tornandtwisted
Active member
Afternoon, all.
The following is my completely unbiased-first-time-customer-never-had-a-bespoke-PC-before PCSpecialist review. Sit back guys - it's gonna be a long one.
OK, so before I started this whole rollercoaster I set out a budget and did a bit of research online before coming to PCS. There were a lot of horror stories about other companies (who shall remain nameless, because I expect they still need to feed their families.) Overall, there were many fewer bad reviews of PCS and on that evidence, I went ahead.
So step one. Configuration. I found the configurator extremely easy to use. I'm of a middling tech-knowledge level, there's a lot of things I can do really well but I'm self tought, so there are quite a lot of glaring gaps in my knowledge (as an example I had to post on the forums earlier asking for assistance in reconnecting the side fan!) I knew what I was after really and soon had my spec up and ready to order. Easy as pie though. Anyone who has turned on a PC in their lifetime could use it. Even a Mac user could probably figure it out.
But what's this? A fully open forum on the website? Open to all? Customers and non-customers alike? In terms of selling points my friends, you have really hit the nail on the head with this one. It's a huge purchase for most people, certainly comes with a little trepidation. It is absolutely lovely to have a group of your peers in exactly the same boat who you can talk spec with. Staff on the forums out of hours helping people out of the goodness of their hearts because they are enthusiastic about the company? Try getting anything like that anywhere else! I did... I couldn't. I got a lot of help and learned a lot from the forums. 10/10 for this extra support. Only a company confident in the quality of their product can afford to host an open forum.
So once the order is in, there is the wait. It very nearly turned me mad. The anticipation was unbelievable. I got MUCH better spec than I could afford from anywhere else and I was incredibly excited that it would be arriving soon. On I trudged with my dual core, roaring like a geriatric lion in the background. Customer support at this stage is excellent with email and text updates to tell you how they're getting on. Mine took a little longer than the lead times due to issues the with Sandy Bridge and a shortage of revised motherboards. I was kept fully informed throughout and when I called into the order line the people I spoke to seemed to bend over backwards for me to get me the info I wanted. Cracking work. Everyone was frank and honest and I certainly don't mind waiting an extra couple of days to be sure that my shiny new PC would be perfect in every way - which it is, by the way.
So anyway. Cometh the hour, cometh the PC. DHL man was surprisingly careful and I got a VERY large box through my front door, along with another one for the gigantic monitor I have indulged in. The next few minutes are a bit like that scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the Nazi's opened the Ark of the Covenant. I remember screaming 'It's beautiful!' and then my face melted.
Everything was beautifully packaged, welcome pack is comprehensive to say the least and I have a few useful spares that have been included in the pack. Once again 10/10 for presentation and effort, boys. It worked right out of the box, and once a few programs had been installed I ran Metro 2033 on the highest possible settings. I need to get some software to test temperatures and stuff while the GPU's are under load, but all the fans are running and a very quick check of AMD overdrive suggest that it's running at about 75 degrees C under load and idling at about 35. Quick checks of the internets give me thumbs up at those levels, unless anyone can tell me different.
It's a very solid build, which I've included pictures of below. I am absolutely delighted with it, it's very easy to see why PCS have such a loyal fanbase. To anyone reading this who has not yet bought from PCS, I say do it! I will be continuing to use the forums here and wouldn't even think of giving anyone else my business in future.
Value for money: 10/10
Customer service: 10/10
Build Quality: 10/10
Confidence in the company to sort me out should anything go wrong with my baby: 10/10
For those of you waiting. I know how it feels... but oh my. It's worth it.
Special thanks go to the very talented folks below:
Built By
John Mellor
Tested By
Zbear Ramzan
QC'd By
Craig Whiteley
Packed By
Anthony Cunliffe
Thanks for reading. Hope you are all as overjoyed by your purchase as I am! Have a look at my pics - they speak for themselves, though I did take them with a crappy camera phone.
J
The following is my completely unbiased-first-time-customer-never-had-a-bespoke-PC-before PCSpecialist review. Sit back guys - it's gonna be a long one.
OK, so before I started this whole rollercoaster I set out a budget and did a bit of research online before coming to PCS. There were a lot of horror stories about other companies (who shall remain nameless, because I expect they still need to feed their families.) Overall, there were many fewer bad reviews of PCS and on that evidence, I went ahead.
So step one. Configuration. I found the configurator extremely easy to use. I'm of a middling tech-knowledge level, there's a lot of things I can do really well but I'm self tought, so there are quite a lot of glaring gaps in my knowledge (as an example I had to post on the forums earlier asking for assistance in reconnecting the side fan!) I knew what I was after really and soon had my spec up and ready to order. Easy as pie though. Anyone who has turned on a PC in their lifetime could use it. Even a Mac user could probably figure it out.
But what's this? A fully open forum on the website? Open to all? Customers and non-customers alike? In terms of selling points my friends, you have really hit the nail on the head with this one. It's a huge purchase for most people, certainly comes with a little trepidation. It is absolutely lovely to have a group of your peers in exactly the same boat who you can talk spec with. Staff on the forums out of hours helping people out of the goodness of their hearts because they are enthusiastic about the company? Try getting anything like that anywhere else! I did... I couldn't. I got a lot of help and learned a lot from the forums. 10/10 for this extra support. Only a company confident in the quality of their product can afford to host an open forum.
So once the order is in, there is the wait. It very nearly turned me mad. The anticipation was unbelievable. I got MUCH better spec than I could afford from anywhere else and I was incredibly excited that it would be arriving soon. On I trudged with my dual core, roaring like a geriatric lion in the background. Customer support at this stage is excellent with email and text updates to tell you how they're getting on. Mine took a little longer than the lead times due to issues the with Sandy Bridge and a shortage of revised motherboards. I was kept fully informed throughout and when I called into the order line the people I spoke to seemed to bend over backwards for me to get me the info I wanted. Cracking work. Everyone was frank and honest and I certainly don't mind waiting an extra couple of days to be sure that my shiny new PC would be perfect in every way - which it is, by the way.
So anyway. Cometh the hour, cometh the PC. DHL man was surprisingly careful and I got a VERY large box through my front door, along with another one for the gigantic monitor I have indulged in. The next few minutes are a bit like that scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the Nazi's opened the Ark of the Covenant. I remember screaming 'It's beautiful!' and then my face melted.
Everything was beautifully packaged, welcome pack is comprehensive to say the least and I have a few useful spares that have been included in the pack. Once again 10/10 for presentation and effort, boys. It worked right out of the box, and once a few programs had been installed I ran Metro 2033 on the highest possible settings. I need to get some software to test temperatures and stuff while the GPU's are under load, but all the fans are running and a very quick check of AMD overdrive suggest that it's running at about 75 degrees C under load and idling at about 35. Quick checks of the internets give me thumbs up at those levels, unless anyone can tell me different.
It's a very solid build, which I've included pictures of below. I am absolutely delighted with it, it's very easy to see why PCS have such a loyal fanbase. To anyone reading this who has not yet bought from PCS, I say do it! I will be continuing to use the forums here and wouldn't even think of giving anyone else my business in future.
Value for money: 10/10
Customer service: 10/10
Build Quality: 10/10
Confidence in the company to sort me out should anything go wrong with my baby: 10/10
For those of you waiting. I know how it feels... but oh my. It's worth it.
Special thanks go to the very talented folks below:
Built By
John Mellor
Tested By
Zbear Ramzan
QC'd By
Craig Whiteley
Packed By
Anthony Cunliffe
Thanks for reading. Hope you are all as overjoyed by your purchase as I am! Have a look at my pics - they speak for themselves, though I did take them with a crappy camera phone.
J
