NEW SNEAK PEEK: Customizable Special Deals

Looks fantastic Alex.  A tidy little savings for people who only want to change the things you listed is just what the doctor ordered.  This will be a homerun for sure. 

looks good when will this start?

Edited by DST4ME - 15 Oct 2009 at 10:18am

Yet another great idea by DS, might even push me to buying a second

HDD1 should be a small fast drive for os/apps/games, and HDD2 should be the bigger drive for storage.

don't go with the 1.5TB they are more prone to fail.

if you want a fast drive for HDD1 go with veloci or ssd.

Here you go Ticket# 341655 --- Price: $2241 (To see this build click here) Price after current promotion $2241

Copy of Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Cooler Master HAF 932
Exterior Finish: - Not Available
Interior Finish: - Not Available
Trim Accents: - Not Available
Processor: Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz (Quad Core)
Motherboard: EVGA X58 3X SLI (Intel X58 Chipset) (Supports Triple SLI or CrossFire)
System Memory: 6GB DDR3 1600MHz Digital Storm Certified by mushkin enhanced (Highly Recommended) (Hand Tested)
Power Supply: 1000W Corsair HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible) (Silent Edition)
Card Reader: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 1: Operating System: 1x (500GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Set 1 Raid Options: - Not Available
Hard Drive Set 2: Multimedia\Data: 1x (1TB Western Digital (7200 RPM) (32MB Cache) (SATA) (Extreme Speed)
Hard Drive Set 3: Backup\Misc.: - No Thanks
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: 1x ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB
Add-on Card: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-U12P High Performance Cooler (Compatible With ONLY i5/i7 Processors)
Liquid Color:- Not Available
Chassis Airflow: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Red)
Enhancements: - Not Available
Chassis Mods: - Not Available
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock the processor between 3.3GHz to 3.9GHz (Requires Air Cooling Upgrade)
Boost Video Card: - Not Available
Boost Memory: - Not Available
Tweak Windows: - Not Available
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Virus Protection: - Not Available
Office: - Not Available
Benchmarking: - Not Available
Install/Test Game: - Not Available
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
External Storage: - No Thanks
Exclusive T-Shirt: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 5-10 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty

if your resolution is at 1600 x 1200 you can go with a 275 and save more money or if you like a 5850 for $80 more, anyway price with 275 would be $2017, price with 5850 would be $2090.

Edited by DST4ME - 15 Oct 2009 at 5:16pm

I agree with the upgrading warranty.
Other than that so far it looks great!

As of right now, we are planning to keep them at a 3 year warranty only.

While I do like the idea, however, customers are losing out on some deals. For example, I was looking to purchase the i5 Value system from before, listed at $999. Now, due to customization options, now the price tag on the same system will run me $1,212.

Maybe run both? Offer maybe 3 pre-built systems low/mid/high where the client can't customize but in-return you get the great price like before. Then also offer another 3 systems low/mid/high being able to be customized.

The way it appears, some systems don't have to be listed up there. For the 3 customizable systems, you could have something setup in this fashion.

Custom Systems:

i5/i7 Budget
This would show the i5 Enthusiast 1 system listed now. However when a client goes to customize this, they will have the options to essentially create the i7 Enthusiast 2 system listed now. This way you don't have a need to list both these setups.

i7 Enthusiast
This would have the i7 Extreme 1 to show as a base listing. Then when the client goes to customize, they will essentially have all the options to create the i7 Extreme 2. Again cutting down on the system listing.

i7 Extreme
This would list the base as i7 Extreme 3 and give the user more head-room on the customization options since this is a $2k+ price range.


Then have another section below with 3 systems listed.

Pre-Built Systems:
(could point out with these you are unable to customize, but they offer more aggressive pricing.)

i5 Budget
Could list the the i5 Enthusiast 1 here, for $999. Can't customize it, but its a really great price point for the system.

i7 Enthusiast
Could list the i7 Enthusiast 2 here and take down the price to $1200 since we are dropping the customization options.

i7 Extreme
List the i7 Extreme 1 here and take down the price to $1365.

This way the client will have options. Take a custom and pay a little extra for the ability to change things. Or go with a pre-built and get a great price. With 3 systems in each category, you will have 6 systems listed on the page, which is only one more then you have up now. I also believe this is more of a friendly setup then having all these different systems to customize.

I like the idea of having 1-2 non-customizable prebuilds and 2-3 limited customizations under Special Deals, in addition to Black OPS.

ijason made a good point about reducing repetition and merging configurations. It would simplify the process and facilitate purchasing decisions.

ijason, $1,212 is still a great deal for a value system. It's understandable if the price had to be increased slightly, due to various factors such as diminishing volume savings, increased overhead costs, etc.

If a home buyer were to make similar purchases of the components themselves, we would be looking at these prices:

1. $60 Cooler Master Elite 310
2. $200 i5 750 cpu
3. $170 EVGA P55 LE motherboard
4. $90 4GB DDR3 1333 Mushkin ram
5. $50 (lowball estimate) 500Watt power supply
6. $50 500GB 16MB 7200 RPM hard drive
7. $30 DVD drive
8. $155 Nvidia Geforce GTS 250 1GB
9. $200 Windows 7 Home 64 Bit

Component costs: $1,005
Shipping: $100 estimate
Just for components and shipping, you're at $1,105
Now consider assembly costs, overclocking tweaks, software installation, system stress testings, care packaging, 3 year warranty for parts and labor, topnotch customer service, etc.

$1,212 price point is a great value.

Alex,

DST mentioned something earlier about minimizing the clicks. I don't agree with everything he says but I do agree with this. You guys should really consider having a more user-friendly interface. As a business and pc builder, you guys approach objectives with an intricate perspective, but for the end presentation, more simplicity is better. The opening page has too much clutter in ratio to relevance. I like the layout listings of Desktop, Laptops, Upgrades, and so on with the pictures above them; just move them up to the top and replace their other links already there, and expand the other links in the same format as the image-above-button listing. Get rid of the repetitive "customer services" and replace with Awards section.

Also, consider placing the Special Deals right on the front page below those links, and in below Special Deals, Black OPS.
 




Edited by merc7 - 16 Oct 2009 at 3:23pm

A tidy little savings for people who only want to change the things you listed is just what the doctor ordered. 

I just spoke with our team, we are going to offer more warranty term years and also add Windows 7 Ultimate to the list of options.

To be honest, we didn't have a lot of customers buy a $999 system from us. A majority of purchases are much more higher.

We are only offering SSD's on Black|OPS systems.