Hunting For Best Priced Rig?

I already did this in Oct ... searched the web looking for the best possible value.

Things I would say to someone looking at a computer at a business offering "discount pricing" as the primary selling point (no need to name off competitors, we all know the usual suspects):

1. There are few things more expensive than a cheap product.

Build quality matters. If you pay for poorly assembled OEM parts, that is exactly what you get, and you can't be shocked when it all starts to go wrong. Build quality in components *industry wide* is hitting an all time low. The price tags on these electronic items keep falling, right along side of the build quality that goes into everything from motherboards to RAM modules. Bench testing can catch most of the problems, but the industry's RMA practice of spotty QA when sending out refurbished product as new (yes, this does happen- you can get a refurb boxed as "new" directly from a manufacturer) means there are so many problems it's hard to catch everything. If people think the failure rates are high with DSO, a company that uses bench tested retail grade products, they are in for a real shocker when they go elsewhere.

2. Not all customer support is created equal.

Digital Storm offers a 3 year warranty and lifetime support gratis. Sure, you can argue that any proffered service must of necessity be built into the price of a product as an operating expense, but they do not show you one price such as the one in the post above, and then hold out their hand again in order to stand behind the product they sell you.

Their tech support is US based, and is not comprised of a group of people reading from a script. Sometimes, when the complaints get posted about  everyone at DSO not being on the same page, it is easy to forget that this is a double edged sword. They are not scripted, they are professionals that know computers and the latest technologies very well and work with the customer to troubleshoot any issues that may arise. Try getting that when ACME Computers connects you to New Curry and you get some schmuck making $.030 a day to answer your phone calls.

3. Even when the price is a little lower, it simply isn't enough of a difference to merit the risk of lowered quality and support.

I did a *tremendous* amount of price shopping and comparison. I found that in most cases the difference in price between a quality build at Digital Storm was either actually *less* than businesses offering up price as their primary selling point, or within 5%. In every case where the price was actually a little bit lower, the reseller rating for the business in question was shaky at best. In most cases, the customer track record of the lower priced competitor would be better described as "abysmal".

4. Digital Storm is responsive to their customers.

No business is perfect. How many people on this forum have worked for a business and said "wow, this organization is really firing on all cylinders, and management and the employees are all exactly on the same page at all times"? I know I haven't.

Where DSO stands out, is in their unswerving dedication to improvement based largely on customer feedback. If anyone feels that suggestions, or complaints are not read by the DSO staff with a mind to correcting problems or implementing ideas that could improve their operations, they would be wrong. In the months that I've participated in this forum, I have seen multiple announcements about planned improvements. They come, and it seems as though nothing is happening for months, and then suddenly, there is a completed plan of action for improvement, and if you look it over carefully, you will find that plan takes into account directly, customer feedback from these forums.

OK.

I'll get off of my DSO soapbox now. I'm obviously a little biased with regard to this company. Sadly, in today's business world, all you really have to do to keep me as a customer is not screw me over, as that is better than I have come to expect. Digital Storm did much better than that, and delivered what they said they would, in addition to treating me like a human being should be treated.

My own experience was not without flaws, but in every case, the situation was looked into and corrected to my satisfaction. Anyone can sell you a price tag. DSO is offering a fully backed,  quality product.


Edited by Tyler Lowe - 03 May 2008 at 10:53am

Tyler, very well posted.  I agree with you on every topic in this post and that too is why I chose to spend my money at DSO.

I checked every builder you can imagine (mostly from the ads in PC Gamer magazine) and put their pros / cons, warranty, service and price into the equation.  DSO came out on top and I am glad I purchased from them.

I also am frustrated with, as you have pointed out, all the bad parts floating around out there.  I read a lot of tech forums to learn what I can.  People are just burning up boards about all of the failed components they are getting.  And, as I posted before, Nvidia even admits to the 680i motherboards being a hit and miss when it comes to getting a stable board!

And like I have posted here in the last couple days, my RMA was not as a result of a bad build, it was the result of a crappy 680i Mobo.  You cannot blame DSO for that! I shudder to think what I would have done if I had gone with one of those other outfits. 

 

 

 

The one thing that I respect about this company and why I went with them is that they have nothing to hide about any issues. They do not hide them in pm's.