Report: Dell phasing out XPS gaming systems

  • By Brooke Crothers, Tom Magrino, News.com
  • Posted May 13, 2008 11:37 am PT

[UPDATE] PC manufacturer refutes claims made yesterday by the WSJ regarding a phase out of its high-performance line, saying brand "will live on."

From News.com

[UPDATE] Yesterday, the The Wall Street Journal reported that Dell Inc. would begin phasing out its XPS desktop game machines. The move, according to the report, was intended to give Dell's high-end gaming brand Alienware more breathing room in the market, with the WSJ claiming the XPS line "ate into" Alienware's sales.

Late in the day yesterday, Dell responded to the WSJ report on its official blog. Not only did the PC manufacturer completely deny that the XPS brand was on the outs, but it said that the high-end machines were in store for significant investment in the future.

"Dell XPS and Alienware are both great brands--arguably the greatest brands in PC gaming--and both will live on. But we are going to expand our focus on Alienware," reads Dell's statement. "XPS gaming systems will remain an important part of our gaming product portfolio. 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."

As for the expanded focus on Alienware, the Miami-based manufacturer, which Dell acquired in 2006, is expected to bring out redesigned systems based on new materials that go beyond the brand's long-standing design, according to the WSJ report.

118 Comments

  • GhostyMcboo

    Posted May 15, 2008 7:31 am PT

    CYberpower ain't bad... just checked it out after reading this.

  • Agermemnon

    Posted May 15, 2008 1:30 am PT

    @D3ADMaggot911 yeah cyberpower have quite a range of rigs now with quite a list of upgrades at reasonable cost .

  • Agermemnon

    Posted May 15, 2008 1:22 am PT

    Also if you're going to spend Alienware money i would think you're better off buying Vadim or Scan rigs as they beat Alienware rigs for the same price in reviews . ps Vadims liquid cooling setup is expensive but owww very nice .

  • Agermemnon

    Posted May 15, 2008 1:16 am PT

    Well it always seemed odd that a company that owns Alienware would want to compete against it's self for the gaming rig market in the first place ?

  • RADOGMIJ

    Posted May 14, 2008 9:01 pm PT

    I agree with "Jazilla" waste of money... thank goodness XPS is gone... now if we can just get rid of DELL all together... Go to NEWEGG buy the parts for under 1500, have fun building it and you could have yourself a PC that destroys dell's over priced crap! They have all been BTX and cannot upgrade the MOBO... with the exception of the 630 / 730

    I do say this though I did receive the 720 upgrade kit. I had a 700 I signed up for the program and got their 680i BTX board for free...

    But XPS BIOS suck... it's like an eagle with its wings clipped... how could they NEUTER such great hardware...

  • D3ADMaggot911

    Posted May 14, 2008 8:37 pm PT

    For people that want a custom pc ... with out having to build it yourself
    look up Cyber Power PC ... there good .. but i enjoy building my own still
    but they also build custom laptops.

  • jazilla

    Posted May 14, 2008 8:16 pm PT

    Buying one of these and wasting your money is bad. I don't care if you bleed cash...it's still a waste. You can build a machine that performs like any of these do for a fraction of the cost. It also gives you something fun to do if you like working on computers

  • daabulls23

    Posted May 14, 2008 6:45 pm PT

    I don't see why Dell phases out their XPS series if they had aquired Alienware. They could just call it Alienware by Dell, or not change the name at all and just own it. Doesn't really bother me though: built my own for a great price.

  • iceyintel

    Posted May 14, 2008 5:25 pm PT

    I have an Alienware and i love it too death, but it could be more powerful, if dell did this...

    Dell should just completely drop the gaming xps, and keep the dell brand as a premium and work, and instead of having 2 seperate gaming tech.locations and ideas separate, put all the gaming xps workers into the alienware station.Give alienware 2x as much power, so they can get things done a lot faster, and make a little touch of alineware and dell xps.

    Alienware updates their lineup pretty fast, just not with AMD.They are like the first to bring out the next generation Intel chips, but they lag behind in AMD tech.But again, AMD sucks LOL so who cares.I would say it is a good thing, Intel is kicking AMD's rear end in dual core, and quad core.

    Everyone saying Alienware is too expensive, look at voodoo pc, and tell what expensive is.The cheapest desktop on voodoo (min price) is 6.5k.If you customized both alienware and voodoo with the same parts, you will find voodoo a good 2k more expensive than alienware, and voodoo's designs are soo ugly compared to alienware's.

  • Gamecubebill

    Posted May 14, 2008 11:34 am PT

    I agree if you are looking for a desktop..definitely build one... but if you are on the go and need a laptop..nothing wrong with an Alienware ... I own one and I love their tech dept. ... recently we had an electrical storm and it fried my Alienware .... it burned out my vid card and my motherboard... which after sending it in..they repaired for free..even sent me labels prepaid for shipping... i was happy... i know i saved over a $1000 there...

  • MichaelGeorge70

    Posted May 14, 2008 9:22 am PT

    owned a dell xps 600 for about a year am glad too see they're going as IMO!!! it was rubbish and a complete ripoff much prefer my home built c2q 8800gt sli :-)

  • sieg6529

    Posted May 14, 2008 6:17 am PT

    I would like to snatch up an XPS laptop if they cut the price, but only if they continue support for at least a year.

  • Mauller

    Posted May 14, 2008 4:51 am PT

    I love my beastly sized XPS. The tower is damn heavy and sturdy. It's so easy to access and everything is laid out beautifully. My only issue is that the software controlling the LED lights seems flakey and stops working frequently.

  • Kh1ndjal

    Posted May 14, 2008 3:50 am PT

    it will still produce xps laptops, right?

  • svaubel

    Posted May 14, 2008 12:22 am PT

    Why pay up to 5,000$ for an Alienware, when you can build pretty much the same thing with parts off Newegg, for 1/3 the price

  • justfei

    Posted May 14, 2008 12:12 am PT

    ooh hopefully a price drop in xps soon! woot : )

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted May 13, 2008 11:48 pm PT

    Man, the XPS were cool though.

  • Jebril

    Posted May 13, 2008 11:19 pm PT

    Wow does Dell realize why those sales 'ate into' Alienware sales? Cuz the XPS is cheaper, more reliable and more practical. I needa get one before they phase it out. Shoulda kept this great PC.

  • Fanible

    Posted May 13, 2008 10:18 pm PT

    Word edgewalker. I've been really wanting that PC/Laptop hybrid.

    I doubt the prices will drop though. Or if they do, it won't be much. They'll just sell out of them and stop producing more.

    I've always thought the XPS systems had better style than Alienware. Hopefully the new Alienware lines will have better looking setups and casings, and more variety definitely.

  • edgewalker16

    Posted May 13, 2008 9:38 pm PT

    Does this mean we can expect to see price-drops on XPS systems in the coming months?

  • jdgilman

    Posted May 13, 2008 9:25 pm PT

    I did my first custom built PC a few years ago and I would never do it any other way. When I first started looking into it, it seemed like such a far-out thing to do but it is actually fairly simple, and you learn an enormous amount about computers in the process. You can also use some of your old drives in the new build to keep costs down. If you can put RAM or a video card in a computer, follow directions, and use a screwdriver, you have the skills you need to do a custom build.

  • FstrthnU

    Posted May 13, 2008 9:25 pm PT

    I agree that Alienware is overpriced and does not update its components regularly enough, Cyperpower is better (they update regularly, and they price it right too. No flashy effects, but power is great (reccomend laptops and/or Intel Core 2 Duo Custom Quad SLI Configurator.) Still, Dell ought to make a High-end pc for the Inspiron Line to replace the XPS 420.

  • DontEatCream

    Posted May 13, 2008 8:46 pm PT

    From a marketing perspective, this is a smart move. Having Alienware and XPS together is redundant, and Dell has good reason to cut out the XPS series entirely. After all, the Alienware brand is more famous than XPS, and it has a higher perceived level of quality to boot.

    Not that this matters to hardcore PC gamers anyway, since no one is stupid enough to buy an overpriced Alienware PC. :-D

  • Death_Masta187

    Posted May 13, 2008 8:14 pm PT

    Well if any of you have ever needed to call dell support you will know to steer clear of anything that has DELL written on it...

  • chevydriver1123

    Posted May 13, 2008 7:00 pm PT

    Well I current have an XPS and Im a bit bummed out but IBuyPower.com has better deals anyway.

  • sj420

    Posted May 13, 2008 6:54 pm PT

    gotta love this illusion of choice

  • EskimosAreReal

    Posted May 13, 2008 6:40 pm PT

    Dell and Alienware are both way overpriced anyway. Save yourself a ton of money and just build your rig yourself.

  • ctg867

    Posted May 13, 2008 6:39 pm PT

    These rigs are so overpriced. I don't think too many PC gamers are disappointed to see them go. You can find rigs that can run Crysis at high settings for $1,000. You don't need a $5,000 PC. This is why PC gaming is in such a bad state.

  • nemes1s3000

    Posted May 13, 2008 6:21 pm PT

    Atleast XPS was a helluvalot cheaper than god damn Aliencrap. I was really looking forward to getting myself an XPS because I've been saving for quite some time, and now I see this...

  • Jd1680a

    Posted May 13, 2008 5:33 pm PT

    Alienware is way overpriced. To get a decent computer someone would have to spend well over $3000.

  • nate1222

    Posted May 13, 2008 5:02 pm PT

    I'm going to sell my current PC to a relative before I move to Seattle. When I do, I'll throw in my old GeForce 8500. I'm keeping my current 8800, though. I'll slap that 8800 into an AMD Dual Core PC once I'm situated in Seattle. You can get a Dual Core PC at Best Buy for $400. That's all I'll have to do given I'll stil have ye ol' 8800.
    The truth is: you don't need to spend $1000 - $2000 on a gaming rig. An 'off-the-shelf' PC with a $200 video card and 1GB - 2GB RAM will pull most of what's out there on max settings with good frame rates.

  • mysterylobster

    Posted May 13, 2008 4:57 pm PT

    ""and some didn't even have 2D capabilities" you gotta show me some of those 1D graphics cards - didnt know a single dimension existed"

    Sorry, was I not clear? I was talking about 3D graphics cards. Some early ones only did 3D acceleration, and you needed to buy a separate card for 2D.

  • Destroyeron13

    Posted May 13, 2008 4:51 pm PT

    @marklovesbaseba

    lol
    lol
    lol

  • mysterylobster

    Posted May 13, 2008 4:35 pm PT

    "The current gen gaming consoles (Xbox and PS3) have, in my opinion, nearly the same level of graphics that mid-range PC's have today. That wasn't the case back then. No one would argue that the Playstation or the N64 could match the graphics of PCs back then."

    Actually, lots of people argued that. For a while, the PSX was doing texture mapping much better than all but the most bleeding edge graphics cards on the market. The Playstation was designed from the ground up to be a polygon-pushing dedicated gaming machine, and when it was released it was very impressive, even to PC gamers. People seem to forget this, but the PSX was an extremely advanced piece of hardware for its time, much more so than the PS2 and even the PS3. It wasn't until well into its lifespan that it was truly eclipsed by PCs (and even then it was by $300 Voodoo cards).

  • Lord__Darkstorn

    Posted May 13, 2008 4:25 pm PT

    That sucks, I liked the XPSs. That's what I'm typing this on.

  • CJSpangler

    Posted May 13, 2008 4:02 pm PT

    I would agree with the other people who say build your own, you'll save hundreds on what they charge for the RAM, Monitor and software if you go OEM from newegg/tigerdirect and a few other sites. Stay clear of parts from EBay. Definately easy and the way to go, or atleast get a HP or Dell then add onto it so you get some level of warranty, I've never had a problem with the computers I've built. Its amazing how the console fans claim PCs are so expensive. Alienware most likely has a 30-40% markup on its hardware prices. To build a good gaming machine these days it should run around 1000-1500 depending on how advanced you want the graphics card to be, if you already own decent Monitor, RAM, case and PSU you can even save more buy upgrading/improving. A console costs on average 500 dollars for the XBOX elite/Ps3, not to mention the diversity that a computer offers. I do see the day when PC gaming will be the only gaming because they are gradually turning Consoles into PCs. Thats right - look the Wii has email, and all 3 have internet acesss, which did first the PC. XBox360 is coming out with Mice/Keyboard (gee doesnt this sound familiar to PC, voice chatting - oh the PC had this first, viewing and sending media over a network/internet PC, I could go on and on, pretty much sony/microsoft will be essentially making overpriced PCs that you can't upgrade on their own. I mean after all DX10 graphics already superceded the current consoles interms of graphics power.

    Enough of my ranting, just can't stand the console junkies, oh and disclosure I own a wii and rather enjoy it.

  • runstalker

    Posted May 13, 2008 3:50 pm PT

    I can't build my own laptop, so I buy big. I've owned two Alienware notebooks over the last 3 or so years and what can I say, they're bloody great. Even the military uses them. The Alienware desktops, on the other hand, are too bulky and costly for me.

  • neo-rtsd

    Posted May 13, 2008 3:18 pm PT

    Yes indeed. If you are going for a desktop pc then definately build your own. Although, if you want a good gaming laptop like myself being a sailor, always on the go. I need something with mobility that can play all the newest games. I cant build a laptop, so I'm forced to go to one of the more high end manufacturers. I've had two Alienware laptops and I've had no problems.

  • Triton

    Posted May 13, 2008 3:13 pm PT

    Looks like some folks just don't like large corporations period!

  • mr_durp200

    Posted May 13, 2008 3:08 pm PT

    Everyone here has said it and its worth saying again, build your own. Prebuilts are overpriced for the lazy who don't really know anything about PC hardware to begin with. The XPS 720 Red is a little worse than my custom rig (crappy GPU options), and costs about $700 more. Do yourself a favor, build your PC, save some money, learn something, and know your rig inside and out.

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