This is an open ended review of my experience with Alienware. Updates will be posted below

(note: sorry for any spelling and grammar errors - I am rushing to get this updated - my explanation is at the bottom of this)

12/29/2005 06:49 PM - Email from Alienware telling me they could not reach me by phone and to provide contact info.

01/02/2006 1:28 PM - My response back - "Thank you for the call but I updated the drivers on my own. While I haven't gotten another blue screen yet - I have not been using the machine much since I only use it for gaming and I have been busy. I am still worried about the noise that the machine made and I needed to shut it down and reboot. (like a fan was grinding - I have had PCs for years and have never hear something like that)

PLEASE ANSWER MY ORGINAL question on if you will extend the warranty to max. Given all the grief and cost I suffered I think this is the minimal you can do for me. I would prefer a FULL refund with a ZERO restock fee."

01/04/2006 01:01 PM - Alienware again sends an email stating they were unable to reach me by phone. - (they do NOT answer my question about the warranty)

01/08/2006 12:49 PM - My response - "PLEASE EMAIL WHAT YOU HOPE TO DO WITH YOUR PHONE CALL TO ME? My time is limited and I need to know what you plan on doing. If you wish to answer my ORGINAL QUESTION ON if you will extend the warranty to max. Given all the grief and cost I suffered I think this is the minimal you can do for me. PLEASE GIVE ME A DIRECT NUMBER TO CALL - and I will update the review on GameDemo.com w/ the result
IF you would like to Address my INITIAL REQUST to RETURN the unit with a FULL refund with a ZERO restock fee. PLEASE GIVE ME A DIRECT NUMBER. and I will update the review on GameDemo.com w/ the result
IF you plan on walking me through updating my video and sound drivers... I have already updated my new state of the art fully tested machine to the current drivers myself.
IF you plan on explaining to me why the fan makes a noise that has me thinking it will break (this happens every now and then during bootup) - please email what you will cover.
PLEASE EMAIL BACK

01/09/2006 3:35 PM - Alienware response: A quote about their limited warranty and what it covers - A description of how to reinstall problem drivers and then troubleshoot bad parts and a description of 'fix' the fan issue. "including check for dust" (ugh - I have had computers for years - when I go to clean them every year or so, a dust rabbit comes out? not a bunny and they have run great - the fan was making noise just a few days after running it) and a statement about paying to up the warranty. (not)

01/11/2006 3:34 PM Alienware response to me freaking about out quoting the limited warranty and stating their policies. I figured the guy that was emailing me didn't know the full story so I sent an description of what had happened (sometime after the 9th - I forgot to email a copy to myself) - RESPONSE - said "Unfortunately, how the original situation with your computer was handled in the past, I will not be able to provide you with the details" (like it was a million days ago or some other company I was dealing with?) - The person also stated - "I can guarantee you is that I can help you with any problem the computer currently may have. Regarding the noise problem with the fan, I can assure to you that if it is defective we will replace it and we can even send an Onsite Technician to have the replacement taken care of. The only thing I will need to ask you for, is to identify which fan is the one making the noise." "Now about a warranty extension, it is something that can not be granted. However, after confirming that the computer is working in the proper way and shows no signs of problems; we can check if there would be a possibility to reset the warranty for the downtime of the system while it was in for repairs."

Below are the dates that of emails that were basically the same sent from Alienware asking me about the status of the machine and about updating this review.
Monday, January 16, 2006 1:09 PM
Monday, January 23, 2006 9:16 AM
Thursday, January 26, 2006 11:18 AM

This pasted month has been a busy and stressful time from me. My 3 small children become sick during different periods with a very bad stomach virus. My wife just had surgery and was unable to fully care for them. So I had 4 patients at home as well as flying around the country (I got sick in Vegas one trip - took me out for 3 days), keeping the house in order and working on HTBHomes.com & GameDemo.com. I have not had the time to focus on gaming and all I use the Alienware computer for is gaming. Usually what I do when I buy a new high end machine is move all the graphics & site apps over to the new one. However, with all that has happened, I trust my older Gateway more than I trust the brand new Alienware - how sad is that.

I simply do not have the time right now to get on the phone and spend hours trying to trouble shoot drivers and questionable fans. I must give the person that is making the contact attempts from Alienware a nod & personally thank him, but I didn't factor in this time requirement to get the $6000.00 Alienware working correctly.

02/03/2006 - Plagued with sound problems. I have been getting on to play BF2:SF very early with some of the kewl gamers over at IAM Clan. There have been issues with the sounds ? sometimes with random ?scratching? screeches coming from random speakers, other times, like a loop is stuck. I have been cleaning out the TEMP folders, decreasing the sound hardware accelerations (why did I pay big bucks to have it ? if it is going to cause me issues). Sometimes it works, some times not. I get so frustrated because I thought if I spent more money for a ?quality machine?, I would not be faced with issues; Alienware proved me wrong.

What would make me Happy? If Alienware would honor my initial request (when the unit was damaged during shipping) of returning the system with no restock fee (I would even pay to keep the speakers and monitor at this point).

02/22/2006 - During boot up this morning. A noise came from the computer (much like that fan noise I was talking about). This time after boot up, I got a error message about SLI and needed a reboot. (it did this automatically) when it came back up. I looked at the properties of the display drivers and it stated if I wanted to take advantage of SLI, i should install a second video card. (ummmm there is one there) I rebooted and had to select Multi SLI... fingers crossed it continues to work... ugh

03/12/2006 - UGH... BLUE SCREEN & CRASH - http://www.gamedemo.com/warehouse/News_Details/GameDemocom-Alienware-Review--Crash.html

TO BE CONTINUED?

REBATE UPDATE: NOTHING AS OF 03/12/2006 (PS: bought a DirectTV HD DVR - they actually mailed me a reminder to send in my rebate - now that is how it is done.)

(Update: Rebate Arrived: Check dated 04/06/06)