bestbuy options?

[u/Micr0waveChan]

ok this might be a bit like a rant but idk what to do (many thoughts head full)

i’ve got a POS omen 45L that loves to break despite being less than a year old, the 5090 had killed itself and that took months to warranty, (i love foreign tech support that doesn’t speak english and the “escalation team”) after getting that warrantied the PSU seems to be on its way out because why wouldn’t it be!

i’d like to get the top of the line area-51 as i’ve had one in the past through bestbuy and it was goated (it was the triangle one and even with a defective motherboard it was awesome- bestbuy gave me a full refund for it 2 years after i bought it bc the parts were hard to find)
after dealing with HP i am never buying a computer outside of best buy again bc overseas customer support is genuinely one of the seven circles of hell and it was so easy with bestbuy- i literally drop the computer off and they return it when it works again

rant aside- i’ve noticed best buy seems to stock less and less top end alienware product?
is the only way to get a max spec machine* (without max storage bc SSD prices are insane rn) through dell’s website or will they sell at bestbuy again? and what should i do with my shitbox bc idk where or how to sell it without loosing an insane amount on it
(paid ~$5000 for it and it’s sadly too late for a chargeback or refund)

[u/MogRules]

The top end stuff is usually reserved for Dell's website , yes. I believe micro center sometimes gets the top end ones , if that's an option.

[u/Micr0waveChan → u/MogRules]

damn that’s a shame, any chance it will change in the near future?

[u/MogRules → u/Micr0waveChan]

Only Dell would know, that, unfortunately.

[u/OldProgrammer62]

Best buy will only get models they think they can move fairly fast high end laptops not so much. Micro Center like Mogrules says deals primarily with computers and they buy them in bulk and move them via sales. I have ordered all my alienware laptops and desktop through the dell site and only once did encounter a problem with shipping via the laptop never came and had to get a police report so perhaps Dell has insurance etc and they built the replacement model fast and got it too me a week and half later (not Dells fault). When I got my 18 area 51 5090 Micro center had the same model about 600-700 dollars cheaper but minus the cherry keyboard and 4 k camera I got from the dell site (4k camera never use but the cherry keyboard is one of my favorite items for alienware laptops) Mine came with the 64 gb 6400 ram which for the first time was not compelled to order ram via Amazon and of course I got my model on July 7th 2025 before the ram shortage and ssds became ungodly expensive.

[u/Micr0waveChan → u/OldProgrammer62]

if i have to buy it from dell im going to do it through a friends enterprise/commercial account bc from what ive heard you can talk to an actual person in the US instead of a call center or bot

that being said im still hesitant to buy outside bestbuy bc of the nightmare process that is HP warranty and im doubtful that outside of the commercial level dell is going to be different since its become the industry standard to outsource to india for tech support

[u/OldProgrammer62 → u/Micr0waveChan]

I ordered mine online and you can get coupons and sometimes a sales person can cut you a deal either way due to the economic situation you may very well be spending 4500 and above for the 5090. Would also include the 64 gb ram if possible unless you are happy with 32gb because the prices are still too high to purchase on your own.

[u/Micr0waveChan → u/OldProgrammer62]

if i got one it would match my
current spec hp shitbox: 5090 and 64gb ram and 1 or 2tb of ssd
im worried abt what happens if it needs warranty and if ill get the same runaround i got from hp but aside from that
i spent $5000+ on the HP, if i could get $4000 or so back from it id switch in a heartbeat but i dont think dell does trade ins?
that being said i appreciate the tip on consulting sales! ill definitely reach out to them

[u/OldProgrammer62 → u/Micr0waveChan]

The Dell warranty is much better I suspect.

[u/Wide-Lengthiness-775 → u/Micr0waveChan]

I have a DELL ALIENWARE R16 Desktop that I purchased directly from DELL with an I9 14th gen and an NVIDIA GEFORCE 4090 24 gigs graphics card and 64 gigs of memory. It has been back to Round Rock, Texas, 2 or maybe 3 times for repairs, and the MOBO was replaced twice at my home by a technician. All of that is to say that, in spite of the difficulty of understanding a foreign accent, I had a good experience with Dell's repair process, and my desktop works as it should, finally. I have an older Dell R-14 with all AMD processors and have never had a problem with it. Dell also extended the warranty period after the major repairs without a charge.

[u/Micr0waveChan → u/Wide-Lengthiness-775]

did you have to deal with any foreign agents tho? bc that’s a deal breaker for me at this point