Can often find a legitimate copy of a later Windows "system builder" (new PC) installation for a good price but have to be careful of scams.
As to Alienware (or gaming computers in general), they can be very good graphics systems for a good price but if peer pressure is forcing an Apple (a Macbook Pro is $2k+ and they want full retail for a '15 model), I'd take a look at the
refurbished store.
Personally I do not care for them (a $2k notebook without a touch screen ?) and Apple is famous for stopping upgrades after 8 or so years even if capable but have friends who will have nothing else.
Bottom line: Moore's Law hit a periodic plateau about 2014 and the only real improvement since than has been inexpensive SSDs (I have a hot-rodded 11" 2in1 with four-core Atom processor, a 500GB SSD, and 8GB of RAM that can outrun an i7 with a rotating drive. And has a touch screen).