I've got both. While the price was high - 3k for the laptop and 4k for
the desktop, both are the fastest things I've ever seen. Tough to price
compare the laptop but I looked at buying the components through
googlegear for the desktop. It was about $1000 more from Alienware.
The machine is beautiful and fast. I've called tech support on a couple
of things and got a real person right away who spoke english and was
very competent.
I've built my last 2 machines and enjoyed it, but in reality it took a
few days to get them assembled, loaded and configured. Other, more
competent IT types would save some money with this approach I'm sure.
If my company could afford a real IT guy or if I had more time I
probably would have built it myself.
There are certainly cheaper machines out there but I've never seen a
better one or had better support.
Alienware workstations are some of the best available. As is usually
the case, the best is also the most expensive.