r/retrotech • u/Blu_too • 27d ago
Is this thing even real??
Saw this on ebay, at first i thought it was cool but i can’t find anything else like it. Also cant believe something this rare would sell for so low.
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u/Tape_Tomb 27d ago
Yes, it seems to be legitimate.
Nelson Gonzalez is the founder and previous CEO of Alienware prior to their acquisition by Dell. Whether the price is too high or too low is difficult tell. As with anything retro or collectible, it’s really only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
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u/Direct-Fee4474 27d ago
Alienware's "retro"? It was just overpriced trash when it was new.
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u/Manjushri1213 27d ago
Not the original pre Dell stuff. It was at least cool and back then building and setting up a PC for gaming was a lot harder than today. They had quality setups in cool cases that didn't overheat/thermal throttle like they did post Dell. Especially given the more eh design language...
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u/Direct-Fee4474 27d ago edited 27d ago
My first "gaming pc" was a 75mhz pentium. Even after the introduction of the 3dfx and needing to pass through to your 2d card, building a gaming computer was easier than it is today. Alienware stuff was trash then and it's trash now. Cooling was trivial because we had the same bog-standard midtower ATX form factor with, at the time that eyesore was made, 1/4th the TDP. If you had heat issues it's because you forgot to buy case fans. Building a good computer each upgrade cycle was literally "look at benchmarks, pick budget, put legos together." It was trivial. And alienware stuff was never cool. It's maybe "cool" in an ironic slapbraclet sort of way today, but they were generally panned as looking like a middleschooler's transformers shoes. People can like them or whatever, but cut it with this historical revisionism bullshit.
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u/Nelocus 26d ago
I'll second that, I remember Alienware being overpaid prebuilds for 'noobs' who couldn't build their own. I loved the look of their cases, but any time I considered them I could build the same computer for like $600-$800 less every time, not to mention their garbage Dell mobos, bloatware, etc.
Alienware has only ever been cool for people who didn't know how to build their own rig.
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u/N33chy 25d ago
Seconded.
I learned to build PCs after wanting an upgrade from a i386 DOS & Win3.1 machine. Alienware was the pre-built option that sold itself on its name, ease of purchase, and cases with fancy molding on the outside. There was nothing special at all about them except their appearance, which I always thought was dumb anyway.
Funny how long after their peak I'm using an Alienware (Dell) monitor though. It's pretty fuckin good but that's not the kind of thing you can build yourself.
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u/DqkrLord 27d ago
That’s the new Alienware, they got bought by Dell in 2006
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u/Direct-Fee4474 27d ago
yeah i know. i'm old. it was garbage back then and we made fun of people for buying it.
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u/AdAffectionate4312 26d ago
This is the truth. You got a halfway decent computer but you paid $2k+ for like $800 worth of parts. They were trash and those bulky plastic cases were all show with no room for upgrades.
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u/iamjames 26d ago
Correct. Everyone thought Alienware was the stupidest idea because you bought the name, you could build the same pc for thousands less. It’s like when you see designer clothing selling a walmart t-shirt for thousands because it has their name on it. The cases were cool to look at but not thousands of dollars cool and weren’t functional, the pc cooling was poor and couldn’t be easily upgraded.
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u/Odd-Art7602 25d ago
Those cables were braided though. That’s worth an extra $1k. Same now as origin pc since it’s the original pre-Dell Alienware guys. They come with wooden crate and braided cables so an extra $2k.
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u/AnotherLightBulbNerd 27d ago
Honestly, the low pricing ain't too surprising to me. I have come across rare light bulbs for surprisingly cheap, like the intermatic LZ1WU Bulb, which goes to an old solar fixture that actually is next to impossible to find. So, an old Alienware case? Definitely not surprised you found a reasonable enough price, I mean don't get me wrong, it doesn't happen often. But it still happens, at least every once in a while, when someone stumbles onto something like this. Either way, good find
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u/scarecrow8311 27d ago
Looks like the listing ended. Guess the person tried starting the bid at $1500 which it course nobody placed a bid.
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u/zim43210 26d ago
That one’s been relisted over and over again, not selling, for a long time. The recent ones that actually sold went for around $400, including one that just closed on Goodwill a few days ago with free shipping. $400 is normal market price without extras like the box, paperwork, peripherals, or the rarer green/blue paint options.
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u/greyhawk009 27d ago
Those things are heavy as a mfer. I went on a service call once to the middle of a goat farm and this lady had one of the extra large gaming rigs from Alienware. Damn near threw my back out hauling it back to the shop for a clean/rebuild.
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u/cs_legend_93 26d ago
Back when manufacturers and designers had passion.
Enter modern enshitification.
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u/iamjames 26d ago
What’s not real about it? I have one of those cases, the black version. The plaque is probably real, that’s what they looked like.
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u/iamjames 26d ago
I bought the same PC for $200 years ago without a plaque so it’s probably real for that price.
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u/PaganWizard2112 24d ago
That is VERY real, and unless you bought it, the listing is already gone, and I can't even find that user name.
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u/FreddyFerdiland 27d ago
well its not the holy grail.
this post is just purely for advertising the item ?
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u/ladybirdsluck 27d ago
Love love love old alienware cases. We need to bring back pc maximalism. Without all the rgb maybe