fisty
04-21-2010, 05:50 PM
Ok, let me start by saying I don't want to write a review of my new shift. Not at all. Why? Because this thing is so damned awesome I hate to break myself away from it long enough to write a review lol (I get limited time on it as it is cuz of work and family) Now that this disclaimer is out of the way, I'll continue with a brief review.
So Fedex delivers this to my door, and when I see the box I think, "gee, that seems like a waste... such a big box for a computer" but when I open it I discover the box isn't exactly a large box, just a well packed box housing a very large but supremely beautiful machine. I haven't had a working desktop in several years, and the last one I bought was almost a decade ago, so I truthfully wasn't even prepared for the experience I was yet to have. For starters, every single computer I've ever bought, laptop or desktop, has crashed within the first day or two. Most have actually crashed the very first time I turned it on.
NOT THIS THING.
Even though I decided to buy from Maingear due to reviews and forums, I still feared in the back of my mind that I was about to face disappointment and feel like a ****** for shelling out so much money. However, I was pleasantly surprised and then some. I mean, it is ultra professional that all my software, all the notes on the system, and any other reference I might want/need are conveniently all in a binder that they put together for my convenience. That was my first experience with this computer and after that it was only uphill if at all possible. I took it out of the box, opened it up, and everything looked perfect. The wires are so professionally run that it almost looks like they didn't even connect anything. Like I said, the case itself is very large, but it's stylish at the same time, and very innovative in the fact that even when I run games that are very system demanding, the air coming out of the fan on top is not even warm but slightly lukewarm at its hottest.
Now for the moment of truth: I plug it into my ups, hit the power button, and seriously like in record time, windows appears, and it's fully loaded. I don't have an ssd, so I was expecting it to take a few minutes like most other computers. I was also expecting to see many more icons and folders on my desktop, of which again I was happily wrong. There was almost nothing. The only things other than normal windows icons were 2 items: free microsoft antivirus, and free openorg office suite, both of which I installed and am pleasantly surprised by. After this moment I can speed this review along by saying
NO COMPLAINTS WITH THE SYSTEM ITSELF.
That's right... I would actually have to nitpick around about stuff that is very very trivial (i.e. I wish the dvd drive door opened in either direction, and that's actually all I can come up with right now lol), and even then I'd still have to think hard. I run battlefield bad company 2 with a minimum of 80-90 fps in 32 man servers with every setting maxed and things running in the background. I haven't had any crashes (except for bfbc2, which is an issue with the game that almost every single player experiences), it doesn't even begin to strain my ups even though I have a 5970 and 1kw power supply, and even though I didn't opt for the sound dampening, this thing is very quiet. I could understand getting the sound dampening if you are a user who uses regular speakers or has this in a community room in your house or workplace.... I on the other hand wear headphones and have this in my home entertainment room, so it doesn't bother me. In comparison, it's about as loud as the combination of my laptop with the laptop cooling pad running.
And finally, in the realm of service, Maingear was great. I don't think I've ever had customer service as great as these guys with anything I've ever bought or any store I've ever been to. It's almost ridiculous how customer oriented they are. You can buy a computer similar to this just about anywhere, or you can build it yourself, but I doubt that you will get service like this anywhere else. I have a question about my order, I call, issue resolved in minutes. I might be on hold for like 20 seconds. Look at the forums... someone has a technical issue and the maingear staff is all over it. I'm fully at peace knowing that I can actually talk to a real person in America who probably at least had a hand in building my system if I ever have a problem.
In closing, this computer was my present to myself after I got back from Iraq that I bought with my tax returns, and even though I was apprehensive at first about even buying a new computer, I know I made the right choice. You guys at Maingear really exceeded my expectations and have left me very satisfied. So like I said before, point me towards some review sites, and I'll be happy to pass along the great reviews....
One last thing, is there any way I can like buy an XL shirt from ya'll? The one ya'll sent was medium, and although my wife likes it, I want one of my
own! lol
thanks again,
Joe
So Fedex delivers this to my door, and when I see the box I think, "gee, that seems like a waste... such a big box for a computer" but when I open it I discover the box isn't exactly a large box, just a well packed box housing a very large but supremely beautiful machine. I haven't had a working desktop in several years, and the last one I bought was almost a decade ago, so I truthfully wasn't even prepared for the experience I was yet to have. For starters, every single computer I've ever bought, laptop or desktop, has crashed within the first day or two. Most have actually crashed the very first time I turned it on.
NOT THIS THING.
Even though I decided to buy from Maingear due to reviews and forums, I still feared in the back of my mind that I was about to face disappointment and feel like a ****** for shelling out so much money. However, I was pleasantly surprised and then some. I mean, it is ultra professional that all my software, all the notes on the system, and any other reference I might want/need are conveniently all in a binder that they put together for my convenience. That was my first experience with this computer and after that it was only uphill if at all possible. I took it out of the box, opened it up, and everything looked perfect. The wires are so professionally run that it almost looks like they didn't even connect anything. Like I said, the case itself is very large, but it's stylish at the same time, and very innovative in the fact that even when I run games that are very system demanding, the air coming out of the fan on top is not even warm but slightly lukewarm at its hottest.
Now for the moment of truth: I plug it into my ups, hit the power button, and seriously like in record time, windows appears, and it's fully loaded. I don't have an ssd, so I was expecting it to take a few minutes like most other computers. I was also expecting to see many more icons and folders on my desktop, of which again I was happily wrong. There was almost nothing. The only things other than normal windows icons were 2 items: free microsoft antivirus, and free openorg office suite, both of which I installed and am pleasantly surprised by. After this moment I can speed this review along by saying
NO COMPLAINTS WITH THE SYSTEM ITSELF.
That's right... I would actually have to nitpick around about stuff that is very very trivial (i.e. I wish the dvd drive door opened in either direction, and that's actually all I can come up with right now lol), and even then I'd still have to think hard. I run battlefield bad company 2 with a minimum of 80-90 fps in 32 man servers with every setting maxed and things running in the background. I haven't had any crashes (except for bfbc2, which is an issue with the game that almost every single player experiences), it doesn't even begin to strain my ups even though I have a 5970 and 1kw power supply, and even though I didn't opt for the sound dampening, this thing is very quiet. I could understand getting the sound dampening if you are a user who uses regular speakers or has this in a community room in your house or workplace.... I on the other hand wear headphones and have this in my home entertainment room, so it doesn't bother me. In comparison, it's about as loud as the combination of my laptop with the laptop cooling pad running.
And finally, in the realm of service, Maingear was great. I don't think I've ever had customer service as great as these guys with anything I've ever bought or any store I've ever been to. It's almost ridiculous how customer oriented they are. You can buy a computer similar to this just about anywhere, or you can build it yourself, but I doubt that you will get service like this anywhere else. I have a question about my order, I call, issue resolved in minutes. I might be on hold for like 20 seconds. Look at the forums... someone has a technical issue and the maingear staff is all over it. I'm fully at peace knowing that I can actually talk to a real person in America who probably at least had a hand in building my system if I ever have a problem.
In closing, this computer was my present to myself after I got back from Iraq that I bought with my tax returns, and even though I was apprehensive at first about even buying a new computer, I know I made the right choice. You guys at Maingear really exceeded my expectations and have left me very satisfied. So like I said before, point me towards some review sites, and I'll be happy to pass along the great reviews....
One last thing, is there any way I can like buy an XL shirt from ya'll? The one ya'll sent was medium, and although my wife likes it, I want one of my
own! lol
thanks again,
Joe