Anyone purchased from this company..?

[Taffycat]

In the not too distant future, we will be purchasing a replacement for the old XP rig. It's now 6.5 years old and has given great service, but of course, it's feeling its age. My OH uses it mainly, but whenever I need to use it for anything, XP feels decidedly "clunky" after Win7.

Anyway, in a nutshell, I've been looking around (on the web, that is) and spotted a company which looks quite interesting. They actually sell a whole range of (configurable) PCs, from "budget" to high-end rigs.

I played around with a few configurations. Components are all well-known brands, as far as I can see.

After configuration, there's a button to check if everything will be compatible.... which sounds good, BUT... try as I might, I couldn't seem to configure anything that was NOT compatible. (Now I really don't think I'm that much of an expert, lol, so it's giving me a few doubts.) Is the button telling porkies..? Or are the options really that foolproof ...or in this instance, Taffy Cat proof?)

I don't want to get into trouble for advertising, so hope it's ok to provide a discreet linky. If anyone has the time to take a quick peek and comment, it would be much appreciated. You might see something that I've missed!

Thank you for reading

 

[crazylegs]

Done some searches on Google and they do get some good reviews, they make some pretty top end gaming machines too but aren't cheap.
I hadn't heard of them before TC but I have been out of the loop when it comes to building PC's nowadays as have had a Gaming laptop for the last 3 years

 

[Ian]

I've not heard of them before, but the fact that they've got a nice prominent phone number on the top of their page is a good sign .

There are some reviews of it here, which looks very positive:

http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews248550.html

That being said, reviewcenter.com is full of loads of fake reviews - but these look genuine.

 

[Anon_F]

TC, have you looked at Novatech?
The only reason is if you ring them up they are so helpful with everything?
Probably the best pc i have had!

 

[muckshifter]

all components will be "compatible" with all other components!

there is no such thing as compatibility!




I'm surprised you not going back to, err, who was it again that you bought your last PC from?

 

[floppybootstomp]

Pretty much the only things that won't be compatible when putting a PC together will be an AMD CPU paired with an Intel board and vice versa. So their compatibility test facility is there just to make newbies feel confident, simply a sales gimmick.

If we want to get pedantic I suppose you could order DDR2 RAM with a modern motherboard and make the incompatibility bells ring but I doubt if any supplier offering components to build a machine would list the older type of memory.

I've never heard of them so can't comment on their customer satisfaction record but they do list good components in their machines, including giving the make and model of the power supply which is a bit of a rarity amongst suppliers selling tailor-made machines.

They are a little on the pricey side but I've seen worse, Alienware for instance.

Check out OCUK they do some good ready made machines.

 

[Taffycat]

Thanks all for your replies.

It's helpful when those who are knowledgeable - namely you guys - can confirm or deny a suspiscion (compatibility, in this instance.) I can see that it would help to make a sale, if the prospective purchaser gets a confidence boost.

Crazylegs and Ian - I too, saw the company had received some decent reviews. Also noticed that they're not bashful about displaying their phone number, address and details of their company number, etc. (Tbh, I always look for that kind of info, when considering a purchase.)

Feckit and Mucks - Yes, I've looked at Novatech... in fact, the PC we plan to replace, is by Novatech; it was a web purchase, way back in 2007. The gaming machine I'm currently using to write this, is also one of theirs... just younger - at just over a year old. Both, I would rate as excellent. But their Cardiff store has now closed, so I decided to broaden my search, just to see what their web competitors had to offer. Price-wise, I think they're pretty similar.

Flopps - I must admit, didn't give OCUK a thought, so will certainly have a little nose around their website. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[muckshifter]

oh, and just one more note of interest ... GW2 prefers an Intel setup, or, put it another way, AMD users are still complaining that GW2 isn't in their best interest.

 

[Taffycat]

Yes Mucks, it's a bit naughty that they've not been able to sort-out the probs for AMD users by now.

I've been so pleased with this i7, that I cannot see us straying from Intel any time soon. (Bit more pricey, of course, but it seems to tick all the boxes.)

 

[floppybootstomp]

My two pennorth...

Now I'm not sure if this applies across the board but here I have three setups: i7; i3 and an AMD FX-4 4100 Black Edition 4 Core CPU 3.6Ghz

i7 - Main machine - Office, gaming
i3 - Media Machine
AMD CPU - Bedroom machine, mostly audio and video editing

The i7 build is 27 months old; i3 about 20 months old and the AMD build around 14 months old.

Of those three the Intels knock spots off of their AMD peer.

The i7 and AMD boards are Asus, the i3 motherboard is a Gigabyte Micro budget affair.

The Asus AMD board's LAN function bit the dust at three months old. The same AMD machine has more glitches, hiccups and burps than the other two put together, whether I'm using Mint 15, Windows 7 or Windows XP on it.

Moral of the story from my experience only is go Intel & Gigabyte.

However, I will say that my i7 Asus motherboard has been rock solid from the word go but there again it was a top of the range model at time of purchase (September 2011).

There are other makes of motherboard of course, in the past I've had good experience with Asrock (which is in fact a subsidary of Asus) but other current model motherboards are unknown to me.

Happy hunting

 

[V_R]

Yep, go Intel and Nvidia.

My CPU, i7 920 D0 was bought/built in October 09. Its still eating any game i throw at it, and even the 780 isn't bottlenecked by it.

As much as I'd love to get a nice shiny new CPU/MB etc, i cant justify it. Yet.

 

[muckshifter]

I wouldn't go i3 for any gaming setup, i5 actually fared better with games than the i7, but i7 was the chip to get for the like of photo-shop-paint processing ... that was in the early days.

today, the cpu is not the bottleneck be it i5 or i7, that still falls to the choice of graphics card ... 8gb & an SSD will also help ... if you are opting for 3gb twin titans however, then an i7 would be a better bet.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Mucks is correct there, had I known then what I know now I would have gone for an i5 over an i7 because as far as I can see when it comes to gaming - this machine's primary use - I don't think the i7 has any advantage over the i5. And the i5 is a fair bit less expensive.

Oh, and yes, as V_R said, Nvidia all the way for graphics cards, until AMD manage to better them anyways.

My i3 CPU is used solely for watching video and listening to music, with maybe the odd bit of burning.

 

[bootneck02]

Another very good company is Novatech, might be worth looking at their site. I have bought from there and found them very good and had no problems ,and warrantee very good and delivery was good as well

 

[Taffycat]

Lots of food for thought there gentlemen.

I have to say that when playing around with configurations, I always tend to select one of the Nvidia graphics options, and Gigabyte mobo. (Heavily influenced by my current set-up, tbh, although I think some of the configured options might be better spec.... OH and I, might actually decide to swap! Lol)

Your views on the i5 are interesting and consequently, I've been giving those a look too. (Also reading about them just to educate myself a bit more.)

Regarding Novatech - as mentioned earlier, we're both currently using two of their PCs. But, whilst they're good, the company mentioned in my first post, offers a free 3 year rtb warranty, whereas Novatech offer 1 year rtb, with an option to purchase an extension.

Also, Novatech machines are pre-configured - you only get to choose the OS. UKGC allows one to choose everything.... even to which brand of thermal paste is used lol.

They also claim to stress each newly-built PC, for 48 hours, to ensure everything is working perfectly, before sending them out.

Also this: " We supply Microsoft Windows 7 & 8. If you do order an operating system it will come preinstalled, activated, updated and with all the correct drivers. You will also receive the genuine Windows disk and licence code."

One or two of you might recall the awful fuss I went through with Novatech last year, because they were refusing to supply the Windows 7 disc. (Got it in the end, but not before we had to return the darned computer to them, to be given another identical PC, but minus an OS.) I still regard that episode as a wee black mark against them, tbh, as it put us to a fair bit of inconvenience at the time.

I'm pretty certain that we will be giving UKGC a go. I was planning to order before Christmas, but now I'm thinking it might be better to wait until immediately after the holiday, when it's not quite so busy. That also gives me a little longer to mull-over the choices. Woo-hoo!

 

[floppybootstomp]

Gotta say UKGC are pushing all the right buttons, I just hope they're telling the truth. Still, you could say that about a great deal of online suppliers I suppose.

Good luck with your purchase, keep us informed on your choice and also your dealings with this company.

 

[crazylegs]

Yes be very interested in your dealings with UKGC
It does look as if the reviews I have read are very good regarding this company but as others have said in the thread earlier some reviews are faked, but the sheer number from different sites bode well..

Brilliant that they offer almost every option for configuration and operating systems.

We really never truly know if a company is any good until something doesn't go quite to plan "your Novatech Windows 7 disc scenario comes to mind" but hopefully all goes well TC

 

[Taffycat]

Gotta say UKGC are pushing all the right buttons, I just hope they're telling the truth. Still, you could say that about a great deal of online suppliers I suppose.

Good luck with your purchase, keep us informed on your choice and also your dealings with this company.

Yes be very interested in your dealings with UKGC
It does look as if the reviews I have read are very good regarding this company but as others have said in the thread earlier some reviews are faked, but the sheer number from different sites bode well..

Brilliant that they offer almost every option for configuration and operating systems.

We really never truly know if a company is any good until something doesn't go quite to plan "your Novatech Windows 7 disc scenario comes to mind" but hopefully all goes well TC

Yes, you're both correct. Ultimately, there is no way to be absolutely certain that a company will be honourable. I always try to be thorough in my pre-purchase "investigations" but of course, even Taffycat Holmes might miss a vital clue.

This morning I've been going through their T&Cs... and learned a couple of things:

"Cancellation under the Distance and Selling Regulations does not apply to custom built PC's." Didn't know that, but checking around the Trading Standards and OFT websites, it seems to be true.

Also, on the subject of opening the computer to look inside:

"Your warranty will be void if you open your computer case without prior written permission from UK Gaming Computers. We allow you to install additional upgrades and keep your warranty intact however you still must have written permission by us. UK Gaming Computers has the right to turn down any warranty upgrade requests.

Upon receipt of your goods you may be asked to remove internal packaging, apply a warranty seal and send us proof of doing so within 48 hours of delivery. Failure to carry out this procedure correctly may invalidate your warranty with UK Gaming Computers. Full instructions to do this will be sent with your PC and is very easy to carry out."

Another thing they insist upon, is that packaging be retained, in case the PC needs to be returned... so potentially, that means keeping it for 3 years! Space is always at a premium here... as I'm sure it must be for others. Even if the box can be collapsed, there is usually a lot of internal packaging (moulded polystyrene blocks, etc.) Maybe not a deal-breaker, but certainly a bit of a nuisance.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I've never bought an assembled PC so I don't know if those T & C's would apply to seperate components but I suspect not. Most suppliers I know just specify 'suitable packaging' for returns, not the original boxes.

Having said that, I always keep boxes for 12 months (the usual warranty period) just in case.

I'm sure that were you able to dispose of the original packaging after, say, 3 months, it would probably act as a deal clincher - are they going to turn down a potential sale for this one ruling?

I doubt it, discuss it with them and obtain in writting from them permission to dispose of original boxes. These are lean times for companies and I think you'll find in this instance the 'customer is right'.

 

[Taffycat]

A jolly good suggestion Sir Flopps In fact, OH and I reached the same thought (about contacting UKCG) shortly before logging-in.

It would also be a good opportunity to see how communicative they are. (Not expecting a super-speedy response, of course. They're probably pretty busy - plus it's almost the weekend.) Will send off an e-mail and report back.

Oh and yes, keeping the box for two or three months, isn't so bad. (I recall the previous box being absolutely huge, compared to the size of the CPU... it pretty much occupied the space of a chair! Nightmare to keep the cats away from it too - they consider boxes to be wonderful manicure-devices for their claws!)