"I moved out on Nov 1st and needed a computer. I wanted a gaming PC and was torn between two companies. I chose Maingear after reading reviews on this website and because of their Quick Ship option. I was willing to sacrifice performance so I could get a PC ASAP.

I chose the Quick Ship option and placed my order on Nov 4th and expected my computer to be shipped by the middle of the following week.

I received an email saying my computer had an estimated ship date of the 14th. After a few days I noticed that my build status hadn't been updated. So I sent a message to Maingear though their help desk. I never received a reply. On the 14th when my computer status had only changed to "Kitted" I sent them an email asking them why there was a delay and if there were parts on back order I would change my order. Never received a reply.

As I received their generic email for status updates. They kept saying that the estimated ship date was the 15th. But my computer was only ready to be shipped on the 18th.

I received a tracking number on the 18th and was happy to see the computer was going to be delivered on the 22nd. I tracked my computer that day and saw it had not been picked up. I tracked it again on the 21st and on the 22nd. The computer still hadn't been picked up by FedEx.

I called FedEx and was told Maingear never requested a pickup. I called Maingear and was told they had made a mistake on the paper work and they promised me the computer was going to go out on the next FedEx truck.

I still don't have my PC. Although tracking now says it was picked up.

I am really disappointed I was expecting my PC to be ready to be shipped in 2-3 days. It took 2-3 weeks. If I would have known it would take this long I would have chosen another one of their products. I limited my option because I needed a computer ASAP.

I sacrificed performance to save time on shipping but now have nothing to show for it.
"

"MAINGEAR computers are the fastest personal computers in the world. period. whatever the application is ... MAINGEAR SHIFT smoke the competition. they win every single review. fastest on processor, fastest on graphics. its because they overclock everything for .. get this ... $50. yup ... they'll take a 3.5Ghz processor and make it crank at 5.2Ghz ... all safe, all warrantied, all cool, all quiet, all the time. nothing compares to maingear. love em, they have my full endorsement."

"Very pleased with my new rig. You customize your own machine, but this thing is wicked fast!

All steps of working with Maingear have been painless, professional, and much appreciated.

Thanks!"

"After 20+ Dell computers, I was lucky enough to stumble across MAINGEAR. My first purchase was an F131 desktop. Shipped via FedEx who managed to get it wet and repacked in shipment. After startup and finding all was not right, Maingear footed all the bills to have the computer returned and repaired and retuned to me. I also had a phone call from the CEO Wallace Santos. How many calls have YOU had from "the boss"!
Their tech folks are top notch especially Super Tech K. Deo. who won't quit until any problem is solved.
"

"I ordered a Vybe SS from Maingear on 2/28/11. It arrived on time and the machine itself was configured as ordered. Overall I was happy with the Maingear staff and ordering process as well as the initial quality of the system build.

However, I've had a few problems with the system since I have ordered it. In May, the power supply in the system died. It sounded like a gunshot going off in the house when it happened. I called Maingear, and to their credit, they paid to have the machine shipped back for the replacement of the power supply. My machine was gone for about two weeks.

A few weeks ago (October 2011), it appeared as if my motherboard had died. I called tech support because the machine was so slow it was unusable. Windows frequently complained of USB devices not being recognized. This time I had to pay to ship the machine back ($60), Maingear paid for the return shipping. In the end it was a faulty wireless adapter on the motherboard that was causing the problem. When I got the machine back, the machine wasnt overclocked on the new motherboard as it had been previously so I had to call into tech support twice to get someone to walk me through the process (which could have been done over email). My initial call was supposed to result in an email with the steps but I never received it. The support manager I spoke to also was going to give me a follow-up call the next day to make sure, which I also never received.

Overall, I think that Maingear does what they can to support their machines but I dont have a lot of confidence in the build quality of their systems based on my experience (this was my first purchase from them). To have two repairs on a machine that is less than a year old is something I havent had to deal with from any OEM. Let alone an elite system builder.

Additionally, I think that while Maingear staff were helpful when I spoke with them, there was very little follow-through on what was being done. I had to email or call to check repair status, and in the end, some of the settings I paid for were not recalibrated which meant I had to call in for more support. Based on all the feedback here, I was expecting better service.
----------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: 11/21/11

After posting my review, Maingear contacted me and let's just say they "made things right" on my end. I really appreciate the time they spent with me last week and I can honestly say that they did everything they could to ensure that I was happy with my product and their customer service. I've updated my review score to reflect the outstanding customer service they've provided to me. It's very rare that a company care enough to not only say "We're sorry" but to also back it up with action. Thanks Maingear!"

"Ordered: Vybe SS on 10/4/2011

Pros: Neat and clean wiring job. Quiet. Temps stay very reasonable under full load. The extra fans move the hot air out well. The water cooling system is super silent and keeps the CPU running very cool. When I got my system, I realized they had given me a free upgrade from the 2x GTX 560's that I ordered to 2x GTX 560 Ti's. I am not sure why I got the upgrade, possibly because of the wait (see cons), but it was a pleasant surprise.

Cons: Design-wise, I wish the top had 2 LED fans, instead of one LED fan being hidden behind the front panel. Otherwise, I had some shipping delays at first. Was supposed to ship in 48-72 hours, but due to various factors it took a month from when I ordered to when it reached me. When it did arrive, the PC had shifted in the box out of its foam corners, which ended up causing no major damage, just a little cosmetic damage that's not obvious. The biggest con so far has been customer service, unfortunately. Several emails both pre and post order have disappeared into the void. Several responses have been hasty, where I didn't feel they had read the whole email. Calling is better, though I've thrice had them make promises (regarding shipping dates) on the phone that turned out to be false. I had a slight problem with the SLI bridge when the machine arrived, and due to their office closing before I even got off work, I ended up having to solve the problem myself. Nothing Earth-shattering has gone wrong, but I've just had some trouble with communication with Maingear, overall.

UPDATE:

In increased my overall rating to 5 stars to reflect what happened since writing the initial review. I was contacted by Danny Soares, the COO of Maingear, who resolved to improve on the experience I'd had with Maingear to that point. Given that my system was shifted and damaged during shipping, and that the only solution to that point that had been offered was for me to ship it back and receive a new case (which I rejected because the system worked and I didn't want to be without for longer, given the initial delays), he offered to send me a new PC, and allow me to swap out the video cards (which were intentionally upgraded from 560's to 560 Ti's, by the way) and hard drive on my own and then ship the damaged system back at Maingear's expense, in addition to refunding my initial shipping cost. I took him up on this offer, and received the new system very quickly. In fact, it was so quick, I never actually received a notification that it had shipped, and thus missed the initial UPS delivery. I believe they might have some problems in their automated email generation system, or their emails look too much like spam to gmail, or something. When the new system arrived, it was packed in more foam than the initial system, and had a cage of foam on both ends, as well as a foam brick to along the edge to keep it from shifting. I was later told by Danny that they changed their packing material thanks to my feedback, so they truly do listen to their customers.

I made the swap without assistance, as it was a direct one-to-one swap and I'm comfortable inside the computer, so I can't comment on their support. I did ask Danny personally some questions about the fan, which was a little noisy, and he personally gave me some tips on testing it. I ended up swapping out the fan that was noisy on the new system. Overall, I'm very happy with the system as it exists now. It is slightly louder than the initial system was, though improved after the fan swap, but it works perfectly. I've had no problems with BSOD's, which I did initially with the original configuration, indicating that more was damaged than just the case, so that's a positive. Otherwise, the system has worked perfectly, and has been extremely good at any video, photo or gaming task I've thrown at it. It can't quite handle Arkham City on full DX11 max settings, but I've heard that Arkham City had a few bugs in the DX11 configuration despite the delayed release. It will actually run very well for the most part, but suffer a few frame rate drops on expansive views. To be honest, I couldn't detect a lot of difference in DX11 v. non-DX11 mode. The shadows were a little smoother, but you have to be zoomed in to notice. The game looks amazing on regular settings and runs at the max for my monitor with never a single lag, so I'm perfectly satisfied. Skyrim runs full settings with the only hint of a slow down coming on when I stood on some tall mountain and looked over the whole land, and even that was barely noticeable.

All of this amounts to the fact that I'm very happy with my Maingear purchase, and with the service I've received after my initial disappointment. It isn't perfect, but they genuinely want to keep customers and establish a firm relationship with their customers. Unforseen problems (flooding in Thailand) aside, the experience has turned out to be very good. I haven't yet had to call tech support, which is good, and haven't had a single major problem. When the system arrived, it was free of bloatware (for example, no poorly programmed resource-hog software whose only genuinely unique function is to change the colors on the keyboard, like my Alienware had), and had a very clean slate feel to it. For what I paid, the value of the Vybe SS has so far, after two months, exceeded the cost. I would recommend the Vybe to friends who are looking for a low-cost system that delivers a punch."

"I needed a new gaming PC to run Crysis 2 on max graphics but my budget was only around 1760.00 Thus I could purchase either a suped up f131 from maingear or the f131 S. There were significant differences in the products involved between the two and to be frank I did not know whether or not a faster processor would be more important than say, 16gb of ram. So I gave maingear a call. Best decision I've made in my PC quest. I talked to Simon, who I must say is absolutely awesome, considering I couldn't even place my order over the phone. I wouldn't get my money until 5 weeks but he took the time to go over custom parts for my rig until he was satisfied it would do what I intended. Crysis 2 max graphics. Instead of the ram, he had me take less and go for a faster processor, the fastest on the market and get the GTX 570 graphics card cuz he said that would be more than enough. More than enough, that's what I like to hear. These guys are freakin pro man. He made no giant promises but when he did make one, he took time to think it over before he said it. I will 100% definitely buy my gaming PC from Maingear from this point on. Thanks Simon."

"MAINGEAR is amazing. They helped me every step of the way. My shift is quiet and the performance is out of this world. Napoleon total war ultra settings, Metro 2033 ultra settings! My Nvidia Gtx 570 is awesome and MAINGEARS manual is so detailed and has some jokes that makes you smile instead of those boring manuals. Next pc is also going to be a MAINGEAR!"

"I know that Maingear is mainly a gaming company, but I just bought a workstation from them, and I love it. It's lightening fast, the GPU does not get too hot when I'm doing parallel computing on it, and it is clearly built very well. And one of the best parts is that it is not stuffed with bloatware! "

"When I was looking to getting a new computer I had two choices. One, build it myself, and two, buy a Maingear.

Building it myself would have been about 300 dollars cheaper, but buying a Maingear I'd get a year hardware warranty plus lifetime technical support. Plus the amazing craftsmanship that Maingear provides.

So, it did take 2 weeks longer than was estimated due to a case shortage. And I didn't receive any notification that there would be a delay until I talked to them. The invoice that was shipped with the computer was all wrong, as was the invoice that was available to me by signing in at their website. BUT, everything that was inside the case were the correct components.

Inside the case it looks amazingly clean, you can tell that their techs actually care about what they are doing. And I'm sure they are proud of what they do as well. Plus, the free shirt is cool, I'll definitely be wearing it haha.

All in all, my experience with Maingear was a positive one. I received a quality product, was always treated with courtesy by their staff, and now have an amazing machine that will be able to take any game thrown at it for the next 3 years atleast. At which point I'll crossfire another 6950 in haha. "

"Trust is a priceless thing. A lot of companies these days try to avoid responsibility for the things they say and the things they sell. MAINGEAR isn't one of those companies.

I had a problem with my service and they stepped up and made it right. Even if my machine has a problem I know now that I can trust these people to do the right thing. Integrity and Honor are two words I'll use to describe this company and its leaders. Thank you Chris.

The fact that this company doesn't put bloatware in their machines is no idle boast. A previous computer I purchased from a Boutique Builder was a nightmare because of all the unnecessary software they added.
"

"I bought a Vybe computer. I was a little nervous spending the amount of money I did but it has been totally worth it! Its a very very quick, quiet computer and when I called tech support I talked to Gus, the very person that had built my computer! The reason I called was because I wasnt able to figure out why my monitor wasnt working. He walked me through the process of hooking it up. Turns out I had used the wrong adapter and hadnt pushed the power cord all the way into the socket. Thanks Gus you are awesome!"

"I recently purchased a computer from Maingear and I am very pleased with my system. The support was excellent. Out of all of the American gaming PC companies I looked at, Maingear was the only one to honor the service of American Veterans. Although I have only had my computer for a week, I can tell already I will be a returning customer. Thank you Gus for your help. "

"Maingear is truly an outstanding computer company!

I purchased my first computer from Maingear back in September of 2008. At the time, my EPHEX system was certainly state-of-the-art and cost more than $8000 (3 video cards, 4 hard-drives, fastest processor, etc).

Naturally I was thrilled with it and promptly posted a great review rating Maingear 10/10. Today, almost 3 years later, I wish there was a higher score with which to express my ongoing satisfaction with their service.

Whatever issues have arisen over the years, they have been promptly and enthusiastically solved by the Maingear team. Their entire focus is on 100% satisfaction and they always come through, without blaming the customer for anything and without making the customer feel like a tech-fool.

Maingear is a company that goes well beyond the "letter of the law" when servicing their customers with extended warranties. They are 100% reliable, refreshingly honorable and solve any issues that may arise with impeccable integrity.

Over the years, and prior to Maingear, I purchased high-end computers from most major companies. I can say unequivocally that no one is as good as Maingear.

Thank you Wallace personally and thank you to each of your terrific team members. If I was in the computer business (which I am not) I wouldn't want to compete against you as I can't even imagine how anyone could do a better job.
"

"Tech Support Rules at Maingear Computers. Had an issue with the video card. My son had contacted them concerning the video card. They had him update the driver, but to no avail. They decided to send another video card. No problems since. Thank you very much."