Dell Alienware M15x VS Origin EON-15 Customer Servive review

There are a few factors here that need to be put into context.

1) I have a brain injury. My brain doesn’t process information the same way, so I am disabled by the legal definition of "person with a disability".

2) I have very specific requirements for my laptop. I am not a gamer; I am going to be editing HD Video from my Sony CamCorder and Photos from Nikon D90 in RAW form. I will be posting these videos, and photos online during my Run to Remember in April 2011. I will on the road for 7-8 months. I will not have a fixed address, or repair shop when I am somewhere between Prince Albert and Saskatoon. So I need something reliable and functional.

So I did my research, I planned my budget and I narrowed down what I needed. First and foremost I wanted a processor that would not only handle my needs but exceed them, for at least the two weeks I own it before something comes out to make it obsolete ;')

I needed a graphics card that would do justice to images from my Nikon and HD Video (I liked the idea of 3D, but I couldn’t justify the cost, besides seeing me run in HD is hard enough. I don’t want to scare people off and run at them in 3D). I need enough RAM to run everything without needing to set aside time to do a sermon in between loading times. Plus, I needed a screen so I can accurately judge how the photos will look.

Things like Hard Drive were flexible. I have a 3Trilibite external storage drive, I don't need a Blue-Ray reader as I don’t plan to make any DVD’s or Blue-Rays. I will be posting online or put it onto a USB storage. Audio, come on it’s a laptop.

The next big thing was warranty. I wanted the full extended warranty for as long as I could get it. To me it’s worth the expense as I don’t foresee being near PC stores. I want help when I need it; I want the onus to be on them to fix it, not on me to prove what’s wrong. I am not a technician, I mean I can’t do much more than change a tire, but damn it if I can’t drive the hell out of that car.

Price is an issue; I mean I don’t want to pay for something I don’t need. I am aware I will be paying allot and I am prepared for that.

So after the research and comparing price, custom made vs. build your own. I decided to go with Alienware.

I prepared my rig and I ordered it over the phone from a Sales Rep name Vijay. Vijay was easy to talk to. He understood my order and put together my first order on October 1st 2010. I had gone with a Intel Core i7 840QM, 1.86GHz. I was excited.

One of the reasons I needed a new PC was that Adobe Elements 8 kept crashing my computer. It was because my processor speed was 1.60GHz and I needed a min of 1.62GHz. This led me to think about the order I just made. I ordered 1.86Ghz and I could get an Intel Core i7-940XM Quad-Core Processor Extreme Edition (2.13GHz). Maybe I should pay the extra money and get that now. That way by the time I am done my run, my videos and any updates I have done to Adobe (less than a week after my purchase of Photoshop 8 they updated to 9 but that’s another post for another day) my new Laptop will still be good to go.

So I phone Dell back on October 4th and I ask to upgrade to the Intel i7-940XM. I don’t get Vijay, I get someone else. He cancels the first order (I don’t know why it had to be cancelled but what do I know about computer manufacturing). He then charges my credit card again for the order. This is fine, except the return for the cancelled order, has not shown up on my credit card yet. So he puts me on hold and then comes back and says bluntly “Do you have another card?” I say “Yes, but we don’t need it there are more than enough funds in the card I used.” I am put on hold…………………………hold…………….my other line beeps on the phone, I answer it. “Blah blah Mr. McGuire are you aware that someone is charging several thousand dollars multiple times on your card? We have frozen the accounts because they have attempted this multiple times.”

So I get “not Vijay” on the phone again. He is mad at me for some reason. I state that he kept charging the card. The credit card has stopped the transaction. “Why don’t you have more money” Not Vijay says.

“Look dude I am just going to wait for the funds to show returned on my credit card, when it does I will call back and do this again. OK?”

Not Vijay says something I can’t understand and hangs up.

October 6th, I call back Dell and I get Vijay. I relay what happened with Not Vijay and it turns out that he only cancelled my order because he wanted the commission for the order. I'm pretty peeved but Vijay wants to make things right, so I get what I want. Perfect we are good to go. I watch unboxing m15x videos on youtube. I worry I chose the wrong color, normal after purchase stuff……but I am happy. Getting my kick ass PC, YEAH!!

I get my AlienWare Messenger bag supper fast. I am excited. I wonder if the computer comes soon?  Let’s go look online it’s now the 13th of October. Let’s see the status……….yeah…………CANCELLED? WTF!!!

Phone Vijay, voicemail; phone Dell…….English, customer service…….hold please……………………..hold…………………….while holding I send in emails…………..

Vijay my order has been cancelled. What is going on? Please someone get back to me.

Still holding………………………..disconnect………………FUCK!!! Call back……………English…………..customer service…………………….hold please……………………………………………………I hang up……….off for a run. No time for this.

I work the next day, check my emails, nothing. I start Googling “Dell cancelled my order” and I get all these websites about issues with Dell and their customer service….wrong order………no service….sales good, no follow up…….complaint after complaint. I am starting to freak out.

I find a Dell forum and I find people with a similar issue. I post…damn not registered….register….post…wait………..nothing…….I go on a whim and I email Mickael@Dell.ca (Google Mickael Dell you will see why. It’s his family’s company)

I get some automated responses.

Next day I get an email from Vijay. Well it’s not an email. It’s just a new bill order. Everything is the same, except the price is different: it is less. Ok. I look at the order form……….same…same…windows 2007. What, no I don’t want windows 2007. WTF!!

I call Vijay, get him right away. “Hey Vijay what’s up….yeah I saw, what happened….oh the factory didn’t have a copy of Office 2010 so they cancelled my whole order? Ok weird………so you put in the same order but with Office 2007. Except Vijay I don’t want Office 2007. I want 2010. If I have to go out and buy it on my own I will have to pay $275.00. I will have one copy of 2007 that I paid for and I will still have to go out and pay for 2010? It’s a free upgrade? Ok. Yeah, I mean if your telling me I am paying less for Office 2007 and I can do a free upgrade to Office 2010 by Microsoft …………well……..Yeah…..ok”

I get off with Vijay, and I pause. Dell doesn’t have a copy of Office 2010? Can they just cancel my order and change what I ordered without asking me. I mean isn’t that called bate and switch?

I Google “upgrade Office 2007 to Office 2010 free” I get to the Microsoft site. Yup I can update for free….read the fine print……..hold on. If Office 2007 was purchased before September 31 you can upgrade for free…….nope I didn’t purchase until October. This won’t work. I am not going to pay for Office 2007 and then pay again for office 2010 when I first get the laptop.

Email/call Vijay….email Customer Service…..go back to the Dell forum………I get an email stating that “my issue has escalated to a specialty department. Please provide your contact name, your purchase order, first born son's name and the best time to reach you. What? Fine…….email them the information. I get an automated response stating a new case # and I will be contacted in 2-3 business days. It’s not Friday October 15th. I will have to wait until likely the 20th just because I want what I ordered.

So, in my head I am processing, if things go my way, they will start a new build; 4 to 6 weeks to build……..if everything goes perfect it will be here by Freaking Christmas! WTF. No I am done.

Email the three big players. Here is a portion of my email:

As I explained to Vijay, time is of the essence. While I won't be starting my, Marathon a day, until April of 2011 but due to my reduced cognitive skills I need all the time I can to help my memory retain the information of using not only Photoshop, but also how to process, post and edit my video's and pictures.



Dealing with Dell has been extremely difficult. I am going only by my current experience that basically, you are making it very difficult to give you my money. This is a really big deal to me, I have never spent this much money on any single purchase before. You have no idea the work that went into getting the funds for this. I was so excited and unfortunately dealing with Dell before I even get my product has been difficult.

I really did not like my order being cancelled and then a new order starting up with a product that I did not order. Based on my experience and the fact that just purchasing a product from you (dell) has been this difficult, I am choosing to cancel my order. I can only imagine what will happen when I am three months into the run and I have an issue with my computer. I simply don't need the headache. I have decided to go with an Origin Laptop

I get response from Dell stating that:

Sorry you didn't give us the opportunity to make this right for you. Enjoy your new computer, and if by chance you change your mind in the future, please let us know. I'll go ahead and cancel your escalation. Do you need assistance cancelling your order?

So I emailed him back that I gave them every opportunity to make it right. The fact that I had to push so hard just to get an escalation process is ridiculous. What kind of business model do have, where you change what the customer ordered without notification, then make the customer work their butt off to get what they originally ordered, somehow treat them like they are being difficult, and then let them know after two weeks of waiting you are now escalated. Escalating to what? How much more escalation can I handle? I just want what I ordered? I want an expensive computer. Why won’t you sell it to me? Why do they make it so hard for me to give them my money in exchange for getting me what I ordered?

So I have two choices (I decided Voodoo would be worse than Alienware in my first set of research), so I looked up Falcon Northwest http://www.falcon-nw.com/ and I looked up Origin.

Origin right off the bat was so much less dramatic. Here were some guys that love to work on laptops and truly want a customer and not a sale. No bullshit. So I went out on a limb. I told them how much money I had, and what I needed. This was such a strange, lovely and scary thing.

You know what? The sales guy Jamie was exactly what you want in a sales guy. I mean a product representative before they became "up sales people", or "meet the quota sales person". Truly the kind of sales that takes into consideration what you have to spend, what you are going to do with the system, and how to best serve you.

In very short time. I had a great rig, I had what I wanted, I avoided some things that I don’t need and wouldn’t use, plus I really got the feel that someone was going to build this thing just for me. I mean in a grown up way I was treated with care and concern and it was personal. Isn’t it so sad that we don’t get that anymore?

So here are the rig specs:

EON-15

1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA Quadro FX

Intel Core i7-940XM Quad-Core

8GB Dual-Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz

500GB Seagate Momentus XT 7200rpm

Now shipping expectations can vary, but even if they're off by a week or so, this laptop should be here ready for unboxing before my first Dell was to have arrived. How does that work?

Origins, thanks.