Dell denies death of XPS to aid Alienware
One for custom jobs, the other for mass-produced systems
Dell has denied that it plans to kill off the XPS gaming PC brand and promote its Alienware gaming PC subsidiary instead. Both names will "live on", it said last night.
That the PC giant intends to knock XPS on the head was suggested this week by the Wall Street Journal.
There's certainly cross-over between Alienware and XPS. Alienware was formed to create customised gaming PCs, but it's steadily extended itself into more mainstream markets - media centre systems, for instance.
Equally, the XPS line has grown from exclusively focusing on gaming to incorporate consumer-oriented laptops and all-in-one desktops, and systems for content creators. XPS was established before Dell acquired Alienware in 2006.
Alienware insiders indicate that the subsidiary is encouraging its new master to promote it as the group's gaming brand, but the Dell stance, posted on a company blog, suggests it's not entirely going to get its way.
"XPS gaming systems will remain an important part of our gaming product portfolio," blogger Anne Camden blogged. "We don't plan an early phase-out of these systems as the WSJ incorrectly stated, and in fact will continue to refresh them to keep them on the front edge of gaming."
Camden continued: "We are going to expand our focus on Alienware. We are going to invest like crazy in product development, design and engineering to propel Alienware as the premier gaming brand in the future."
Essentially, then, Alienware will continue to offer custom gaming systems, focusing on close co-operation with the customer for whom price is a secondary concern, while XPS will be used to offer rigs for gamers who want high performance, but don't want to spec out systems themselves or will accept a lesser machine for a lower price.
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COMMENTS
Nothing Wrong with XPS
My XPS 420 (gotta love it for the model number alone) is friggin bullet proof.
XPS M1710
Love mine, never a hint of trouble, runs games well, runs apps well, travels round the world with me. Not failed me yet. I did upgrade from Vista to XP to enjoy it's power to the full but that's a well trodden stroy path.
Horrible design
I recently purchased a laptop and considered Dell and Alienware. The price was reasonable but I couldn't get the combination of features I wanted. I also did my research and found out about the huge number of users that have problems with the build quality.
Typing on a vostro 1500
This thing is basically an inspiron 1500 with better build quality, sturdier case and they try and get you to buy the 3 year warranty with it. It's marketed as a "small business" laptop but for whatever reason they've stuck the 8600M GT gaming graphics chip in it, and it's great for HL2:Ep2 and the like. Don't overlook the Vostro, unlike the seeming flippancy with which the XPS are built, the Vostro is put together with care.
Typing on XPS1530
Had no major problem with XPS here.
Well built, thought out design.
Naff Speakers... but apart from that quite happy.
