I've been looking into buying a gaming laptop, and have long been attracted to Alienware. However, after doing some research, I've found quite a disturbing number of reviews and complaints about that company and its products. On the other hand, Alienware supposedly is the best you can get, and "official" reviewers like PCworld found Alienware to be "above average".

I'm deathly afraid of buying a $2,500 + computer which has issues upon arrival, or doesn't perform up to expectations, and would like to hear what you guys have to say.

Dell or Alienware it really doesn't matter to Michael - he's just as happy to take your order ;-)

I'd suggest to actually configure something relatively similar from those two (XPS or M97XX) & probably ASUS & go with the one that's most cost effective after warranty, shipping & taxes are all figured in.

Good luck!

try www.voodoopc.com too!

i'd avoid getting too high end a laptop for gaming - i found heat is an issue so you may want to get an external laptop cooler like vantec also to preserve the lifetime of your gaming pc.

my alienware was pretty good - aside from the heating issue. I began to have cooling issues while playing games 1 month after warranty expired. The computer would just shutdown. Seems the fans are no longer providing enough cooling. I remember feeling air coming from beneath the laptop but now very little. So i got an external cooler but thats not enough. So i just use my laptop for work - no more gaming. Its got a great vid card and monitor though..