Alienware Alpha ASM100-4980 Console (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

Absolutely a 5/5 stars!TL;DR:Pros:Works better than advertised. Cheaper than its larger and equally as powerful cousins. Works better than my old $2,000 PC. Small and compact. Doesn't entirely need SteamOS. Can be used for gaming, schoolwork, videos, music, and everything else. Nearly silent.Cons:My LED's don't work. Ultimately is still a PC, and requires some time, knowledge, and effort to do setup*. Still had reliance on Windows8 to do all of my setup. (*HIGHLY recommend you have a real keyboard on hand for all of this.)FULL REVIEW:Quick background on my reasoning:Simply put, I was attempting to find a gaming-focused PC. I recently (as in the last 7 years) built my own PC from the ground up. I spent well over 2 grand in all.This past January my power supply exploded and fried all of the internal parts of my PC. She was dead.OVERVIEW:As I said, I was looking for a PC to replace my old one. I looked into big desktops from multiple places. I did a ton of research. I've always been a "PC Master Race" person, so getting a console to play my PC games? Am I betraying my preferred system?NOPE! Not in the slightest. Granted since I can never upgrade the video card, it was a downside, but a downside that was extremely WORTH IT.This small, nearly silent "PC Console" runs better than my old PC by leaps and bounds.QUALITY:Games ran on high quality on my old PC. Games run on ULTRA with this PC. The graphics and framerates never drop fairly low at all.This has been tested on my full 200+ SteamGame library. (Alien Isolation looks phenomenal).SYSTEM:Initially was worried about it not having the SteamOS and using Windows8, but ultimately it works.The Alpha UI is pretty neat. I can fire up my games any time and its rather easy and simple. I had been worried about this most.PC & MISC PARTS:So all of the reviews and the product description was pretty vague on the Xbox Controller. However my system DID ship with a controller in the same Alienware package with a special USB dongle to sync the controller to the system. I NEVER lose a connection between the system and the controller.The underside, hidden, USB port has also been a hidden blessing. I was able to hook up a new wireless keyboard/mouse combo to get through the setup. Additionally, it saves the one rear (if you have the Xbox Dongle plugged in the back, you only have one spot left on the back), and the two in the front for everything else.Which leads us to...NEGATIVES:This, from what Ive seen and heard, has been mostly just me: The LED lights on the system don't work. In fact, the only way to bring up the option to change them is in the Alpha UI, and doing so locks up the UI for me. So it is currently stuck at puke green and very bright orange.Setup was TEDIOUS and annoying as hell. I had to install every single driver by hand, and make sure everything was up to date before I could even use the Alpha UI and the rest of the console. When they said console, I was expecting a plug and play style. I was wrong.Which is where Windows8 comes in. It was useful to have, but was still unexpected to have to do everything from the ground upPOSITIVES:Runs great. Start up is fast, even with my stock HDD.Games play at great quality.Its TINY.My girlfriend calls it "cute", but its small enough to fit on my entertainment center next to the PS3 and the TV and not take up hardly any room. My external harddrive is bigger than this entire system. (And the system is about HALF the size of the newer PS3's.)Nearly silent. Even mid-hardcore gaming. System is hard to hear from across the room, let alone close up.Windows8. So while its also a negative, its also useful. I can still use microsoft office, I can still surf the net, and I can still use my Alpha has my all-in-one PC without having a giant, bulky computer.Alpha UI, its quick and easy to use, and I can switch to the normal Windows8 desktop with absolutely no problems. Also only takes about 30 seconds to switch between the UI and the normal desktop, including my log-in.Was SUPER POWERFUL for CHEAP. I got a next to highest model, and while on sale, paid around $600 for a PC that I think one of same quality, but in bigger, more normal size, would have at LEAST been a grand.I even would have been ok with the very basic model, gaming wise, and everything else wise, but I was too afraid to risk it. Dont worry about that.CONCLUSIONS:Buy this.It is better than most big PCs, its cheaper, stronger, and fits in so much better than most PCs.It replaced a giant bulky PC for me, and can do so for you too.If you are looking for a PC that can do games, and still have use outside them, and isnt a giant, and offers minor options to customize, this is for you.If you are looking for a PC that offers a lot of options to customize and upgrade internally, this ISNT for you.(Entire review written on my brand-new, extremely awesome Alienware Alpha PC Console. I'll never go back to a big PC again.)

Overall, I am pleased with the product. This is a very versatile machine and an overall decent value. That said - I don't use this thing like a console, nor do I really plan to. So my review will be centered on its role as a PC.Size:As other reviewers have pointed out the alpha is on par with the size of a mac mini. It's smaller than a cable box. It has a good weight to it as there is a lot of hardware stuffed inside. For me, size is important. I didn't want a huge 3 foot tall "gaming" tower rather I wanted something I could set up and easily forget about in terms of its footprint on my desk. It fits that criteria perfectly for me, at the sacrifice of the possibility of expansion. Sure, you can upgrade ram and the hard drive (I did the latter, and I will cover that later) but with it being so small, you can't add another graphics card or a second or third hard drive. However, I was more less comfortable with this going into the purchase.Performance:I got pretty much what I expected from this machine. The Alpha comes with a 5400 RPM HDD. For a performance pc marketed for gamers, I was rather shocked to discover that it was not a 7200 RPM drive nor is there a Solid state option available. I'm taking a half star away for this. If it was a 7200rpm drive, I'd have no issue. But seriously - You need an SSD option. My initial boot time was approximately 30-40 seconds with the HDD installed. I then cloned the drive to an SSD I purchased. Installation was pretty straight forward. 4 screws to get the bottom of the unit off, another screw to remove the hard drive enclosure. All told I spent perhaps 5 minutes or so swapping drives. As expected the difference in performance in boot time was night and day. It is snappy and very responsive. I went with the i5 flavor and it seems to be the sweet spot in terms of price/performance. I haven't ran any specific benchmarks or anything I am just reporting on my overall experience.In game performance:I have only had it a day so I only tested 2 games. The first, I logged a solid 3 hours on was Far Cry 4. I went with the recommended settings. In Far Cry there are a lot of graphics options and I am not going to list them all and what I had them set to, but all the "bells and whistles" were turned on. And pretty much everything was set to high. At lowest I got 30 frames per second - but generally averaged in the mid to high 40's. Some people get really wrapped up in this as a measurement of performance - but honestly I can't visually distinguish 35 FPS from 45. The game looks Great. It is worth noting that I was playing games with my SSD installed. There were no hang ups lags or problems to report. However, When I am flying around in the helicopter the mountains and forrest at extreme distance aren't really loading. I am not sure if this is just what to expect in game or if I need a much beefier computer to render all that those long range visuals. Perhaps someone can chime in on the subject.The second game I very briefly launched was Skyrim. Yup, its an older, title. But it STILL has amazing graphics to me. Unlike far cry 4, my FPS stayed pegged at a rock solid 60. The system recommend the Ultra settings. I only had the game going for 5 minutes but I am sure that its going to be just as reliable as my experience with farcry 4. The graphics were so great that I plan on re-playing the game as I have never had a rig that get past medium or low settings.Wireless-This probably should have gone under the general performance breakdown but I want to talk about it on its own. The alpha has an 802.11 AC wireless card. When you look at a lot of other gaming rigs, this isn't standard. I am VERY happy that Alienware decided to double down on wireless connectivity. Unless you have google fiber - the average person would not be able to discern from a wired vs. wireless connection. This is of course provided that you have a 802.11 AC router. I have the newest generation airport extreme. The Alpha connects perfectly on the dedicated 5.0 GHZ band. I cannot really comment on the range - as my router's place is about 6 inches from where my Alpha is sitting. you may ask, why don't you just hardwire it if its so close to your router? Well, all 3 of my gigabit lan ports are occupied by more important things. Thats why =). I plan on testing transfer speeds between my NAS and the alpha over wireless to really push the the wireless card. I will post the results a bit later. Bluetooth is listed as bluetooth 4.0. I have nothing to really add to that conversation other than, its cool to have, but I don't have a need for it right now.Ports:This was one area that was *almost* a deal breaker for me. 4 USB ports for a desktop is very... sparse. 4 USB ports for a gaming console is fine. I am deducting a half star for the USB port situation. I realize that this is marketed as a console first and a desktop kind of as a secondary function. So I can't fault Alienware too hard on that. What I do feel is a little silly is 2 USB 2.0 ports on the front of the device. Generally, a keyboard and mouse go in the back of the computer, for ascetics sake. Bam. Both of your USB 3.0 slots are gone. If you want to plug your USB 3.0 flash drive in the front you're forced to be subjected to usb 2.0. Which is sad. I realize this can be remedied with a USB 3.0 hub. But - I'd prefer for 5-6 USB ports. All 3.0. Not a major deal - just annoying. The fact that there is a HDMI input is kinda crazy. Like, I don't even know what i'd use it for? But its cool to have none the less. The optical audio port is nifty, but computer speakers are USB - so not really something I will use. Oddly. I discovered a little hidden door thinggy on the bottom of the unit with a USB port. I have not tested it and the space that is given for it pretty small so I think it is intended for small keyboard/mouse dongles. I will post if I end up testing it.Bottom line:This thing has a lot of potential and is a pretty good execution on Alienware's part. You do trade upgradeability as mentioned but the payoff is great for those who want a small PC. With an SSD this thing flies. Oh, and there are cool lights. I don't think I mentioned those. If you're ok being locked into the same graphics card - I think its a good value for what you get. I have read in other user's reviews that the native nVidia graphics driver does not work with this card and that it operates through a driver dell/alienware pushes to the Alpha. Which begs the question: how long will Alienware support it? I'd really like to see the card supported by nVidia proper. Overall though, it fits my needs precisely.

UPDATE 12/9/2015: Dell fixed the issue by replacing the motherboard which took about a week to fix. It worked fine for a day and the same problem returned within 24 hours where the motherboard bootup screen hangs at the Alienware logo. See attached picture to see where it hangs.Original review: Everything is great about this computer until it one day got stuck at the Alienware bootup screen. Pressing F2 (setup) or F12 (boot options) had no effect and still the screen was stuck. Google up "Alienware alpha stuck" and you will see a youtube video showing this issue. It's a common problem and requires you to ship back the product to Dell for them to fix.The Dell tech support had me open up the computer and take out the hard drive and RAM to see if it was the issue. They weren't the issue. The Dell tech believes it's the motherboard that is fried.I have had this product for only a week and am really disappointed. Otherwise, everything about it is awesome for the size. Upgrading to Windows 10 was a breeze and playing games on it is great.

This is a great machine hardware-wise. However, it comes with a UI that is one of the worst I've encountered. Programs routinely hang without the ability to reach a command line or task manager. The xbox controller intermittently does not work. Their 24-hour tech support does not know their own products.This could have been really good, but the software is awful.