Question Looking for a good prebuilt company for a good friend

[Nemesia]

Hi Everyone.

I have a good friend that I keep telling him that I will help him buy a good prebuilt. We keep pushing it because I don't do it and I'm tired of waiting.

The fact is that I'm good with parts, building and repairing a system but I have no clue on what prebuilt I should buy and from where.

His budget is 3K USD to 5K USD.

What prebuilt company should I go for? I would build it for him but we are not in the same country so a prebuilt is needed.

I'm at a lost here when it comes to choosing something like that.

Thanks for your help people!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Is he looking for an online company or somebody local to him?

 

[Math Geek]

you can't talk him into letting you build one for him?

when folks insist on a pre-built to me, i usually pick a couple that have the desired specs and then piece one together custom. the price is ALWAYS better and you can show that EVERY part is quality vs the crappy psu's and such used by most pre-built companies.

that tends to end the discussion and i get on with building the custom pc they want

 

[Lafong]

If forced to a prebuilt, I'd lean toward Dell or Lenovo. Not because you will certainly have a fabulous experience, but because they are generally known quantities with at least tolerable parts.

Or a boutique builder like Puget Systems if in budget. Puget stuff is typically 3000 and up, so probably within your budget. They tend to use high quality parts and you can customize to some degree. BUT I have zero personal experience. They may be unbearable to deal with. No knowledge.

And away from Cyberpower or any brand you never heard of.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Dell is usually pretty decent. Although building is nice, just remember if youbuild it you are tech support.

 

[DSzymborski]

At that budget, if you must go with a prebuilt, go with the really good boutique builders like Puget or Falcon Northwest.

 

[LinuxDevice]

I've been really happy with a custom (prebuilt by them) system:
https://www.pugetsystems.com/

They tend to not be heard of much until you start looking at really high end systems, but they put it together based on your specs and hands down have the best service.

 

[Darkbreeze]

you can't talk him into letting you build one for him?

Not feasible. He said they are in different countries.

 

[DSzymborski]

I've been really happy with a custom (prebuilt by them) system:
https://www.pugetsystems.com/

They tend to not be heard of much until you start looking at really high end systems, but they put it together based on your specs and hands down have the best service.

Basically, the reason you don't hear a lot about them (and Falcon NW) is simply that they're very expensive because they're quite competent, so less mass-market appeal. People see the Cyberpower and Ibuypower and other budget builders and get impressed with the savings, even companies like that aren't particular competent at building, which largely defeats the purpose of buying a prebuilt in the first place.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Basically, the reason you don't hear a lot about them (and Falcon NW) is simply that they're very expensive because they're quite competent, so less mass-market appeal. People see the Cyberpower and Ibuypower and other budget builders and get impressed with the savings, even companies like that aren't particular competent at building, which largely defeats the purpose of buying a prebuilt in the first place.

This is exactly the reason.

 

[Why_Me]

@Nemesia assuming your friend lives in the US, most local mom & pops PC / laptop repair shops will build a PC for a small fee if you bring them the components.

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[Darkbreeze]

Not sure I'd trust a local mom and pop shop to do a 3-5k build unless I knew the builder or technician personally AND had every reason to believe they'd back the warranty up on their work without complaint if anything went wrong. For that amount of money, if I wasn't building it myself, I'd be inclined to lean towards somebody a little higher profile that has the financial backing to not bow out or refuse to make it right if anything went wrong that could be attributed to mistakes on their part. I've just seen too many builders, even ones who supposedly know what they are doing and are supposed to be reputable, make rookie mistakes or intentionally do something wrong believing they are doing it right. Then they end up on my bench.

Not saying there is anything wrong with using a smaller local builder, but if you do, you REALLY want to make sure they are somebody who backs their work and is highly experienced outside of the regular store bought and business machine type boxes that make up the bulk of the systems they work on. A lot of shops and techs really have little experience with enthusiast or gaming systems aside from maybe their own stuff as it's not what they usually see.

 

[Karadjgne]

It's a simple concept. If you feel you are a competent builder, one who would have no issue putting your name on the pc and accepting warranty for such, any other builder of your friends pc should be equal to or better than you. Otherwise you do your friend a disservice by not giving him the best of your ability.

I used to work at a mom&pop, Darkbreeze is basically his own mom&pop as am I now, and I can guarantee nothing leaves our benches done half-ashed, it's done right, period. So his advice certainly applies here. There are plenty of decent or better builders, plenty of decent or better boutique builders, you'd need to do a little research into exactly who would equal or top your own personal standards and would use equipment of sense and value to the cost.