Alienware Nostalgie

[LupusWorax]

Beim stöbern im netz bin ich auf die Alienware " Breaking News" gestoßen welche bis ins Jahr 2001 zurückreichen. Es ist schon unglaublich was sich in nur 10 Jahren alles ändert.

 

Hierzu ein Testbericht von einem "ZDNet best buy Review" aus dem Jahre 2001.

 

ZDNet Best Buy Award June 2001: ALIENWARE AREA 51

 

"Alienware Area51 Pentium 4, 1.7GHz"

 

Overview:

 

If you're willing to shell out the big bucks, Alienware will custom build a system for you with unparalleled care. The huge tower case offers plenty of room for expansion, and the custom paint job will make your friends drool. Optimized for top gaming performance, the Area 51 also excels at digital video editing, and it can even run (gasp) business apps with aplomb. The price for entry is steep, but you'll also be buying an unprecedented upgrade path.

 

 

Full Review:

 

Hardcore gamers are a different breed of computer user. For them, a three-month-old video card is an out-of-date slug, and the latest video card is worth $400 to pull an extra 15 frames per second (up from 100fps) out of Quake III Arena. It's these performance-fixated gamers that Alienware is trying to abduct with its Area 51 system. With the latest technology evident in nearly every component, this is a wicked gaming system. And if you're forced to run the serious stuff between death matches, you'll find the Area 51 is one of the fastest Windows Me machines on the planet.

 

The first clue that this isn't your typical assembly-line PC comes when you open the box. A three-ring notebook holds the computer's manual (complete with personalized title page, a breakdown of your system's components, and all the details gamers and hardware maniacs appreciate--benchmarking software, a list of IRQ assignments, and a breakdown of what's in each PCI slot). In addition, you'll find full manuals and driver discs for all the components in your system.

 

And what a list of components it is. Along with the 1.7GHz Pentium 4 processor (Alienware also offers an AMD Athlon version), each system packs 256MB of 800MHz rambus direct RAM, a GeForce3 graphics card, Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live Platinum 5.1, an Intel Pro/100 S Ethernet card, a U.S. Robotics 56K voice/data modem (and it's not a Winmodem), a Pioneer 16X DVD drive, and a Plextor PlexWriter 16/10/40A CD-R/RW drive with Burn-Proof technology. No generic OEM equipment here. There's also an IEEE 1394 (FireWire) card for video editing and a Creative Live Drive IR, which adds front-mounted audio-in and -out ports. Despite all this hardware, you'll still find an open PCI slot, four available 3.5-inch drive bays, and an empty 5.25-inch bay. The bundled monitor, a flat-screen NEC MultiSync FE950+, provides a sharp, vibrant picture, and the superb Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 speaker system will make your floor shake without a hint of sound distortion.

 

All this customizing pays off: The Area 51 is the fastest system running Windows Me we've seen to date. The GeForce3 card delivers great 3D performance, and the combination of a fast CPU and zippy 7,200-rpm IBM hard drive (from which only Micron seems to be able to eke out slightly more throughput) make it unbeatable for all types of applications as well as video encoding. The Area 51 was a top performer in our gaming and productivity tests, and with the Klipsch speaker system, we were ready to leave our home theater behind and watch DVDs on the computer instead.

 

The full tower case is by far the heaviest we've ever seen in a consumer system. A look inside would make any engineer proud. All the cables are tucked away and routed around the edges to maximize airflow from the system's six cooling fans. The system is available in your choice of colors. Ours was painted Conspiracy Blue, a sleek, metallic mica color that extended to the keyboard and matching Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer.

 

The hard drive comes loaded with the latest 3D benchmarking software and a number of games and demos, so you can see the system at its best right out of the box. There's no bundled office suite, but Alienware offers Microsoft Office as an option. The company will even install three games (any game available on the retail market), upgrade them with the latest patches, and test them before shipping your system. Das ja mal geil wusste ich gar nicht

 

The warranty covers parts and labor for one year and includes toll-free 24/7 technical support. Two- and three-year extensions are available. And you can stay cutting edge: Alienware offers an unprecedented upgrade policy that lets you upgrade components of your system at wholesale cost. Alienware will install and configure the new parts and retest the system's performance at no charge. You pay only Alienware's cost for the components and shipping.

 

But there's a price to pay for the personalized service, custom configuration, and brand-name components here: The Area 51 costs hundreds of dollars more than similarly configured systems from some other manufacturers. But that's our only real complaint. If you want a system that's tuned for top performance, sports the latest drivers, and offers an upgrade path that can keep it at the front of the pack, you'll find the extra money well spent.

 

Schon unglaublich was sich inzwischen alles getan hat und was noch auf uns zukommt denn die Entwicklung geht immer schneller voran.

 

Quelle: http://www.alienware.com/learn/news/gaming-pc-news.aspx