShadowXORShadowXOR Join Date: 2002-11-27 Member: 10106Members
    Alienware is great. There cheaper then Dell, and better. I don't think they are overpriced. You COULD build it yourself for 50% less, but of course you would have no warranty, you would have to build it yourself, you could have incompatable parts, messed up drivers, 1000 thing scould go wrong. I can build a computer, but I don't want to, i'm planning on getting an alienware.
  • porpporp Join Date: 2002-11-06 Member: 7445Members
    Of course you would have a warranty if you built it yourself. Any part that doesnt work would be under warranty. And you'd only have incompatible parts, messed up drivers, or 1000 things going wrong if you were dumb.

    So Alienware charges you for your ignorance. Huhu.
  • NetherNether Join Date: 2003-01-21 Member: 12530Members
    My rig is better than that :/

    In europe (where we get fked for price on a daily basis) Alienware isnt that much more expensive than building it yourself, so if you got the money and are gonna upgrade everything at the same time, you might aswell pay a little extra for the smart look.
  • SkorpioNSkorpioN Join Date: 2003-03-09 Member: 14356Members
    Alienware rules, but you can always build one for a lot cheaper with better case mods.
  • airyKairyK Join Date: 2002-12-19 Member: 11126Members
    its best just to build everything your self, IMOH dell isnt that overpriced but there are some drawbacks like the top of the line vs. one lower...you'll get charged 1000 more dollars even if the lower modle has everything the higher end one does. i say buy everything on newegg.com cept the monitor and your fine....
  • NarfwakNarfwak Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 5258Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, NS1 Playtester, Playtest Lead, Forum Moderators, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Gold, Reinforced - Diamond, Reinforced - Shadow, Subnautica PT Lead, NS2 Community Developer
    Alienware is one of the best high-end comp makers, but you shouldn't forget about falcon northwest and voodoo. They make the seriously wicked machines.
  • NarfNarf Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2609Members
    I got a comparable machine for 600 bucks less, and i didn't even build it myself. Although alienwares are very nice, you pay for the flash.
  • ImmacolataImmacolata Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2140Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
    <!--QuoteBegin--porp+Mar 10 2003, 08:17 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (porp @ Mar 10 2003, 08:17 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Of course you would have a warranty if you built it yourself. Any part that doesnt work would be under warranty. And you'd only have incompatible parts, messed up drivers, or 1000 things going wrong if you were dumb.

    So Alienware charges you for your ignorance. Huhu. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Or your fat fingers. Today's computers are delicate. A small slip of your fingers and the bare cpu core of the Athlon chips, or a transistor on the mobo breaks, or you fry your memory. Or didnt get the cooling paste right. There's lots that can go wrong by building yoru own pc. And then YOU have to fork out for new parts. And error checking a PC with a dodgy component can be a bit of a pain in the arse. No I can't emphasize it enough: To avoid grief, buy your pc build from the store. And buy from a store where they guarantee repairs in 8 days or something like that. No "Sorry but our contractor has 3 months delay right now" from cockey multinational vendors.

    I've build all my pc's since 1996, and before that I upgraded them. But recently it's becoming too much of a hassle and risky. So next time I am getting a new pc it will be build for me - on specification by some white box peddler who knows his ****. Ill pay 10% more, maybe 15% and that I am fine with. Ill even make sure he wont install Windows for me, coz why should I have to buy another copy? I've got a Windows 2000 and a Windows XP already. And a windows 95. And MS DOS 5.0 <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
  • porpporp Join Date: 2002-11-06 Member: 7445Members
    edited March 2003
    <!--QuoteBegin--Immacolata+Mar 10 2003, 04:39 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Immacolata @ Mar 10 2003, 04:39 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Or your fat fingers. Today's computers are delicate. A small slip of your fingers and the bare cpu core of the Athlon chips, or a transistor on the mobo breaks, or you  fry your memory. Or didnt get the cooling paste right. There's lots that can go wrong by building yoru own pc. And then YOU have to fork out for new parts. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Today's PCs aren't any more delicate than years past. An errant screwdriver could snap a stick of RAM just as much 5 years ago as today. I've put together plenty of PCs for myself (just built one a few months ago.) As for all your cooling paste concerns, like I said, if you know what you're doing, there's no problem. If you don't know what you're doing, then, again, you pay for your ignorance.

    I wouldn't know how to fix my car, so for my ignorance I pay someone else to do it. Same thing.
  • TabrisTabris Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 4273Members
    <!--QuoteBegin--SkorpioN+Mar 10 2003, 07:27 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (SkorpioN @ Mar 10 2003, 07:27 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Alienware rules, but you can always build one for a lot cheaper with better case mods. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    <a href='http://www.geocities.com/apprentice91/Bluecase.jpg' target='_blank'>http://www.geocities.com/apprentice91/Bluecase.jpg</a>

    Note: cut and paste into browser.
  • BadKarmaBadKarma The Advanced Literature monsters burned my house and gave me a 7 Join Date: 2002-11-12 Member: 8260Members
    My freind tried to trick out a Hewlett Packard from 1998 and it literally died. Like something caught on fire on the inside and it died.
  • TalesinTalesin Our own little well of hate Join Date: 2002-11-08 Member: 7710NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators
    So long as you know what you're doing, you can build it better than Alienware, and far cheaper. Out here in California, even buying parts off-the-shelf you can put together a system that'll kill an Alienware, at around a third the price for the midrange, half the price on the high. Cheaper still if you wait for a computer show, and are good at swinging deals with the reps. Check around for the spec on the system I just tossed together for $600, that at least <i>matches</i> the Hive-mind option, if not supersedes it. Though I'm tempted to make system construction have a price.. just have the funder pay for a dupe set of equipment for me, or equivalent cash. It'd STILL be cheaper than an Alienware.
  • ShockehShockeh If a packet drops on the web and nobody&#39;s near to see it... Join Date: 2002-11-19 Member: 9336NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Hewlett Packard<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    That's all I needed to notice. HP are <b>very</b> anal when it comes to prevention. They LIKE you dumb. You pay them more. That's what the annoying little yellow tags were for, that said if you broke them, you broke the PC in their opinion.

    Yes, Alienware is pricy, and personally, because I do know how, I'd rather build my own. But I'd never attempt (Same thing I think Immacolata was sort of trying to say) to suggest anyone without experience try & build one. Because I've blown up a PSU myself, and it's not pretty, to say the least.

    Sure, you get a tidy machine, but you pay through the nose. Mine is a mish-mash of things I <b>could afford at the time</b> with the bits I chuck in when I have spare cash. Doesn't look good, but when things go wrong, I know where & what to replace in 5 minutes, halves my running costs.

    If you can learn, go for it. But don't try <b>before</b> you've learned, and don't expect to come away unburned. Everyone gets burned at least once.
  • ImmacolataImmacolata Join Date: 2002-11-01 Member: 2140Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
    Words of wisdom, friend.

    Luckily in my many years of pc tinkering and building I've managed only to ruin 1 part: a mobo alas. When I tried to fasten the cpu clip, the screwdriver slipped and slammed onto the motherboard, breaking something controlling memory bank 2. But I Cannot count the number of times when my pc's been acting weird and I've hours checking for faulty components fearing that "This time you've dunnit" just to learn a hard lesson about something or other.

    Replacing a card in a pc? No sweat. Replacing a drive? No sweat. Messing about with memory -be a little observant and nothing will go wrong. Replace a CPU? Be careful. Especially if it's an Athlon.

    Calling it "ignorance" Not to be able to assemble a pc your self from scratch is god darned cocky in my opinion. I know how to build one, but frankly I am tired of doing it. So my next one will be built FOR ME by my specifications.
  • TalesinTalesin Our own little well of hate Join Date: 2002-11-08 Member: 7710NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators
    But that's half the fun! Watching a PSU spark up, having a monitor sizzle itself to death, or the always-popular flaming CPU. Not to mention having a HDD let out the magic blue smoke (every electronic appliance, whether it be a computer or a blender, is filled with magic blue smoke that makes it go. When this blue smoke escapes, THAT's why it doesn't work any more, not the huge scorch marks).

    Seriously though.. Alienware caters to those who want to say 'I have a huge, fast system that can beat out your HP!'. It's essentially the casual gamer's trendy spot. The Starbucks of the system world. Thing is, those who are truly serious about it will go out and build their own. There's no way to get a rig more perfectly tuned to *you* than putting it together from parts you've taken the time to learn about. Putting out the effort adds weight to it, and turns it from a box on the desk to a machine that you're intimately acquainted with, and know what it can handle and what it'll chug on. Where your next upgrade is going, and what the current bottleneck stands at.
  • TeoHTeoH Join Date: 2002-12-30 Member: 11640Members
    I have a similar background to you immac, for years i used to build or upgrade systems staying away from full system suppliers (My first ever PC was a packard bell, and i wasn't going to make that mistake again). But wether im just getting lazy, or wether these things are getting more awkward, my last 2 systems came off a shelf, so to speak.

    It is true that there are more potholes nowadays, i remember back when everyone was grabbing the early celerons. You could run a C400 with the heatsink off at its default clock speed and it wouldn't mind. The first ever duron i got, i fried by not fitting the heatsink properly. It reached the bios, then froze and started to spew smoke :)

    Tailsin, whatever the situation over there is with the price of box systems, it doesn't apply over here in England. Wether its just expensive to buy components, or wether full system suppliers are just cheaper i'm not sure, but there is minimal difference between buying and building a PC over here. As for Alienware, checking prices for customized systems on Dell UK suggests there isnt much of a premium on the Alienware systems. A Dell system of the same configuration (As near as i can get it) works out just £20 cheaper than what i payed for my AW a month ago, although the Dell does come with a few extras the AW rig didn't have (Which i don't particularly want, but can't specify not to have) Such as 10 a penny speakers, and MS works.

    When i was young and skint, i used to bolt on what i could afford whenever i could afford it, small upgrade after upgrade to try and keep a playable framerate. But this way of working leaves your system a real mess, and its a nice feeling to start fresh with a completely new box once in a while.
  • Ph0enixPh0enix Join Date: 2002-10-08 Member: 1462Members, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin--TeoH+Mar 11 2003, 09:39 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (TeoH @ Mar 11 2003, 09:39 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
    Tailsin, whatever the situation over there is with the price of box systems, it doesn't apply over here in England. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    I presume your immediately discounting the big retailers like PC World with that comment. Have you walked in there recently ? The prices are <b>obscene</b>.

    I do most of my shopping either at the Bowlers computer fair in Manchester or here, <a href='http://www.microdirect.co.uk' target='_blank'>Click</a>
  • ShockehShockeh If a packet drops on the web and nobody&#39;s near to see it... Join Date: 2002-11-19 Member: 9336NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
    Phoenix, nice to know there's a few of us in Manchester.

    Incidentally, we're hoping to run a Manchester based LAN at some point, as there's quite a few decent gamers.
  • Commander_KittensCommander_Kittens Join Date: 2003-03-03 Member: 14255Members
    It takes EXACLTY $847 to build that comp with the same parts excluding the paint job. I don't think you understand, they offer a paint job for $400 there, Alienware is a bunch of freaking nazis.
  • ChargeCharge Join Date: 2003-02-05 Member: 13144Members
    <!--QuoteBegin--Commander Kittens+Mar 11 2003, 07:19 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Commander Kittens @ Mar 11 2003, 07:19 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> It takes EXACLTY $847 to build that comp with the same parts excluding the paint job. I don't think you understand, they offer a paint job for $400 there, Alienware is a bunch of freaking nazis. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    is nazism allowed here? <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
  • Ph0enixPh0enix Join Date: 2002-10-08 Member: 1462Members, Constellation
    <!--QuoteBegin--Commander Kittens+Mar 11 2003, 12:19 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Commander Kittens @ Mar 11 2003, 12:19 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> It takes EXACLTY $847 to build that comp with the same parts excluding the paint job. I don't think you understand, they offer a paint job for $400 there, Alienware is a bunch of freaking nazis. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Not quite.

    I've built all my PCs (bar my first <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo--> ) myself, and its worked out cheaper then buying it as a package from a retailer. I'm not skint but i'm not rolling in it either so I refuse to pay over the odds for something I can do myself for far cheaper.

    Now, come 5 years from now when I hatch my grand scheme for world domination and I have more money the sense, do you really think i'm gonna still build my own systems ?! Don't think so <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->

    Buying from a retailer is a luxury in IMO. Yes Commander, in your example you pay $400 over the odds. However that $400 saves you the hassle of going out buying stuff yourself, sticking it together, taking it apart when something inevitably goes wrong and generally includes a warranty/insurance as well, not to mention the nice credit schemes and paying over a period of time retailers offer you.

    Would all that be worth $400 to me ? No, but only ATM. If I had it spare, sure why not ?
  • DoombringerDoombringer Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8679Members, Constellation
    There's nothing wrong with wanting to buy your system from a retailer. I, like others here, once built my own PCs and assembled them for friends as well. This was fine when I had the time to do it, and not a whole lot of cash to spend. Now, however, I work full time and troubleshoot computer problems every hour of the day, and the last thing I want to do when I go home is put together another computer or worry about my machine's stability and the quality of components (without an all-inclusive warranty and replacement plan).

    So, the last two PCs I've had have been Dells... a Dimension B800r three years ago (which is still running sweet today, just slowly), and this year a brand new 8250 with a P4 3.0ghz. The only upgrade I'll likely ever do is add more RAM, and probably a re-install of XP after a while to keep things shiny and clean.
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