"My system arrived without the ordered hyperclocking, but with the very loud water cooling system. After presenting them with the issue, they had me check and the northbridge fan was missing as well.
They wanted me to ship the system back, but their docs say that shipping is 'the most traumatic experience your computer will ever have', so I offered to install the fan myself.
They shipped me the fan (by ground shipping), I installed it, and followed their directions for BIOS updates.
Their BIOS screenshots reflected a different version of the BIOS as mine had additional options.
The systems would not boot the OS initially but kept rebooting. After trying other BIOS changes (the 3 screenshots they sent only covers some settings), the windows 7 OS ran for perhaps 5 minutes before freezing.
The tech support contact is nice and helpful but the problem is not resolved.
The computer ships with a piece of paper describing the great care taken to test each component and is signed off by the tech and a manager. This greatly diminishes my confidence in their build procedures as no one noticed that hardware was missing, and clearly a proper associated burn-in test would have shown the problem.
I expect to hear from them again tomorrow, and I'll likely have to ship my system back. As I initially though they simply missed the BIOS settings, I had already started to move my programs and personal information to the system.
I selected the company based on the good reviews for their systems, but now I'm having my doubts."

"I purchased the Z30 with overclocked processor, max memory, and high end nVidia card.

Today, the system failed and would not turn on. It is only 90 - 110 days since I received the system. I spent 20 minutes on hold while being NUMBER ONE in the queue.

VM had me spend almost 90 minutes disassembling a very complex and intricate computer -- which I was uncomfortable doing.

In short, after 90 minutes, the VM technician told me that there was nothing he could do unless I knew how to test a power supply. Having no ability to do that, the VM technician (who was nice and polite but only quoted "company policy for over three years") said that I needed to reassemble the video card, the jumper, the motherboard battery, the fan, the fan on the cooler unit, the memory sticks and that it was my responsibility to make sure that everything was the way I found it when I opened it.

Having spent over $2000 on a new system that they delivered two weeks late only to have it break within 90 days is extremely disappointing.

The VM Tech said it is 2 to 3 working weeks to get the system fixed and returned to me. Outbound shipping... my cost. My time without my system... my lost opportunity cost. They would pay only for the fix and the return shipping.

Right now I am looking at a jumble of parts sitting on my desk that used to be my super special VM system I had saved for.

I was told by the VM Technician that VM has been seeing this issue more frequently recently.

This is in fact my second issue with the system. The first (occurring in February) was a dead keyboard which turned out to be that VM sells keyboards that are not compatible with a 64-bit Win7 OS... meaning all the delightful features I was hoping to use on a nice multimedia keyboard are not useable. The direct direction of VM Techs was that I should uninstall all the drivers for the keyboard because it will eventually become inop (the tab key) until I reset the computer.

Since I have received the system, I have experienced approximately ten (10) blue screens of death... but I can not attribute that to VM or to Microsoft; therefore, I can not lay direct dissatisfaction on this issue at VM.

If they are seeing it more frequently, should not they be doing something to fix the issue? For such a glowingly talked about company my experience just soured a lot more.

I switched my purchase experience from Dell XPS systems (since Dell introduced them, I have had three) because of web-based reviews. I thought having the personal hand built touch would make a difference.

In contrast, all my Dell XPS systems are still running and working... which is from where I am writing this now."

"GREAT LITTLE NETBOOK!!!!!!
I WOULD SUGGEST THAT ANYONE LOOKING FOR A NETBOOK
CHECK OUT THE M10.I REALLY LIKE THE RED ONE.
AFTER CHECKING OUT HP & DELL VELOCITY HAD THE
BEST DEAL..AND THE SHIPPING WAS FAST.
"

"While there was a bit of a wait in receiving my systems, it was absolutely worth it.

I purchased seven machines to update my business, and was pleasantly surprised with how much time Trace in the sales department worked with me to get my order just right. Unlike other companies I have dealt with in the past that were all about selling you anything to get you off the phone fast, Trace took notice of my concerns and worked with me to make this the perfect buying experience.

The computers themselves are extremely fast, and have shown no signs of issues over the four months of ownership. These have shown themselves to be the finest computers I have ever owned, and guarantee my return to Velocity Micro at my next “technology refresh.”"

"I received the computer expeditiously, setup was easy, and performance VERY impressive.

After a few days the system started to make a sound, I thought the techs might be able to hear it over the phone and called customer support. The tech, talked me through a clear set of diagnostic procedures which resulted in identifying a wire rubbing on a fan blade.

What a pleasure compared to dealing with SONY customer support, which I was also doing at the same time.

Service was curtious, clear, and most important effective. I highly recommend VELOCITY Micro, and I cant say enough good things about the support that I recieved."

"Hi all Velocity Micro buyers and future buyers. I'm here to sum up my almost 5 years with dealing with Velocity Micro. My last buy was a Raptor Signature Edition with the works almost 2 years ago and own other Velocity Micro computers too. (No laptops) It will always be easy to say that Velocity Micro will send you one bad ass PC at first (that's easy), but what about a year or two later is were someone who is investing in high end, well build rig should care most about. Their AWESOME! Velocity Micro is hands down the best customer support I have even been given from Sales, Support, to Management. I've had Velocity Micro help me over phone with issues or questions and they are always friendly and very eager to help, evening staying on phone for hour+ helping troubles shoot etc. Any hardware issues I had during this time, weather mother board PCI-E slot went bad, or waterloop under preform to my expectations Velocity Micro always stepped up and got right. I truly feel if something is not meeting your expectations Velocity Micro will listen to you and address the issue with 100% dedication. There support system/team is one of a kind and offers many option to get in touch with someone or knowledge based (kb) information. I really like to thank Tamer and Randy for making sure everything was done right, clean, and as I always expected. Went there was doubt in my head the issue was going to address properly or not Randy Copeland (Founder/CEO) called to comfort me and insure will be right. And they got right.

If you here because you are wondering weather or not investing in Velocity Micro, I can't express enough that Velocity Micro is a damned good company with damn good products. If you wonder were the extra cost comes from when buying a Velocity Micro, it is truly as they say "building the perfect PC experience" There perfect and work to get it that way every time!

~Thanks everyone at Velocity Micro
Raven Harris"

"To All Interested!
I have built my own computer, but, after 9 years service and the drive to research and build another unit has long gone, after 9 yrs. service and being on it's last leg....wanted upgrade my computer....
The dreary feeling going to buy a giant corporate desk top unit which comes with a million whistles, buzzer and bells and bunch of bundled software advertisments all over the desktop on first boot....jjjeeeezzzzz, if I wanted all the software that they are trying to push, I would just go buy it......
Seeming the unit I built was in a Lian Li case, when I saw the Velocity Micro packages.....I was happy to see that something like this is available.
I purchased a LX555, this unit is a screamer!!! In most cases you get what you pay for, seeming when I built my computer and purchased all the parts individually, that it was really expensive and when Velocity Micro could offer a FAST no frills unit that can be expanded upon, just like my computer that I hand built, it was a no brainer!!!
Velocity Micro may not be for everyone, but for many such as myself, this was a true find.....
From my experience in computers, they are all just parts in a box, though technology keeps moving, it is nice have a company striving to be on the cutting edge of lightning fast PC's.......
I had and issue with a software disc, this was cleared up without a hitch using a support hub which was quite unique.....could have called and used the support phone line, but this just seemed to be a way to remedy what my situation, every situation is different, this is just my experience and was quite happy it!!!

If you are looking for the run of the mill, desktop you would need to see the other guys. These units are truly a nice sigh of relief when I went to go buy upgrade after using my hand built unit for many years...

Their craftsmanship is really nice and sturdy, which looks good doing it!


Anyway thats my opinion and sticking to it!!!

A Desktop PC user........"

"(2/16) I bought the MX230 VM Desktop from the local Fry's Electronics Store for about $1200. Out of the box, it looks great everything neatly packed. Plugged in a new monitor, the mouse and keyboard that came with the system and powered her up. Within 5 minutes of windows booting up I received the first of many "blue screen errors" (this is straight out of the box)

After a restart, I was able to mess around with the new Windows 7 OS. Changed my desktop wallpaper and took a peek at the computer's Windows Experience Index.

I inserted my Microsoft Office 2007 CD and nothing. Checked the device manager and found out there it isn't detecting an optical drive. I Emailed VM tech support, and the technician easily walked me through the process of inspecting to see the drive is actually still plugged in. Upon further inspection, the plug must have slipped out. CD rom problem fixed. Installed MS Office, happy customer.

A day later, I received another "BSOD". SYSTEM SERVICE EXEMPTION, 3B. A restart later, 1A error MEMORY MANAGEMENT. A day later, same two almost alternating errors, 1A, 3B. Today 3/1/10 I experienced a brand new BSOD calling itself PFN LIST CORRUPT error code 4E. According the the windows event viewer, there has been a total of 22 blue screen errors in the last 2 weeks.

I emailed a list of my problems on 2/24, they replied on 2/25 saying my service registration was not completed and was unable to help me until I sent them the appropriate information. I sent in the 6 digit computer code, along with a copy of the original receipt on 2/25 and am waiting for a response.

I will update this post when I get a response from VM.

**update 3/2**
Velocity received my registration information. My product is officially registered now, and the ticket regarding the crashes is officially dated 3/1.

**update 3/4**
The VM technician conveniently emailed me a application to test the systems memory. I had ran the same test just a few days prior and the results came back normal. I decided that I really did not want to do anymore troubleshooting with a brand new computer. I returned it and happily bought a big brand name PC.

"

"Purchased the Edge Z30 based on the reviews. Everything went smoothly, machine was great, operated as promised. A few months into it I started having problems with 3D graphics. Tried the usual driver fixes. Put in a ticket for support and got a quick response by email then a very helpful conservation over the phone (this was during the DC snowstorm). When these things didn't fix the problem they shipped me a new graphics card, which fixed the problem.

Sounds routine perhaps, but for me the best experience I've had with customer support for a long time. It is also still a great system for the price and deserves the reviews."

"BUILDING A NEW PC EXPERIENCE-THEY ARE NOT KIDDING


PROBLEM SOLVED..........EVENTUALLY....Like fine wine good things take time.


1. Ordered system arrived dead. I worked on it for hours.The system finally booted but had major issues. Product returned.
2. 2nd system booted but had issues with graphics cards (Crossfire). It would not function. Countless hours spent trying to solve the problem.(Software/Hardware) NO LUCK. Tech support was either not very useful or way to long of a wait for phone support.
3. Eventually, (understatement) I made contact with the head of tech support. She was fantastic and after consultation it was agreed that the ATI cards had to go. NVIDIA graphics cards installed and system up and running at 100 %.
4. Tech support is hit or miss. Some agents are helpful others do not want to talk to you. It is not any easy job.
5. The system is fantastic but I have many hours of my own time invested and more money ( I had to re-wire due to new graphics card configuration.
6. **********THE BOTTOM LINE________*************
Velocity Micro should produce a system that works right out of the box. What are the odds of two disfunctional computers in a row. Their tech support is a comedy of errors. (Long Story..I am still locked out of my support account...I give up) The hold time on the phone system is ridiculous. HOWEVER; when you do happen to make contact with the properly trained individual the pain should be over rather quickly. I am not sure if the state of Velocity Micro is better or worse than any other boutique computer company.

WILL I BUY FROM THEM AGAIN? I have to. They are a USA based company and I now know one of the elite. If I ever have a problem in the future guess who will be getting a call. :)"

"WORST PC PURCHASE EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD - DO NOT BUY VELOCITY MICRO. I purchased a Z30 (i7-860, 8GB RAM) in early December 2009 for my business. VM's recent awards, as well as the excellent service I received from their sales staff answering my pre-sales questions, convinced me VM was worth the premium they charge over similar configurations from other manufacturers. The purchase process was easy and their online notification system kept me updated throughout the build and shipping process. When my new machine arrived around Dec. 22nd, I eagerly set it up with a single monitor and no peripherals to get a chance to play with it. Needless to say, I was unpleasantly surprised to get a blue screen error immediately. Upon reboot everything loaded and seemed fine. On the next boot, I experienced another blue screen. After three consecutive days of blue screens upon startup, I called VM's customer service. First call - 75 minute wait, then based on the error code (0x50), a rep had me update the video drivers and then run memory diagnostics software on each of the four 2GB RAM units. After 6 hours of opening my machine and exchanging RAM chips, I couldn't even get the first two units to make it through the testing process without the machine shutting down. After another 75 minutes on hold the same rep confirmed that I was testing things correctly, so I continued the process for another 6 hours, and found three of the four chips failed. Over the holiday weekend, I received four different blue screen errors in four days. It took 90 minutes to get through to customer service after the holiday weekend - this time I spoke with a different rep who had me check the BIOS and identified that some of the settings were incorrect (what happened to that hand wired, hand tested build process I heard such rave reviews about?). After changing the settings, he had me run the memory diagnostics again. Another 10 hours of opening my machine and exchanging RAM...this time they all passed. Yet I continue to get blue screen errors every day when I boot up the machine (0x1E, 1A, 50, 0A, 24, 00, 21A). After another long wait a third rep asked me to start "real world" testing, using the RAM in pairs while going on with my business as usual. I just continue to get more blue screen errors and still have no resolution. I have asked repeatedly that they take the machine back and either fix it or send me a new one, but each rep tells me that they are not finished diagnosing the problem and can't have me send it back. I have purchased several computers and have never experienced anything like this before. I certainly do not want to spend 75-90 minutes on hold every time I call just to talk to CS reps who contradict each other, are unable to resolve the issue and yet still refuse to take the machine back. Based on the experience thus far, I certainly cannot recommend VM machines or their service.

Update 1/18/10 - Let's be clear about VM's response. They were unable to diagnose the issue remotely, but instead of taking the machine back they wanted to try replacing the power supply first. Part delivered and technician replaced the part quickly - 6 hours later the blue screen issue perists. After two attempts to get through to customer service (75 min hold times) I am now being told to ship the machine back for repair, but that it will take 2-3 weeks to even be looked at due to repair backlog. So with shipping time, I won't have a machine for 4-5 weeks. And depsite the fact that the issue has been present since I received the system, VM will charge me a 15% restocking fee if I want to return it. STAY AWAY FROM VELOCITY MICRO!

Update 3/9/10 - The machine has now been shipped back to VM twice to try to get it working. I received the machine back from VM today again, and it is still inoperable. I will be filing a claim with the BBB tomorrow. STAY AWAY - DO NOT BUY A COMPUTER FROM VELOCITY MICRO."

"Hello,
Here are a few comments on my pc purchase from Velocity. I purchased my PC back in July 2009, I waited this long to write my thoughts because I was waiting for my Win 7 upgrade. Now after upgrading and using it for several months, I can honestly say I'm quite satisfy with my purchase. This is not to say that I did not have problems, but I would not say it was Velocity's fault. My first issue was a few blue screens within the first few weeks that I had the machine. I couldn't understand why it seemed random. I also had issues with my M-Audio card; when recording music, I had static in my recordings. Of course, i decided to do my own troubleshooting and I found for some reason having ZONE ALARM on was the cause of the static in my audio recordings. I shut it off and I have no issues. As for the blue screens it slowly stopped maybe due to some windows update, the big difference in the machine was when I upgraded it to Win 7, it's a different machine, much faster, very reliable and I have no issues at this time with the pc. I'm totally satisfied with it. I think the issues I was having were more due to the fact that I had Windows Vista, I never had a good experience with this operating system. With that being said, I have to say I may just purchase my laptop from Velocity as well. I like the timely delivery, the neatness of the machine and the times I spoke to customer service it was a good experience. I would recommend to a friend as well as purchase from them again.

H."

"If I got to choose, I would give Velocity Micro a 2.5

I ordered a $3200 system that I received at the beginning of 2006 with a 3-year warranty. The support I received from Velocity Micro while my warranty was valid was superb (the last call I made to them was early 2008 for service and I called in October 2009 for tech support and in November 2009 for upgrade questions).

Unfortunately, I have had a motherboard, multi-card reader, CPU cooling, a DVD drive, SB Platinum sound card, and both SLI video cards fail on me, but they were very helpful and prompt in sending out replacement parts (except for the DVD drive and the sound card, both of which failed after the warranty). I'm not sure about the general reliability of these parts, but it seems like a high failure rate. Also, the multi-card reader failed multiple times, but I got tired of replacing it and just bought an external reader...it seems when I eject the card media, the computer ejects the whole reader and eventually, even when plugging it back in, it stops working...not good when the reader is in an internal bay.

However, once my warranty expired (or a change in support at VM?), the company was not as helpful and proactive as a competitor that a close friend ordered from. VM offers a lifetime warranty upgrade that starts at $99 for the service (when you buy the part from them), not counting the shipping or the price of the parts. The prices they offered for the parts were actually more expensive than what Newegg offered.
My friend's company doesn't charge for their lifetime upgrade service (for parts bought from them) and the prices he received were lower than those on Newegg (I assume that he is being charged OEM prices or slightly more). His company was also proactive in offering the upgrade services as well. When I requested the price quotes (as did my friend), I received only the information about the prices, while he received recommendations about the most cost-efficient combinations.

I also had issues with my RAID drivers when trying to install Windows 7, but VM just pointed me to their website and said that if the drivers weren't there, they didn't have them. I ended up browsing through Silicon Image's website myself to get them. It was somewhat of a painful experience and I expected a little more help after dropping over 3K on a computer. Service was a LOT better when I first bought my computer up through early 2008. The tone seemed different when I called more recently, and made me feel like I was calling a box store. The boutique feel wasn't there at all and I would compare their service recently at below the level of Dell's XPS service (called in early 2009). (Note: I own a Dell XPS laptop and a Mini 9 both bought in Jan 2009)

From my experience, VM went from a great company to a decent one. Competition in the boutique gaming industry is stiff and it feels like VM is falling behind. My personal experience was decent, but compared to my expectations and the services that my friend received from his company based in CA (and Dell!), they just don't stand up. Customer service, the reason why I purchase from custom builders, seems to be going downhill. Unless there are some significant changes in their customer service and post-warranty policies, I will be buying my next desktop machine (in early 2010) from the company my friend ordered from (no time to do a full build myself...I want to move from AMD to Intel). "

"Be warned -- their lead times are not accurate -- I ordered the computer on November 21, and they still have not shipped it yet -- it's December 7th today. Am wishing I had gotten a pre-fab system from NewEgg or someone.

Update: Computer arrive one month after I ordered it. It was "dead on arrival" -- would not boot. To Velocity's credit, their phone support was great -- they had me check all the internal connections and found one that was loose, and that fixed it.

All in all, it's a sweet machine, but it was expensive, so I feel I got what I paid for.

I actually need two more high-powered machines for a new project, but this time I'm going to try Dell Outlet -- as I can't afford to waste another month waiting for a custom computer...."

"I had ordered a very expensive M17 Ultra gaming laptop from Velocity Micro as my little gift to myself this holiday season. Well, I got it last night...

To start with, I was a returning customer. My desktop is a Velocity Micro rig, bought in 2007, and I've had nothing but good karma with it. Velocity Micro service is located right here in Virginia and they were always very professional. Their computers are hand-built to your order, too. That's why they're expensive.

Flash forward two years... now I'm going overseas soon, so I need a laptop. Of course Velocity was my first choice. The first thing I did when I got it out of the box was call Velocity for their legendary service and ask how to get connected through WiFi. The tech support I got was horrible. Things have changed at Velocity, and I think it's going the way of Alienware... trying to make more money by selling at the big boxes (yup, Velocity now sells their rigs at the local store) and sacrificing in the service department. The tech rep had an attitude and the first thing he had me do was mess around in the command prompt. God knows what we did; I don't even remember. When that didn't work, he said he'd e-mail me the drivers to the WiFi (wtf... didn't they do that when they were building it?) and then told me good luck and pretty much hung up on me. Updating the drivers didn't work either. So I decided to wing it and use Microsoft's diagnostic tool. It turns out that all I had to do was make sure the WiFi was powered on with the switch on the laptop cover. Doh.

Then I get on the computer and start looking around... oh, no. Crapware. MS Office trial verson, LiteScribe, etc. all hogging my resources in the systray. Let me just say that there was zero crapware on the machine I bought in 2007. Forget this. I sent it back today. Whatever you do, don’t buy a Velocity Micro computer today. They are not the same company they were a few years ago.
"