Just a heads up for any prospective buyers.
I was extremely excited to fire up X51 for the first time yesterday.
Right out of the gate, some things seemed....wrong. The packaging appeared fairly flimsy, with two plastic molded pieces holding the machine in place and a folded cardboard insert to fill the gap which existed between that and the outside box. Even carrying it to my room, I could feel the X51 sliding around: that cardboard was not enough to keep it stationary.
When first opened, I immediately noticed the system and plastic molded packaging reeking of detergent: a scent which hasn't faded. I don't know if this is typical or not, but it strikes me as extremely odd.
Small areas of "dust" were on the outer casing (which was not otherwise protected, except thin plastic films on the polished surfaces) and on the rubber "alien text" that appears on the side of the machine.
The case was also not fully closed. The side panel was screwed in place but had not latched in the front, leaving about a centimeter between it and the body.
Sadly, the machine never powered. Tech support fielded my call for about 40 minutes, during which I opened the case and also discovered the slot loading drive to be loosely seated. The tech insisted it should be "clamped" in place, but mine would easily and freely move as if there was nothing holding it.
After checking all the connections, it was the opinion of the tech that the system was DOA, and a replacement is being issued with a turn around time of 7-10 days (since the system needs to be "built from scratch").
I understand that the x51 doesn't come with the premium pricetag of other Alienware systems, but if this is how they're shipping out the product, period, then they might have a huge problem on their hands. If this is the actual QC then it feels as if they're rushing production.
But to be honest I really can't imagine that. I'm reserving judgement until the replacement system arrives. I'd really like to believe that what I received was more the result of an isolated instance of mishandling and malicious intent than the product as a whole.
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Either Alienware/Dell has serious quality control problems, or a compromised system found its way to my door.
At my previous job we exclusively bought Dell's and when they switched to this packaging style it was weird to us. The foam definitely provided a safer more secure feel but we never had an issue with any desktops we got. I'd chalk this up to just a random DOA over poor quality control. Obviously the lower DOA the better the company but even the best rated products & companies get DOA.
I'd reserve judgement until you get you replacement. If the replacement shows up DOA go for a third time, if by the third replacement than it's definitely a quality assurance problem.
I'd reserve judgement until you get you replacement. If the replacement shows up DOA go for a third time, if by the third replacement than it's definitely a quality assurance problem.
Absolutely. In all honesty there could be any number of reasons for this problem: from QC to product confusion or what have you.
I'm certainly not trying to raise a sh*tstorm, but rather find the whole scenario rather odd and interesting. It's really my hope that on the second go around (and third if need be), things will seem a bit more "kosher."
I'm certainly not trying to raise a sh*tstorm, but rather find the whole scenario rather odd and interesting. It's really my hope that on the second go around (and third if need be), things will seem a bit more "kosher."
This is 2-year-old-and-beyond info, but I almost always had problems with in-demand new models in the last ~4 years, especially with consumer systems - one of the reasons I avoid Dell these days.
The last generation of the desktop and laptop XPS systems I bought were cases in point. In all cases, at least one of the units in the respective model that was ordered looked like it had been opened before and resealed - so packaging was incomplete and units looked pre-handled. In the case of the laptops, those machines booted straight into Vista, skipping the setup stage altogether.
I was not impressed, and I continued to be unimpressed at especially laptop shipments. The only reason I stuck with them until my patience finally ran out in 2010 is that I'd had near-zero problems in terms of server and desktop workstation (i.e. the Precision T ranges) shipments, and I was buying far more of those.
The last generation of the desktop and laptop XPS systems I bought were cases in point. In all cases, at least one of the units in the respective model that was ordered looked like it had been opened before and resealed - so packaging was incomplete and units looked pre-handled. In the case of the laptops, those machines booted straight into Vista, skipping the setup stage altogether.
I was not impressed, and I continued to be unimpressed at especially laptop shipments. The only reason I stuck with them until my patience finally ran out in 2010 is that I'd had near-zero problems in terms of server and desktop workstation (i.e. the Precision T ranges) shipments, and I was buying far more of those.
That's extremely aggravating, In both our situations, I might guess a halt on production/last minute change required quickly getting into the boxes for upgrades, which resulted in quality inconsistencies.
To be honest I would have rather waited for the device. They shipped 3 days early anyway.
To be honest I would have rather waited for the device. They shipped 3 days early anyway.
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You're not alone. I ordered my X51 the day it announced. After two delays it arrived on Feb 2. After setting up everything I turned it on, in less than 30 minutes the machine crashed - blue screen of death. I was thinking "You have to be kidding me". The only program I had open was a browser. I restarted it and it crashed again later that day. To make a very long story short:
After two full weeks I spoke with Alienware Tech four times. All four times they remote logged into my machine to remove and update drivers, etc. Nothing worked. Total time trying to fix my $1600 machine was around 8-9 hours. I had the last tech do some stuff yesterday and for the rest of the day it ran fine. Then today it crashed twice. That was it. I called Dell and returned the machine.
Overall the machine looks great, but it doesn't work. I have an older Alienware machine and it's great, too bad Dell took over because it's clear they do not test their machines at all. Mine literally crashed 30 minutes out of the box. I moved over to Macs about four years ago, but I wanted to try a PC for work. So I got this one just to test it out. I'm very sad about my experience. My household has an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air, two iPads and two iPhones. All of these devices have never crashed on me - ever - in four years.
This is why PC is losing out to Apple. And it's the companies who are doing it like Dell, HP, etc. They keep building crap machines and expect people to be okay with it. People are not okay with it.
After two full weeks I spoke with Alienware Tech four times. All four times they remote logged into my machine to remove and update drivers, etc. Nothing worked. Total time trying to fix my $1600 machine was around 8-9 hours. I had the last tech do some stuff yesterday and for the rest of the day it ran fine. Then today it crashed twice. That was it. I called Dell and returned the machine.
Overall the machine looks great, but it doesn't work. I have an older Alienware machine and it's great, too bad Dell took over because it's clear they do not test their machines at all. Mine literally crashed 30 minutes out of the box. I moved over to Macs about four years ago, but I wanted to try a PC for work. So I got this one just to test it out. I'm very sad about my experience. My household has an iMac, MacBook, MacBook Air, two iPads and two iPhones. All of these devices have never crashed on me - ever - in four years.
This is why PC is losing out to Apple. And it's the companies who are doing it like Dell, HP, etc. They keep building crap machines and expect people to be okay with it. People are not okay with it.
An update. After addressing the issue with Dell customer service on 02/07, a new order was issued 02/08. Although a period of 7-10 (I assume business) days was given as the wait time, on 02/21, after no indication of progress I, like @FireRunner, demanded the new order be cancelled and a full refund be issued. The original machine was shipped back yesterday.
The decision is the result of scouring Dell's community forums for updated information and seeing delays stretch over a month for some customers, with overall performance and quality woes from enough of a vocal minority to make me uncomfortable.
I can't say whether or not my experience was a fluke, but I had to call in the return. There are projects I needed the machine to do, on which I'm losing valuable time. In the end, I decided to give up Linux and slam down Win 7 on my Thinkpad X120e, sacrificing the gaming ability in the process.
Best of luck to Dell on fixing the issue, and sorry this specific story won't be resolved.
The decision is the result of scouring Dell's community forums for updated information and seeing delays stretch over a month for some customers, with overall performance and quality woes from enough of a vocal minority to make me uncomfortable.
I can't say whether or not my experience was a fluke, but I had to call in the return. There are projects I needed the machine to do, on which I'm losing valuable time. In the end, I decided to give up Linux and slam down Win 7 on my Thinkpad X120e, sacrificing the gaming ability in the process.
Best of luck to Dell on fixing the issue, and sorry this specific story won't be resolved.
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