Alienware Sentia

Reviewer: Stephen Patrick
Review Date: 11 October 2004
Manufacturer: Alienware
Price as reviewed: £1545
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6/10

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Reader review

User: Rob, Lincolnshire, UK
Date Posted: 21 December 2005
Review: In regards to the last review made, I totally disagree with what he is saying, the Sentia I currently have is working perfectly, there are no bug problems and the fan noise is barely even a noise, if you put it next to a standard desktop you wouldn't even hear it, if you expect a laptop of this speed and size to be as quiet as a mouse then you are sadly mistaken. Everyone I know has commented on how good it looks, and loads of people have also commented on its ability to do its job, which in my opinion is top notch. I do agree that they are a touch pricey but I think the extra money is well worth the knowledge that you own the best looking laptop around. The only complaint I have is Alienware’s ability to deal with customer support, there is a lot of waiting around for calls which sometimes never come, but if you are prepared to take the risk of it taking a couple of weeks to arrive I strongly suggest you buy this very sharp looking piece of kit.
Rating: 12 people have rated this review helpful

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User: Eric, USA
Date Posted: 22 August 2005
Review: I am on my second Sentia, my first was dead on arrival. Once I had a working machine, I have to say that it is a great little computer. The screen resolution makes watching movies a great way to take a break. I use the computer for web surfing, light video editing and just about everything but gaming. Battery life is about 3.5 hrs of web surfing, travels great also. Very light and takes up little room. I think that the price may be a little high compared to other similar computers but I am very happy with my 12" Sentia and would definitely buy another.
Rating: 10 people have rated this review helpful

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User: Sean, USA
Date Posted: 22 July 2005
Review: I just got my Sentia about a month ago and it’s the best computer I have ever bought. The keyboard works awesomely and its super fast and light. I can’t express how much I recommend this laptop.
Rating: 9 people have rated this review helpful

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User: Jason Ginsburg, Houston USA
Date Posted: 24 November 2004
Review: cess points. Updating the drivers, adjusting the access points, and switching management software did not help. Second problem was the backlight not coming back on whenever I would open the lid back up. Third problem was Alienwareís ìaward-winningî tech support. When trying to address the wireless and backlight problems, they were clueless. Now, I donít expect support to have an answer for everything. But the usual answer I got from the techs was literally silence, followed by them saying theyíd call me back ñ calls which I never received. Looking past these obvious problems, Iíve still come to the conclusion that Sentia is full of design flaws: First, thereís a light that blinks on it constantly. If you want the light to stay solid, you have to downgrade your power settings. Can you imagine buying a new Lexus, having a light constantly blink on the dash, then being told by the dealership that it canít be fixed and will keep blinking unless you stay below 60 mph? How quickly would you return that car? Second,thereís the fan thatís constantly on. Itís not so bad while youíre surfing or typing, but opening any document or program kicks it up so high that it sounds like a lawnmower. The worst thing about this is that it didnít even translate into better performance ñ the computer would still get very hot. Third, if you want to close the Sentiaís lid and still leave it on, it has to hibernate or risk heat damage to the screen. Youíd think that the Super-Active-Fan would deal with the heat, but again, no. Iíve gotten into a habit of closing my lid a lot to save power and to carry a laptop around the home or office. But with Sentia, my habit meant initiating hibernation and losing my connection to my server or disabling hibernation and risk screen damage. Suffice to say, having a design that makes closing the lid difficult is ridiculous for something thatís supposed to be ultra-portable. Bottom-line, the Sentia looks cool, but itís just a pretty face. When you pay this much money, when you buy brand new, when yoou buy straight from the source, and when you have to wait a month for it to ship, you expect it to be at least near-perfect ñ but my Sentia was far from that. It is poorly designed, buggy, and backed by near worthless support. All of you out there shopping for a Sentia, take this review / complaint / warning to heart. And to those of you that already own one, I guess youíll have to make the best out of a bad situation. So now Iím into my fifth week waiting for a refund. If I ever do get it, it will be short by 15%, for the restocking fee that I was penalized for, for returning the computer (even though itís not my fault the thing never worked).
Rating: 11 people have rated this review helpful

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