A few months ago I purchased an M17 laptop from Alienware. It took a little longer than I expected from initial order to delivery but once I did get it I was impressed.  
 
During the first month I noticed a persistent problem with the touch pad. The cursor would jump around the screen if my finger was left stationary for a while. I explained my complaint to Alienware and I am satisfied with how they handled my problem. They gave me a list of things to try and one of them solved the problem.  
 
There is a lot of empty space around the touch pad and it's a nice area to use with a wireless mouse but otherwise it just looks goofy.  
 
My only other comment is that the laptop runs pretty hot with this quad core cpu and dual core gpu.

So I just received my M17x all decked out with the top parts to replace a crappy Sony laptop.  
The laptop is great an VERY fast, I mean after POST it boots in like 30 seconds (Vista64 Ultimate) but there is a great disappointment, really great: the touchpad!! It is a Synaptics Touchpad V7.0  
 
1- Usable area is much smaller then the pad itself (yes, I checked in the pad control panel) as in, even with horizontal scrolling disabled at the bottom there, sides and top there is a strip of 1/4" -+ that does nothing (yes, edge motion is disabled too)  
 
2- When I lift my finger off the pad the cursor snaps back on screen some 2/8" making it quite complicated to hit buttons, make selections, etc...  
So, for example, I am moving the cursor to say a window close button, when cursor is over it I lift my finger for the tap but the cursor snaps away from the button back in the direction the cursor came from.  
 
3- Tap zone are a joke, they are physically located nowhere near where you see and set them in the control panel and work badly, going from needing a light tap to a strong one to get it working and that happens 1 on every 5 taps only.  
 
4- Scrolling is horrible, acceleration is disabled, but on a long page it will go ok and then suddenly scroll like 20 pages at the time or jump the whole site up and down.  
 
5- Tap lag, when I tap, anywhere there is a few milisec lag , 400 or so, enough to be noticed and bothersome  
 
This is a freaking joke, my old $700 Sony is as precise as can be, this $5800 rig comes with a pad that is literally a joke and should keep people from buying such a laptop until Alienware fixes it, I am actually calling Alienware today and will return the laptop if a good fix is not offered, which is a shame because for the rest it is a smokin rig, but what's the point if I can't use it properly!  
 
UPDATE:  
3 days in owning this new laptop, the AC adapter died on my, already called CS, sometime next week I should have a replacement I was told.  
THIS IS NOT what I expected from a company that claims to be have the world's best laptop!!!  
If one more thing goes wrong I am returning this laptop!!

This review was modified by its author, JClaude, on 8/14/09 4:33 PM.

Everything I had heard about Alienware said that they are, as it were, the cream of the crop when it comes to gaming PCs. When I decided to get a new PC, I wanted to get it from them. Here's my experience:  
 
I admit that at first, the process with the company was frustrating. We placed the original order at the beginning of June, but it seemed stuck in order confirmation stage. Any time we called, we were told it was something to do with the financial department, as we'd chosen to use Alienware financing. When we would speak to them, they would only say that they'd sent out a letter and couldn't say anymore over the phone. In the end, it was because they could not reach us over the phone. Neither my wife nor I had missed calls from them, so we were uncertain how true that was.  
 
Once we got the letter, however, we got everything cleared up with financing and proceeded to have to re-order the PC. This time, we were able to get some upgrades and special offers that had not been there on the first order. The people that we dealth with were very helpful, especially once the previous frustration was explained.  
 
Once the new order was placed, we checked on a daily basis until it had been shipped to try to avoid a repeat incident of the first order. After it shipped, the hardest part was the waiting. It arrived well packed for its safety, which was good considering some tears on the outer box. The new computer runs well and I would recommend them to anyone, realizing that even that first bit of frustration was because of their concern for customer security.

I ordered the Area-51® X58. I received it in a reasonable time frame, I thought the price was reasonable, and I'm happy with the system. The only negative is that the plastic case was broken. The damage is in a hard-to-see area and does not affect system performance. For this reason I decided not to contact support and try to get a new case (or part of a case), because I'm lazy and I don't move my computer around much so it doesn't matter to me.

Nice smooth ordering transaction and nice to have the option to arrange financing for the box. Have to say that I have never been so impressed with a computer and after a few weeks of using it I am still awed by the performance. My only gripe is the cost of shipping (FedEx ground) as it does represent a fair amount of the cost.

I wanted a rocket ship that I did not have to build and tinker with myself, been there done that, that is why I bought an Alienware ALX® X58.  
 
2 things about customer service that I did not like were,  
 
1) The sales rep told me that my credit card would not be charged untill the unit ships. They billed me right away. This was upsetting, but not a reason to cancel my order.  
 
2) I needed the 5 1/2 inch bays for SATA disk storage, and I was told that the DVD drive that shipped with my unit was SATA. I asked the sales rep to confirm it, and she did. When I got the system it was not a SATA drive as I was told, however the system did have an external SATA port and I just got a SATA Blu-ray burner to hang on the out side of the system. Again not show stopper.  
 
The only other complaint is how hard it is to replace the side panel. It's a beast. I really think they could have put quick disconnect screws and implement an easier hinge system for the panels.  
 
The system itself is relatively quiet. I upgraded to the liquid cooled and the buffered sound.  
 
The system speed is great. I can quickly compress and uncompress video, and perform other tasks that I could not do easily with systems in the past.  
 
I have not had any broken parts or reasons to contact customer support yet, but I did upgrade to the best support they offered. After all they are only SATA drives and they don’t last.  
 
I would recommend the system to any one that wants a fast system and has the money to burn.  
 
 

I have purchased two Alienware Machines in the last three years and up until last week had no problems whatsoever. As of last week however, I will no longer be doing any future business with the company due to a recent malfunction with one of my machines.  
 
Despite the fact that I have purchased an extended warranty on the machine, I still have a broken husk more than a week later. I was originally given a time frame of 1-3 business days for a part to arrive... that did not happen and when I pointed this out I was essentially told the tech must have been misinformed. Now that I've received the part, I was told initially by the tech that within 24-48 hours a tech would call me. I followed up with someone upon receiving the replacement part and was told the same thing, however, 48 hours later I have called again and am now told it may be another day or so.  
 
Alienware is a fine company as long as your machine doesn't break, once it does they do the best to avoid helping you within a reasonable time frame. I had been lead to believe that shipping an item and having an on-site tech would be faster than me shipping my machine back, but I no longer believe this will be the case. I recently had issues with an HP machine, they overnighted me a box which then overnighted the machine to them and then they overnighted it back when it was fixed, that entire issue took 5 days, the same amount of time it took for me to get a part from Alienware.  
 
Having left feedback to Alienware and contacted Customer Service multiple times, I've been told they more ore less don't care about me or my future business.  
 
Followup 8/14  
As of today I'm almost 3 weeks without a working computer, I was contacted by Alienware after posting this by a man named Charles who promised to escalate my issues. Charles has not followed up with me since then, I had to follow up to make sure they even received my pc and since then have been unable to reach Charles for a status update.  
 
8/19  
PC received back in working condition. Still not pleased with the way everything was handled, but I appreciate the follow up by Charles on the 17th and having it shipped back 2 day shipping.

This review was modified by its author, kierydon, on 8/22/09 11:30 AM.

Excellent Machine... It flies!  
The only small issue is they billed my crdit card before it had shipped.:-(

I ordered an Area-51 X58 tower and couldn't be happier!  
 
I'm an animation major and needed a rig with a little bit more kick than your average computer and this beast certainly fits the bill. It has exceeded my expectations, both in performance and design. It's also much more quiet than I expected, considering the size of the tower and the fans that are in it. It runs games beautifully, multitasks beautifully, and opens my 3D application software in about 4 seconds flat.  
 
Service was very good! The tower was built and shipped in about a week and it arrived a day or two BEFORE the estimated shipping date I was given upon purchase.  
 
I would suggest, however, definitely investing in the liquid cooling option. Intel i7 processors run very hot, as do the newest Radeon and GeForce graphics cards, and these PC towers do run a little warmer than normal as is. I would never try to run this beast without liquid cooling, just to be safe.  
 
The wiring job is absolutely stunning - my old computer tower's cables were a disaster! It's an amazing rig, both inside and out!  
 
Pictures (copy and paste)  
Size comparison - http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5928_100226340837_599115837_2205442_3849000_n.jpg  
 
Internal wiring - http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5928_101788860837_599115837_2232143_3498510_n.jpg  
 
Set Up - http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5928_100226345837_599115837_2205443_6588142_n.jpg  
 
Overall I am VERY pleased! I would definitely suggest Alienware to anyone who doesn't have the time, patience, or know-how to build their own rig.

This review was modified by its author, Sanityforbidden, on 7/31/09 2:36 PM.

Customer Service as in Chat is horrible but the email associate Rosemarie Rosete is the best online customer support ever. I asked a lot of questions and all were answered. The reply took less than a day to get it. I am very satisfied with Alienware and I will definetly order from here again.

Ordered my Alienware X-58 in June. Excellent system and I am enjoying it! I recommend AW!!

bought a new tower, it is great!!!!!!!!!!

Alienware area 51-x58 built to my specs. You couldn't ask for a better computer. I got everything I wanted right out of the box, no upgrading right away. Best and Fastest computer I've ever owned. My wife is jealous because she has ibuypower.

I ordered a M15x laptop from Alienware in mid june. Two weeks later, after making no progress building it or trying to conatact me, they emailed me saying that the keyboard was on backorder and would take a few more days and it would be shipped. waited another week and still no progress was made in shipping/building my computer. I complained and they said that it would take 8 to 10 more bussiness days to build and then ship. I needed the laptop urgently so i told them that i needed it shipped in the next few days or i would cancel my order. I guess they got the message and my computer was shipped out later that day. I got it a few days later from fedex. Nice packaging, everything was inclueded. But my "N" key on my keyboard is broken and just flops al over the place. That is my only complaint other than the month that it took for them to get it to me. I would give them a 3.25/5 I dont know if i would purchase another computer from them.

Got the comp I ordered in great condition right on time.  
 
And I love the thing! This is my second comp from Alienware, and even the times I HAVE had hardware issues, their customer service is EXCELLENT...even when one time it was just a bit of dust in a connector haha.  
 
The internals of the computer are well laid out and neat and make accessing anything I may need to quite simple, and the computer itself runs great in its shipped configuration.