Received my Origin PC yesterday...and I couldn't be happier with the company. I'm not a professional reviewer, but I have a good bit of experience with PCs (teaching tech skills and managing an educational computer lab for over 20 years)...here's my take on Origin PC:
The PC: Lian Li A70F case; ASUS Rampage III motherboard; Intel core i7 930; EVGA GTX 470 video card; Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro sound card; Corsair memory; Corsair 750 watt PSU; WD Black Caviar 640GB 6GB/s boot drive; WD Black Caviar 1TB 6GB/s storage drive; two LG optical drives, Win 7 Professional.
Pre-Sales Experience: 10
I worked exclusively with Dan Shepard, and he was one of the driving forces behind my purchasing from Origin PC over MainGear or Digital Storm. Answered questions quickly and accurately...never pushed the sell...did his research with support when he wasn't 100% positive of an answer, and was willing to go the extra mile on non-standard equipment requests. Stayed in touch with after I made my order, sent pics of the build during the build process, and when we hit a snag with the video card I originally wanted he was quick with suggestions and the reasons why he would make a choice of one over the other. I've never been happier with a sales rep.
Packaging: 10
Solid wood crate...lined with styrofoam...a stand cardboard shipping box inside...with heavy, high density foam surrounding the PC...a black cloth bag enclosing the PC..."expandable foam" on the interior of the PC to keep everything in place. Overkill? Maybe. But indicative of the care they take with their product.
The Case: 9
I selected the Lian Li A70F for this build. Great case...everything is tool-less, the case is well designed (power and reset buttons on top, as well as top-mounted ports for ESata, Firewire, 4 USB and audio ports. The case is MASSIVE...plenty of room for expansion, solidly built, with lots of nice interior touches. Because of the size, however, it should come standard with the optional locking wheels.
The Interior: 10
Immaculate wiring job, with everything routed for maximum airflow. Noiseblocker Mutliframe High-Performance Ultra Silent Fans (Origin replaces all case fans with these, standard) are VERY quiet and effective. All installed components were securely installed - nothing loose, no rattles/vibrations/etc. Clean, solid build.
First Boot: 10
I had the peripherals I wanted (NEC monitor, DECK keyboard, G9x mouse)...hooked everything up, plugged it into my UPS and turned it on. Boot was fast, directly to the Origin themed desktop. The install of Win 7 Professional was VERY clean; the OS, the drivers, Adobe Reader and nothing else. No stray icons on the desktop, no bloatware...the way every PC should come unless specified otherwise by the buyer. Fast, responsive, quiet rig.
Extras:
Besides the obligatory t-shirt; manuals, CDs, DVDs, non-used parts, cables, etc., were all included. An Origin burned DVD of the system, as shipped, included as standard. All "extras" were nicely boxed and packaged for shipment.
Initial Impressions:
My last rig, now 4 years old, was built by Velocity Micro. While I had a few issues initially with the build (handled WONDERFULLY by Heather Taylor, who, I believe, is now back with Velocity Micro-GREAT individual to work with!), it was a solid PC, well-crafted with top notch components. As impressed as I was then...I am even more impressed with my initial out-of-the-box experience with Origin PC. Some of that is the sheer speed of this rig and the advances in technology over the past four years; but a LOT of it is the courteious, professional and personal attention given to me as I asked questions before my order, changed my mind on some components AFTER the initial order, etc. Origin was always unfailing courteous, always prompt, always forthright, and NEVER pushy. The PC itself just screams quality...not a flaw anywhere that I can find.
Quite simply, this is the best buying experience I've had, the most attention to quality and consumer satisfaction I've ever had (well...tied with Heather for working with the consumer) and the best out of the box PC I've ever owned. I would HIGHLY recommend Origin PC to anyone.
The PC: Lian Li A70F case; ASUS Rampage III motherboard; Intel core i7 930; EVGA GTX 470 video card; Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty Pro sound card; Corsair memory; Corsair 750 watt PSU; WD Black Caviar 640GB 6GB/s boot drive; WD Black Caviar 1TB 6GB/s storage drive; two LG optical drives, Win 7 Professional.
Pre-Sales Experience: 10
I worked exclusively with Dan Shepard, and he was one of the driving forces behind my purchasing from Origin PC over MainGear or Digital Storm. Answered questions quickly and accurately...never pushed the sell...did his research with support when he wasn't 100% positive of an answer, and was willing to go the extra mile on non-standard equipment requests. Stayed in touch with after I made my order, sent pics of the build during the build process, and when we hit a snag with the video card I originally wanted he was quick with suggestions and the reasons why he would make a choice of one over the other. I've never been happier with a sales rep.
Packaging: 10
Solid wood crate...lined with styrofoam...a stand cardboard shipping box inside...with heavy, high density foam surrounding the PC...a black cloth bag enclosing the PC..."expandable foam" on the interior of the PC to keep everything in place. Overkill? Maybe. But indicative of the care they take with their product.
The Case: 9
I selected the Lian Li A70F for this build. Great case...everything is tool-less, the case is well designed (power and reset buttons on top, as well as top-mounted ports for ESata, Firewire, 4 USB and audio ports. The case is MASSIVE...plenty of room for expansion, solidly built, with lots of nice interior touches. Because of the size, however, it should come standard with the optional locking wheels.
The Interior: 10
Immaculate wiring job, with everything routed for maximum airflow. Noiseblocker Mutliframe High-Performance Ultra Silent Fans (Origin replaces all case fans with these, standard) are VERY quiet and effective. All installed components were securely installed - nothing loose, no rattles/vibrations/etc. Clean, solid build.
First Boot: 10
I had the peripherals I wanted (NEC monitor, DECK keyboard, G9x mouse)...hooked everything up, plugged it into my UPS and turned it on. Boot was fast, directly to the Origin themed desktop. The install of Win 7 Professional was VERY clean; the OS, the drivers, Adobe Reader and nothing else. No stray icons on the desktop, no bloatware...the way every PC should come unless specified otherwise by the buyer. Fast, responsive, quiet rig.
Extras:
Besides the obligatory t-shirt; manuals, CDs, DVDs, non-used parts, cables, etc., were all included. An Origin burned DVD of the system, as shipped, included as standard. All "extras" were nicely boxed and packaged for shipment.
Initial Impressions:
My last rig, now 4 years old, was built by Velocity Micro. While I had a few issues initially with the build (handled WONDERFULLY by Heather Taylor, who, I believe, is now back with Velocity Micro-GREAT individual to work with!), it was a solid PC, well-crafted with top notch components. As impressed as I was then...I am even more impressed with my initial out-of-the-box experience with Origin PC. Some of that is the sheer speed of this rig and the advances in technology over the past four years; but a LOT of it is the courteious, professional and personal attention given to me as I asked questions before my order, changed my mind on some components AFTER the initial order, etc. Origin was always unfailing courteous, always prompt, always forthright, and NEVER pushy. The PC itself just screams quality...not a flaw anywhere that I can find.
Quite simply, this is the best buying experience I've had, the most attention to quality and consumer satisfaction I've ever had (well...tied with Heather for working with the consumer) and the best out of the box PC I've ever owned. I would HIGHLY recommend Origin PC to anyone.