Digital Storm Takes on DIY; Its Prebuilt PC Costs $23 More

[walterm]

Reasonable, though I wonder if buying parts on sale and combo deals would affect comparison. Hopefully these are examples rather than supposed high performance systems

 

[Truckinupga]

They may be able to eliminate the labor it takes to build a system for you, And even at a reasonable price. But what they can't replace is the joy, satisfaction and the pride you feel when you build it yourself.

 

[hoofhearted]

While I like to build my own rigs, this is great when friends and family bug me for PC recommendations.

 

[mousseng]

this is cool and strange. directly competing against your customers xD thats a new one. though I do like building PCs, its awesome to have this option on the sides when I really dont feel like taking hours picking out parts and looking for cheapest reliable prices.

That's the thing though, I'm pretty sure we're not DS's target market. I'm sure you've noticed from the other comments that most of us are pretty defensive about building for ourselves.

 

[alextheblue]

If these were heavily configurable, I might have considered pulling the trigger on something like this. That's not a big premium, and they're testing it before they ship it out. But at these prices, of course they're not going to be all that configurable. They are essentially higher-volume fixed-component prebuilts with a few choices that simply make them unpalatable (to me).
I don't feel compelled to always build with my own hands, but I am pretty obsessive when it comes to component selection, They DO offer much more customizable rigs that I can spec quite nicely, but then you're right back to square one. They cost a fortune! So really, nothing has changed.

 

[killerclick]

My computer is around 22 years old (seeing how I only upgraded a part or two at a time), so I wouldn't consider pre-built anything. Good on Digital Storm for giving great value, though.

 

[_Cosmin_]

One would think that now in forums should be less posts with "help with my new build"...

 

[anathema_forever]

1. I can build my own computer to the exact specs for my usage which gives me like 20% more bang for my buck. 2. I learn what makes a good computer and a bad computer therfor know what i am doing better and if i actually bought one wouldn't buy a $3k piece of crap. 3. I can surf deals and buy used and refurbished aswell as rollover parts. Conclusion this is a terrible direct competitor with DIY even if I did spend as much as they do. Even if I did "want" their exact configuration of parts. Of course if I didn't know how to build a computer then this would change things a bit.

 

[demonhorde665]

I check out the site and first thing i notice is they limit the amount of customization, NO way to reselect an AMD CPU on the the higher end vid card , all their customizations are limited so their point if FUBAR moot !
makes me hate the company even more because they flat out f----ing lie pretty much

 

[DG3]

this is cool and strange. directly competing against your customers xD thats a new one. though I do like building PCs, its awesome to have this option on the sides when I really dont feel like taking hours picking out parts and looking for cheapest reliable prices.

That's the thing though, I'm pretty sure we're not DS's target market. I'm sure you've noticed from the other comments that most of us are pretty defensive about building for ourselves.

I bit defensive maybe. But before one gets too cocky about being a DIY'er, I'd suggest one look at the forums here at Tom's and realize there are TROVES of threads about various problems people are having after assembling their own system. And that's just in the last 24 hours. So what works for some obviously doesn't work for all.

 

[DG3]

No doubt there will be a market for these prebuilds. The folks who aren't quite ready to go full-out DIY, but have tired of store bought PC's and their associated customer service. While DIY'ers can do better, one would think that the DS builds and customer service would be better than the HP or Gateways sitting on store shelves, or the CyberPower type outfits online.