[REPLY]
I made an order at 01 April 2012at PCSpecialis the delivery was at 08 April. I made a request before made contact with a consultant who answered all my questions.While my computer was prepared for me, I could follow the percentage of my account at PCS. I was informed about the delivery text and email. Delivery time was the precise to 10 minutes. Laptop was very carefully packed.PSC has built for me the highest quality laptop.This company is highly recommended
I bought my first laptop last 15 Feb 2012 at PCSpecialis. Its an Egnima III 15.6" (1920x1080) with i7 processor, 8B RAM, 2GB NVIDIA graphics card. It is customised to suit my needs, but It became pretty expensive, I must say. Though there are many parts to choose, I felt its still not enough since I prefer ATI graphics card than NVDIA, and then dont offer it in this kind of laptop.
I am also very well pleased about the speed of delivery (though I fast-tracked it to 5days), It arrived within 3days after I ordered it. Packaging is also good. (More stickers please for the laptop!)
I should should point out that I ordered my laptop without antivirus and MS Office since they're only trial versions which is useless in the long run because they take up space on the hard drive.
Customer Support - I contacted CS once regarding my touchpad suddenly stopped working and I were able to fix it with their help. Downside is you have to wait very long just to get in and Online support is very useless regarding this matter.
Parts quality: 5/5
Delivery: 5/5
Customer Support: 4/5
See photos included in this review and decide for yourself.
I found the website really easy to use. It was also helpful to play around with the configuration so I could see what trade-offs I was making on cost vs goodies. I liked the way I was notified of what was happening to the computer from order to delivery.
The courier gave me a one-hour time slot (brilliant given I am out and about) and kept to it.
The computer works fine too.
I would recommend this company any day.
Communication regarding my order was good from start to finish. Delivered on time and well packaged. Excellent value for money.
I ordered my second pc from pcspecialist (time to upgrade after 5 years) and I was astounded by the speed of delivery.
I selected the 5 day fast track on tuesday evening, and was informed along the way until my new pc arrived the friday of same week!
Worked fantastic right out of the box, no issues, and I know that from previous experience that if I do run into any issues, the friendly and competent staff are on hand to assist with resolving any problems.
Can't speak highly enough of PCS - great value for money too.
Rich
Having a nightmare.. laptop arrived but power cable not working. Ordered replacement through expensive telephone call and arranged delivery for next day (Saturday). Cable delivered Tuesday by which time I'm working in Portugal. It arrived here (forwarded at own expense) in Portugal nearly week later and I find it also doesn't provide power! Also the replacement is excessively large and heavy. Computer seems nice though heavier than I hoped for. Wish I could use it! Have filed a RMA - will wait to see!
The excitement of finally getting a new, powerful PC was ecstatic once it arrived my only fear was that It was damaged on transit, the packaging was large but necessary and once i had set it up, it was working perfectly,
It took twelve working days to arrive. (I hear about people that receive their PC damaged but I'm guessing that because they picked fast track service.)
The only issues that I'm having it that it appears that either my graphics card or my psu is slightly faulty, occasionally the screen goes black and comes back and I sometimes hear crackling from my psu
However, it hasn't happened in a while (although i know it'll happen again) In general, the PC is in working order and is what I had expected from purchase. I give this company 4 stars and recommend to others.
Parts Quality: 3.8/5
Delivery: 5/5
Ease of purchase: 5/5
faster than estimated, kept up to date through whole process. Also upgrade me for free as the new intel chips came out midway through my build, couldn't ask for anything more!
I was kept up to date with my order at every stage, delivery once my pc was built was very quick. I would definitely recommend to friends!
All in all highly recommended. Good price, good service and a good product.
The matte screen is amazing, all most as good as many professional workstations!
Over all biuld quality is great, my only gripe would be the screens bezzel. The rest of the laptop has the brushed matte look (inc my screen) why is the bezzle the only glossy component?!? Probably not PC specialists fault.
I ordered mine after asking I was allowed to send in my own RAM and HHD. This saved me a few pennies after finding some deals online.
A very good comapny I have used them multiple times for custom built PCs and I will be back again in th future.
I ordered a new laptop from PCS which they managed to build and dispatch in 5 days that is simply amazing. PCS website has a great order tracking system that not only shows you what stage your order is at but also who is dealing with it. The delivery system sent me a message with a time window of an hour and it was delivered spot on the time they said it would be.
The quality of the laptop is top notch and there was not a single piece of useless bundled software installed.
I discovered PC Specialist while searching for a laptop I could use for gaming for under £1000. Now that I've had my brand spanking new laptop for a couple of weeks, I reckon it's time to submit a little review of PC Specialist.
I went for a Vortex series model with:
15.6" screen
i7-2670QM (2.20GHz)
nVidia GeForce GTX 560M (1.5GB)
8GB 1333MHz RAM
750GB WD Scorpio Black HDD
Initially I had some trouble registering on their website- my AOL email account, for whatever bizarre reason, decided to bounce the registration/password confirmation emails (they weren't even delivered into my spam folder). I phoned PC Specialist's customer service to sort it out. Unfortunately it took quite a long time to be answered (if I remember rightly, over 20 minutes), although once I managed to speak someone the problem was quickly sorted and they changed my registered email account over to an alternative.
I placed my order on a Monday, and by Tuesday evening I was informed my system was built, had been tested, and was awaiting delivery (PC Specialist has a wonderful policy of keeping you well-informed from order placement right up to dispatch and delivery). This was outstanding considering I hadn't even picked a fast-track build, just the standard 6-8 days build. It was then collected by DPD (with further SMS messages advising me of the date and timeslot of my delivery) on the Wednesday and delivered to me fresh on Thursday morning.
As for the actual laptop itself, I am extremely satisfied with my purchase. The body is very sleek and understated (something I rate quite highly in electronics). The keyboard and touchpad buttons are a little 'clicky', but feel fairly solid and should stand up to good use. The whole system runs, to my eye, blazingly fast. The quad-core processor definitely earns its keep and the graphics performance excelled my expectations- It can run Skyrim on Ultra-High in full 1080p HD, perfect! The speakers pump out a very decent level of volume, and sound clear even at 100%.
The only real 'complaint' I have is that, although the built-in webcam is of a decent quality, the microphone (located at the top-right corner of the touchpad) seems to be a bit too quiet and suffers from a little bit of distortion.
I've given PC Specialist a 5/5 rating due to the level of obvious care gone into their machines, their clear and simple-to-use website, and their array of high-level components for cheaper than I've seen elsewhere in my hunting. Actually, I'd like to add one more point in their favour: they are the sole computer dealership I've ever seen that actually provide the Windows installation disc with your purchased copy (if you've opted to include an OS with your PC/laptop). Every other company offers only, at best, a 'Recovery Disc'. This will make it so much simpler to just move my OS to another system if I ever want or need to. In regards to my complaint about their customer service, one experience isn't enough for me to allow it to taint my rating. I may have just been unlucky and attempted my call during a very busy period.
All-in-all, I am one very satisfied customer and would definitely use PC Specialist again in the future. I can highly recommend this company for your next PC or laptop purchase.
Well seeing as I've had my computer for a few days now I thought I would do a little review with a few new pictures too to make this post a little more interesting!
So I'll start with the system that I got from PCS (That I am currently using!) The system I spec'd up with a little help from Corfate is as followed.
[CENTER][CENTER]InWIN BLACK DRAGON RIDER GAMING CASE
AMD BULLDOZER SIX CORE FX-6100
ASUS® SABERTOOTH 990FX - TUF SERIES MILITARY GRADE MOTHERBOARD
8GB KINGSTON HYPERX GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1866MHz X.M.P
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD7870 - DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE
1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 32MB CACHE
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER
CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE
COOLIT ECO II A.L.C ADVANCED LIQUID COOLER[/CENTER][/CENTER]
With the addition of a surround sound speaker system, a Razer DeathAdder mouse and a Razer Arctosa keyboard and a few other bits and pieces which included a surge protector and cable tidy kit although the cable tidy won't come in handy until I get my new desk etc! I had a few parts changed from what I originally spec'd up which included increasing the ram to 8gb and changing round the hard drives and bumping down both the processor and power supply thus saving me money and giving me better value!
So the system inside looks like this
[img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7066/7138647551_f5920a0449_z.jpg[/img]
[img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7060/6992565986_ddb23a3e47_z.jpg[/img]
I did request for professional cable management for an added price which I think is a must for any system to keep things tidy and also good cable management means for better airflow but that's a personal opinion whether people agree is another story...
So to give a little shout out to the people who helped put my system together as I believe credit is where credit is due and these men deserve a good pat on the back!
[CENTER]Built By Cihan Yucesoy
Amendments Completed By John Mellor
Tested By Garnet Heller
QC'd By Adnaan Marban
Packed By Anthony Cunliffe[/CENTER]
So I purchased this computer leaving me little change out of £1350 although I got this computer on finance as it's easier for me to make little payments for now and pay the rest before Christmas as this helps my credit rating as well as my bank account. And my thoughts so far are a little mixed to say the least and I always give an unbiased opinion to most things this being one of them things and I'll start with the negatives to begin with as I don't believe there is that many.
To start with I am a little disappointed with the computer case, as to me it does feel a little cheap and parts are quite easy to break on it as I've found the little feet underneath the case have found to make a few cracking noises and the inserts for the disk drive are a pain as well if you lift the case wrong as they find themselves getting lodged into the case making it a pain in the rear end trying to get out.
Another problem I found was with the little mesh guards at the back, making a very horrid vibrating noise that to anyone whose not really good with computers and hasn't had much experience with computers like I had, it can be worrying after you've shedded out a lot of money to then find something has gong on your computer. A little off putting to say the least but thankfully with the help of the forums I managed to fix it which I will get onto later on.
The last problem I had although it was a problem that I had caused was with the big fan on the case that had stopped working, and to a total noob like myself all sorts of thoughts ran through my mind with the biggest worrier was having to send the computer back! As I didn't want to do that just after a few days of having it in my house, certainly not what you want to have to do when you've waited years for a new computer! But again with the support from the forum I got the problem fixed although I found that it was the tubes from the cooling system that was stopping the fan from working but with a little fiddling and poking around the fan was working again and computer back up and running!
So hopefully so far I haven't bored you to tears but if I have here's some pictures for you to feist your eyes upon!
[IMG]http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/7109/cimg0458v.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3643/cimg0463a.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/5458/cimg0465.jpg[/IMG]
I must add that the asus sticker on top of my case was something I put on as I think it adds a little coolness to the case, I'm a little sad like that! But each to their own as many people say!
So the good bits, well to be honest there is too many good bits to mention but I'll stick to the essential good bits that many will probably want to know.
Build time, I got the fast track 3 day build time as I wanted the computer asap which for anyone that's been without a gaming rig for some years like myself it is very understandable! Needless to say I had an email on the Saturday saying my computer was ready to be dispatched and sent to my house, unfortunately for me I was working that weekend so signing for the computer and stuff was down to my mum and brother who was at the house at the time the computer was delivered! So service wise with PC Specialist very down to earth and to the point, no nonsense and one happy customer for that matter.
The support that came with the computer aka this forum and the leaflets and the internet to help guide me, was a blessing in itself. The help I got from acquiring this computer from building to problem fixing to questions needing answering even over the past few days the support I have had from the forum alone is very excellent and something that not many places offer and people taking time out of their lives to help guide and support those like myself who are of a noobish nature when it comes to computers and as frustrating as people like me may be at times they still take the time to help which personally myself I find an extra bonus on top of the computer itself.
:yes::yes:
Cooling with this computer is fantastic, I downloaded some software called core temp which has been showing the temperatures of my computer and well you can take a look at yourself at how well this thing handles itself when idling
[IMG]http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/6171/cimg0476s.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/3764/cimg0477t.jpg[/IMG]
Even after a few hours of gaming it's not even hit 40 yet, so it can't be doing that bad assuming that core temp is accurate although going by that and feeling the sides of the case I would say thats about right so although the case does feel a little cheap and things IMO are easy to break, cooling wise you really cannot fault it in the slightest!
Gaming wise you're probably wondering how it's faired up, as the games I play I wouldn't have said are the most graphic intensive although once you mod them up you do start revving into the graphics side of things as some mods have high poly counts which have known to slow games down in the past. Well running on the highest settings using fraps I have found that I am averaging 50FPS without recording and when recording I am getting around 35 - 40 FPS so all in all it's a fantastic computer for the games I play, and it's a great investment for when the new Euro Truck Simulator 2 comes out and will be at my door by my birthday! (10th August)
[IMG]http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3294/cimg0467w.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/6175/cimg0466a.jpg[/IMG]
So out of 10 for everything I am going to give the whole service/computer 8 out of 10 with a few little things that could have been improved but even then they're little niggly faults but that's my honest opinion on it and well I can definitely say that I will be using PCS again hopefully in the near future for replacing my laptop! And for the future regarding my computer, I am probably going to see about adding another graphics card (7870 AMD 2gb Radeon) and I am going to be getting my compter hooked up to 3 montiors to make my gaming experience even better (And maybe play a little cod on there too!) as using this current tv as a monitor is not the best thing in the world that's for sure and I am unable to get 1920 x 1080 on my games so I am assuming that has something to do with my monitor being urm not so good! Although my room is going under a makeover in the next few months, it's something I'll probably share on here with you guys and gals!
But overall EXCELLENT and if anyone would ask me to recommend PCS to anyone else, well I already have to my brother and a few work colleagues. For good value for money and excellent finance options to suit everyones needs if you can't afford the full computer straight away. Like I've already said, I certainly will be ordering from PCS again. Although if I would add something, a choice on being able to order gaming controllers such as the logitech g27 wheel or joysticks/gaming pads that's probably one thing i would mention but nothing amazon/ebay/google can't fix :P
And a few more pictures to leave this thread out with!
[IMG]http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/9608/cimg0469d.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9720/cimg0471c.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/8879/cimg0457n.jpg[/IMG]
[[img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8018/7138644529_499ecd9c76_c.jpg[/img]
[img]http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7272/7138651305_944d88e459_c.jpg[/img]
Thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bore you too much! :)
A fantastic company to buy from.
I am very pleased with my server & the PC i have had from them in the past.
Even though I had many issuses with the Technical side, all the issuses have been resolved with great communication and to a high standard.
Like the build,\quality of components are excellent and the speed of the process to geing the machine even under purchasse agreement was also excellent.
Can not wait to start looking for upgrades.
Purchased my beast of a PC, good packaging kept it all safe, words cannot describe how happy I am with the product!
One minor point, which is something I may fo missed rather than a fault of the site, is Case size information, this Dragon Rider case is huge! but just makes me like it even more!
Now I just need to find something to take advantgae of those USB 3.0 ports :)
This is the third desktop I have ordered. I use barebones PC's for specialist 24/7 work. I like PC specialist because I can have my PC's without DVD drives, keyboards, extra USB ports and monitors for about £400 with 16 Gb of RAM.
Two of these machines have been running Ubuntu OS for 3 years 24/7 without a single problem or downtime esxcepot for software updates.
I have no doubt that when I purchase fiurther machines they will come from PC Specialist
We have a desktop in the house from PC Specialist which works perfectly so when I needed a new laptop there was nowhere else to go - did some price comparing, and PCS came out the winners anyway.
Good configurator, cost is shown all the time so you can suit to budget or just shut your eyes and go for it.
Updates were emailed, and the laptop arrived within the specified time frame. And it works straight out of the box faultlessly.
But oh am I so glad of taking the SSD option - fast, quiet, and did I say fast.
Needed a new laptop so started looking at the various options available both online and in retail stores. There were quite a few available for what i wanted to spend but, none offered exactly what i needed. Then i heard about PCSpecialist, laptop built to my exact specification, constantly updated on its progress and dispatched very quickly.
I now know where to come for my future laptop purchases and will recommend PCSpecialist to all my family and friends.
Last PC i purchaced was in 2004 from Mesh, on reading reviews Mesh had not come out very good,were as PC Specialist had excellent reports.So purchased new PC with them,excellent service,even delivery was spot on,would buy again from this company
Ordered the PC on the Sunday and paid extra for a Saturday delivery.
The PC arrived the next Saturday at 9am. The PC was supplied as specified and I am very satisfied with it.
Would use them again for upgrades and when the time comes to replace my laptop
Bought a HTPC through PC Specialist the first spec was tweaked prior to build and all went well and received the machine within 10 days which was quicker than expected. Thanks for the speedy service.
Item turned up exactly when stated, worked straight out of the box and is as amazing as good as I hoped for.
Definitely using them again for upgrades and improvements to my new machine.
Easy to put together a PC that suits your needs and very good at keeping the customer informed about progress of PC build. Helpful instructions to et up and friendly customer support when I hit a problem (with my monitor not the PC as it turned out).
The service was brilliant emails every step of the way until my laptop arrived.Which it arrived the exact time and day specified.As too my Vortex 3 my girls call it the all singing all dancing laptop.It has been perfect since the moment it arrived.It plays all my games in great style.I am delighted with my Vortex 3.and would not change a single thing about it.It was custom built and I have the 17.3 matt screen i7 processor 2.70GHz 16GB Memory 2x750 Seagate Momentus XT HD and nVIDIA GTX 2GB Graphics the Creative sound Blaster is also very good.Thank you so much for the excellent service and please thank the technicians for building my wonderful laptop.I would certainly recommend PC Specialists to any one needing a new PC and really good service Carol Smith
The laptop I purchased was the second pc I have bought from PC Specialist. On both occasions the items were built and delivered on time with excellent communications throughout the process.
Both items lived up to my expectations and are well built.
I found the website to be very good with systems in place to warn you of incompatible items etc.
All in all it was good fun and the prices seemed very competetive
I found the whole experience of ordering and purchasing from PC Specialist a very enjoyable and simple process. The on line build format was simple and provided me with all the choices I required. Frequent emailed updates told me what stage my custom build was at and when the email arrived telling me my system had been dispatched it arrived at the time stated with a very friendly and helpful driver. Highly Recommended.
From the moment of ordering to taking delivery - and beyond, PC Specialist kept me in the loop. This is my third purchase in 2 years and will not be the last. Excellent products and excellent service.
The Item before its due date, it works perfectly, truly brilliant. A great Company to buy s PC from.
Duncan.
The laptop arrived within a week of the order being placed even though parts had to be ordered in.
I needed a PC that would last me for 4 years. I also wanted a good price on a finance package, just in case the worst should happen and I lose my job.
Ordered from PC specialist and not only did I have a new laptop in less than 2 weeks but the customer service was fast, concise and friendly.
Will be looking to get my new desktop PC from them when the time is right.
Initially I didn’t plan on writing a review, I thought the many positive testimonials on the website spoke for themselves and there was nothing new or original I could add. However, the complimentary pen drive has of course motivated me to share my experience buying with PcSpecialist.
I found the website and the configurator very easy to use. The forums are also very friendly and informative, after some feedback on my initial laptop build I decided to alter a few things and was impressed with the how easy it was to modify my requested build and add sub orders. On the two occasions I rang with a few general enquires I was dealt with in a professional, helpful and friendly manner. It's been said before but the customer service really is second to none, even when replying to people on facebook and twitter they should take pride in how well they respond to people. I can't find any fault or problem I've had when purchasing my new laptop, the delivery, packaging, customer support, value and build have all been excellent.
I would definitely recommend PcSpecialist if your looking to buy a new computer, as someone who isn't particularly knowledgeable about computers I managed to purchase a laptop with the budget I had in mind which has exceeded my expectations. Keep up the good work guys
Very impressed with the communication from PC Specialist - I was informed as the build went through each stage and given timescales each time as to when I could expect my PC. I particularly like that the warranty is not invalidated by opening the machine - with a PC that is likely to be upgraded this is a good touch.
The machine itself has met all my expectations.
Build: 8 Core AMD Bulldozer, 16GB RAM, 2x Nvidea GTX 680 Graphics Cards, 2x 120GB SSD, 1x 600GB Raptor HD
Website was very easy to use with plenty of options available to create a PC to my own preferences. I didnt have to compromise on any aspect of the pc build, all my prefered brand components were available. I chose to fastrack the build to 3 working days and it arrived within 3 days.
Delivery slot was marked for 8.00am to 9.00am and it arrived at 8.00, just in time to sign and receive it personally before going to work.
Communication was excellent throughout. Emails providing information on the build progress and later email and texts to inform imminent delivery and time. Superb.
I have had no issues so far after setup. Installation of games and personal files was effortless and performance of the PC is stunning. It handles my most demanding games effortlessly on ultra high graphic settings at 1920x1080 resolution. Its the PC i wanted and more.
I highly recommend PC Specialist.
Computer delivered ahead of plan. Good communication throughout the order/delivery process. Very helpful technical support for a few minor follow up questions.
I normally construct my own computers to my spec and with only the components I need to replace but found that on this occassion PC Specialist were able to better the self build price with an added bonus of various warranty options.
I would highly recommend the company.
Really impressed with everything, good easy to use website allowing me to construct a computer to my needs at a competitive price (and in line with the Computer shopper review).
Good communication throughtout ordering and delivery process. Product did what it said on the label, the only glitch being getting windows explorer and adobe to work with the 64 bit processor, which is not of course your fault.
Overall, extremely good and I would recommend.
Professional website, professional advice, good product range and exceptional choice of options.
The order was dispatched within 1 Week! The system runs beautifully and everything was high quality from the parts to the customer service! Had no problems and wouldn't recommend anyone else to my friends and family. Thanks guys!