New [H] exclusive PC - from Velocity!

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Velocity Micro Deals

Official VM Representative
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The H5 is back!

Incorporating your feedback, we've retooled the H5 to make it stronger, faster, and an even better value. The H5 is designed to be a barebones model - a starting point for your wildest adventures in gaming, digital media editing, and high performance computing.

The H5 comes with Velocity Micro's award winning customer care and technical support, meticulous handcraftsmanship, and great value.

See it here and build yours today!
 
integrated audio and video on an [H] tagged computer by default and with that kind of price tag.. :eek:
 
The Red said:
integrated audio and video on an [H] tagged computer by default and with that kind of price tag.. :eek:
Click to expand...

Agreed.

............

Well I had a long post written up complaining about velocity micro, but then I remembered an old saying...

I'll at least say this... if you look at this forum and see daily deals on 8800gt cards going for $130 to $160 AR, why would you be willing to pay $250 for one? I mean, granted not everyone is comfortable installing their own parts but still....

I will say this though, velocity micro computers are pretty nice generally. I used to sell them every now and then at the retailer I worked for and it was nice to see computers that weren't underpowered and undercooled.
 
This same discussion happened the last time VM posted an "[H]" exclusive PC. Although he said the reasoning was to buy the machine "barebones" and upgrade from their. But at this pricepoint?
 
Why bash? lots of people out there are too afraid to start from scratch with their own build, this gives them an easy option that they can customize with their own parts purchased elsewhere if they so choose
 
well it definitely offers a much better price than the gamer's edge configs
 
Redleader said:
But those people don't hold the name [H]ard either.
Click to expand...

Not entirely true. There are plenty of people who but already-made systems because they don't want to build them themselves. I seem to remember a whole forum here dedicated to that sort of thing...
 
Redleader said:
But those people don't hold the name [H]ard either.
Click to expand...

lol, I pity the people that call themselves [H]ard for being on a forum with the name...wow...

I definitely do not consider myself "[H]arder" than someone who buys a barebones pc to add in themselves...how about people that just don't have the time?
 
I think the system prices are reasonable, considering you get a built system and a warranty... I wouldn't get the HD or the graphics options thou -- those prices seems a bit high...

A lot of ppl don't want to assemble a system from SCRATCH, but are perfectly happy with plugging in an extra HD or a new graphics card. I think this is a pretty good deal overall. I'm looking to build a new system myself(upgrade from a P4 3.0ghz northwood... lol)... Only thing that's staying my hand is the next refresh that seems to be coming... I was debating on doing it all myself or build from a barebone, and this is pretty close to what I'm looking for actually (this or one of these tigerdirect deals...)

yass
 
Two problems for me. You are forced to buy Windows, which I don't need, and the warranty is very weak, though there are options that cost extra.
 
To be honest, I appreciate the thought that VM is putting towards those of us who want something kickass without having to go through a lot of work. Most especially since it's directed at its target group - us at the [H].

But on the flipside of the coin, I guess I'm used to the concept of barebones being closer to getting at most, a case, a board, and a processor, and MAYBE a hard drive. The OS, video card, soundcard, and ram are left out. I KNOW VM's core business is selling entire systems, so yeah, the whole point would be to kind of add on from there through them, from their side of it. But I guess its a bit confusing for me when you offer a barebones setup, yet even your most basic/default options leave you purchasing a nearly whole PC that's ready to get fired up out of box.

Onboard items are not really all that big an issue, as motherboard makers are trying to integrate more parts on their product all the time. It used to be a norm to see 2 USB ports and maybe a firewire port on a board. Today you can see as many as 8 - 2-4 ports natively connected to the board, and headers for 2 more addon slots, and now they even squeeze eSATA on some models. So you can't point the finger at VM for having boards with integrated things, really. They shouldn't need to hunt down boards that specifically do NOT have these things, especially since the whole point of a barebones kit is to give you the most basic things to get you started.

I guess my concept of a barebones kit was to basically get the most pain in the ass part of the building process out of the way, and thus all you had to do from there was add in the rest on your own. I.e. getting a good case, a good motherboard, with a processor and maybe the retail heatsink, already assembled and ready to go. Just add in whatever cards, memory, power supply and drives of your choice from there, and install the operating system of your choice as well

Still, I do like the idea. I just wish it was a little closer to my concept of a barebones setup at the start, and THEN, if a person wanted to make a whole PC out of it, they could do so at their leisure.
 
I don't call this barebones. This is an entire computer with the option to leave off a couple of cheap parts.

If you want this to sell to the market on this forum, you need to be able to buy without power supply, without processor, without ram, without heatsink, and without operating system. The only parts that should be required are a case and motherboard.

On top of that offer an AMD motherboard as an option.

I hope VM is paying a lot to have this on the front page again.
 
90-day warranty? Yuck. I would think the warranty would be the only reason people would jump on this. Add my name to the list of folks not blown away by the price point as well. The 2GB -> 4GB RAM upgrade is pretty nice at $50, though.

I'll also agree with the sentiment that a "barebones" does not traditionally come with an OS installed. Indeed, it seems more like a stripped down OEM computer with a questionable warranty than a "blank canvas"-type product aimed at DIYers.

Just my $.02.
 
VM is making a valiant effort to get into our minds. That's for sure! 1700+ views in 3 days is a busy thread.

Here's my take on the matter.

I'm turned off by this simply because there isn't enough options for the price tag. You can rest assured that most of us build our own PCs and know what each of the items can be purchased for. That was the one thing that kept going through my head as I selected each component.

Is there a market for this type of thing on a forum such as [H] ???? I'd say yes, but you'd need to come to us with more options. Like many others have already mentioned, a base model consisting of a Case, Motherboard, CPU & Heatsink, then the option to add in the other hardware.

With that being said, it might be a good idea to give the customer the option to select each component as 'cheap', 'moderate' & expensive' (ie. VGAs: 8600, 8800GT, 8800GTX). Do the same with the Case, the Mobo, The CPU/Heatsink & I think you might have a winning way to gain business from the [H] crowd. It would also give people replying to the typical "Have $1,200 to spend" posts a good base on which to build.

Lastly, I highly encourage VM to get involved in boards like this. Providing feedback w/o any biased information is a very good way to build reputation & show that you have concern for your potential clients. There are a number of vendor reps posting around here (and other similar forums). That carries a 'big stick' imho.

Keep the ideas rolling VM! You're close :)
 
Hello - thanks for all this feedback - we really appreciate it and, as you know, we make an effort to incoporate this into the system.

What we're hearing so far:

1. we all clearly have different ideas about what a barebones unit constitutes. how would you describe this system?
2. you want better support options
3. you might like to see AMD in this configuration

Knowing that a lot of you are diy, is this the kind of system you would recommend to the scores of folks who ask for your advice on what to buy?

Thanks again for all the feedback - we're working on building your suggestions into the config.
 
Velocity Micro Deals said:
Hello - thanks for all this feedback - we really appreciate it and, as you know, we make an effort to incoporate this into the system.

What we're hearing so far:

1. we all clearly have different ideas about what a barebones unit constitutes. how would you describe this system?
2. you want better support options
3. you might like to see AMD in this configuration

Knowing that a lot of you are diy, is this the kind of system you would recommend to the scores of folks who ask for your advice on what to buy?

Thanks again for all the feedback - we're working on building your suggestions into the config.
Click to expand...


#1a: I would describe this sytems as a fully assembled computer, with an OS and limited hardware options. You should design your hardware option lists as such.. go to Newegg, and hit "top sellers" ... take the top 20 of whatever hardware option you chose and plug it in. (I mean, it cant be hard to just add options to your list, why limit it?) .. the top 20 will have plenty of items from both the performance, middle, and economy end of the hardware spectrum. Incorporate them as such. Oh, and you should NEVER make an OS mandatory, a GREAT majority of the people on this board have already purchased the OS separately from any computer. Making it mandatory like you have it now will automatically exclude you from a huge market base. You can use that also as a cost-cutting tool.

#1b: For more custom septup options I would highly recomend scouring this board and looking at people's signatures, even just the ones that post in your thread, and see what kind of parts they are using to give you some really good ideas on what works well together.

#2: A 90-day warranty is really cutting it light for a cutom brew PC, I say start with a 1-year limited parts and service. I know you might not be able to offer something like Dell, but dell doesnt use quality custom components to begin with. They use un-tested, china stamping line components that half a short lifesycle to begin with.

#3: AMD is competitive price-wise with the Intel CPUs, theres no reason to exclude it, especialy when a good heap of members are zealously exclusive about AMD vs. Intel.

As of its current state, I could not recomend this system.

PS: Is there a way to demarkate this as an [H] branded computer? ... Like maybe a nice stencil on the case, maybe even the cooling vents having some cutouts... maybe a sticker like "Intel Inside" stickers but this one with a big red [H] ...
 
Ugh... keep the ads with the ads and the news with the news...

I know [H] is a business, but you guys still have a reputation to maintain..

Edit: This is in response to the front page news listing... I don't know which came first -- this thread or the news post.

As far as feedback on your product...

First of all, I recognize that cheap aluminum case (I've worked with several, same OEM model). It's pure garbage and a pain to work with. I know it's cheap, but you guys have got to be paying out more in medical bills from your assemblers cutting their fingers on the many unfinished edges. And the HD cage is nothing but a pain -- it's so chantilly made it'll start vibrating loudly once the hdd's spin up.

More than anything, though, there are not near enough hardware choices. Your choices in components like a vga card are a novelty -- barely more than even Dell offers. One monitor choice (an oem-make of unknown origin... might be a good idea to at least give some specs), one soundcard choice (you know, there really is still some brand competition here), no multi-channel or flashy gaming speaker sets (you'd probably make a killing if you added a logitech Z series even at above retail price), and.. NO WIFI?!?! And I absolutely despise a company that buys OEM products and labels them as their own brand (in this type of instance -- building a pc). It'd be much better to just call it by it's original brand so users can look for reviews, or at least give some specs and pictures.

I do get it though... give them one choice or no choice, so it's easy to come up with a box for a seemingly reasonable price -- but if it's the enthusiast community you are aiming for, though, you're going to have to offer a lot more choices if you expect to get much business.
 
I guess I'm not understanding the usage of the term "barebone" here. I originally understood that the concept behind a barebone kit or system was to be able to put together a similar system compared to retail at a lower price. The kits usually consisted of parts all coming from the same OEM and that's where the price savings came from and the quality was usually questionable.
 
I've seen Dell Vostro's with same configs for the same price, except you get a LCD + keyboard + mouse + better warranty. Just my 2 cents. The same default system at like $200 less, maybe.... Even though I do like the case, and hope it doesn't have the aforementioned problems.
 
noc_81 said:
First of all, I recognize that cheap aluminum case (I've worked with several, same OEM model). It's pure garbage and a pain to work with. I know it's cheap, but you guys have got to be paying out more in medical bills from your assemblers cutting their fingers on the many unfinished edges. And the HD cage is nothing but a pain -- it's so chantilly made it'll start vibrating loudly once the hdd's spin up.
Click to expand...

That, sir, is bullshit.

That case is a Lian-Li PC-7B Plus II. It is hardly "garbage" and is not a pain to work with. I've owned one for about a year, and have never had any issues whatsoever. There is nothing wrong with the hard drive cage.

Considering Lian-Li is one of the more respected and widely used case manufacturers, especially in this forum, I would say VM made a good choice there.
 
Kyle, get a life.

No true [H] person would buy this system.

The only real Quad upgrade option is the Q9450 for more than a Q6600 should cost you outright.

There is no option to add a second vid card on an SLI MOBO.

There is no option for a Crossfire MOBO to go with the ATI video card options.

No option to add a Raptor.

No way to remove Winblows.

No option for XP.

No option for Vista Ultimate.

Limited cooling options.

A whole 90 day warranty for a custom built system.

You cater to a higher level of computer enthusiast than this system represents.

Plusses, ok there is one.

The memory upgrade to 4 gig is reasonable.

I know, business is business, but this is not helping your cause with me.

Don
 
DonDon said:
Kyle, get a life.

No true [H] person would buy this system.

The only real Quad upgrade option is the Q9450 for more than a Q6600 should cost you outright.

There is no option to add a second vid card on an SLI MOBO.

There is no option for a Crossfire MOBO to go with the ATI video card options.

No option to add a Raptor.

No way to remove Winblows.

No option for XP.

No option for Vista Ultimate.

Limited cooling options.

A whole 90 day warranty for a custom built system.

You cater to a higher level of computer enthusiast than this system represents.

Plusses, ok there is one.

The memory upgrade to 4 gig is reasonable.

I know, business is business, but this is not helping your cause with me.

Don
Click to expand...

It's supposed to be a bare bones system. This is not rocket science.
 
Since they only offer the option of a single vid card,why only offer the choice of two SLI motherboards?Couldn't they have offered at least one decent Intel chipset board?
 
You guys need to quit bitching & see what's happening here!

#1. Brand Recognition -- You now know that when you go to build your next PC, you might be checking VM to see if you can get it at a reasonable cost before going to NewEgg or TigerDirect.

#2. Constructive feedback is obviously being taken into consideration as you can clearly see by the VM Rep's replies.

#3. The cost of the servers don't pay for themselves people. And, seeing as Kyle runs this site, he can do whatever the feck he wants without your approval. It's up to you to click on a banner or order from an advertising partner.
 
Indignity said:
You guys need to quit bitching & see what's happening here!

#1. Brand Recognition -- You now know that when you go to build your next PC, you might be checking VM to see if you can get it at a reasonable cost before going to NewEgg or TigerDirect.

#2. Constructive feedback is obviously being taken into consideration as you can clearly see by the VM Rep's replies.

#3. The cost of the servers don't pay for themselves people. And, seeing as Kyle runs this site, he can do whatever the feck he wants without your approval. It's up to you to click on a banner or order from an advertising partner.
Click to expand...

I'm just waitin for him to get in here and lay the smackdown on some of these guys :rolleyes:


I wouldn't recommend this PC to people I consort with daily. It is hardly 'barebones'. At the very LEAST, a barebones PC should be devoid of an OS. The product selection, frankly, sucks. The case seems pretty flimsy looking and the review that guy gave on it really solidifies what I think about it. Warrenty isn't THAT big a deal to me, since most of us know what we are doing and part failure is few and far between.

More product selection
A configuration that is actually bare (At least strip the OS requirement)
A stronger warrenty would be NICE, however it is far from a dealbreaker for me.
 
Some things that I would like to see improved:

An 8800GTS 512MB? Basically, that is a $100 cheaper 9800GTX. Some Phenoms would be nice, too.

Tell me a bit about these power supplies. No offense, but every 500W PSU I've ever heard of that comes with two lit fans is usually a P.O.S. I mean, I'm not sure if I want to go to the 850W or not? The "?" link tells me very little, unfortunately. Some ratings, at least? Or a brand name for me to look up? And maybe there should be an in-between choice. Like a 700W or something.

You guys. It is a Lian-Li case. I don't see what the problem is? Someone link me a bloody review telling me that Lian-Li (or any Lian-Li, for that matter!) is "flimsy" or "sucks".

The warranty is fine for a bare-bones. Most people just want to know that the parts work together and nothing major is wrong. We know how to replace a hard drive, lol, if need be down the road.

Where is my Vista Ultimate, 64-bit SP1? Should be in there, as we are an "enthusiast" community. Give 32-bit/64-bit Home Premium and 32-bit/64-bit Vista Ultimate.

About the cooling: with all the info about the Freezer 7 Pro in the help link, what is in the water-cooling config? Just a few specs. on that would be nice.

RAID and SLI. Yes, we want them.

~Ibrahim~
 
legendz411 said:
The case seems pretty flimsy looking and the review that guy gave on it really solidifies what I think about it.
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I can't believe how many people are bitching about the case.

Thats a custom branded & anodized LIAN LI PC-7A plus II case with a window. Its the same case I currently have as my main gamer PC.

Lian-Li cases are awesome, if you've ever owned one you'll probably never own anything else but one in the future. The last 2 cases I've bought have both been Lian-Li. The only reason I upgraded from one Lian-Li to the other (LIAN LI PC-7A plus II) was to get the 120mm fans, since my original (PC-60) had all 80mm's.
 
just my quick $.02

Several people have already said this but to me a barebones system is a case/MB/CPU maybe a power supply. Everything else should be optional.

As far as the system its self it seems faily decent. Personally I think a better warrenty option should be the standard, and a few more choices on the parts would be really nice.

again just my $.02
 
I apologize about the case. I've worked in Lian-Li cases and they are rather nicely done. I went by picture and what that guy said.

I retract my comment about the case and apologize for that. What I said otherwise still stands, however.
 
*Edit: Not really my job anymore to tell companies what they're doing wrong. Best of luck, VM.
 
ClariorHincHonos said:
It's supposed to be a bare bones system. This is not rocket science.
Click to expand...
Tell that to Velocity Micro, genius...

ikjadoon said:
Some things that I would like to see improved:

You guys. It is a Lian-Li case. I don't see what the problem is? Someone link me a bloody review telling me that Lian-Li (or any Lian-Li, for that matter!) is "flimsy" or "sucks".

The warranty is fine for a bare-bones. Most people just want to know that the parts work together and nothing major is wrong. We know how to replace a hard drive, lol, if need be down the road.

Where is my Vista Ultimate, 64-bit SP1? Should be in there, as we are an "enthusiast" community. Give 32-bit/64-bit Home Premium and 32-bit/64-bit Vista Ultimate.
Click to expand...

Do your own homework and find your own links. The warranty is not fine. And the excuse you gave was almost as comical as the 90day warranty. Warranties are to save money, not time(necessarily). Who cares if we know how to replace an HD? We still still don't wanna buy a new one 3 months down the road if it fails. Most retail HD's come with a 3-5 YEAR warranty anyway. The one good point you made was the lack of 64bit options. I find it funny that they offer 4 gigs of ram but not an OS that can actually support that much. I expect Dell to do some stupid shit like that, but not any company that the [H] put on their front page.
 
Lian-Li has it's own reputation. I'm not saying they are a perfect company, but they make high quality products. I only meant said that statement to retaliate against the previous remarks. And I doubt we will get a case change, even if we wanted one. If you guys hadn't noticed, VM uses Lian-Li cases exclusively in their desktops.

In retrospect, having a longer standard warranty would be better.

And, even though I trust VM completely, the info the PSUs would still be nice.

~Ibrahim~
 
Indignity said:
You guys need to quit bitching & see what's happening here!

#1. Brand Recognition -- You now know that when you go to build your next PC, you might be checking VM to see if you can get it at a reasonable cost before going to NewEgg or TigerDirect.

#2. Constructive feedback is obviously being taken into consideration as you can clearly see by the VM Rep's replies.

#3. The cost of the servers don't pay for themselves people. And, seeing as Kyle runs this site, he can do whatever the feck he wants without your approval. It's up to you to click on a banner or order from an advertising partner.
Click to expand...

well said. lots of positive changes to this version of the VM H5 pc.

i think its very admirable that VM is 1) paying to advertise here and keep the forums running, 2) trying to tailor their offerings to the forum users here, 3) listening to feedback.

those of you who can't seem to do anything more than post negative, unconstructive comments need to go start your own PC company, pay to advertise here, and come offer us something better. out of all of the custom pc companies in the industry, very few are making the level of effort that VM is making to listen to and address the needs of their customers.
 
for that $839...as starting point

you could build an e8400 with a p45 mobo, 4 gigs of good ram, good hdd, probably a wd 640 gig ..good psu ...and a decent videocard ... lets say a 9600gt ..

that sounds good for $839
 
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