"Edit: The day after posting this review, I was contacted by someone else within AVADirect who apologized for the experience, and assured me that my experience wasn't handled according to AVADirects policies and issued the remainder of the refund to me within 5 minutes of him calling me.

So, they did give me the full refund in the end, so I am changing the final verdict on the review. I am satisfied with the final outcome.

My experience with AVADirect was completely unacceptable.

The ordering process as well as the time of assembly was fine. However, the computer had some serious issues upon arrival. The first issue is that twice I got a startup message where windows failed to start. After a while, the computer would reset and start up normally.
The bigger issue was that the computer would randomly restart.

I opened the system log and it showed critical errors saying something to the effect of the computer unexpectedly lost power. This would happen seemingly at random. I noticed that the exact same critical error happened four times before it even left AVADirect's facility.
Once I noticed that there were multiple critical system errors before it was ever shipped to me, I decided to get a refund.

I received the computer on a Friday, I called the following business day and asked for a refund. I talked with a gentleman named Eugene and he promised me they would look at the computer and would give me a full refund if the computer was configured incorrectly or defective.

I mailed the computer back to their facility and they emailed me about a week after they received the computer and were only giving me a partial refund. I called as soon as I got that message(Friday the 17th) and spoke with Eugene again. He told me that they could not find anything wrong with the machine. I told him that all he had to do was open up the system log and look at the critical system errors that happened before it left their facility. He promised me he would test the machine again and would call me the following Monday, August 20th.
He did not follow through on that promise. I waited until Wednesday to call back. I could not get in touch with him and left a message. He has not called me back again.

Essentially, AVADirect has provided defective goods to me, ignored my calls, and has refused to honor what they stated to me.
I recommend everyone stay away from this vendor."

"Was very happy with the way AVA Direct worked with me to configure my computer. There is no custom builder out there that has as many component options and if they don't have it you can call and ask for it. I did a lot of research on components and did not feel comfortable building the computer myself so I had AVA do it. They also call you if something doesn't fit right during the build. I made several changes during my build and Ava Direct was patient and listened to what I wanted. Their continued support has been great as I have contacted them on other issues which they didn't have to answer, but did anyway. When I received my computer, everything was tight and tested and built very well.

Thanks Ava Direct"

"Ordering a custom-built system is a leap of faith, even more so on-line. But short of building your own system (and individual component prices make that too expensive), it's the only way to get just what you want.

I configured a custom built desktop system on AVADirect's website. After sleeping on the final configuration, I ordered it. When it arrived it was ready to go, configured just as I had requested without bloatware or other junk.

Very happy in my dealings with AVAdirect.
"

"The motherboard recently died in a server that AVA sold me two years ago. I contacted them and got their support engineer on the phone immediately. They helped me get in touch with Intel who have excellent support for their server products.

Intel has two services. One that costs $25 where they send you a replacement board immediately, the second where they wait for your board to arrive at a processing center in Dayton Ohio and two day a replacement back. Since the cost of shipping the old one back with insurance is about $10 making a total of $35, and a new Fry's board is $49 I opted to wait it out.

Meanwhile I expressed concern about the failure as we are a small shop relying heavily on the server. Despite having sold us only one server two years ago, Alex, the owner took the time to discuss the root cause (including PSU and UPS tips) with me and the Intel rep. After some discussion about our situation, the Intel rep offered me a newer board.

The case AVA suppplied was able to accomodate the new board and the quality of workmanship in the original install by the AVA techs made the adjustments easy. Putting together a server is not like building a desktop. These modern high performance boards from Intel are precision items that require careful matching of PSU, memory, processors and even cooling. They are even able to detect the capabilities of the PSU (3A at standby on the 5v rail for example) and protect against inadequate power supplies.

After all is said and done, I am very happy with the effort AVA made to ensure that we got the server we need, and their support now, two years down the road."

"When the deadline is fast approaching and the team needs results they turn to me...and I turn to Misha at AVADirect. Quick to reply and quick to build...quick to deliver a box that performs."

"I ordered two items from AVADirect. They were the only shop who could give me exactly what I was looking for (the exact revision of the motherboard I wanted). Very knowledgeable staff there. I also had an issue with a mail-in rebate that got solved promptly - after the purchase that is.
I can highly recommend the store."

"Real people with the customer in mind. I say this cause when my CPU arrived on time, it was DOA. I was concerned but Eugene (Tech support) was there for me on the hour until the problem was fixed. It took about another week-- First they sent a technician the next day to fix the situation...i was surprised he got here the next day but nevertheless he still couldn't fix it.
I shipped it back to AVA the next day and the following Monday it arrived..Working.

Normally i would be out my mind after spending 2400$ and waiting over a month for a custom built not to work but it was AVA's sincere approach to fix the problem and prompt service and answers. No BSing and runarounds. And for the CPU, 100% functionality, easy on the eyes and its fast to boot, its great.
This might not have been the smoothest order to go through but i will buy with confidence again with them. Thank you AVA"

"The best price for SAS hard drives and it was received fast....It was just what i ordered...excellent..Thank you "

"I compared product choices, pricing, and customer reviews for several custom builders, and AVADirect ranked highly in all categories. I spec'ed and ordered the system I felt best suited my needs, and found the pricing to be 20%-30% below an off-shelf unit that would not have been as suitable. Their website is user-friendly and provides comprehensive information to facilitate choice among a large array of options.

My order was completed in a reasonable time, packed and shipped professionally, and arrived without problem. Initial startup revealed a problem with the display card, and a phone call started the RMA process without quibbling or hassle. One subsequent problem was dealt with cheerfully, patiently, and successfully.

The machine has been up and running now for over a month, and I'm completely satisfied with every aspect of my experience with this vendor. I've strongly recommended them to others looking to upgrade systems."

"Let me start off by saying I have had no problems with my custom built AVA Direct computer. It was shipped out in time. When I opened the computer for the first time I noticed AVA Direct had packed the inside very well. The wires were in order and everything looked fine, overall a quality build. Overall I would highly recommend AVA Direct to any one who needs a well priced (comparative dell/gateway computers were $1000 more for the same hardware), efficient computer system."

"All went quite smoothly from start to finish. The only thing I would have liked is to have been asked how I want my default USER NAME to appear in Windows 7. AVA uses "Valued Customer" as a default, and I'm already tired of seeing that in every path line. Impossible to change, I would have preferred the option to choose. "

"Excellent service! Prompt delivery, great quality product. Reasonable price.
Thank you!"

"Initially, i was impressed with this company's claim to it's thoroughness in building a PC and in satisfying it's customers. Happy to say, that impression was raised when shortly after my system arrived it crashed, due to a software problem, the tech team jumped on it right away, reformatted it and now i'm up and running tackling all kinds of challenges. My only regret is that i wish i could have bought a larger SSD. "

"I first found out about AVA Direct from watching Attack of the Show on G4. On the Gadget Pron segment of the show they reviewed an AVA Direct budget gaming PC. After watching the review and seeing how well they built the system I decided to look into AVA Direct and considered buying a system from them. I was already looking to buy a new PC, a HP or Dell, but when I found out that AVA Direct builds custom PCs I knew I had to own one. The first thing I noticed about their website is that they have a wide range of components to choose from, which is good thing, but they have so much so that it can be quite over whelming, especially if you are new to custom PCs (like me), or if you have not been keeping up with the technology over the past few years. I did not mind having so many parts to choose from; in fact it was a good learning experience for me. My first computer was a rebuilt HP and this AVA Direct PC is my second computer, so I had to do some research in order to find out what type of system I wanted. I finally decided on a budget mild gaming PC with a dual core processor. I had to buy something that would meet my needs, and my needs are that of a college transfer student seeking a degree in graphic design, so my spending budget was limited. I needed a system that could run multiple programs at a time, like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. A couple of days after I had placed my order I called AVA Direct to find out if they had received the credit card authorization form for my order, and sure enough they did. I also called them to make a change in my order. The sales person I spoke to had been helpful in making the changes to my order. Later in the week I had posted a couple of questions on their message board located on their website. All of my questions had been answered within one day. So I have come to the conclusion that if you have a question or any problems AVA Direct will respond to your need. I placed my order on June 14th and it had been shipped on June 30th and it arrived to my house on July 7th (2010). So the processing time took two weeks and the shipped time took one week. Which is typical for configure to order (CTO) computers. I had received my system in double boxed packaging. Everything inside the computer case was secured by Styrofoam. I looked inside the case and nothing had been damaged during shipping. They have great cable management and all of the cables are zip tied to the case. The paint on the computer case had not been scratched and the metal was not dented. It seems to me that AVA Direct takes great care in the systems they build. After I set the system up, turned it on, I saw that everything worked nicely and that there were no problems, and then I knew AVA Direct had done a great job. I have been running my system for a month now and it has not given me any problems at all.
I bought my system for less than one thousand dollars (like I said I was on a budget). AVA Direct has affordable pricing on all of their systems and components. They also have a very wide range of components to build any type of system, from low budget to mid range to high end, they have something for everyone. I researched several other custom PC websites before I made my purchase and I found that other companies have similar pricing, but most lack the variety of customization that AVA Direct offers.
Overall I am very satisfied with my experience with AVA Direct. And I plan to make future purchases from them.
"

"The experience I had with AVADirect can only be described as wonderful. I purchased rackmount cases and they were shipped promptly and delivered in the best condition. The customer service was excellent. I would highly recommend this company to any of my clients and plan to continue my relationship with AVADirect for my most important accounts."