Purchasing new PC, got it down to two companies

Y

YogiYahooeys

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Oct 6, 2004
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Ok, so I've having a new PC built. This is essentially my first time. I've personally built all of my previous PC's since 1996, so I would appreciate a few thoughts on the two companies I've narrowed it down to, Maingear and Puget.

Right now I've leaning toward Maingear for the simple fact that they are $100 cheaper than Puget. Of course, if my perceptions were based solely on websites, I'd have to go with Puget. Their configuration utility is incredible. Puget also has an advantage in that I've actually exchanged emails with one of their reps and was very impressed with not only the information that I was provided but also the promptness in the responses.

So, does Puget have anything (beyond my initial impressions) that makes them worth an additional $100?

I appreciate the help!
 
i like maingears website over puget. alot of nice custom options with maingear. seems like they give you a little more personal touch.
 
I think Puget has a pretty good rep for customer support... haven't heard a whole lot about maingear, but that doesn't mean they're not equal or better... just that I haven't heard about them.
 
Up until about a month ago, I was Puget's Customer Advocate. :eek:

Aside from that, I'm available to talk with you regarding any questions you might have. Just send me an email at the addy in my sig, or send me your number and we can chat.
 
Heather Taylor said:
Aside from that, I'm available to talk with you regarding any questions you might have. Just send me an email at the addy in my sig, or send me your number and we can chat.
Click to expand...

Heather is a great customer service rep, who can provide nothing but the best care.

Having said that, I like both companies but more so prefer Maingear personally.

Can vouch myself that Maingear rises above and beyond of treating the customer nice and being supportive. And I didn't even buy a computer from them. :p

http://www.maingearforums.com/showthread.php?p=18798#post18798 - Might sway you with Maingear, YogiYahooeys.
 
Shawnasee said:
What other companies did you discard in favor of Maingear and Puget?
Click to expand...

Well, I eliminated Velocity Micro (their budget system is completely neutered by default using a 630i motherboard; I don't like that at all; they were eliminated just on the principle of it) and - doing my best M. Night Shyamalan - "Those We Do Not Speak Of" (regardless of what anyone thinks of them, good or bad, I don't like the idea of a configuration utility that ends in a dead link; it's completely unprofessional and certainly does not build confidence). Also, AVADirect seems to have developed a terrible reputation recently, so I don't even want to consider it... Falcon Northwest is way too expensive... Dell is, well, Dell, if I was buying an internet box, maybe, but otherwise...

Are there any other serious contenders?
 
Hey, I would just like to say you might want to give AVA a look if you haven't even considered it. I have had my system for a few months now and I can honestly say that the customer service I experienced was top notch. There was a problem with my original Hard Drive (I don't think they could have found this problem during the building process) and they upgraded and sent me a new one very quickly. AVA also offers way more customization than any of the other boutiques I looked at.

I can see how reading the posts here would discourage you but you might want to give them a look if nothing else.

BTW there is also Digital Storm, I don't know much about them but you could give them a look also.
 
Have you looked at Digital Storm? They seem to have a good rep as well. I'm probably going to buy a new rig within the next two months and have narrowed down to Maingear and Digital Storm.
 
Hmm, well, Digital Storm is a lot pricier (and their computer a bit flashier) than I had my eye on. I don't need an i7. Looking at AVA, their prices really aren't any better than Maingear's, at least at the ~$1,200 level that I'm aiming for (not including a video card, which I already have)... Thanks for the suggestions though...
 
I don't know about other companies, but we'll install your video card in a new build for you. No sense in getting another card if you already own one.
 
Misfate said:
Ecollegepc
Digital Storm

You should check those out.
Click to expand...

I already addressed Digital Storm above. eCollegePC is a bit scary. Sure their prices are insanely cheap, but they don't have a listed phone number at all. Plus, those warranty prices are way too cheap. If they provided the service for those warranties that they say they do, they'd lose their shirts... I just can't trust that... I'd build it myself before I went to eCollegePC...
 
YogiYahooeys said:
I already addressed Digital Storm above. eCollegePC is a bit scary. Sure their prices are insanely cheap, but they don't have a listed phone number at all. Plus, those warranty prices are way too cheap. If they provided the service for those warranties that they say they do, they'd lose their shirts... I just can't trust that... I'd build it myself before I went to eCollegePC...
Click to expand...

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/eCollegePC

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/ecollegepc-c163765.html <--Hmm..

Anyways, the people at Gamefaqs recommend eCollegePC and have had a good experience with them.
"To Each His Own"
 
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I have been perusing Maingear's and Puget's websites as I will likely be getting a new rig in the fall. They both seem to be excellent companies, and neither is a bad choice. Factors which have me leaning to Puget: 1) quicker build time, 2) and pacific time zone puts them 2 hours behind me so tech support is available to me in the evenings (when I use my machine).
 
Maingear have a more professional looking website but I have no idea what each companies final product is like
 
@ Heather - We miss you! :)

@ OP - I'm not sure who you've already spoken to at Puget, but if you have any questions I'd be happy to help. Feel free to email or private message me if you'd like.

In general, I don't think you can go wrong with either Puget or Maingear - or some of the others mentioned in this thread, like Digital Storm.
 
Heather Taylor said:
Up until about a month ago, I was Puget's Customer Advocate. :eek:

Aside from that, I'm available to talk with you regarding any questions you might have. Just send me an email at the addy in my sig, or send me your number and we can chat.
Click to expand...

what an easy way to get a girls number
 
Well, in the end, I went with Puget. If anyone is interested, let me know, and I'll continue posting my thoughts throughout the whole process of purchase to delivery.

I will say this; Maingear does get a +1 for offering to install my card in the machine, as Puget would not offer that at all, plus they increased by $14 the cost of the lowest level video card that they had available between when I first entered my quote and when I finally made my purchase.

Still there were a several things that ultimately led me to buy from Puget. Since they were priced noteably higher than Maingear, I was offered an additional extension on my warranty free of charge. Also, the case that I was buying normally came with a power supply (not necessarily a good one but...). Normally they just toss it out and replace it with the power supply in the order, but in this case they offered to package it as an extra at no charge. I must say that I was also impressed that my first contact with a Puget rep actually came late on a Sunday evening. I honestly was not expecting any communication until sometime Monday, but instead I was contacted Sunday night not 2 hours after I sent in my request for a review of my quote. Granted, it was a contact regarding a sale and not service, but it still gave the very positive impression that they really wanted my business. Not only that, the rep actually talked my down a couple times when I started wondering about whether an upgrade might be necessary or warrented, logically explaining why they were unneeded for my purposes. Another positive that Puget offers that got my attention was cross shipping on part replacement. Instead of mailing in my faulty part and them waiting to receive it before they send me my replacement, I get my replacement first, *then* I mail them the faulty part back. I checked; this is not something that Maingear offered under their warranty plan. It's also a big plus that they are on the west coast instead of the east. I'm in the central time zone, so their support center is open till 8 PM my time, while Maingear's is open till 6 my time.

I'll also still go on record as saying that while Maingear's website may look a little flashier, I still think that Puget's system configurator is superior. Using the custom builder, it appears, at least to me, that there are simply more hardware options available on Puget. Plus, at least 3/4 of the components actually have links to popup windows that contain comments from various employees regarding the positives and negatives and potential uses for the items, along with every item's specs. Very impressive. If you click a component on Maingear's configurator, you do get some specs, but the window is too small to display the associated data and is locked preventing any change in size. So, to read it, one must either manuever through scroll bars up, down, left, and right, or copy the text into a notepad or word processing document. Way too much work, way too messy.

In the end, I paid ~$128 more with Puget; however, I got a longer warranty, better customer service hours (for me), an extra psu, better memory (Kingston HyperX vs Value), a better cpu fan (Gelid vs Intel default), and a better psu (imo, a 650 watt Corsair/Seasonic vs NSPIRE).

Anyway, I want to thank everyone for their assistance. It was not an easy decision, but the information and encouragement provided helped a lot.
 
Well, Puget is a great company (obviously, or I wouldn't have worked there...lol). I miss you, too, William. They produce great machines, and are a great group of people in general.

I just wanted to let all of you know that your feedback during this process has been very helpful to us. We've been paying close attention to all of your comments and we will be working on policies and website features based on Yogi's--and others--experiences. I've been working with the CTO to expand certain areas of support, so stay tuned for that. :D

NMFord, I am going to order my own personal system from Maingear and intend to blog about the entire experience (with photos). Since I work on the opposite coast from Maingear's corporate offices, my system will be shipped and packaged just like the ones you guys would receive. The coolest thing about doing this is that I can personally see where we succeed and fail as a company with the out-of-box experience...and as part of the post, I'll be brutally honest about what I see and what I'm thinking about the experience. Those of you who have me on Facebook can get the link there. (I'm easy to find, you guys are all more than welcome to add me as a friend.)

Syn, all you had to do was ASK. ;)
 
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