PB Computers experiences

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MikeB4

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#150445 23-Jul-2014 10:08

My 2011 iMac is showing signs of terminal illness. I have recently had the Graphics card replaced by Apple, I am getting the spinning beach more more often. The display has the start of the "water stain" issue with a line of it running down the the full length of the right hand side.

I was thinking of replacing it with a Windows based machine, I have looked at the main brand units and not that impressed, the HP Envy Tilt series all in ones look good but I have nagging reminders of HP's poor quality of late.

So what experiences have folks had with PB Computers? with the custom build units what is their build quality like? support? delivery? and how do they perform generally? My experience with custom machines in the past (Quay Computers *shudder*) is they are often very noisy and components fail on a regular basis.

Thanks in advance

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#1094057 23-Jul-2014 10:11

I've got a machine I built from components bought from PB, Its 6 years old and solid as a rock. Only had drives wear out. Oh and one stick of ram. PB in my experience give good service. I've even thought of buying a pre built replacement unit from them.

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Dynamic

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#1094060 23-Jul-2014 10:15

They parallel import. Client bought some equipment from them and came to us for help with an issue with the device (a NAS unit) 6 months later. The NAS had to be sent in for warranty repair. PB were helpful but advised it would be away for 4-6 weeks as it had to be sent back to the country of origin for service. Our client did his nut and said he would never buy from them again. This was 8 months ago. Buyer beware.

We buy small items from them, but never big ticket items where warranty could be an issue.

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networkn

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#1094061 23-Jul-2014 10:17

We have found that typically warranty is a problem. They honour it, but SLOWLY. Their BTO machines can have 8-10 working days to replace a HDD. A fair number of clients have opted to pay for a replacement HDD and have it installed and fixed by us instead of waiting.

MikeB4

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#1094066 23-Jul-2014 10:24

Its sounding a bit like Quay Computers

gzt

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#1094071 23-Jul-2014 10:29

I bought an el-cheapo prebuilt machine from them a few years ago. Build quality was good if not excellent. Power supply failed just out of warranty. I went in to the city branch with the old power supply explained the problem and they gave me a new power supply on the spot. Still haven't got around to putting that back in the unit. ; ).

MikeB4

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#1094074 23-Jul-2014 10:33

I have thought of building my own again but my fingers are as agile anymore

Dynamic

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#1094077 23-Jul-2014 10:35

KiwiNZ: ...but I have nagging reminders of HP's poor quality of late.

We don't touch any manufacturers consumer-series machines. They are built to meet a price.

We stick with HP's commercial series machines and rarely have issues with reliability or build quality.

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#1094080 23-Jul-2014 10:37

Dynamic:
KiwiNZ: ...but I have nagging reminders of HP's poor quality of late.

We don't touch any manufacturers consumer-series machines. They are built to meet a price.

We stick with HP's commercial series machines and rarely have issues with reliability or build quality.

Agreed. I switched 15 years ago and never looked back. Hard to beat a 3 Year Onsite Warranty.

haydenmarsh

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#1094082 23-Jul-2014 10:40

Brought soo much stuff from them, great prices, fast and quite often free delivery, brilliant customer service too.

andrewNZ

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#1094083 23-Jul-2014 10:40

What about an Ascent custom system. They'll let you pick your own parts and put it together for you for a small fee I believe. Ascent PC Builder

Computer lounge has also been good for me, though I've never had to return anything.

wasabi2k

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#1094100 23-Jul-2014 10:52

Computer Lounge win every time for me based on service - answering emails at 9PM on a Friday while building a PC (and me being an idiot).

PBTech is absolutely fine for components and their pre-builts are good. They will usually be cheap as chips too.

For work - I'd use name brand.

MikeB4

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#1094102 23-Jul-2014 10:56

andrewNZ: What about an Ascent custom system. They'll let you pick your own parts and put it together for you for a small fee I believe. Ascent PC Builder

Computer lounge has also been good for me, though I've never had to return anything.

I forgot about Ascent, I have had very good dealings with them in the past. Will have a look at what they are currently offering

MikeB4

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#1094104 23-Jul-2014 10:59

I should have said this is for a home machine. Not used for gaming. Primary uses, house hold management, Banking, Photography support, Media, Web, etc etc

sidefx

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#1094105 23-Jul-2014 10:59

KiwiNZ: Its sounding a bit like Quay Computers

I think I only ever had bad experiences with Quay Computers, but PB has generally been pretty good to me. They're usually fairly cheap and I've never gone to buy something and found it's out of stock or anything like that.

I've only ever bought components from them (quite a number) but never full systems or anything like that. I've only had an issue with one item bought from them. Some RAM (4GB kit so not hugely expensive) started playing up and memtest indicated issues with the RAM. I took it to their store and after being directing to the building next door and waiting an age for someone to serve me (maybe 20 min so not really that bad ;-)) they took the RAM away, spent some time testing it before came back out with a brand new sealed RAM kit for me to take there and then.

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andrewNZ

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#1094107 23-Jul-2014 11:03

something like an eeebox or other midget PC would probably fit the bill

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