Black Ops Vs Special Deal Costs?

When Specin out my Rig Identical features I come up with $ 420.00 Dollars more for the Black Ops.  The only change i see is the warranty for 3 years is Platinum for the black Ops.  I don't see the benefit of of more money since I will not ship my computer back to DS unless it is totally screwed up.  Thoughts ?

Originally posted by SemperFuzz I don't see the benefit of of more money since I will not ship my computer back to DS unless it is totally screwed up.

indeed ill be going with special deals : O

Oh Wait that could be Years from now!  What other sales you got coming down the Pipe?  Pun intended

Originally posted by SemperFuzz stupid news can find something else to Cry about !  Woot !

No but i just Farted and it SMELLS really BAD !

I have to agree that the current setup is very confusing for your customers.

I recently ordered a DS system and the two classes confused me.  I was very unclear what exactly the differences between the two were.  I can build the exact same system for ~$400 difference between the Black Ops and the Special Deals with the only difference being a 2 year difference in the parts warranty (though even this isn't entirely clear as one is labeled 3 year limited warranty and the other 3 year platinum).  It made me wonder if A) Substandard parts or build quality were being used in the Special Deals systems or B) You were trying to take advantage of the hardcore user by charging an inordinate amount more for the Black Ops systems, which felt shady to me.  This seeming discrepancy actually gave me pause before placing my order.

I would personally recommend either:
A) Putting all of your parts/builds/warranty options onto a single page.  If I want to build a cheap, lower end system with a lower level warranty, I'll pay less.  If I want to build a higher end system with a platinum warranty I'll end up paying more.  If I want a lower end system with a platinum warranty, I'll pay in-between. Etc.

B) More solidly differentiating between your two classes.  Spell out exactly what the difference is between the Black Ops and Special Deals systems (other than "it's cheaper").  Make it clear on the Special Deals configuration page that the 3 year limited warranty is actually 1 year parts and 3 years labor (write it out as 1 year parts and 3 years labor, not "3 year limited" - this is somewhat deceptive).


I've seen several threads on this topic so I know I'm not the only one confused by this. 


To add to the warranty confusion, I'd like to point out the following:
If I build a Special Deals system and then click 'Buy Now', the page it takes me to reads "We provide [not "We offer"] a three year platinum care parts & labor warranty with life-time toll-free technical support to protect your investment."
If I just clicked to buy a system with a 1 year parts and 3 year labor warranty, the next page shouldn't read that you are providing me with a 3 year parts and 3 year labor warranty.

Personally, I took the time to research and figure all this out before ordering, but I can see this ending in some upset customers.  I understand that you've been trying to integrate Ballistic's lower prices with Digital Storm's offerings, but the current way of doing it seems sub-optimal.

Right now the conversation about the two classes of systems seems to go something like this:
Q: Why are they called Special Deals?
A: Because they're cheaper.
Q: Why are they cheaper?
A: Because they're Special Deals

Now that's a well written post. That summarizes the confusion that's been going on I think since the forums started!

I'm sure I would spend and extra 800 dollars if you guys would put LC for special deals cos in black ops I pay 1200 in total more so I can't get sound cards or SSDs but   if you guys offer LC stage 6 in special deals it is alot easier.
It'd be great if you guys could do this within the next couple of weeks cos alot of people would love this!!!

Awesome Alex you're the best!!!

When are the changes going to be made???

@Alex, Sorry if its not 100% related to the OP, just a small question since we're discussing this topic here. If I had ordered a "special deals" system and later down the road I saved up enough funds for the Stage 6 Dual loop LC, Can I contact DS and have the rig shipped back to get it installed, or am I not able to since I started out with the special deals instead of straight up black|ops?

@Alex, thank you sir!

Are the special Value Deal Computers made right along side the Black Ops computers by DS or are they made by that Shadow company you absorbed that i read about in here somewhere?  Thanks

Thanks Alex

no i am waiting to see how your HAF-X looks first ahahah my nuggs are getting Blue Hued just waiting !

I 'tried' to get free shipping for the value deal but, no dice...

Glad to see that you thought some of my suggestions were helpful and that they were implemented so rapidly.


I do think there is still a lot of confusion in the separation between BlackOps and Special Deals as evidenced by SemperFuzz's question about how/where the systems are assembled as well as his thread at http://www.digitalstormonline.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=11018
Other than the warranty and not having quite as many build options for the Special Deals section, I don't really see the difference myself (other than "they're cheaper").


It is very confusing to customers to see two identical items listed at two different prices.  It again makes the customer question if something is "wrong" with the cheaper item (Is it a substandard part?  Is the assembly/QA process different? etc) or if the higher priced item is a rip off.

I personally feel an integrated, single page customizer (where all your parts and warranty options are listed in one place and the user can assemble any build/warranty combination they want) is the most user friendly option.

At the very least, I think that you need to state explicitly on the Special Deals page what the differences/similarities are between the two classes. Something along the lines of:
"While they don't offer as many high-level customization choices as our premier Black Ops systems, our Special Deal systems are assembled using the same high grade parts by the same highly trained technicians.  Our Special Deals computers all come with a 1 year parts, 3 year labor warranty and, like all of our systems, offer free lifetime telephone support."

I don't mean to harp on this, but so far I'm really impressed with Digital Storm and I want it to be the best company it can.  The current BlackOps/ Special Deals divide confuses me and other customers and I truly believe you guys can do better.


As another aside, you really need to have someone review all of your web pages and make sure they are up-to-date.  I was browsing yesterday and found this page encouraging users to definitely go with Windows Vista in their builds:
http://www.digitalstormonline.com/dslabs/expertfaq.asp#q9




Edited by JJJJ_Shabadoo - 08 Jun 2010 at 3:04pm

As of right now, the two sections have different pricing and we can't integrate any other way for now. I understand the level of confusion it could bring, we'll perhaps find a solution down the road. As of right now we don't have the resources to do any immediate massive modifications. For now, we haven't had a lot of feedback from potential customers stating they were confused about the two.

Thank you for the heads up on the Vista thing, and we've updated our FAQ on that section.