Hello, i recently went for the Alienware 17. Was choosing between the two myself as well but went for the AW 17 in the end. You can get 10% off the price of your configuration on the AW by registering at the Dell VIP club which really saves a lot of money. Performance wise upgrades on the Clevo are cheaper than on the Alienware due to pricing just depends on how crazy you want to go with components. I really like the premium feel of the AW 17 though. has a rubber finish all around the keyboard (which does attract vingerprints and oils fast) and the keyboard types very nice. All in all i'm very happy with my purchase. Hope this helps