Yay! my p170hm just arrived from pcspecialist. I will be doing a review of the machine in another thread (just waiting on my ssd now).
Here I will concentrate on pcspecialist and the service I've received from them.
I will update this with any post sale / technical issues as they arise (hopefully not for a while
).
Price
Very competitive, similar to other clevo / sager resellers in the UK.
Live Chat (pre-sales)
The live chat service provided by pcspecialist is a great idea and I wish more companies (particularly over here in the uk) offered such a service. It did occasionally go down, but was back up within the hour.
When the service was up I was able to speak to someone within 10 minutes and was always nicely, you would think this is standard with it being a pre sales and customer service role. Comparing them to Kobalt and Dell, who I also considered, they were very professional and much friendlier.
When they didn't know something, rather then fob me off, they went down to the technical department and asked questions on my behalf, which they did at least three times. They may have gotten annoyed with me but they never showed it.
The two main people I spoke to via live chat were: Jack Turner and Rick Donnellan, who I'd like to thank once again for putting up with me.
Production
Processed Date: 15-08-2011
Pre-Production Date: 16-08-2011
Build Date: 16-08-2011
Built by: Liam Ramsden
Test Date: 17-08-2011
Tested and Quality control done by: Carl Auckland
Awaiting Dispatch Date: 17-08-2011
Packaged by: Anthony Cunliffe
Dispatch Date: 17-08-2011
Arrived: 18-08-2011
Wow is all I can say about how quickly they were able to get the laptop out to me. I bought the computer on Monday the 15th at 6 am (before going to work). Then when I hadn't heard anything by 2pm that Afternoon I thought I'd just check on live chat to see whats up (ie had payment gone through).
Spoke to Rick and it turned out that the processor I ordered I7 2720QM wasn't in stock nor was the intel 6300 wireless card, but was told the I7 should be coming in that day and the 6300 tomorrow (Tuesday the 16th). I was a bit skeptical I've dealt with companies who say oh yes shipment should be in sometime before. So started asking here how I could buy the wireless chip myself and install it in case they didn't have it in tomorrow.
I didn't need to worry, by the time I checked on my order status Tuesday 12pm the computer was already built and in testing! Wow is the only way I can describe what I thought. I come to check on my order on Wednesday the 17th at 2pm, awaiting dispatch. Okay so now I jump back on live chat thinking if it is going this well perhaps I should upgrade postage so I can be sure I'll get it by the weekend so I can spend some time setting it up.
Again I'm greeted by Rick, who assures me that there is no need to upgrade delivery as they provide next day delivery as standard and that If I haven't received a tracking number by 4pm then it will be delivered tomorrow. Okay great, I try and calm down and get on with the day and for the most part try and forget about it. Then 4.05pm on Wednesday I get a text (yea a text not an email) saying that my order has been dispatched and that I can go online to check the delivery status.
Notification
One thing that is nice about ordering a computer from pcspecialist is being notified ever step of the way, by email and by logging in and viewing your order. If you log in to your order they also show a flow chart of where your computer is at, what is to come as well as a description of what each thing means.
I was very impressed by the fact that you could track your order from pcspecialist website, no need to go to yodel and type in tracking id.
Delivery
Okay I know that this isn't really related to pcspecialist itself but its related to the company pcspecialist chose to send there parcels with, Yodel.
It was delivered by 12pm Today, the man who delivered my parcel was surprisingly cheerful (it is raining outside).
One odd thing though, I don't know why but I was expecting a clevo / sager box that the notebook would be delivered in. Instead it was delivered in a Dragon Rider case box. I haven't yet opened the box yet (saving that for my post on the build quality of the laptop) so maybe they sent me a powerful pc instead.
Pictures of unpacking will be available in the post where I rate the quality of the machine.
Technical Issues (post-sales)
None to report so far.
Overall Experience
Before purchasing from pcspecialist, I looked at a few places Dell, Kobalt and even looked at having it imported from America. I can say that I'm glad that I researched thoroughly enough to find a place like pcspecialist.
Amazing service received so far and would highly recommend them to anyone wishing to purchase a laptop / computer. Please note that while they do offer a 3 day express service (for laptops), I didn't buy this and still my laptop arrived in 4 days.
The live chat team saved me money, reassuring me that the out of stock items would be in stock, that I don't need to upgrade postage costs (unless needed before 10am).
All in all, if I like the build quality of the sager / clevo, I think they have a loyal customer in me.
Here I will concentrate on pcspecialist and the service I've received from them.
I will update this with any post sale / technical issues as they arise (hopefully not for a while
).Price
Very competitive, similar to other clevo / sager resellers in the UK.
Live Chat (pre-sales)
The live chat service provided by pcspecialist is a great idea and I wish more companies (particularly over here in the uk) offered such a service. It did occasionally go down, but was back up within the hour.
When the service was up I was able to speak to someone within 10 minutes and was always nicely, you would think this is standard with it being a pre sales and customer service role. Comparing them to Kobalt and Dell, who I also considered, they were very professional and much friendlier.
When they didn't know something, rather then fob me off, they went down to the technical department and asked questions on my behalf, which they did at least three times. They may have gotten annoyed with me but they never showed it.
The two main people I spoke to via live chat were: Jack Turner and Rick Donnellan, who I'd like to thank once again for putting up with me.
Production
Processed Date: 15-08-2011
Pre-Production Date: 16-08-2011
Build Date: 16-08-2011
Built by: Liam Ramsden
Test Date: 17-08-2011
Tested and Quality control done by: Carl Auckland
Awaiting Dispatch Date: 17-08-2011
Packaged by: Anthony Cunliffe
Dispatch Date: 17-08-2011
Arrived: 18-08-2011
Wow is all I can say about how quickly they were able to get the laptop out to me. I bought the computer on Monday the 15th at 6 am (before going to work). Then when I hadn't heard anything by 2pm that Afternoon I thought I'd just check on live chat to see whats up (ie had payment gone through).
Spoke to Rick and it turned out that the processor I ordered I7 2720QM wasn't in stock nor was the intel 6300 wireless card, but was told the I7 should be coming in that day and the 6300 tomorrow (Tuesday the 16th). I was a bit skeptical I've dealt with companies who say oh yes shipment should be in sometime before. So started asking here how I could buy the wireless chip myself and install it in case they didn't have it in tomorrow.
I didn't need to worry, by the time I checked on my order status Tuesday 12pm the computer was already built and in testing! Wow is the only way I can describe what I thought. I come to check on my order on Wednesday the 17th at 2pm, awaiting dispatch. Okay so now I jump back on live chat thinking if it is going this well perhaps I should upgrade postage so I can be sure I'll get it by the weekend so I can spend some time setting it up.
Again I'm greeted by Rick, who assures me that there is no need to upgrade delivery as they provide next day delivery as standard and that If I haven't received a tracking number by 4pm then it will be delivered tomorrow. Okay great, I try and calm down and get on with the day and for the most part try and forget about it. Then 4.05pm on Wednesday I get a text (yea a text not an email) saying that my order has been dispatched and that I can go online to check the delivery status.
Notification
One thing that is nice about ordering a computer from pcspecialist is being notified ever step of the way, by email and by logging in and viewing your order. If you log in to your order they also show a flow chart of where your computer is at, what is to come as well as a description of what each thing means.
I was very impressed by the fact that you could track your order from pcspecialist website, no need to go to yodel and type in tracking id.
Delivery
Okay I know that this isn't really related to pcspecialist itself but its related to the company pcspecialist chose to send there parcels with, Yodel.
It was delivered by 12pm Today, the man who delivered my parcel was surprisingly cheerful (it is raining outside).
One odd thing though, I don't know why but I was expecting a clevo / sager box that the notebook would be delivered in. Instead it was delivered in a Dragon Rider case box. I haven't yet opened the box yet (saving that for my post on the build quality of the laptop) so maybe they sent me a powerful pc instead
.Pictures of unpacking will be available in the post where I rate the quality of the machine.
Technical Issues (post-sales)
None to report so far.
Overall Experience
Before purchasing from pcspecialist, I looked at a few places Dell, Kobalt and even looked at having it imported from America. I can say that I'm glad that I researched thoroughly enough to find a place like pcspecialist.
Amazing service received so far and would highly recommend them to anyone wishing to purchase a laptop / computer. Please note that while they do offer a 3 day express service (for laptops), I didn't buy this and still my laptop arrived in 4 days.
The live chat team saved me money, reassuring me that the out of stock items would be in stock, that I don't need to upgrade postage costs (unless needed before 10am).
All in all, if I like the build quality of the sager / clevo, I think they have a loyal customer in me
.
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