Alienware opinions

just a quick post here to get a little feedback. I got a new alienware laptop, m17x r3 with a ati 6970m and 2630qm intel at the very end of 2011 beging of 2012. now i will say i got a brand new laptop at almost half price due to certain circumstances. But the whole overpriced issue not being a factor in my purchase, are they really bad laptops like i see everyone bashing on online post and forums??? I personally have been amazed with mine. no problems, performs flawlessly. i run minecraft with a 256 res texture pack and get 120 130 fps easy, run almost all other games like mw3, saints row, skyrim at steady 60fps and stuff super intense like crysis 2 or battle field 3 at 45 50 fps, not overclocked. did i get just get lucky and got a well made one out of a thousand bad, or perhaps because it was the premeir line they put out to showcase the 6970m when it first dropped. Just wondering because i see alota hatters out there.

yes battery life is to be desired if your playing a hardcore game but do have switchable graphics (athough a headace in itself lol) but had bought not to be a desktop replacement but an inbetween. i had a hp with integrated 1 gb nividia and was looking for some more kick as i like to play fps shooters and such but travel alot due to work. perfect system i think. but as soon as i got it i stuffed a kingston hyper x ssd 120gb and some faster kingston hyperx ram also got good deal on both with promo codes and have been happy since. just did'nt know if they run fine at first then take a crap or just people not liking the price and flashyness. have seen flasher ones and understand that aspect but do like the colored backlit keyboard and whatnot. personally was'nt an alienware fan or ati fan before but have kinda been pulled to the dark side i guess lol... thanks for your input and is what i was pretty much guessing on the downtalking of the systems..... (but do agree they are very overpriced without obtaining a deal).
one thing i will say is there customer support is awesome. kinda flubbed my system up, was my fault {don't mess with unofficial bios, doesn't end well *brick*} but called em up explaing basic problem and they told me to send it in. the only complaint i had with the system before hand is it did have the 1600x 900 screen with did'nt have rgb and looked just a little white washed due to that fact. when i sent it back, got it fixed, and recieved it back, they had replaced the screen, due to major complaint, no charge to the good 1920x1080. not sure if they just did'nt realize or stop using em due to complaints. but no complaints here and hope to get a good year or two out of my system before it's outdated and can't run games anymore.

has anyone had any bad experiences with alienware or what should i keep my eye on as far as problematic issues?