assuming you are in american currency you can get a great laptop and have a few hundred left over. i cant tell you the exact one you should get but i can help you with the specs you can get and probably want for that price.

intel core i7 4k processor
8 gb ram
1 tb hard drive
2 gb dedicated graphics

(you may upgrade any of these a bit considering you will have a bit left over)

those are the main things you will want (ill let you choose os and stuff like that)
so yeah hope i helped!

Desktops 95% of the time. Laptops are situational, for example, if you travel a lot. They all will generally have lower end hardware and if you're playing games, you'd have to charge it a lot.

I really would recommend a desktop. They provide alot more power for the cost

Hello! Well first of all i could come with some other recommendations aside from a laptop.

1. Buying a laptop is useless unless you want to lay in your bed or take it with you everywhere.

2. You would get an really good gaming pc if you want a desktop. (If you build it)

So yes there are many things you could do, And yes Alienware has got terrible value compared to building your own pc and other pc's found out on the market.

If you really want a gaming laptop then i recommend this pc high over the Alienware ones.

Razer Blade 14 Inch Gaming Laptop 256GB

However as i mentioned gaming desktops are alot better than laptops.
Also i have never used a gaming laptops so don't expect me to know alot about them.

-Andre