Video card musings.. suggestions welcome

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#161609 2-Sep-2008 16:45

Be prepared to defend your recommendation of EInfo on GP, the reason they were ranked low was related to after sales service, that is after they have been paid the money and sent the goods. The other reason as mentioned is the stock issue, which they use to keep their margins small since they won't ever have surplus, but this obviously doesn't help the consumer.

psk20

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#161628 2-Sep-2008 17:17

Thanks for the heads-up. I'm not going to be arguing that my experience somehow shows that other people's bad experiences are invalid, though. I'll merely be pointing out that in my specific case, there was a shortage of stock, but they took measures to ameliorate the inconvenience to the consumer by giving me a pretty significant discount.

Fraktul

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#161655 2-Sep-2008 18:52

As long as they either show if they have an item in stock or not or let you know pretty quickly if they dont have an item in stock and the option of backing out the order if there is a significant delay then I dont see what the problem is?

Sure its great if they have it in stock but if they dont and the reason they dont is that the deliberately keep their stock levels tight to give you the best price (I am assuming thats why you picked them on Pricespy); then I think you are perhaps being a little unrealistic around the financial realities of online ordering.

psk20

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#161674 2-Sep-2008 19:52

Sorry, are you saying that I'm being unrealistic? My reaction towards the whole thing was pretty positive.. I'm quite happy with the result. IF they'd taken my order and not given me any reasonable alternative to waiting 2 weeks, then there'd be a problem, but that didn't happen, so I'm pretty happy overall. I think we're in agreement!

GamerOC

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#161684 2-Sep-2008 21:07

good on ya for getting CPU issue sorted and yes if they don't give you a concrete positive answer about the brocken card you have the right to ask for your money back and take your business somewhere else.

Lew

Fraktul

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#161711 2-Sep-2008 23:27

No, I was reffering to richms's post.

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richms

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#161726 3-Sep-2008 01:57

Fraktul: As long as they either show if they have an item in stock or not or let you know pretty quickly if they dont have an item in stock and the option of backing out the order if there is a significant delay then I dont see what the problem is?

Sure its great if they have it in stock but if they dont and the reason they dont is that the deliberately keep their stock levels tight to give you the best price (I am assuming thats why you picked them on Pricespy); then I think you are perhaps being a little unrealistic around the financial realities of online ordering.

When their site lists low stock (but stock never the less) for most of the things, and you go there and find that they do not have stock of all the ones that they were cheapest in, then there is a problem.

And then when checking later they are still showing stock of those items even after you have being there and they have confirmed no stock, how is that acceptable? They seem to have plenty of the things that are not the best price on pricespy. Sure, they offer to order for you and get it in etc etc, but in that case it defeats the purpose of having stock listings when they are not accurate.

Richard rich.ms

psk20

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#161758 3-Sep-2008 09:21

I kind of agree with both Richms and Fraktul on this.

It's not a problem that a store purposefully carries few extra items in stock in order to keep things tight and prices down. However, it's definately a problem if something is listed incorrectly on the site as in stock. However, Einfo more than made up for their mistake by apologising and providing adequate remedies to me.

I sent a somewhat annoyed email to c1 today. Although a weekend + 3 days might not seem like a very long time (it seems that many people consider anything within a week to be an acceptable time frame), I really think that it's too long considering that the item is unambiguously defective. It's not like they actually need to carry out any tests on it like with many RMA claims - the photos I emailed them show clear cracks in the card (they'd be foolish to try and plug that thing into one of their systems!), and I told them over the phone that all they had to do was ring CourierPost and they could confirm for them that the card is now in their possession.

More than that, it's not just the fact that they haven't sent a replacement yet, it's the fact that they haven't even given me a clear response. They haven't emailed me or rang me since the card arrived, and I've only received noncommittal answers when I rang them on Monday (they promised to contact me by Tuesday but they haven't yet). A little bit more communication and I might not be so anxious about all of this.

I'm starting to think that I'd be better to buy from somewhere like dragonPC in the future. They haven't received amazing reviews overall, and they aren't particularly cheap. But at least there's a storefront within 100km that I can visit if I have any problems. I get the feeling that if I lived in Auckland, a quick visit to C1 would have been enough for me to get my replacement card that same day.

richms

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#161802 3-Sep-2008 11:26

It would be. Its problems like this which are why I never buy computer gear from someone I cant go and see/abuse when things turn to crap. The guy in the shop provides a much greater incentive to sort it then someone miles away who cant really do anything other then ring or email you.

But in saying that, I have never had to go in and abuse the people at the places I regually shop, which are XP computers and QMB in royal oak.

They are seldom the lowest on pricespy but when you go in they will both move on price to be close enough, or sometimes better so it really doesnt matter.

Richard rich.ms

GamerOC

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#161819 3-Sep-2008 12:22

I agree definately if a local can match or nearly match the price it makes things better if things turn ugly or item faulty however there are good shops around, i bought my card with EVGA with lowered price and lifetime warranty and also they have a policy that if you buy card and send it back before a period of time (week) with proof of purchase they upgrade you next card for free.. that was a bonus.

good luck mate with C1

Lew

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#161907 3-Sep-2008 17:05

C1 are never good on RMA, part of it is because they are the most popular online retailer pretty much, so they are dealing with a lot of stuff, and as many shops do they seem to put after sales service to the side once they have got the money and sent the product.

Speaking of retailers i got my free replacement today from Computerlounge for my tuner card that i pretty much broke, who were happy to swap it out as well as order in an asus spdif bracket which no supplier in NZ seems to stock. Yay.

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psk20

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#162013 4-Sep-2008 07:23

Yay!

Well I put my foot down with C1 and told them that by 3pm yesterday I was going to be asking for a refund rather than a replacement, and taking my business elsewhere. They finally contacted me at 2.45, telling me that they'd send the replacement right away.

They maintained the whole time that they needed to wait to hear from the Courier, but I honestly can't imagine what they needed to find out from them. Surely all they needed was confirmation that the Courier now possess the card and that it is visibly damaged. Anyway, apparently the Courier got in touch with them at 2.45... lucky them!

Now I'm just waiting enthusiastically for my new CPU and Graphics card to arrive. I kinda feel like I did last week! :)

psk20

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#162025 4-Sep-2008 09:02

I just checked with Courier Post and it's been sent via overnight delivery - which is actually pretty nice of C1! All in all, if I receive my replacement today that means that it took them 4 working days to get my replacement to my door (and that's Auckland -> Christchurch). I'm moderately happy with the result - it's not a huge wait at all. I just wish they'd been a little bit more communicative during the process so that I knew what was going on.

So assuming that it comes today and that the CPU also arrives tomorrow, here's how I'd probably rate the 2 places I ordered from. I'll probably think about these ratings a bit more and then chuck them up on gpforums :P

Expert Infotech:
Price: 10/10 (you have to give them credit for this)
Sales service: 6.5/10: responses were fairly prompt and I was kept up to date, but the site said it would be shipped in 1-2 days, then the first email said 2-4, then another email said that it was on backorder, then it turned into 2 weeks. I felt bad at this point because part of the reason I ordered from einfo was that they listed that particular CPU as in stock. They generally responded to my emails within a day, however. Suhail was willing to give me an MSN contact so that I didn't have to ring him on my prepay, which was pretty nice too. And in the end, he basically wrote off any profit he may have made by upgrading me to a nicer model cheaply to make up for the stocking error. So it WOULD have been a 2/10 (if I'd been made to wait 2 weeks), but he did a great job making up for it.
After sales service: N/A... yet
Overall: 8/10. A mixed experience but I actually walked away with a very very cheap deal - 10% cheaper than the cheapest rate on Price Spy.

C1 Shoppingmall:
Price: 10/10 (one of the cheaper stores in NZ)
Sales service: 8/10: as others have noted, C1 has a pretty good ordering system overall. It allows you to choose between 3 bank accounts to pay into, and their confirmation emails include useful information and links such as the Courier Post shipping number.
After sales service: 4/10: Long Story. My graphics card showed up broken. To this date I don't know whether it was packed like that or broken in transit. I rang them, and the guy I talked to asked me to email him some photos, which I did. He said he needed to get in contact with Courier Post. I didn't hear back from him that evening (a Friday). I rang Courier Post after they had closed to check that he'd rung them; he had and he'd also arranged for me to bring the card in to the Christchurch depot so that Courier Post could begin their insurance investigation. I was a little confused that the guy at C1 didn't email me to tell me that I needed to do this, but I took it in the next day (Saturday). I also sent C1 an email on Friday evening asking them if there was any chance one of them could drop the replacement card off at the Courier Post depot on Saturday morning (Courier Post do same day delivery on Saturday if you drop off the product at their depot early in the morning). I didn't get a reply.

On Monday, I still hadn't received a reply so I rang them. The chick said that she'd received my emails and had forwarded them onto the proper person, and that he was reading them right now and would reply soon. I still didn't have a reply by that afternoon so I rang again, asking to talk to the guy. He told me that he needed to ring Courier Post but he still hadn't done so. I told him that I'd rung them and dropped off the faulty card, and that they also told me that their systems were updated to reflect the fact that the card was there - all he had to do was ring and they would tell him they had the card. He said ok, and that he'd get onto it. I asked him for an approximate time frame for getting a replacement, pointing out that the insurance thing didn't really involve me, and he said he wasn't sure, that the manager who normally dealt with it was away, and that he thought I might have to wait till the insurance claim was all dealt with. I said I wasn't very happy about this and asked when the manager would be back but he wasn't sure. I asked for him to please sort out my replacement card as soon as possible, to ring the Courier, and please please please get back to me soon. He said, fine, he'd reply by tomorrow (Tuesday) at the latest.

I heard nothing on Tuesday. By Wednesday, I sent a stern letter saying that I'd really heard very little from them and was considering asking for a refund instead of a replacement and going elsewhere. No reply by lunchtime. I was tired of paying 50c a minute on my cellphone so I had my girlfriend ring from work, asking for updates. They didn't have an update yet, and didn't have a timeframe for a replacement. So she told them that I was now officially asking for a refund instead... to which the rep replied by asking for just one more day... my girlfriend told them that I'd think about it and would be in touch. I emailed back, telling them that I wasn't willing to wait a whole day and that I couldn't see any reason for more delay - all they had to do was send me the replacement! I gave them until 3pm that day (just over an hour). They pulled some strings, finally rang me (the first phonecall or email I'd received from them since the graphics card had shown up broken) and said they were sending the card that day. I asked for overnight delivery, and they complied. It should show up today some time!

My overall experience: mixed. It was needlessly stressful for me to get what I wanted out of them. The only reason that I badgered them that much was that they'd given me no assurances that I wouldn't have to wait for Courier Post to refund them before I got my replacement - and to be honest, I wasn't willing to wait that long. So I badgered them and eventually got what I wanted in a fairly reasonable amount of time. 4 working days, not too bad actually. And they paid for overnight delivery, also pretty good.

Total: 7/10. Would I recommend them again? To be honest, I probably would, just with reservations. I'm sure I would have received my replacement eventually anyway. It just might have taken a few weeks, and I'm an impatient person and saw no reason to wait :) Their prices are great, and purchasing was easy and quick. It's just really a shame that in order for their after-sales service to match their pre-sales service, I had to make them realise that the initial transaction hadn't even been completed yet - in effect, I jolted them back into pre-sales service mode!

psk20

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#162031 4-Sep-2008 09:15

Ooh, on a related note: quick question about the Hd4870. It's listed as having a built in 7.1 channel audio decoder. I was wondering what this actually entails! I couldn't see any spdif connection on the card itself, nor could I see an audio out on the back of the card (just 2x DVI and 1x S-video, as per usuale). Is this feature actually going to be any use in using this PC for home theatre? (Yeah, it's going to be a hybrid entertainment/HT PC). After all, my motherboard has onboard 7.1 support.

The card DOES come with a DVI -> HDMI dongle, although it doesn't appear to have any way of adding audio channels to that. So I guess that the HDMI cable would only carry the video signal, and I'd just send a separate spdif from the motherboard (I guess the black coloured output - I'll have to find my mobo manual :P) to a digital amp.

What would be kinda nifty is if there was a dongle like this one http://www.dse.co.nz/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/48befe83008cb9662741c0a87f3b0743/Product/View/P1203 but which had 2 inputs, DVI and spdif, and 1 HDMI output. Is there?

pistolpower

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#162156 4-Sep-2008 15:56

Considering that the 9600gt only has 64 stream prosessors you would probably be better of with a 9800gt as it has 112 stream processors which is 2x the processors 9600gt have on there pcb which would perform alot better than 9600gt. The 9600gt is $170.78 on pricespy whereas the 9800gt is $220.75. Both the 9800gt and 8800gt are better than the 9600gt which only has speed going for it. But if you wanted to get more serious then the next step up would be a 9800gtx+ which has hardly any more stream processors than the 9800gt but has faster clock speeds. But for $459.56 you get a gx 260 which has 192 stream proccessors which is almost 2x that of the 9800gt!!!! and 3x that of the 9600gt!!!!!! and it allso boasts over 700mb ram on it which is more than any of the other cards i listed!!! and its faster!! :D

Anyways go look on the nvidia website under "products" as they have rated there new 8,9series gfx cards in terms of performance by assighning them a number (use this to compare there performance then look at the price on pricespy) but i advise against buying the 9600gt as you should at least get a 9800gt because of the extra stream processors...

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