My Review

OK so after waiting a month and a half for the USPS and the US Army (both can go to hell, I can’t wait to get back to the states so I can use UPS again) to deliver my DSO system It has finally arrived! So I will walk you through my experience.

  1. Ordering, I had my wife actually place the order for me since I was still in Iraq at the time and it is just so much easier, and a better connection without a delay, than me calling myself. Absolutely no issues, they looked at my build and made a couple of small recommendations ( I think Alex maybe talked to me in yahoo chat) only concern I had was Vista since all I have heard were horror stories and I was assured it was completely stable, and it is.

2. Build time and shipping, again no problems, this was my second DSO system and both of them were completed within their target of 10 days. Shipping on the other hand was a nightmare (no fault of DSO) because I’m in the Army and overseas USPS is my only real option, and since it was such a large box it was only able to be sent parcel, so that means the good old Army will take its sweet ass time if it wants, which can become quite frustrating! And the USPS won’t be any help either as asking for someone to assist is like asking for their first borne! But it did arrive well packaged and unhurt so that was good. Only two things here  if I had known that it would’ve taken so long to get here I would have waited to  order until I got back to the states (in early December) as prices have dropped drastically and I could’ve gotten a quite a few more upgrades. Secondly I requested some assistance through the automated customer service program and another through e-mail in regards to some shipping docs without a response, I would recommend just calling DSO for any assistance as that seems to be the best results.

3. The system, as with my previous DSO system,  arrived securely packaged, it included a very nice binder with all the disk need for any type of reformatting as well as all the literature for the individual components. It also included a multitude of assorted cables for additional components and configurations. Of course after setting it up it started and ran (and has continued to run) without a single problem. My fear of Vista was quickly overcome and after a couple hours on blackvipers website I trimmed most of the eye candy and unnecessary programs off. It will still take a little time to fully get used to Vista but i think it will be just fine. A couple of notes here 1. 280 GTX is the bomb! Gaming is almost another spectrum all together 2. Razer Barracuda AC-1 is awesome! Very easy to configure and brings such a better sound to gaming 3. WD Velociraptor is crazy fast 4. stage 3 cooling on a CM stacker case is a little loud, not bad, I game with head phones (Sennheiser PC 350 that fully cover your ears) so I can’t even hear it anyway and the system sits right next to me, when I’m not gaming I do know it’s there but it doesn’t bother me any. So far I have only installed BF2 and Project Reality along with my Steam account, and those games run without a hiccup! Overall I'm more than pleased with my purchase, I have owned my first DSO system for right at a year now and it has continued to run without a single issue and I'm not expecting anything different from this one.