"I am a software guy, not a hardware guy, so I welcomed the help Puget provided. I thought, what kind of help can I expect from an online store? Well, Puget Systems responded to nearly every email -- and there were plenty -- in under an hour(!), and many from the owner himself.

I had a similarly configured system ready to order with a different online seller for less $, but Puget's diligence tipped the scales. I knew these guys weren't going to drop me as soon as my system shipped.

Not only that, my configuration had special parts that caused a hardware conflict. Rather than re-tally my order, Puget just upgraded me at no charge. The same thing happened with a out-of-stock part that would have delayed my order. Later, they sent me a bezel I'd forgotten to order, just to make me happy. You know something, it did!

Puget's simple -- and in their industry rarely followed -- philosophy is basically "Make only good stuff; always stand by it." They say it a lot better here: http://www.pugetsystems.com/aboutus.php
They mean it. They will go far."

"The paragraph below were written in 2005, when I purchased a computer from Puget Custom Computers. At the time I ordered, they offered a free warranty upgrade to three years. When the computer failed about 30 months later, the components were of course obsolete and replacements hard to find. Puget was helpful in locating and shipping to me the parts I needed. In my experience, vendors usually find ways to effectively avoid honoring a warranty, so I was pleased with this level of service.

I needed a new computer and wanted to be able to communicate with the vendor, discuss options, get advice, have reasonable choices of quality components, and decent technical support. Puget's web site allowed me to configure a machine, and included useful information about the various options. Then an actual person reviewed my components and made suggestions. There were quite a few emails back and forth, until I was satisfied that I had a computer that would meet my needs for a few years at a reasonable price. It arrived when promised, and works fine. "

"The computer suffered damage in shipping and was returned. Since it was a motherboard problem, John returned it to the manufacturer and leaned on them to find the problem and fixit, which they did. It has worked flawlessly since I received it back."

" I decided that for my next system I would have it custom built, being tired of dealing with the larger companies and inferior products. I spent several days searching for a company I felt comfortable with, one that had a friendly interface, a good array of products, and competitive prices. I landed on www.pugetsystems.com and was immediately impressed by the easy to use interface and friendly feel of the website. The systems are completely customizable (I didn't purchase a monitor, video card, speakers, keyboard, or mouse through Puget to save on shipping). Soon after saving my customization I recieved an email with some helpful information (the onboard sound card was almost as good as the card I'd picked out, they suggested I just skip it). I responded to that automated email and to my surprise I recieved an actual personal response (from the founder no less). I had an array of questions and Jon had timely, intelligent responses for all of them. Since I had seen first hand the customer service offered I became more interested in the company and looked into the testimonials. They almost seemed too good to be true, they were all so positive. On March 18th, 2005 I placed the finalized order. On March 31st my computer arrived and is in perfect working order. I would recommend Puget Custom Computers to friends and strangers alike, they are a pleasure to deal with. The personal interaction, skill, and friendlyness of the staff just can't be found anywhere else."

"they are just great. service is the best i've seen yet. And they are so much cheaper than big companies. They really seem to care"

"Introduction
Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to keep the PC I ordered from Puget Custom Computers, but I decided to write this review anyway, since I've had extensive dealings with them and wholeheartedly recommend them. I ordered a high-performance Pentium 4-based system with a 3-year warranty.

I had the PC/workstation for 2-3 weeks, tested it thoroughly, and it performed beautifully and quietly. Had I been able to keep it, I'm fully confident it would have served me well for at least the term of my warranty or until I wanted to upgrade.

The Site
Puget's easy-to-navigate site is a must visit for any PC enthusiast. You'll find not only the best configurator I've seen but a wealth of information on each component. Let's say you're looking at a motherboard. Puget provides you with the essential details about it plus a link to the manufacturer's website if you really want to dig deeper into specs. If you're not sure which motherboard (or any other component) to buy, Puget offers a "Need help choosing?" feature, which links you to even more useful information written in a clear, reference book style so that even non-power users will be able to learn enough about things like dual-channel memory and CAS latency to make choosing RAM (or any component) a piece of cake. They also offer interesting hardware articles and a forum where users can post all sorts of questions, reviews, feedback, and so on.

A fairly recent addition to the site is a "Featured Systems" area, where you can view detailed photos and descriptions of some of the PCs Puget has built. This can help you in your decision-making process. It also exemplifies the nature of the company -- they stand by their products, so they're not afraid to show you their work.

The Products
These pretty much speak for themselves. If you know your hardware, you'll see that Puget offers a variety of high-quality components, and they continually update their offerings so you'll have access to the newest technology. They've also expanded so you have more selection. For example, you can now get Terratec sound cards if you're not a fan of Creative's products. Further, in the past, you could certainly get a quiet system from Puget, either water-cooled or air-cooled, but now Puget shows how committed they are to meeting the growing demand for quiet computers by having a special area devoted to them. You'll notice that they don't list, say, all of the dual layer DVD +/- RW drives the market has to offer. This is by design, and I think it's a good decision. That way, people aren't overwhelmed by too many choices, and the configurator is manageable. But that doesn't mean you can't get your dream optical drive if it's not in the configurator. Based on my experience, Puget will go the extra mile for you to get any component you want, living up to their "Ultimate Customization Ability" promise. But let's say you want a component that Puget doesn't feel meets their standards of quality, or it puts you over your budget, or they just don't think it's a good fit for you and your system -- they actually think about these things, offer their opinion and then leave the final decision up to you. I can't think of any other company that does that.

The Prices
From my point of view, the prices are reasonable considering what you get in terms of service and support. For me, the bottom line is that you need to look at more than just the price tag when determining value, and I felt my PC was a great value.

The People & Service
For my order, I mainly dealt with Richard Millard, tech/rep extraordinaire, and to some extent Jon Bach, the owner/founder. To say Richard was a pleasure to deal with would be a massive understatement. He was prompt, attentive, thorough, courteous, respectful, patient, understanding, immensely helpful, and to top that off, he's witty and likes animals. What more could a person ask for in a PC advisor? Unparalleled, outstanding customer service is truly the norm at Puget, not the exception. Jon was equally pleasant to deal with and put considerable time and effort into my situation. Like Richard, he went out of his way to provide top-notch assistance. Matthew Bach assembled my PC and did a terrific job. He's truly a master at cable management.

Another great offering at Puget: You can read biographies of their staff and see the faces behind the names. I think every company should do this.

The Company
Well, a company is as good as its people, its products and services, so you should be convinced by now that Puget is better than good. It's one of those rare companies that really distinguishes itself by fulfilling every pledge and putting their stated philosophy into practice.

I've recommended Puget to family, friends and colleagues, and now I recommend them to you.

Edited to add section on "Prices" and some additional information about the site. I follow this interesting company pretty closely and remain active in their forums.

"

"Puget Custom Computers rates AAAA++++ in my opinion. They are definitely on my list of preferred vendors for future purchases.

I knew what I wanted the system to do, and I knew just enough about the components to make reasonable selections. They worked with my tweaking of the componenet list where they especially checked for conflicts and compatibility, until I placed my order. I even received 2 no cost upgrades because of part availability. I was also able to request several of the latest components on the market that were not in the standard parts list. These guys are happy to work with you to provide you with a truly custom built system.

Puget Custom Computers even supplies a full range of benchmark tests on the specific system in the documentation package. I was shocked at how well my system benchmarks. It's more of a workstation, but can hold its own against the gamers. Tech apps is where is really shines, and that's my primary use for it.

The price was not only competitive, but I feel it ws a genuine bargin compared to many of the other makers, especially given the custom nature of the system.

A couple of minor issues arose resulting from shipping. Tech support was quick and informative, and I was able to effect the corrections myself from their instructions.

I would recommend this company to anyone who seeks more than an of the shelf system with a couple of upgrades.

"

"Puget Systems is overall a GREAT company to buy and computer from! I had many many questions and they were answered immediatley! This company works hard to give you a great computer and most importanly at a low price! Puget Systems has GREAT customer support! By far THE BEST of ANY retailer i've ever dealt with!"

"I have been using my Puget Systems computer for the last year to develop my thesis as an architecture graduate. I have been thoroughly impressed with the quality of the product as well as the superb service I have received. My machine runs fawlessly and any question I have submitted either over the phone or by e-mail has been promptly and coureously answered by knowledgeable staff without the condescesion so common in support service. I would highly recommend this company to anyone considering purchase of computers and related items. you can't beat the combination of choice, value and service."

"I recently bought a computer from Puget Computers. I found them to be extremely helpful in the configuration process. I was even able to email the owner for a comparison about theirs and another company's computer. The owner emailed me with a response quickly and gave me a honest comparison.

I was also pleased with the amount of time it took from placing my order to receiving my computer. I placed my order on 2/3 and received my computer 6 business days later on 2/11.

I plan on using them again in the future."

"PCC was very good at answering my questions pre-order, and helpful in configuring my system to spec. My computer was assembled and delivered in promised period of time in good shape [they drove it to my house in seattle]. The one glitch in my total satisfaction has more to do with the computer manufacturer than PCC [noise when running audio out to powered speakers] as was able to find a work around [ground wire]. I'd order again from PCC."

"Incredibly well-satisfied with our purchase experience.
We purchased a dual-Xeon, liquid-cooled, case-mod lighted, imipolex-simulating render-screamer. We built the system around our main software applications: Maya Unlimited 6.0 and Photoshop CS, and allocating four processors (two physical and two hyperthreaded) have made software renders scream.
This particular machine is being used by a graphics artist, so we chose case-mods (with Puget's assistance) to represent visual conceptualizations of moldies. Richard at Puget did a great job helping create a stuzzydelic case lighting, and Puget came out the next week to replace a burned out bulb with another more reliable lighting unit at no cost to us.
The configuration tool is excellent, and in retrospect, the ordering process is handled great. Two areas for improvement though are 1) After you place your order, the state in the configurator remains "Quote in Progress" rather than change to something like "Order in Progress" to differentiate it, and 2) After you place your order, the individual prices of the components are no longer possible to see.
With respect to #2, normally you wouldn't need to see these, but in our case, a Wacom tablet we ordered from another vendor came with a mouse, so we didn't need the mouse we had ordered. Parcom was great about crediting us for the parts we didn't need, but I had to create a new, temporary order while I figured out the calculus of where to purchase mouse/keyboard from.
In conclusion, the order process was smooth, and we got our machine 10 calendar days (delivered on New Years Eve no less) after placing our order. It was mostly held up because a special, wavy, fluorescent yellow power supply was no longer available from one of their upstream suppliers and they had to wait until after Christmas for the upstream supplier to tell them "yes, it's in our online catalog but we don't sell it". When it came to crunch time to get the machine before our employee's start date, Puget crunched and delivered on time, on a holiday, and got us set up and ready to go, and it's this great service experience that would have me buy our next computers from Puget."

"* Recommended /satisfied with all aspects of transaction.
Key points for future purchases with Puget Custom Computers:
1-Great communication with all emails & questions answered within several hours.
Very helpful customer & personalized service. (I recommended them to novices who feel intimidated & confused by the technical aspects--e.g. Richard looked over my quote & found an unnecessary item I added, which I removed from my order resulting in a lower final price.)
2-User friendly website; impressed with the feature that will not allow you to add components that aren’t compatible to the system you’re customizing. All components are linked to the manufactures website for more info. Easy to understand general help explanations & features.
3- A personal user account that includes order information, a step by step build check-off list , benchmark stats with comparison graphs.
4- Quality in workmanship: I inspected my system before running & found everything in order & neatly installed; no loose wires or parts, no fingerprints, dust, smudges etc.. Extra & unused parts, manuals, disks all included with order. Well packaged, order shipped immediately after testing was completed. Tracking number & info also included in the users account.
5- A user forum monitored by the owner. (Thanks for all the help Jon)

* I researched several weeks before deciding on Puget & checked out a countless number of other online custom-built services & found them to be head & shoulders above the rest. I believe that custom builds will be the trend for the future & anyone looking to have one done should put Puget Custom Computers at the top of their list.- C.E.
"

"Very professional, a finished computer was delivered to me within a week, support back-up unusually responsive and prompt. Very pleased so far with the people at Puget Sound."

"*** UPDATED November 29, 2007 ***
I continue to be extremely satisfied with Puget Systems, from their order and historical systems to the technical service and sales departments. Overall, our machines continue to function very well and on the rare occasions when a component wears or fails, Puget continues to assist in getting us back up and running quickly. My new power supply was sent out and I had the machine up and running within hours of my part arrival.

*** UPDATED February 4, 2006 ***
It is now roughly one year later and I must reiterate how EXCELLENT Puget has been. On rare occasions, I have run into potential hardware issues...while both times they were false alarms, Paul was on the phone with me very quickly to work the problems. Additionally, as time has gone by, I found I needed a serial number or proof of purchase or items to that effect...such as competitive upgrades for A/V software or registration of my motherboard that I had neglected to do. I log right in to Puget and pull up any of my invoices ready to print and with serial numbers (and where applicable, bar codes) readily and handily displayed.

I seldomly post reviews for companies and when I do, it tends to be for that rare, superb company that truly impresses me as Puget has done. I will absolutely be a repeat buyer when the time comes for subsequent purchases or upgrades. Price may play a factor in some cases, but to a small extent, I am even willing to pay a SLIGHT premium if necessary to stay with Puget, because their service, their system, and most importantly, their people continue to demonstrate how and why they are simply top-notch.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate them a 10 overall. You would be hard-pressed to find a better vendor. I stand by my comments below.

Please feel free to contact me through reseller ratings for additional information as a reference whether for home or business purposes...I have made purchases for both.

*** END OF UPDATE ***

This is the way a company should be run for custom-built computers. I came across Puget by chance while digging through many of the reviews on reseller ratings and have been extremely impressed with every stage including configuring, validating, building, testing, benchmarking, and shipping.

Puget is very thorough, and that is one of the strong points I admire most...on the first system I ordered, the high-end video card showed odd artifacting during the test and benchmarking phases. They noted the abnormality and immediately notified me of the situation, providing me with options on how to proceed. I opted to stick with the original part number and the replacement board is enroute. Meanwhile, my second unit came together smoothly, and is now enroute to me. I have already had opportunity to review the benchmarks out of the box and am extremely pleased.

I use my various systems for a wide range of activities including video and photo editing, gaming, investment charting, programming, and more. Each system was specified according to its intended usage. Puget reviewed it and, where applicable, pointed out recommendations that both better fit my needs and reduced my monetary outlay.

The only negative aspect I can cite is with one portion of pricing. A few types of hardware components, namely video cards, are certainly priced at a premium. However, in detailed price comparison to DIY, I found the aggregate premium for the system to be small enough to warrant having Puget build my system in entirety.

This is a solid, technology-oriented company that will impress you from order placement through to order fulfillment. I will absolutely purchase from Puget again.

At any time I have had questions or at any point they have had recommendations or comments, the staff (usually Jon) has been HIGHLY RESPONSIVE to my e-mails. "