Alienware Area-51 ALX

Pros: Having a hard time coming up with many.

Cons: Faulty product, lackluster support

Summary: I bought this computer as a gift for my girlfriend. What I got her was a nightmare of bugs, malfunctions, and snotty customer support.

This is supposed to be the Cadillac of computers, but what I got was an Edsel. I ordered the computer about four months in advance, and finally got it about three months after my girlfriend's birthday, the event that the computer was purchased for. Not only that, but the motherboard decided to die as soon as my poor girlfriend got all of her files onto the drive. Off the ALX went again to spend another few months at Alienware.

Maybe the ALX just gets lonely for its homeland, as every few months we have a major meltdown. My girlfriend probably knows more about computer rapair now than most of the Alienware Tech Support people. As I type this, in fact, she's on the phone with Customer Support, popping batteries in and out of the motherboard and delving into dos and other arcane aspects of computers that I was hoping she'd never have to deal with.

Alienware offered to mail us some Amazon gift certificated to ease the pain, but it's been almost a year and they're still a no-show.

There's nothing worse than buying a gift for someone that actually makes their life more stressful. If this weren't an ungodly expensive machine, I'd throw it in the trashcan and start over.

As it stands, I've given Alienware over six thousand dollars for the honor of making my girlfriend cry. Thanks, alienware. Way to go.