My review on the Alienware Alpha (i5 config)

[AngelHalo]

If you had been keeping up with the Steam Machines that was announced early this year, this is what you're getting yourself into. The Alienware Alpha is essentially a gaming PC built and condensed into the look and feel of a game console, while still being a very competent gaming PC. While the Steam Machines had been delayed to next year so Valve can rework the Steam controller (...again), Dell pressed on to release the hardware anyway, instead packaging it with an X-Box 360 controller with the appropriate adapter, and Windows 8.1 prebooted. While you can make it take you directly to Steam, it is possible to hook up a keyboard and mouse to use it as a regular Windows 8.1 PC, and that alone means you can play pretty much any game released on steam, and more! Oh, and once Steam OS is out, this little beast is able to be booted with that OS.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-alpha/pd

There are also four configurations, pricing between $549 for an i3 dual-core, to $899 for an i7 quad-core. You can view the specifications in the link above. I have the i5 configuration, which left me pleasantly surprised at how powerful the device is.

To make this simple, I'll list the pros and cons.

+Amazingly portable!
+Comes with a controller and adapter that can be used with any X-Box 360 and PC!
+Has built-in Wifi and Blutooth.
+Fully supports big picture mode with ease!
+Usable as a regular Windows 8.1 PC, leaving further possibilities for gaming!
+The video card is not bad at all. GeForce GTX 860 (if memory serves me right), 2gb gddr5. Makes nearly every game I have thus far impressive to look at and play with.
+Two exclusive Payday 2 masks included!
+No bloatware at all! Not even that stupid Norton free trial crap that almost every pre-built PC has to have.
+The CPU, ram, and hard drive can be changed out!
-The GPU cannot...
-The controller can only take you so far in terms of navigation; you really need a keyboard and mouse.
-No controller profiler of any sort included, meaning you WILL need a keyboard and mouse sooner and later (thankfully, they're cheap to pick up. Found a wireless combo for $20)
-No optical drive of any sort (you'll have to buy an external)
-No recovery discs included (you'll have to burn your own, unless you want to sacrifice a USB stick)
-Man, you thought the Wii U had a really long update time. Better pack some beers and put on Breaking Bad, you're waiting for a while before you can play this thing.
0 The price...

The last bit requires a bit of a discussion. The price has been the subject of debate. The common criticism is that Dell overcharges for their computers and parts on the Alienware name. I tend to agree, but in this instance, I may have to disagree for once. I purchased a tower from iBuyPower two years ago for $750 plus tax. It has an AMD FX-8120 clocking at 3.5ghz and has 8 threads. Along with that is an AMD Radeon HD 6850 and 8gb of DDR3 ram, a 1tb hard drive, and a DVD drive. It's a great system, but I learned the hard way that the processor is not very good since it won't let me run some games I own without hitting the blue screen almost immediately (Portal 2, CS:GO, Serious Sam 3, Fear 3, Saints Row series, , etc), or at least not workout doing some. Plus, my motherboard cannot support intel CPUs, so I decided that I wanted to build a nice intel PC, having an i5 quad-core, an nvidia geforce gtx, 8gb of ram, etc, with a nice tower that would add up to $1,024 according to newegg. Obviously, that'd be hard to afford. But when I heard about the alpha, I was relunctant to jump on, but eventually I got it and... I never regreted it since, because it was what I wanted for about $200 less. So this might be one of those rare moments where it seemed like such a better deal at the time.

But again, you might be able to do better with $800. Do I recommend it?
Yeah, I do. If you're looking for a gaming PC and want to go with a simple and very much portable option, it's definitely great to have. IF you want a powerhouse of a PC you can easily carry around if you're a content producer, like movie editing and all, this will get the job done too. If you don't mind the limits on how much you can customize but welcome its potential, knock yourself the hell out. Do you want to spend $800 for an i5 build? Depends on what you're looking to do. I would still recommend building a tower, personally, but you can't do much wrong with this either.

tl;dr: I didn't spend a lot of time writing this just for you to skip all the way down here!

[Pyro]

The no bloatware has me pretty interested. It's a pain having to remove all of that crap. Especially Norton...

[Auburok]

Good review! Thanks!

[Bad Behavior Defender]

That tldr. Overall a good review of a much discussed machine. I'll personally stick to self-made computer, mostly because it's so much fun.

[Ian Eats Babies]

Tl;dr

[AngelHalo]

Messaggio originale di Bronty Hunter:

That tldr. Overall a good review of a much discussed machine. I'll personally stick to self-made computer, mostly because it's so much fun.

Yeah I still recommend building your own if you have the know-how. I do have the know-how, but the idea of owning a steam machine (or at least before the actual machines come out) had me enticed enough to buy it. So hey, I'll be using it as my main gaming PC until the time comes where I can afford a super powerhouse ;)

Messaggio originale di Rokk:

Good review.

I've looked at the Alienware Alpha myself, and I found the GPU to be a bit pathetic tbh, especially considering what you get in return. It'll work for most of today's games, but it's nowhere near future-proof. It probably won't be able to properly handle the next generation of games. I'd rather just build a gaming PC for $900 (or buy a gaming laptop), which can be used in the exact same way.

I wouldn't say I'm the most knowledgable when it comes to clock speeds and all, but I do have an idea of how powerful it could be. The 3.0ghz is a bit of a set back from my tower's processor, but it somehow performs so much better than the tower I got. Still, as I said in the review, I do agree that it's possible to do better with the $800, but still not a bad option, at least in my situation it wasn't.

Messaggio originale di Pyro:

The no bloatware has me pretty interested. It's a pain having to remove all of that crap. Especially Norton...

I know, right? Seems like every PC you buy prebuilt has to have some form of Norton. And some dumb toolbars. And games you'll never play unless you work an office job.

I guess the only thing that would kind of count as bloatware is that Alienware Respawn is included, which is just there to remind me to create recovery and applications discs (which stopped the moment I did that), but it isn't all in your face about it, and it is helpful at the very least. I still got my tower so I intend to not install a lot of different software on my Alpha other than games.

Messaggio originale di Ian Eats Babies:

Tl;dr

I will wish Bain to tell you to get the thermal drill for eternity for that >:(
(Concept for next Safehouse Nightmare. Bain doesn't shut up!)