What Makes Alienware Laptops So Divisive Among Gamers?

Alienware is a gaming laptop brand that almost every gamer has heard of. Dell's gaming branch, Alienware has been producing quality gaming laptops for nearly 30 years. However, Alienware has become a controversial brand within the gaming community over the past few decades. Its line of gaming laptops are top-of-the-line but some in the gaming community feel they are overpriced compared to similar competitors. You'd be hard-pressed to find any negative reviews of Alienware's latest gaming laptops from tech sites and critics.

While no score is perfect, they are overwhelmingly positive. The Alienware m18, Alienware x16, and Alienware 18 Area-51 have everything gamers need — a powerful processor (the m18 and Area-51 go up to the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX), a strong graphics card, plenty of memory and storage, and dazzling, crisp displays. Despite this, there are still gamers out there who will tell you to get competing brands like Lenovo and Asus instead — although Lenovo doesn't come cheap either. So why is that? 

While checking out owner reviews, there's one thing that continues to get mentioned time and time again — Alienware gaming laptops are pricey. Tech reviews will reflect this, including PC Mag calling the x16 R2 "costly but high-quality." Gamers, unsurprisingly, are even harsher when critiquing this concept. One on Reddit said, "Alienware is really just a Dell latitude laptop with a fancier plastic case and some flashy LED lights. A lot of the screen panels aren't even all that good. So why not get a Dell Latitude laptop with the same specs for a lower price?" 

Another added that the gaming laptops start off at a tolerable price, but their upgrades carry extreme price tags — and could even be purchased yourself for much less. A quick look at the new Alienware 18 Area-51 gaming laptop reflects this. What starts at $2,999 increases to $5,909 if you opt for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, 64 GB of memory, and 12 TB of storage.

Of course, having a gaming laptop with these specs is not too shabby — the performance, customer service, and lifespan continue to get approval from gamers. Another Reddit user said, "Overpriced, but wait for a deal. They are worth it when you can get ~20% off." 

Alienware gaming laptops are jam-packed with high-end tech and features, making them top-of-the-line picks for competitive gamers. However, that has come with a very big downside — the laptops are too heavy. Tom's Hardware noted that the Alienware 16 Area-51 had all the ports you could ever ask for and a very satisfying keyboard, but described it as "bulky and heavy" in a review.

The reviewer went on to say, "I do wish Alienware could find a way to drop the weight and thickness a bit next time around. While this is clearly a desktop replacement meant to sit on a desk, I could barely fit it in my backpack, which fits other 16-inch notebooks without issue." In regards to the Alienware M18 R2, ZDNet said, "It's big, it's thick, and it probably won't fit in your laptop bag." While ZDNET said that the M18 deserves to be big due to its power, it did note that this power has also shortened its battery life and increased the fan noise.

This battery issue has been echoed by owners as well. "Battery life started getting lower after one year. After three years the battery lasted less than 15 minutes," according to one Alienware owner on Reddit. Another added that heat and battery issues plagued their Alienware laptop as well. With some laptops boasting 30-plus hours of battery life, this is a big downside for the gaming brand.