Tech Towkay?

[Chalion]

Has anyone on the forum bought a pre-assembled comp from Tech Towkay.com? Thinking of getting a customised gaming rig from them as my current Compaq is experiencing more and more startup problems and I've already had to format the HD last year.

To me it looks like they stack up as better value than buying something like an Alienware X51 desktop.

DIYing is NOT an option, thanks. I have a very busy work and leisure schedule and can think of better things to do than frying several weekends assembling and trouble-shooting. Similarly I'd like a rig where I don't spend more time trying to get it to work than actually using it.

Comp is going to be used <20% of the time for gaming - mostly RPGs eg Witcher, Mass Effect type games. Mostly for Photoshop, web, multimedia playback and Office apps. Is it better to get Windows 7 or 8? Also can I stick with an i5 or pay out for an i7 processor?

 

[KeYoKe]

DIY PC offers u with the flexibility to customize the rig according to ur need compared to prebuilt PCs.

U can approach/PM fortran here for help. Never purchased from tech towkay before, so cant comment much on it. Most ppl in the forum usually pm him for DIY PCs.

 

[junialum]

Has anyone on the forum bought a pre-assembled comp from Tech Towkay.com? Thinking of getting a customised gaming rig from them as my current Compaq is experiencing more and more startup problems and I've already had to format the HD last year.

To me it looks like they stack up as better value than buying something like an Alienware X51 desktop.

DIYing is NOT an option, thanks. I have a very busy work and leisure schedule and can think of better things to do than frying several weekends assembling and trouble-shooting. Similarly I'd like a rig where I don't spend more time trying to get it to work than actually using it.

Comp is going to be used <20% of the time for gaming - mostly RPGs eg Witcher, Mass Effect type games. Mostly for Photoshop, web, multimedia playback and Office apps. Is it better to get Windows 7 or 8? Also can I stick with an i5 or pay out for an i7 processor?

Judging from your use case, i5 is more than enough.

Win 7 vs. Win 8 is down to user preference. I'll recommend Win 8 even though it can be a pain to get used to the whole metro feel (takes between 2 days to 3 weeks). The main reason is because future versions of Windows will not return to the old feel. Win 7 is last in the line of traditional desktop interfaces. You'll have to adapt sooner or later unless you'll like to stick with Win 7 to the end (support for Win 7 will end in time) or u can jump to Linux / OSX.

Branded computers doesn't mean it has higher up time. There's a whole pros vs. cons thing on both ends here but the choice is yours!

 

[Chalion]

Thanks Keyoke; will pm Fortran for a quote, but slightly attracted by Tech Towkay's 3 year on-site next business day warranty. Of course, only good if the shop doesn't close down tomorrow, but in principle, it would be nice.

Junialum, thanks - confirms what I thought re: i5 and 7. Am dithering on Win 8 as have heard lots of love/hate extremes. Problem is that work computer is still on 7, and there is no budget to upgrade for another 2 years, so am worried I have to learn one set of behaviours/shortcuts for the new comp and then retain the old ones for the work comp.

 

[Ark Law]

Thanks Keyoke; will pm Fortran for a quote, but slightly attracted by Tech Towkay's 3 year on-site next business day warranty. Of course, only good if the shop doesn't close down tomorrow, but in principle, it would be nice.

Junialum, thanks - confirms what I thought re: i5 and 7. Am dithering on Win 8 as have heard lots of love/hate extremes. Problem is that work computer is still on 7, and there is no budget to upgrade for another 2 years, so am worried I have to learn one set of behaviours/shortcuts for the new comp and then retain the old ones for the work comp.

Then just stay on Win7. Win7 extended support is till Jan 2020, and mainstream support till Jan 2015. By then, you could upgrade to a more mature Win8 platform than it is now, or if even later, Win9

 

[Chalion]

Just wanted to do a shoutout for Fortran - went with his system in the end as he threw in a nice solid state drive for the price. Friendly, good advice and punctual.

He had set up the drives etc at his place already but brought most of the original boxes and went through everything with me. So far the rig is working very happily indeed and running quite cool (which surprised me)... Definitely a thumbs up from me!

And Fortran, yes, some of us are girls; and not necessarily v young girls!

 

[Entry Level PC]

*assumes Chalion is a girl around mid 30s - early 40s.

 

[m3 th3 last]

*assumes Chalion is a girl around mid 30s - early 40s.

Haha nice one.

My input is this, with the reliability of hardware now days, the risk of parts failing has gotten higher and higher(esp MBs) so having business support that would come down and do on site repair becomes more and more important. Now sure if Fortran provides such services.

 

[t258jgn]

I only trust 3 year on-site next business day warranty from big companies like Dell, Acer, HP, Apple, Lenovo, Samsung etc.

 

[Maeda_Toshiie]

I only trust 3 year on-site next business day warranty from big companies like Dell, Acer, HP, Apple, Lenovo, Samsung etc.

Agreed. No offence to the SMEs who sell complete PC setups. The big vendors are the ones who can hold the inventory of spares to replace faulty parts with the exact replacement (eg. mobo) 3 years down the road, especially within a reasonable time frame (instead of multi-week long RMAs). Plus, such big vendors are also more resilient to downturns and change of ownerships do not risk the new owners not honouring the warranties. That's the reason why medium to large organizations will only buy from big vendors, due to guarantee of services.

 

[devilwahaha]

Agreed. No offence to the SMEs who sell complete PC setups. The big vendors are the ones who can hold the inventory of spares to replace faulty parts with the exact replacement (eg. mobo) 3 years down the road, especially within a reasonable time frame (instead of multi-week long RMAs). Plus, such big vendors are also more resilient to downturns and change of ownerships do not risk the new owners not honouring the warranties. That's the reason why medium to large organizations will only buy from big vendors, due to guarantee of services.

Ditto.

Even for very new products (month old kind), local distros also managed to make customer go through few months RMA wait

I would only buy from above brands if setting up a relatively big office and expecting them to last for at least 3 years, as they always stock parts up to and most usually more than 3 years of the product age, something those distros that sell DIY parts simply cannot do.