Not very impressed with DS so far

I ordered my computer on Nov 2 and was very excited after reading reviews on sites such as reseller.com. One of the reasons I chose DS was that they seemed to have a bit faster turn around on the computer build than some of the other companies I was looking at. Well, that was 20 days ago. At first I was very impressed with the email updates informing me of the status of my computer. Those updates only last the first 3 days, I have to call on a daily basis and every time I call the support staff acts like it's the first time talking to me. They put me on hold and inform me that my computer has failed the 3D mark test...again. It's failed 4 times now, supposedly DS has replaced the video card, the memory, the video card again and now the motherboard. I appreciate the rigorous testing but it seems to me that hey should advise me if I have chosen a system with inherent conflicts and reccomend a solution. Also, not one email about any of this, like I said I have to call daily to get told that it's still not ready to be shipped. Going without a computer for a month is ridiculous and if I'd known it was going to take this long I would never have gone down this path.
STILL  without a computer,
Andy Rawson

Hi,

Be aware that DS does NOT work on weekends. So it's only been 12-13 days.

It does say in the Stage 2 E-mail that it may take longer if they find problems. Be patient, it'll be worth the wait. :)

You do have to consider that if the parts that they're using in your build are continually breaking it's not their fault, its the manufacturers.  As in most types of industry where mass production tends to outpower quality it's a hit or miss situation almost every time.

Thanks Guys,
I feel a bit better. I KNOW I am going to get a great product in the end and it is my dream system as well. I guess what bums me out is, if in fact they are such a small operation and the management only have 2 desks then why do they act like every day when I call they are speaking to me for the first time. I have called and left numerous messages when they decide not to answere the phone and they have never called me back. I did my research before going with DS and I chose them over companies like Hyper but.....when you've got an unplayed copy of Bioshock and Crysis sitting on your desk it is pure torture :)
LOL, I know you can all feel my pain there. Anyway, thanks guys you really did make me feel better. Hopefully my next post will be my reports on how awesome Crysis is performing on new rig!!
Andy

Here is my build.... I just added ThermoElectric cooling the other day as they said it was overheating in the tests:

I can understand that they are a small company and that certain orders can take longer to build. Testing and figuring out problems after failed tests can take longer time.  Getting second hand information about your computer from the phone ansuring people may not be as good as getting the answers from the person working on your computer. Receiving information updates about your computer from the person building your computer would be nice but I can understand that crafting this information can be tricky and time consuming and take away from actual building time. I didn’t do a lot of shopping around for the best deal. I found Digital Storm via Google. I just typed in gaming computers. I didn’t know anything about them or even hear of them until the Google search. On a side note I thought I’d see how small the building is using Google Earth. It looks like they rent space in a larger building at an industrial park.

  When I ordered my computer, it was through their web site. Most all of my communication with Digital Storm is through the internet because I live on the east coast and they, the west coast I just have a time conflict.

 Anyway, basically, I ordered mine and the web site said it would be build by a certain amount of time but then I explored the forum and the build time has changed. If I hadn’t check the forum I wouldn’t have known about the delay due to the many orders they have had. It would have been nice to have gotten an email about the delay.

Anyway, basically, they got around to building mine and testing it. I never got an email that my computer was in “step 2”. I got a phone call from Dave telling me that my configuration wasn’t doing too well .I had them make changes that I thought  was big and that was going to be a pain in the ass to do but they did it and they did it fast.

Anyway, basically, I got my order. It arrived in great shape from across the country. Some of the miner things I wanted, like different color cables and lights were not in stock when I ordered but now I think that’s a good thing because I like what they gave me. All hardware seems to be working fine. Great wire tying and tucking job. I didn’t know wire tying could be done this well.

Anyway, basically, I’ve had this computer for a few weeks now and I’m having fun with it, aside from the confusing reason that vista was also installed on my secondary hard drive.

I’m sorry if what I have said about Digital Storm sounds more negative than positive. Again, let me say that I am having fun with this computer. Bioshock runs great on it so I guess that says a lot. So far, the questions that I email to DS are well answered. Email is my preferred form of communication with DS. Also, this forum is very helpful.

Anyway, basically, I am happy with my choice.

Trust me, one 768 GTX is hot!

sorry for double posting so fast..

anyways, I tell ya right now.  I would rather have my processor at 3.333ghz on a really HOT!! graphics card then to bump down the card to overclock higher.  Then what if I decided to get a really really nice card that blows out a lot of heat, then I am screwed.  So DSO made the right decision with the stable 3.333Ghz overclocked QX6850.

Yea, if DSO is taking awhile to build your computer.  Then your computer was likely to be crashing, unstable, not good enough airflow, bad parts, etc etc.   There definitly not like the other computer companies out there, like "cyberpower", voodoo, falcon NW, etc etc.  I heard a lot of bad crap from people that bought computers from cyberpower, plus their "tech support" hardly ""speaka da english"".

I have delt with a lot of tech support people that don't speak english that good.  Guess what they did, hang up on me when I was in the middle of trying to solve a problem LOL!  I was helping this lady at a independent coffee shop, programming her cash register.   A lot of tech support people or whatever, usually end up hanging up on you if there from other countries.   yea anyways,.

If I were you, I would definitly trust DSO building your computer.  They work hard to make sure that everything is correct.  Sometimes it's not, but they will definitly help you out, they are very patient and nice.

I don't have anything really constructive to add to this thread, but I'm tossing my 2 cents in anyway.

1. If you ordered a computer from DSO because you thought they would build and deliver it quickly, you were misinformed from the get-go. DSO builds high quality high performance machines. That process takes time, and  the amount of time is unpredictable. I assume the delivery schedules DSO quotes are based on virtually everything going right the first time. When a machine fails in the testing phase, the time to get it right can easily double the original estimated schedule.
2. Cramming two 8800 class boards into a PRO case is asking for trouble. Upgrading to an Ultra or an Extreme ain't cheap, but it's $200 well spent and a drop in the bucket compared to the bucks you spending on the video cards.
3. The thing that distinguishes DSO from most other companies is DSO's commitment to getting it right at the end.
4. It would be nice if DSO communicated with their customers better, but they're small and they're busy.
5. DSO builds hundreds of machines every month. A few of those are bound to have problems. If you happen to draw the short straw, there is nothing to do but stay calm and believe that when your DSO machine is finished, it will be close to perfect.

Edited by Bill the Cat - 24 Nov 2007 at 10:55pm

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a great Thanks Giving!

Thanks for the reply, Alex.

I don't care when I get my system, with in reason, I just want it perfect when I receive it.   And that takes time on the builders side.  So DS do what you need to do. I figure I bought into the DC Co. when I purchased, and when my system dosen't live up to what it should, then I'll bug them, in the mean time BUILD ON.  This is just the start of a multi year relationship that I'm looking forwards to.

There's bound to be things that are not perfect when it comes to any experience. If I wanted to knit pick I could point to a half dozen things I don't like about my system, or that I didn't like about my experience with DSO. I could do that for anything. There is no such thing as perfection in any human endevour.

Tyler, that signature is by far the coolest thing I have seen on here!  Nice job!

Thanks guys, I just mess around with the toys on programs like GIMP and Paint.net. it's fun to see what the different effects will do.

So is the problem basicly with peeps going with sli and having heat issues with the value and light cases?