ibuypower.com?

Meghan · Post by **Meghan** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 12:28 am

Hi - do any of you have experience with ibuypower.com?

They seem to get reviewed rather frequently but I was wondering if someone here had hands on experience.

My folks are looking for a deep deep budget machine and I found this one here for $418:

http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/conf ... aspx?mid=1

It's a terrific price but I've never heard of them before.

Coskesh · Post by **Coskesh** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:25 am

I really dig them cases. I think someone ordered one from them back on GG, he had some issue related to billing or shipping, but I'm not sure.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 9:59 am

Definitely a legitimate seller. I'm sort of surprised you've not heard of them, they get brought up on various web forums I frequent from time to time. I've never seen a rave for them a la NewEgg or Opera, but I've never seen any real rants against them either.

I've gone the deep discount route for upgrading a PC (i.e., no need for a monitor), and in that same pricing ball park I've ended up happy with the Dell Dimension line. Couple that with the discounts available over on www.gotapex.com (and a bit of patience, as the "good" discounts only pop up from time to time) and you can end up with a nice selection. And don't listen to Grandy's whining about Dell's proprietary OS -- that's from their days of yore. If you don't want to be hand-holding your folks through computer issues, having a Dell 800 # may keep you out of the loop should anything go wrong. I went this route with my mom about four years ago and she was really happy (as was I) whenever she needed technical help. Of course, that may be a bit different now.

Best of luck!

~Neal

Meghan · Post by **Meghan** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 12:04 pm

hmmm. First off - thanks for that link, Neal. I haven't seen that site either and they have a very attractive deal right there on the front page.

One thing I didn't mention was that my folks are both gamers so they need a deep discount computer with a good graphics card - one that can play RCT 3 and Pirates! and stay viable for a few years. So I want to get a solid machine with good upgradeability.

I've been steering clear of Dell because they're pricing certainly makes me whine! I have a Dell and it's a good machine but I've come to loathe Dell's dodgy bait-and-switch practices.

But I'd buy a Dell if I can find one at the right price. I've been avoiding their 3000 line because it doesn't have an agp slot. Is that right? It just seems like a dead end, even if it's a nice machine in other respects.

I don't know if my folks will get an I buy power machine or Dell either for all I know. They're being difficult. <shrug> I just wondered if there were some field reports here.

If you don't want to be hand-holding your folks through computer issues, having a Dell 800 # may keep you out of the loop should anything go wrong.

/me laughs bitterly.

gellar · Post by **gellar** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:44 pm

Meghan,

Three of us ordered from them about 6 months ago.

I had a great experience, with everything being delivered as promised, as planned. They even let me come pick it up from them (I'm fairly local).

Orpheo had a really bad experience, something to do with delays on his order, them lying to him, and then delivering something with f'ed up paint. I think he eventually cancelled his order and went with Falcon-NW.

Grievous Angel also had a slightly delayed order, and something wasn't great with it when it arrived, though I don't recall what.

I'll let the other guys chime in though with more detail.

I'd personally recommend them based on my experience, but based on the experiences of my #gonegold/GGNL brethren, I'd say stay away.

gellar

Orpheo · Post by **Orpheo** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:45 pm

Nope, I made all that up. Go with IBuyPower, they have power for sale!

RMC · Post by **RMC** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:54 pm

I bought from Ibuypower, and they got everything to me quickly and it was what I ordered.

However, I had an issue with the speakers I bought from them, and they sent me a new set to swap out.

They did not inform me they were putting a 100 dollar hold on my credit card I used to order from them. This happens to be my Debit card, so I wanted them to switch what they were using to an actual credit card...

The customer service people hung up on me and were assholes...They treated me like slime and when I asked to talk with the manager, he told me he was the manager....

<shrug> Also two of the USB ports did not work, so I had to open the case and fix the loose conenctions...They wanted me to ship it back to be fixed...

So all and all I will not buy from them again, but the computer I got from them was cheaper than Falcon, just not the level of customer service that Falcon gives you...

Ranulf · Post by **Ranulf** » Fri Nov 05, 2004 5:31 pm

I've heard good and bad about ibuypower but I've never ordered from them myself. Check out www.resellerratings.com for user reviews on them.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:16 am

Hey, just getting back to this...

When I purchased a Dell a few years ago for my desktop rig, I migrated the monitor, video card, sound card, and a hard drive. I found that was about the extent of what I needed to do to make it gamer-friendly. If you didn't have some or all of those components at the ready, then I could see where a Dell may not be the optimal budget upgrade path. Hopefully that discount site helps spell that a bit, however.

Meghan wrote:I've been steering clear of Dell because they're pricing certainly makes me whine! I have a Dell and it's a good machine but I've come to loathe Dell's dodgy bait-and-switch practices.

I'm not familiar with what you're talking about here. I've purchased two Dells for myself in the past, oh, four years, and haven't felt bait-and-switched either time. And in neither case have I felt like I've overspent for what I got (but I've always been a savvy Dell coupon user)

I've been avoiding their 3000 line because it doesn't have an agp slot. Is that right? It just seems like a dead end, even if it's a nice machine in other respects.

I'm not sure the specifics on that line, and I'd agree about that being a show-stopper for one of those models.

If you don't want to be hand-holding your folks through computer issues, having a Dell 800 # may keep you out of the loop should anything go wrong.
/me laughs bitterly.

Ha-ha! My brother, the paint salesman from the Detroit area, quit his job, loaded up his truck, and moved to California about six years ago. He enrolled in a bunch of Microsoft courses and translated his old salesperson skills and newfound technical abilities into a position with United Way in Sacramento. He then cranked up his aspirations/machinations and pretty quickly found himself in the role of the MIS director for the site. Talk about a load-off for the mere engineer when it came to performing gratis tech support for the family.

~Neal

Al · Post by Al » Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:55 am

Another good one is Monarch Computers. I've ordered my last two machines from them and I've been happy both times.

knob · Post by **knob** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 5:38 pm

My brother ordered a PC from them a while back. It was slightly delayed (3 - 4 days), but other than that, everything went fine.

It's a damn fast computer.

Ralph-Wiggum · Post by **Ralph-Wiggum** » Mon Nov 08, 2004 5:57 pm

neocomputers.com is pretty good, too. I bought a desktop from them about a year and a half ago and it's been fine (with occasional minor problems here and there, though).