Is There A Way to Make An Alienware Frugal?

In might be one of the most improbable of all the improbable success stories in the computing industry. I know I've railed against it in the past, and banged my head against an expensive failed M7700 project. The fact of the matter is that they (now a part of Dell) are ridiculously expensive for what you get. In fact, you don't have to build your own to get a better deal. You can in fact find any number of manufacturers out there that'll sell a you a better deal. However, there's just a little something about them that draw people. Kind of like owning a Jeep product. It's expensive and doesn't make sense, but they are still a success. In fact, while I was looking through Youtube videos, I came across a guy who collects Alienware desktops! This nut has something like 5 or 6 of them, mostly less then 4 years old, so you can imagine how much they costs him!

What started this weird (for me anyway) post? In fact, there's nothing frugal about this firm that makes it's money completely due to cache, and not on substance. Well, it's a weird story. This, like most other years, I have a student who's not only good at my class, but also are interested in things that I'm interested in...., however, oddly, this year.....it's a girl! It's rare, since the top history students at this age tend to be boys, and of course, interest in computers, doubly so! She and some other students have decided to start a Computer Club at our school. As part of that, she wants to build her own computer. .....Not just any computer, a Gaming Computer! One that will make her teenage younger brother jealous!

Let me make this clear. We live in the "burbs", but not the type where there are Mercedes in driveways and pools in every other back yard. The percentage of residents with college degrees is in the low 20's, so yeah, it's pretty much working class. So, the probability of a parent (in the case, a single parent) will pony up for a $3000-5000 PC isn't good. So, we'll need to be inventive and look at alternatives. Right up my alley!

One of the things I do like about Alienware is that regardless of how unusual the exterior, they seem to basically use regular parts on the inside. I watched a Youtube video where a guy took an older model and updated it by replacing the motherboard, etc. PING! ....Which is precisely what I think can be done with my student.On top of that, I even came across a great candidate for it this weekend! I found an ad on Craigslist for an Aurora 7500 (Core2Duo generation) model that the owner had pulled the processor, and RAM, but everything else intact for $175. I'd bet that he'd take somewhere between $150 and $160 for it, but even at the full price, it'd be a decent starting point for her till she can save enough to upgrade the guts.

From there, it's a series of incremental upgrades till she'll eventually have a decent gaming rig..... all without outlaying huge chunks of cash (at least for a 16 year old) at a time. 

Much of the cache of Alienware is that they are just "cool". However, the concept would be all the more cool if it can be frugally and successfully done! Stay tune to see if I have better luck with these guys the second time around!