This is the thing I don't understand at all. This is a very reasonable price for what is basically a gaming laptop; it has very good technology, very good portability and is also a tablet. Alienware would cost way more than this.
Why would you even buy an Alienware? They are overpriced. Just build a custom PC.
You can always buy an external battery, but I agree the battery is a bit short
Pay 1000 dollars for a tablet that has 2 hour battery life, then probably like 100-200 extra bucks for an external batter that makes it last a few more hours. OR, like I keep saying, just build a PC.
Also about the DVD drive, I like buying a physical copy of it, just to make my collections of games look nicer and the fact that you don't have to wait for the game to download.