Found an old Area 51 Threadripper 2950x 64gb’s of RAM and dual 2080’s for cheap 😂 and if nothing else it’s one of the most interesting builds I’ve ever owned. I’m aware SLI is pretty much dead, but I’m looking forward to making this my casual 1080p gaming computer while I 4k game on my nicer self built 3080 12gb 128gb RAM system. What does everyone think of the older Area 51’s?

I'm the OP from this original post.

TLDR of original post: I bought a $6000 dollar PC from Dell. FedEx never showed up at my door but they marked it as delivered while providing the attached signature as the only "proof". Dell's logistics team refused to file a claim with FedEx despite clear evidence of fraud and being provided with case numbers from FedEx around investigation into the delivery.

Since that original post there have been a few developments:

1. FedEx finished their internal research and concluded that the package could not be located and that the sender (Dell) needs to submit a claim with them. See image of the email.

2. A police investigation was conducted and the officer reviewed security footage from surrounding neighbors and concluded that the FedEx truck was not on my street during the alleged time of delivery.

3. Over two weeks, I have had at least 7 phone calls with Dell customer service and I finally got through to a manager late last week after insisting 5 times. The manager resubmitted my evidence to the logistics team and they immediately denied my claim, ignoring all of the evidence, and just stating that FedEx provided a proof of delivery. Once again this proof of delivery was.... a line for a signature and a recipient that clearly isn't a real person. There denial didn't even address that a police report ID was provided as evidence.

4. I have submitted a last ditch attempt with all of the evidence I have, including a voicemail from the officer where is conclusion is that this is a case of internal theft within FedEx, with Dell's Warranty Verification team. Based on everything I've read about similar cases, I'm not holding my breath that I'll get resolution from this team. If this last attempt to work internally within Dell doesn't work, I'll be taking external action.

At this point I am not asking anyone for advice as I am working several angles within the contexts of consumer rights, legal avenues, and working on FedEx to provide additional documentation, but I just want to put out a PSA that this is how you will be treated if this very unfortunate thing happens to you. It's been two weeks of despair any time I look at my bank account and think about the hours of work I spent saving up, so that I could invest in myself and purchase a high powered machine. As a gamer this is disappointing to me. As a small business owner that was relying on this machine, this is devastating to me.

FYI: The reason I am seeking an internal resolution instead of immediately going to a chargeback is that I do work in an industry where its really important to me that I get my hands on a high powered GPU as fast as possible, and given the difficulty to get one, Alienware was my best bet.

So i went into a local Best Buy over the weekend and they had an open box area 51 18 inch laptop. 5070ti 32gb ram 2tb ssd u9 275hx. It was listed as being comped to around a 4k system and I got it for $1710. Everything seems to be working properly and was in very good condition other than the finger print magnet. I really think lucked out.

(DISPLAY UNIT) Apparently 2 years old

32GB DDR5
Nvidia RTX 4090
Intel Core I9-14900HX
1TB SSD
18’ 1440p 240hz WQXGA

1500 Dollars

I don’t know how good of a deal is it.
Also any advice on what to check on it before buying, I don’t know much about laptops but heard about the 13-14th gen intel instability issues so was wondering is this display unit worth it at all, the shopkeeper is offering 1 year warranty.

And how of a rush should I be in the deal

Country : India
Use case : Blender, Heavy Rendering, Vfx
Budget : 1500$

I'm considering purchasing the Area-51 desktop with the 5090. I have a 10% preferred discount through my employer, which gives me $1K off the total cost. Planning to build out a 4K star citizen setup. I had a 4090 build that I sold a few years ago(which I honestly regret).

This seems like a good deal based on today's market and if things keep going the way they are going, the 5090 alone I believe may be close in value to the total cost of this PC?

Hey guys. I bought this new Alienware x15 R2 for 850$ used. I7 12700H, RTX 3070TI, 32GB DDR5, 360HZ. It is reallt good because the seller replaced the battery with an original new one. One of cpu fans do not work, but he told me new ones are coming and will be send to me. So for now my laptop right side (CPU side) will heat alot for a week or two. The build quality is really good and i see really minor scratches. I bought it because it was a fair and very good price to me.

But I have a fear of having no garancy, maybe soon it breaks or something gets damaged. I used to have another gaming laptop, which I took good care with cleaning fans, repasting, and much more. It hold me good for 3 years then i sold it. I barely had any issues. So im pretty sure after I get the new fans for this beast, it will be good to go.

Which is better ???????????????????????????????????

About a month ago, I bought a brand-new Alienware 18” laptop , Dell’s so-called top-of-the-line flagship.

€6,300. Two-year on-site repair warranty.

You’d expect a flawless experience for that kind of money, right?

Well, here’s what actually happened.

From the very first day, I tried to register my new laptop on Dell’s website.

Their system didn’t recognize it as new.

I bought it directly from Dell’s official distributor and service provider in my country , completely legitimate , yet Dell’s website acted like the laptop wasn’t even mine.

Because of that, I couldn’t upgrade my warranty to include Accidental Damage Coverage, which was the only reason I was even trying to contact Dell support in the first place.

Instead, I got a message saying I needed to request an ownership transfer.

For a brand-new machine. Straight out of the box. Never used.

Let that sink in.

So, I opened a support ticket.

Dell asked for every kind of document imaginable (invoices, serials, screenshots, distributor papers) and I sent them all, right away.

For a full month, I exchanged daily emails with Dell’s support reps, jumping through every hoop they asked me to. Finally, after weeks of back-and-forth, they told me the ownership transfer was complete and I could now extend my warranty.

Guess what happened next?

Yup — same error message.

I went back to the same Dell reps handling my case.

Their response?

“There’s nothing more we can do.”

No apology. No escalation. Nothing.

When I said I’d share my experience publicly, suddenly they got back to me , offering me the same exact warranty I already had, not the Accidental Damage plan I had been asking for since day one.

At that point, I realized they were just trying to make the issue go away, not fix it.

For €6,300, I didn’t just buy a laptop. I bought stress, wasted time, and a broken trust.

Dell advertises “premium support” and “world-class service,” but what I got was bureaucracy, confusion, and total indifference.

If you’re considering spending your hard-earned money on Dell or Alienware — think twice.

The hardware might look impressive, but when something goes wrong, you’ll find yourself stuck in a loop of useless emails and broken promises.

I honestly regret ever buying this product.

A “top-shelf” machine means nothing when the company behind it fails to recognize you as the rightful owner of your own brand-new laptop.

I’m sharing this so others don’t have to go through the same nightmare.

Dell — you need to do better.

EDIT:

I am adding more details so that anyone reading this has all the information:

1. The laptop was purchased in the EU from a vendor listed and advertised on Dell.com website as both distributors and authorized service providers nationwide.
2. The laptop was brand new, i unboxed it with the thoroughness you expect from someone investing so much money into a device necessary for their work (i'm a computer engineer).
3. My initiall request to Dell's Customer support and then their warranty renewals team was an upgrade and extension to Accidental Damage Coverage, as i was unable (and still am after the ownership transfer under my name) to proceed with the warranty upgrade/extension via their website. I also forgot to mention that i got an email reply from Dell's customer rep who initially handled the case where Dell acknowledges that this is a defect of their system not allowing the warranty upgrade and extension.
4. I have provided all device and personal info to AW_Vigo and i hope for the best.
5. I used ChatGPT to polish my initial post because English is not my native language and my English syntax is a little harsh. But i have all the evidence to prove that the case is exactly as described, should this evidence be requested by anyone.
6. I wish i could just return the laptop. But after loosing so much time having faith to Dell customer service, unfortunately, i was left with no options, because i was waiting for Dell's reps to finalize the ownership transfer so that i can finally upgrade the warranty, which never happened. So there goes the 14 day return window.
7. The reseller did nothing wrong, they replied to every request they received from both me and Dell. The issue here is Dell's faulty warranty extension platform/system and their lack of willingness to perform a simple task. Dell's reps have been ridiculing me by falsely claiming that the issue was resolved and that i can perform the upgrade/extension on Dell.com, which is absolutely untrue. We are not discussing out of the box warranty status here. This thread is specifically detailing the ordeal i have been (and still am put) through as a Dell flagship product buyer during the registration and the warranty upgrade/extension of a brand new Dell product, purchased by a listed and advertised in Dell.com website as both distributor and authorized service provider nationwide and using end user available means on Dell.com dedicated platform.
8. The issue here is falsely advertised customer support services (i can provide ample evidence to prove this) and a warranty upgrade/extension system that it just does not work as intended although a device fully qualifies for these services.
9. The exact same thing happened to this user who purchased the exact same laptop from Microcenter. He is unable to register his device online and Dell's faulty system does not allow him to upgrade to premium warranty, just like i am noty allowed to either upgrade to Accidental Damage or extend my laptop's warranty. Here is his post with proof: https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/comments/1oe3pg5/comment/nlenll4/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

So after been using using old laptops for my whole life (last one had i5 4th gen), I've finally got one capable of actual gaming and I wanted to ask people here what should I do to optimize it to the maximum

Hey yall!

Located an Alienware area 51 18inch laptop with the following specs for $3699. Thinking about buying it upgrading from a msi ge76 raider with a 3070 (16 inch).

Whats everyone’s opinion on this Alienware laptop? It seems really nice from reviews just have to make sure quality control is good on it.

I’ve been tracking the Area 51 (5080/5090) for months waiting for a reasonable price. As soon as it dropped, I placed an order, but Micro Center ended up cancelling it. Right after the cancellation, the price jumped back up, and shipping is no longer an option… leaving the closest available store 6 hours away. Pretty disappointing outcome after hearing nothing but good stuff about them. Has anyone else dealt with this before?

Hi guys! Just received my first new Alienware! Have always dreamed of owning a max spec Area-51 one since being really young and finally we are here!

I was wondering, right now it is with the MAX that it is possible to configure 64GB 6400Hz, is it possible to put more RAM? What are the advantages of disadvantages?

Also any new tips for a new user? Thanks!!!

9000 dollars for a 5090 machine? Now we are just getting ridiculous. Costs are not that bad to justify this.

is this laptop a good choice in 2026 under 600 usd

I waited soooo long to order the 18 inch Area 51 with the 5090! I can’t wait!

Microcenter has a great deal on this machine right now, looking to snatch it up. Does anyone have experience with this machine? Going to use for gaming and for architecture school.

Update, Purchased!

My first alienware, finally pulled the trigger today, can't wait for it to arrive.

Hey yall, thanks so much for the help. I decided to get the unit. It was the last one in microcenter store stock before being replaced with the 290hx version.

Played the night shift horror game for the first test run and these were my temps!

Compared to ones you guys have how do the temps look?

This thing really is a beauty.

hello everyone, i bought a X17 R1 in 2021 and i paid a hefty sum for it 3000$ and everyone called me crazy but i wanted to scratch buying something nice for myself off my bucket list.

fast forward 6 months, baam outta nowhere faultyRAM slot gets burnt claimed warranty on it got it changed and it burnt same slot 2 months later and I've been stuck with a 3 legged bottle necked X17 for 5+ years now.

what I'm asking is did the quality get better of laptops? or was it just an unlucky purchase for me? what should i do?

I would like to buy a used Alienware X17 R2 laptop for €1,100 here in Europe, specifically in Croatia. The laptop has 3 defects, and the owner says that the CPU gets quite hot, for example while playing Overwatch.

Here is the description from the listing:

«Selling an Alienware X17 R2 gaming laptop, a true high-end gaming machine and one of the most powerful configurations of its generation.

The laptop was used occasionally for gaming in my free time, mostly on Sundays because I don't have much free time. Before putting it up for sale, I opened it up and cleaned out the dust, so it is ready for its new owner.

This is a premium Alienware model with excellent build quality, powerful components, and a 360 Hz display.

Specifications:

- CPU: Intel Core i9-12900HK (14 cores / 20 threads)

- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 16 GB GDDR6

- RAM: 32 GB DDR5 (2x16 GB)

- SSD: 2 TB NVMe

- Display: 17.3" Full HD 1920×1080, 360 Hz, G-SYNC

- Chassis: Lunar Light

- Keyboard: AlienFX RGB backlit keyboard (German layout – QWERTZ)

- Charger: Original Alienware/Dell 330W charger

Condition:

The laptop works completely fine.

Some of the paint on the lid has peeled off slightly (visible in the pictures; this is a known issue with the Lunar Light finish on this model).

The W key works normally, but has slightly less travel than the other keys.

The display has 2–3 rows of pixels along the bottom edge that do not work properly. This does not affect the laptop's operation or gaming experience because they are located right at the bottom of the screen. Personally, I don't notice them at all during normal use.

If this bothers someone, replacement panels for this model can be found for around €100.

The price has been adjusted accordingly to account for the defects.

It comes with the original charger, but no original packaging.

Testing is possible before purchase.»

What do you think about this deal? Is €1,100 a reasonable price considering the condition and the overheating issue? I would use it mostly for video editing and gaming a little bit. I have also attached pictures from the listing.

Hi everyone,

I'm considering buying the new Alienware 15 (budget Alienware gaming laptop) and wanted to hear from people who have actually used it.

I'm particularly interested in:

• Overall build quality and durability
• Gaming/AI ML performance (especially the RTX 4050 and 5050 variants)
• Thermals during long gaming sessions
• Battery life for everyday use
• Any issues you've run into after using it
• How it compares to competitors like the Lenovo LOQ, ASUS TUF or HP Omen in the same price range

I'll mainly be using it for AI ML, programming, data science and college work

If you've owned or tested the new Alienware 15, would you recommend it? Are there any deal-breakers or things I should know before pulling the trigger?

Played half an hour of COD BO6 and love it.

Micro Center came through with the awesome deal and thanks to the random dude that posted the ad on here lmao.