Running Review - New Customer

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   Howdy!   

I just purchased my first DS system last Friday, and I'm workin' thru the phases to shipping as we speak.  

My intent with this post is to "blog" my experience with this order and give everyone an idea of my perspective as a new customer.  I'll start with a perhaps "wordy" story to quantify my perspective, then I will attempt to be succinct on my opinoin of the facts (as I see them.)

(Skip this section if you just want my current opinion.)
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I've been a "Computer Geek" for 25 years.  I built my first computer when I was 6 years old.  My dad's job required him to have cutting-edge machines, but since he was disabled, I was assembling his machines at an early age.  (My first assembly experience was a x386 with 16Mb of Ram (yes, 16 individual 1Mb sticks))
From that experience, I always built my own machines for years -- until about 4 years ago.
Four years ago, I decided to try a pre-built machine.  My wife and I had come to the conclusion that we needed "His and Hers" computers (thank you, Blizzard) and pre-built seemed a decent way to go.   
Yeah.. umm....  our xxxxxXXXXXxxx.com experience didn't go well.   Sure, the machines worked, but it was not built with the equipment I picked out, and I'll just say I was not too happy.  
After that I went back to my mantra that I would only build my own machines.  I wouldn't let someone else pick my components, configure my raid, or install my OS.
I stood by this mindset for years since that purchase -- but just a few weeks ago, my opinion changed.
I realised that our tax return was coming up, and we were again looking at buying a new round of his/hers computers.  I intended to buy components and self-assemble, but two things took me off that track:
1) Because I travel (and my last laptop died) I want a laptop as my primary machine.
2) Digital Storm's short video about their testing and packing procedures caught my attention.
So, I shopped around a lot, and though I chose to go elsewhere for my laptop, my wife's desktop was purchased here, and that's the reason I'm "blogging" atm.

My intent for this computer is a solid gaming machine that will not only survive a couple/three years of technology upgrades, but will also provide stellar performance for what I do now.  (Mostly WoW, and I know this is overkill.)

This is where I was when I made the decision to buy here -- now I'm gonna try to express my opinion on how they do.  :)
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On Friday, March 6th, I purchased a desktop with these core specs:

Intel Duel Core 3.16mhz
4MB RAM
2x CrossFire 3850s
2x 500G 7200RPM HD in RAID0
1x 1TB 7200RPM

-I had some initial problems with my debit/credit card - but I belive those were due to some confusion with using an APO address.
-A DS rep emailed me to help resolve this issue within a couple hours of my order.  Though it appeared he was a non-native English speaker, there was no confusion in the details, and this did not bother me.
-After the weekend, I called DS and they fixed everything for the payment.
-The next day I was informed via email that my video card selection was no longer in stock.  They made a suggestion to upgrade to the 4850, but also told me that the MB I chose had an on-board WiFi adapter so I could save over 100bucks and drop the extra NiC from my config.  (A quick web search confirmed this.)
-I responded to the email and told them to drop the extra NiC and go ahead and upgrade my vid cards to the 4850.  (The upgrade price was not what I had planned, but I'm okay with it.  Apparently the issue of "CLEARANCE" items not being promptly removed from the config builder once sold out is a known issue.)

After waiting for business hours on the West Coast, I called DS and found a very helpful operator.

In my two calls to DS, I've been impressed with the fact that I've talked to a real person (a native English speaker) within seconds of calling.

As of now, all concerns on both sides have been easily resolved, and I'm waiting for them to start assembling this computer.

For anyone still trackin', I'll update this post as my order progresses.  :)

Edited by joftinac - 10 Mar 2009 at 5:02pm

Running Review - New Customer

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