iBuyPower - I couldnt resist

T

ToddMcF2002

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 25, 2006
Messages
133
Ah yes iBuyPower.... Yup I know the rep but I simply could not resist. Honestly, I think they can do it, I'm optimistic! Recent reseller ratings are fairly positive and they seem to be engaging folks. Frankly, I really could not find another vendor besides AVADirect that had a better selection and the price was higher. DigitalStorm was my real runner up, but the case selection in this price range had no side fan which pretty much killed it for me. This build looks like about $1650 in parts, so the labor seems very reasonable. I built my last rig, now I'm just too lazy.

Anyway, here is the build:

E8400 (2x 3.0GHz/6MB L2 Cache/1333FSB)
Asus P5K Premium/WiFi-AP

Thermaltake Armor Gaming Case w/25cm Fan Side Panel Windows
Thermaltake Toughpower 750W W0117RU Power Supply Quad SLI Ready
Thermaltake MaxOrb

4096MB [2048MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Corsair XMS2 Xtreme w/Heat Spreader

EVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB w/DVI + TV Out Video

320 GB HARD DRIVE [Serial-ATA-II, 3Gb, 7200 RPM, 16M Cache]
CD/DVD Drive ( 16x DVD-ROM Drive Black )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive 20X Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive Black
Logitech X-230 2.1 Configuration Speakers System
Logitech Deluxe Keyboard Black
Logitech Optical Internet Mouse Black
XP Professional SP2
Case Round Cable ( Professional wiring for all cables inside the system tower )
Case Round Cable ( Rounded Cables for Floppy/HDD/CD/DVD/CD-RW/DVD-RW Drives )

$1,977
 
I wish you luck,really,but I'm not too optimistic.One piece of advice,when you get the system the first thing you should do is open it up and check all the parts to make sure you got what you ordered,iBUYPOWER has been known to substitute cheaper parts without notice.
 
The only experiance I have with ibuypower is my brother bought one. Its a good computer.
The onboard nic was broken when the pc was delivered, port kept dropping every 2 seconds. They gave him the options to send it back, send him another motherboard, or just send him a nic. We got the nic(i just put another one in there while we waited) but the customer service wasn't too bad.
 
I bought from them like 4 years ago, never had a problem except for wire management (which I think is an option now). I manually fixed it but that was my only real complaint.
 
good luck lol. although the parts add up closer to 1400 dollars, so they charged 500 bucks for labor :eek:
 
Closer to 1500 but point taken. My original price list had some Raptors which I failed to account for. Hey no problem I get a free case to hold my games, worth at least $150 :)

So I had my first call with them, just to get the transaction number that I forgot to write down. Promptly answered questions and an email to boot! So far so good.
 
Ah yes...IbuyPower. Well, I took a risk with CyberPower, and was optimistic...turned out to be a friggin disaster. So I hope you're experience with Ibuy turns out better than mine with Cyber.
 
looked in the dictionary .... ibuypower and cyberpower were both in the definition of disaster :p

Funny, just for the heck of it, went to both sites. They look identical.

To the OP, did you read their warranty info? It's an eyeful ... Refurbished parts? Warranty starts on the date of invoice?! I don't think so. Good luck is all I can say to you.
 
ditzilla said:
looked in the dictionary .... ibuypower and cyberpower were both in the definition of disaster :p

Funny, just for the heck of it, went to both sites. They look identical.

To the OP, did you read their warranty info? It's an eyeful ... Refurbished parts? Warranty starts on the date of invoice?! I don't think so. Good luck is all I can say to you.
Click to expand...

The warranty starts on the date of invoice is crap but refurbished parts is what most companies do. Hell the bigger ones like dell just label every part they send you as a refurb(even if it is new).

Personaly I have read too many bad things about them to buy a system from them. If you are paying almost 500 bucks for them to build it you can do much better elcewhere.
 
the possibility does exist that you will get a great system for a great price

but remember...you get what you pay for. not that it matters, but i would rather pay a bit more and sleep better knowing i was in great hands. i don't play much lottery
 
I went with Ibuypower and so did 2 of my friends this past year. No complaints. Runs great, everything perfect... spec in sig.... took a month to get once I ordered though, thats the only downside...
 
Even if I run into issues its not that big a deal. Who cares if the warranty is set at invoice? All components will be replaced well before that. I also know how to build a pc so I can solve issues myself if need be - there is no "total loss" scenario.
 
I went with Ibuypower 2 years ago.... No problems at all, got everything I order, runs great, took less then 2 weeks to get it and everything is still running perfect today..
 
KillRoy X said:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1242725
Click to expand...

Yup that is a horror story. I've learned my lesson already though even with the build it yourself route. Simpler is better. I have RAID 0 now, two raptors. Its treated me well for 4 years but occasionally my BIOS resets and I lose my ICHR controller and Promise enables itself. It is a huge hassle since the OS is on the RAID array. An annoying 2 minutes in BIOS every time.

This machine is a simple single card box, lots of cooling, basic 320 GB harddrive. Less to go wrong.

In the end though, you got your money back and they were reasonable IMO.
 
There are simply so many other GREAT box builders out there that would have allowed you to purchase with a LOT more confidence and peace of mind. But hey, Vegas is fun too.
 
I probably would have gone with DigitalStorm but they had too narrow a MB selection and the case was lackluster.

I do know a few folks who have purchased from iBuyPower without issue.
 
$1390 on newegg (with a mx518 mouse ;) )

Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch

I think its pretty bad that a company with an awful reputation like iBuyPower can charge so much to put together parts that they buy in bulk for less than newegg's prices.

But hey, i guess laziness comes with a price.
 
Laziness DOES come at a price. Frankly, building PC's isnt all that fun. Installing the OS, SATA drivers for Raptors, planning and agonizing over every last part. Plus, if I start down the build path I'll spend MORE on the PC because I can't help myself. My last PC was $3200 and I built it.
 
AndonSage said:
Do you also do your own work on your car?
Click to expand...

nope, and every-time I pay for work on my car I feel like i am getting ripped off and I hate it, however its something that I don't know how to do and I am too lazy to learn. Luckily my car has another 35,000 miles left on the bumper to bumper warrantee :)
 
compslckr said:
however its something that I don't know how to do and I am too lazy to learn. Luckily my car has another 35,000 miles left on the bumper to bumper warrantee :)
Click to expand...

And that's how some people feel about a computer (although some people don't have the time to learn). Especially when they get a 3-year warranty.
 
AndonSage said:
And that's how some people feel about a computer (although some people don't have the time to learn). Especially when they get a 3-year warranty.
Click to expand...

There's a difference of tens of thousands parts when putting together your own car vs. putting together your computer. Not really a valid example. But, I do my own car maintenance as well.
 
ToddMcF2002 said:
Laziness DOES come at a price. Frankly, building PC's isnt all that fun. Installing the OS, SATA drivers for Raptors, planning and agonizing over every last part. Plus, if I start down the build path I'll spend MORE on the PC because I can't help myself. My last PC was $3200 and I built it.
Click to expand...

Well, I personally enjoy building a system and getting everything running, but I don't do it that often either. Also, I had no problem keeping my build to a modest $1500 budget.
 
Back in 2002 or 03 (can't remember), I bough one of ibuy's machines. It was an AMD XP1900 with 40 gigHD, 256mb ram, and a Riva TNT 32mb video card the MB was a MSI KT4-VL. Funny thing is, that machine lasted me all the way up to October of last year when I finally decided it was too slow anymore. I still have all of the bits and will use them again for a secondary computer for my son. I never had one bit of problems with them or that machine and everything worked as it should have. The only thing I ever did to it was added more ram, replaced the CMOS battery (twice!), and upgraded the video card. I guess it really must boil down to luck of the draw with them. I remember checking resellerratings when I bought it back then and I wanna say their rating was like 7.5 and most of the complaints were nit picking them and not really anything all that serious. They must have taken a serious nose dive since then.
 
derek533 said:
Back in 2002 or 03 (can't remember), I bough one of ibuy's machines. It was an AMD XP1900 with 40 gigHD, 256mb ram, and a Riva TNT 32mb video card the MB was a MSI KT4-VL. Funny thing is, that machine lasted me all the way up to October of last year when I finally decided it was too slow anymore. I still have all of the bits and will use them again for a secondary computer for my son. I never had one bit of problems with them or that machine and everything worked as it should have. The only thing I ever did to it was added more ram, replaced the CMOS battery (twice!), and upgraded the video card. I guess it really must boil down to luck of the draw with them. I remember checking resellerratings when I bought it back then and I wanna say their rating was like 7.5 and most of the complaints were nit picking them and not really anything all that serious. They must have taken a serious nose dive since then.
Click to expand...

Its not like they are making any of the parts. If it gets built with quality parts one should expect it to last. I mean for the most part a computer hardware wise should run a few years without issues. When a hardware issue comes up it generaly will be a single part issue at that. It doesn't really take any special skills to put a computer together either. Just some basic knowhow that could be taught to pretty much anyone.

The issue comes up when you do run into issues and they can't stand behind it. 9 out of 10 people will never have a hardware issue with it(more then that really). They just seem to have a higher failure rate out of the box then others(where it wasn't tested right before leaving the company) and have support that is known to be crap.

I agree with the others when they say their are other companies that the money would be better spent at. Will the OP have an issue with the system? Chances are he/she will not. If they do though then they are in trouble.
 
Well I would have gone with something different and had my piece of mind but I would much rather just build my rig because I enjoy doing it. I also enjoy working on my own car, guess I'm just weird.
 
Nothing wrong with building your own rig as long as you have the patience, time, and expertise. However I think that anyone who can, or is willing to build their own rig should respect other people's decision to go with a builder.

That being said, IBuyPower's reputation would concern me...particularly if you ever have an issue with one of their systems. But it sounds as if the OP is going into this with his eyes wide open. Hopefully he will not encounter any issues.
 
compslckr said:
$1390 on newegg (with a mx518 mouse ;) )
Click to expand...

$1682.34 at AVA Direct with a comparable system. So for approximately $300 you get a system put together for you, with a 3-year warranty. That's worth it to a _lot_ of people.

CUSTOM COMPUTER, Core™2 DDR2 Performance Series System $1682.34

ANTEC, Performance One P182 Black Mid-Tower Case, ATX, No PSU, Steel/Plastic
PC POWER & COOLING, Silencer®, 80 PLUS®, 610W EPS12V Power Supply, 24-pin ATX12V EPS12V, Single +12V Rail, SLI Certified
ASUS, P5K Deluxe/WiFi-AP, LGA775, Intel P35, 1333MHz FSB, DDR2-1066MHz 8GB /4, PCIe x16 /2 CF, SATA 3.0 Gbit/s RAID /6, HDA, GbLAN /2, FW /2, WiFi, ATX, Retail
INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo E8400 Dual-Core, 3.0GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 6MB L2 Cache, 45nm, 65W, EM64T EIST VT XD, Retail
G.SKILL, 4GB (2 x 2GB) PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz CL5 (5-5-5-15) SDRAM DIMM, Non-ECC
eVGA, e-GeForce 8800 GTX 575MHz, 768MB DDR3 1.8MHz, PCIe x16 SLI, 2x DVI, HDTV/S-Video/Composite Out, Retail
SEAGATE, 320GB Barracuda 7200.10, SATA II 300MB/s, 7200-RPM, 16MB cache
LITE-ON, LH-20A1S Black/White 20x DVD±RW Dual-Layer Burner, SATA, Retail
CREATIVE, SBS 380 2.1 Black Subwoofer System, 20W (2x3W + 6W RMS), Retail
LOGITECH, Office Pro Keyboard, Black, PS/2
LOGITECH, MX™518 Gaming-Grade™ Optical Mouse, USB, PS/2, Black
MICROSOFT, Windows XP Professional Edition w/ SP2c, OEM
WARRANTY, Silver Warranty Package (3 Year Limited Parts, 3 Year Labor Warranty)
 
hey - first time posting - sorry if I'm retreading a lot of ground.

just read through the thread and I'm planning on buying soon (building my own is sadly not an option). I've heard that ibuypower/ cyberpower are not the best on support. Seems almost given that a PC will have problems and I don't want to waste my time + get all frustrated with lousy support. Any opinions on who has best support/ warranty?
 
What's up solo olo?

AVADirect has many different support and warranty options, so you can choose the right one for you. Here's an example of what we provide:

Silver Warranty Package (3 Year limited parts, 3 Year labor warranty)

Gold Warranty Package (3 Year limited parts, Lifetime Labor warranty, & Express/Priority Service)

Platinum Warranty Package (5 Year limited parts, Lifetime labor warranty, & Express.Priority Service)

Diamond Warranty Package (1 Year on-site warranty, 3 Year limited parts, Lifetime labor warranty, & Express/Priority Service)

We also offer Lifetime Technical Support :D

If you have anymore questions, please feel free to contact me in the method most convenient for you.

Joseph Mundy
Techie Extremest
800-808-8299 Direct
 
Thanks, Joe. I'm interested in hearing from folks here about reputation - which companies have the best reputation for support? I'm not familiar with all of the smaller guys and want to hear what the experts think.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top