Matt RaibleMatt Raible is a Web Developer and Java Champion. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

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Over 10 years ago, I wrote my first blog post. Since then, I've authored books, had kids, traveled the world, found Trish and blogged about it all.

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Friday July 25, 2003

Hypersonic vs. Alienware

As I mentioned a couple days ago, I'm looking to purchase a new laptop. Why? Because I might get a contract that requires me to provide my own machine. It's happened before, and on this contract my machine sucked when I started. Sure I could use my slow-as-molasses Powerbook (667 MHz, 1 GB RAM), but I'd rather buy a Windows laptop. Besides, it's not about the machine's productivity as much as my productivity on it. I'm faster on Windows, so I should buy a Windows machine to pack to client sites. Mini-Me (the Powerbook) will be adopted by Julie, where I'm sure it will be in good hands. I still plan on using it a fair amount, but she's been known to tell me "Keep your damn hands off my computer!" ;-)

So, to do some more research on the Alienware Area-51m and the Hibersonic Aviator ZX7, I sent each company an e-mail. The e-mail was pretty simple, and I just switched the order of things for each company:

I'm looking to purchase a new laptop and right now I'm down to making a 
decision between your 51m (http://alienware.com/system_pages/area-51m.aspx) 
and Hypersonic's ZX7 (http://hypersonic-pc.com/ZX7).  Can you tell me why 
I should buy your product over Hypersonic's?

About 10 hours later (a little slow, don't you think), I received the first reply - from Hypersonic.

Fair enough, Hypersonic has a Customer Satisfaction rating of 7.79, but less than 20 reviews in the last 6 months. Alienware, on the other hand, has a 7.78 Customer Satisfaction Rating. So they're very close there. However, on the lifetime rating, Alienware is 7.63 (275 reviews) and Hypersonic is 9.17 (48 reviews). When I first started this comparison, I liked the Alienware machine better because it has 802.11g and because I've heard of the company before. I'd never heard of Hypersonic, but the ZX7 did have built-in bluetooth, a 17" monitor and a (supposedly) kick ass sound system. I don't travel, and if I do, it's usually for pleasure and I can always take Mini-Me.

So I replied to the Hypersonic e-mail above.

And I recieved a reply 6 1/2 hours later:

All good answers to my questions. So I'm feeling pretty good about Hypersonic at this point, and still haven't heard from Alienware. And then I got a response from them, almost 30 hours after I sent my original e-mail. It took about 4 sentences for me to realize they were just sending me a standard form-letter, filled with arrogance.

In the end, both still sound good, but I like the Bluetooth, 17" screen and sound system on the Hypersonic. I decided last night that I should probably buy this now, instead of waiting for a new contract. I want one too bad to pass up the opportunity (and it's a business write-off). At the new house, Raible Designs' HQ will be in the basement, so we'll be relying on our 802.11b network to surf the web, check e-mail, etc. from upstairs. I moved to two computers years ago because Julie and I would fight over one. It's bound to happen again unless we have two wireless laptops. How's that for justification?! I'm saving our marriage! what a good husband

Posted in General at Jul 25 2003, 08:53:20 AM MDT 4 Comments
Comments:

My suggestion would be to check out the A or T Series IBM Thinkpad. They are a little pricer than other laptops, but they are reliable - and the have the best support ever. My thinkpad T23 didn't start one day, I called up support. They sent me a box via airborn got there next day. I put in the box, slapped on the return lable. Airborne came to my door, picked it up. I got back the laptop the next day. Total rount trip time, 3 days. They are FAST - and all this is free under their warantee. I think that's the most important part of owning a laptop - because they are portable, and they will unavaiable be dropped, stepped on, spilt on, etc.

Posted by Min Idzelis on July 25, 2003 at 10:37 AM MDT #

If this is for work and reliability/support is important, I too would suggest the Thinkpad. I bought the very first one in 1992 and have had six of them since. We've tried switching to Dell and I've used a Toshiba for a year when with another company. They simply do not compare. Everything just "works" as you would expect. And when the next version of Windows/Linux comes out, you can bet they will have the drivers and support way before the other companies do. Plus their professional (T series) laptops still come with a standard 3-year warranty. But even the best laptops have problems. Most manufacturers offer the Fedex/Airborne/... option for repair/service. But if you are in/close to a large city you can actually bring it in. I have twice been able to bring my 2-1/2 year old Thinkpad A20p into a local service provider and WAIT for them to fix it. That meant I was only unable to work for 3-4 hours instead of days (in both cases it faile gracefully, I could work, just not well). Now, IBM has always had the most pristine high-quality, large displayes. But so far they have not come out with the 17". I'm not sure why (that will be my next one). It may be that the 17" display just makes the form factor too large. I would seriously look at their A, G and T series. Now if games are really important, then I can see going with the Hypersonic. They seem really dedicate to customer service and quality. Awesome response you've gotten.

Posted by Richard Mixon on July 25, 2003 at 02:15 PM MDT #

Heh... I used the same excuse for saving the marriage, and it worked. I got my nice new powerbook without a fight.

Posted by Duane Mohney on July 26, 2003 at 01:39 PM MDT #

If you're looking for the Sager 17" (Hypersonic is just a re-sold Clevo laptop, Sager is a better re-seller of the laptop) then go look on the http://www.pctorque.com website for the Sager 4760.. it'll be the best thing you ever did, Hypersonic has terrible customer service whereas PCTorque's service is amazing! Just something to keep in mind. --JR

Posted by John Robinson on October 19, 2003 at 01:55 PM MDT #

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