"Last year October I decided I wanted a quality gaming rig. Did some research, and saw the VM machines at Best Buy. They were sold out so I decided to order it online. 3 weeks later it arrived.
The first day my computer froze several times, but I figured it was the game I was playing, not the machine. Then it did the same with about a dozen different games. I contact customer support, I get a friendly tech support guy to help me, but none of the suggestions work. He sends me a new motherboard, and I get a tech to put it in for me. As he checks the hardware inside, the CPU heat sink is loose, and the protective sticker on the graphics card that says "REMOVE BEFORE USE" is still on the graphics card.
He firmly attached the heat sink and removed the sticker.
He proceeds to install the motherboard, and closes up the case. Computer does not even start at all. After a while he puts the old one back in, so at least it starts up.
I contact tech support, they tell me to send it back, which I did. A week and a half later I get a phone call saying the computer is on its way (a wednesday. The following tuesday it's still not here, so I call and apparently it hasn't been shipped out yet. They ship it out the same day with next day air.
The next day, I open the box and hear something loose inside. I check but can't find anything. Soon after, the computer crashes. So I call Tech support again. I asked what exactly they did to my computer, and they told me they replaced the CPU. (Why not the motherboard, that they sent me to begin with, I don't know).
The tech I had been in contact with also disappeared from the face of the earth, not responding to any emails.
Suddenly my mouse stops working after another crash. I contact tech support, and the guy is downright rude to me. I file a complaint at the front desk (Very nice lady by the way).

Finally a tech they chose is sent out here. He finds the CPU Heat sink loose AGAIN, a capacator off of the graphics card is laying loose in the bottom of the computer (with pins bent which means it didnt just fall off), and also the USB ports were not connected he said.
At least the computer works now, but not thanks to their testing.

This is the worst experience I have had dealing with a computer builder.
I understand my case may not be the norm, but certainly not unheard of when I read the other reviews here. Last time I will ever buy from them again. Hearing their 'refer a friend' program, and how their products are so great, while waiting for tech support, definitely made me laugh.
The only thing I commend them on is the speed at which the parts were delivered. But that shouldn't have had to happen in the first place.
Hope you have a better experience.
"

"After doing quite a bit of research on what sort of computer I want and who to buy it from, I decided to go with Velocity Micro. It got some great reviews from [H]ardocp, and I was looking forward to a great computer at a decent price.

I'm well aware that Velocity Micro isn't the cheapest builder out there, but when I'm buying something of the $3000 quality with the 640 mb 8800 series video card and Vista Ultimate, I want someone that will build my computer with care and concern, and offer a great warranty.

So after placing my order, I received a confirmation order. Unfortunately, my shipping and billing address are different, and in my wisdom I mixed up the states for both of these. This messed up my order and it was marked as fraud.

--On a side note, a company that's dedicated enough to stopping fraud to catch something like this is great. Though it caused me a bit of a hassle, I brought it on myself. I'm reassured that this company took it upon itself to try and stop fraud where it could.

So while my estimated ship date was the 10th, it ended up shipping on the 12th. Again, after I messed up something like this and had to fix it, it only shipped two days late. Another part of the reason the computer shipped late was because of my sound card being on back order. But they let me know, and when I asked, they even told me why exactly my shipping date was delayed.

That's what I call customer service!

Now, I just received my computer (Feb. 14th). I haven't had any hardware problems, just the standard problems arising from NVIDIA not having its vista drivers out yet for its 8800 series video cards.

Again, great buyer, great customer service. A little pricey, but considering the experience, I say that I certainly got a great deal. After all, anyone could build their own computer, but the main point of these sorts of builders is the warranty and rest of the service. Velocity Micro certainly delivers."

"Apparently, Hp software for a scanner fouled up the registry file on my Velocity Micro computer. Velocity Micro Technical service was superbly helpful in solving my problem. They even downloaded, separately from the "poison" HP software, the proper driver for the scanner and installed it (remotely) on my computer for me. They set the computer up so that Microsoft scanner software would control the scanner.

Both Heather and Ben worked to make this the most pleasant and satisfactory Tech support experience I have ever had. "

"After years of buying "behind the curve" PCs I decided to reward myself with a top of the line Velocity Micro Gamers Edge PCX with the very latest Intel processor, NVidia graphics card and Creative Labs sound card. I opted for additional graphics tweaking (along with beefed up cooling) and separate OS and application hard drives. VM emailed me regularly regarding order status (very nice touch after dealing with Mr. Dell for the last 10 years!) and my unit arrived in less than two weeks. Setup was the easiest I've ever done and I own/run a chemical testing lab with 6 servers and 50 work stations! A small issue with my analog mic sent me to the VM tech support guys and after less than 5 minutes on hold on a Saturday afternoon I was speaking with an AMERICAN who was not working from some tech script from hell. The issue was a Creative Labs problem and NOT a VM problem. A $50 USB mic substituted for my old one did the trick. Their sales staff has followed up with emails asking about my experience with VM and, as for the new rig, well let's just say IT SMOKES!! A great company and one that will be getting all my future business."

"I have had my Vector SX system for just over a year, and just out of warranty. (actually purchased on 12/23/05) I have been very happy with Velocity Micro and the computer until today. There have been no problems, but I just found out I cannot add more RAM to what I already have. I upgraded to Windows Vista and wanted to upgrade RAM, adding another 1 gig to the 1 gig already installed. THERE WERE ONLY TWO RAM SLOTS, OCCUPIED BY THE DUAL CHANNEL CHIPS! I would have to take these chips out and by new 2 gig chips to replace them, wasting the money that I paid for these chips. And these were more expensive RAM chips with a heat spreader. When I ordered this computer, there were two places on the order form to add RAM, suggesting there were at least 4 slots for dual channel chips. Velocity's tech support person was very polite and understanding, and found that my mother board was one of the rare ones with only 2 slots for RAM chips. I never would have purchased a computer with only two RAM slots, especially for dual channel chips. I didn't think to look when I bought it, so now I'm screwed. Frankly, I think that Velocity Micro should sell me a set of 2 gig chips for the price of 1 gig, but the guy wouldn't go for it. He was sympathetic and apologetic, but I'm still screwed.

So if you purchase from Velocity Micro, whom I no longer trust, be sure to check on your mother board's RAM slots.

Addendum: 2/5/07 - Velocity Micro contacted me and agreed to buy back my RAM chips and sell me a new pair. I am now back to happy with Velocity Micro and my Vector desktop.

Kirven Weekley"

"I bought this Velocity Micro Raptor in no small measure because you promised superb support—plus all the components of the system were highly-rated. I had only a couple of months ago purchased a Falcon Northwest desktop, which turned into a nightmare: constant, random stop error messages (the dreaded “blue screen of death”) and returned it within the 30-day period after hundreds of frustrating hours of trouble-shooting, many hours consulting with their support, & they never came close to identifying the apparent hardware-related conflict producing these errors. I lost about $500 on the shipping charges alone. Because VM promised extensive “24/7” support by knowledgeable technicians, on-site servicing where needed, no out-sourcing etc., this was a major consideration in purchasing a fairly expensive desktop, especially given my prior experience purchasing from a seemingly highly-rated “boutique.”

The first indication that this wonderful support was not close to what was promised was the fact that the records indicated that it went from production to shipping in less than 24 hours—so much for extensive pre-testing & burn-in. Also, the so-called certificate verifying this testing & affirmation that everything shipped in good working order was conspicuously absent from the docs that shipped—contrary to your assurance that this was an added virtue of purchasing from your company. Since that time, I’ve had a host of problems where, when I could actually get through to a tech, they were unfailing polite but never able to find a solution or deliver a promised follow-up to the problems described below
[won't bore you with the specifics: the main point here is that the computer sort of runs OK, but "customer support"? Functionally, doesn't exist.]

I've tried every option offered--no response. Maybe you'll be lucky, but read a review about 3 down, it's my experience exactly: if something needs support, go elsewhere. "

"This company provided a high quality machine with outstanding service in the pre-sale. We had an issue with a bad component and it was resolved within minutes over the phone. Velocity-Micro goes the extra step to make sure your happy with their product. I highly recommend this company for high-end gamers and casual users alike!"

"I have been the proud owner of a Velocity L80 notebook since October 20th 2006 and have recently ordered a second L80 for my daughter.

Previously (since 1994) I had been a loyal customer of - rhymes with Hell. After 12 years and 7 computers later I became totally frustrated with (rhymes will Hell) and went in search of a new company to give my hard-earned money to; a company who would value my business, deliver a superior product, and who offered US based English speaking tech support. After 3 months of research I decided on a Velocity Micro.

My entire VM experience has been amazing. When I phoned VM’s sales dept to place my order the sales guy was extremely knowledgeable and didn’t try to up sell me. He asked what I planned to use the computer for and made suggestions regarding a build that would best suite my purpose. I explained that I wanted a laptop to serve as a desktop replacement. After a very professional and fun conversation I decided on the L80.

I upgraded the:
Processor - Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Mobile processor T7200, dual 2.0GHz cores
Memory - 2048MB Corsair® PC5300 DDR2 SODIMM
Display - 15.4" WSXGA+ Wide Screen Active Matrix TFT Display Ultra Sharp 1680x1050 native resolution

I added a few extras, productivity software, external floppy, a USB Port Replicator, and recovery disc. My total cost was $2332.00.

Every few days I received an email from VM keeping me apprised as to the progress of my order. When my computer arrived it was packaged so well the UPS truck could have driven by my house and thrown the box at my front door and it would have survived without a scratch.

Included in the box was a nice blue plastic folder which contained all the original C/D’s for the software which was loaded on my machine and a cool blue VM t-shirt.

Setup was a breeze. I plugged it in, registered windows and was on my way.

I have had my L80 for over 3 months now and have NO complaints! I work at home so every morning I boot it up at 7-8 am and let it run until 10-11 pm. I have no problems with it overheating and am actually amazed at how cool it runs.

I keep lots of apps running all the time, MS office, a couple of browser windows, email, Google earth, antivirus, etc. and it never slows down. The L80 is one little workhorse.

Since this is a desktop replacement for me I keep a printer/scanner, standard keyboard, mouse, floppy, and speakers plugged in and running all the time too.

One of my favorite features of the L80 is the fingerprint scanner/OmniPass software. I no longer have to remember a multitude of passwords. When I encounter a password dialog box for the first time I put in my password once and OmniPass takes care of the rest. The next time I access the site the little scanner box pops up, I scan my finger, and it says, “Access Granted!”

I have only contacted tech support once. (Operator error) After 3 rings an English speaking human answered the phone that was knowledgeable, patient and professional. After discussing my problem, he sent me an email with a small file that allowed him to take control of my computer. I sat patiently and watch him fix the mess I created. That is the type of service one would expect corporate customers to receive, not a little single home user like me!

I have ordered a second L80 for my daughter which will arrive soon. I will be ordering a 3rd computer (probably an Uber gamer laptop) for my son in the fall when he heads off to college.

From beginning to end my VM experience has been the BEST! I am now a loyal (and will be a lifetime) Velocity Micro customer.

A big thanks to Jay Lewis for all his help with our second order. Thank you Jay- Thank you Velocity.

Karen Garland"

"Outstanding tech support. Patient and knowledgable. A pleasure to speak with a support tech within one time zone of yourself that cares about your experience. For anyone that is frustrated by out of country tech support, Velocity Micro services what they sell and they are cheaper than those that don't."

"After deciding that my home-built computer had seen better days (over 4 years old), I started investigating various computer manufacturers and the one name that seemed to arise consistently was Velocity Micro. A couple of friends purchased their computers from V/M and were happy so I thought I would just call the place and see how it went.

The first thing I noticed was that my phone call to them was answered within a couple of rings and I was speaking to a REAL live person. AMAZING!!!!!! I called with questions about various builds, options, etc. At no time was I rushed or coerced into buying my system from them. The ONLY thing the rep said was to "call back if you have any other questions". The next day I DID have a couple of other questions so I called a second time and it was like the first - answered in a couple of rings and another friendly individual. He answered all my questions as well and I decided "This was the place to build me my new computer".

I ordered the system on-line 10/25/2006. I sent a Cashier's Check for the complete amount the next day thinking it would not have to clear. WRONG!!!!!! It took a couple of days and was finally approved 10/31/2006. Thru the entire process I was sent updated e-mails of the status of my system. I received my completed system 11-30-2006 (your computer is hand built and doesn't just come off a shelf which requires time).

The ONLY thing I will "ding" them on is that I was NOT sent a DVI adapter for my new whiz bang video card (I have an older Viewsonic 19" Analog monitor (GREAT for games). I called them and they sent the adapter 2 day air, but my brand new system just stared at me from across the room till the adapter arrived and I could set everything up.

Once I received the adapter, it took me less than 30 minutes to get everything working - Windows XP and the other software I requested was installed and I just had to do the License stuffs.

Bottom line - would I buy from them again? A most DEFINITE - YES!!!!!!!! They are competitively priced and REALLY care about their customers. You can NOT go wrong by dealing with Velocity Micro."

"My recent purchase is actually my second from VM. My first purchase was about 2 years ago. That machine suffered from overheating problems from the start. Calls to VM’s then technical support company (Znet) never resolved the issue. I finally took it to a repair store located in a strip mall. When the guy got done criticizing the inadequate cooling design, he installed two fans and the machine has worked pretty well ever since.

When my son’s old Dell’s motherboard croaked, I passed the old VM on to him and wnet to upgrade my machine. Despite my wife’s protestations, I settled on VM again (primarily after reading very poor reviews Voodoo had been receiving).

The ordering process went smoothly. VM’s web-site is well designed and user friendly. I had a couple of questions. When I called, I was greeted in a friendly matter and my questions were handled clearly. Soon after the order was processed, I received a call informing me that I could not have both video cooling and the TV tuner card. After being assured that the video cooling was superfluous, we eliminated the video cooling.

When the machine arrived. I discovered that there was no tuner included on the machine. Obviously, an MCE PC without a tuner is pretty useless so I called immediately and was again greeted in a very friendly and helpful manner. I returned the machine for a rebuild and they agreed to upgrade the motherboard for my trouble. Since they were doing that, I asked if I could upgrade the CPU and was told that I could. The price of the machine now eclipses $4,000.

After the new machine arrived, I had a Windows MCE registration problem right away. Once I got beyond that. When the machine finally booted up, I was confronted with a (now all too familiar) Media Center Service error. Moving on from there, I attempted to configure Media Center only to learn that the tuner was either not installed or malfunctioning. Device Manager shows the card was there but that no drivers had been installed. After installing the drivers, I still found that Media Center could not find or could not use this tuner.

I then tried any number of reinstalls of Media Center and the tuner card as well as so many suggestions from various Microsoft and Hauppauge web-sites and even a few blogs. Nothing worked.

The holidays made contacting VM difficult (thankfully, the infamous Znet is no more), at best, but I finally got a response after the 1st of the year. They sent a new card but installing that has done nothing positive. Device manager shows its there and functioning properly but Media Center still can’t use it. I am now convinced that the Hauppauge tuner VM has chosen to use (it is a different one than the one used on the HP Media Center PC we have in the family room) is obviously not compatible with Media Center PCs.

One thing I cannot resolve is VM’s claim that they test each machine before shipping. The first time I received the machine, it was missing a critical piece of hardware. How could it have tested out? The rebuilt machine has shown the same error since it was first booted up. How could it have tested out or am I supposed to believe that this magically occurred during shipping?

Given that I ordered the PC in October, I am not about to send it back (especially since that didn’t work very well the last time I did that) and it generally seems to perform its other PC functions fairly well (though any improvement in performance over my old 3.4 ghz Pro Magix is not obvious). My own best guess is that, like my previous VM PC purchase, I am pretty much on my own again. I will probably use the web and find some way to disable Media Center entirely and then try to go with an option like Beyond TV.

I am very conflicted about my interactions with VM. On one hand, the people you deal with are very friendly and the company itself seems to genuinely want to do the right thing. On the other hand, wanting to resolve problems is positive but not the same thing as actually possessing the ability to resolve problems. To say this is disappointing is beyond words when I think about the $4,000+ VM purchase price compared to the much lower price (and almost complete absence of problems) I have encountered with my HP, my daughter’s Compaq and the Dells I have purchased over the years. Unless you are a budding DIY type, I would steer clear of any VM Media Center PCs. There are companies who are able to configure those types of machines so that you can actually use the PC to watch television. "

"After crawling around the Velocity Micro site intensively on Black Friday, I found a nice deal on the ProMagix MSX. There are limited upgrades on this model, but it has the all important Core 2 Duo line up and the Intel Badaxe 2 motherboard. No sound card was offered but that was no problem as I added a X-fi Extreme gamer sound card and had no problems whatsoever installing it. Before the sound card I did have a problem with the Sigmatel onboard sound that seems likely due to bad drivers. I made no attempt to download newer drivers so I can't say how easily this would be to rectify. No other problems at all with the computer so far so that was just a minor annoyance. Someone planning on sticking with the onboard sound might keep this issue in mind however. Everything booted up perfectly after I popped the side off the case and verified nothing had come loose in shipping. The site advised a build time of 30 days and it was almost exactly that long before I got my hands on the computer. Everything arrived from UPS in good condition and nice packaging from the factory. The build quality is excellent with really nice wiring inside. I received all necessary drivers and installation disks and documentation for all the components used. I really appreciated that touch. I haven't had to contact Velocity Micro since I received the computer so I can't say how follow up customer servie is yet. I did contact them three times prior to receival and got a response two times. Velocity Micro definitely isn't the cheapest vendor around but the prices aren't bad for the quality of the build and the components used. After the sound card upgrade I've had a very pleasant experience gaming on this computer. 2 Megs of RAM, the E6600 and a 7900GS are quite fast. I had narrowed my search down to them and ABS, but ABS seems slow in keeping up with the newest hardware compared to other vendors. The Badaxe 2 motherboard over the original version ABS was still using at the time was what swayed me to Velocity Micro. One minor gripe about the VM site though is the sheer number of models they offer and the differing prices of components of the exact same type on system to system. Poring over each model before making a decision paid off for me, but it was somewhat tedious. Standardization of the prices would be great. I would definitely do business with this company again in the future and am pleased with my purchase. "

"I thought after reading the reviews on here my Velocity Micro experience would be a smooth one. Unfortunately, this hasn't been the case.

I received my computer on December 18 (the estimated ship date was December 7). The next day, the computer began mysteriously rebooting. After almost a week of this, I contacted VM support and was told it might be a memory issue. After some testing, the culprit was found to be a bad memory slot on the motherboard. The conversation was on December 27, I was told the new motherboard would arrive on December 29, and that they would send a technician that day to install it. On December 29, the time of my appointment was approaching, and I had not yet received my motherboard. So I called the technician, Chad, to reschedule. I found later that day that the motherboard did not even ship until a couple hours earlier. Due to the holiday, the motherboard now would not arrive until January 2. It seems VM did not contact Chad to let him know about this.

So, Chad then came out January 3 to install my motherboard. Unfortunately, the computer would not power up. Chad called VM and it was decided I needed a replacement power supply. This was the morning of January 3 – the power supply did not ship until the next afternoon. I received it January 8, with Chad scheduled to come by January 9. The 3pm appointment came and went, with Chad not showing up. I called and left a voicemail. I got called back at 5:30pm – Chad fell asleep. Reluctantly, I agreed to a reschedule the morning of January 10. He finally showed, the power supply is installed, and the computer so far is working, save for the CD/DVD Combo Drive, which is being replaced, due to the loud grinding noise being made when a disc is in. Chad also didn’t fully complete the wiring inside the computer, as I found later. A few components were not connected, and the wires were left a mess inside the machine – a far cry from the fantastic, clean wiring job I had when the computer arrived. I had to call technical support again to step me through what was still left to be plugged in.

The technical support agents I’ve talked to have been helpful and knowledgeable. They wanted to make sure to pinpoint the problem before taking a course of action. They can’t be blamed for 3 parts having to be replaced in less than a month. But it does raise questions about the quality/testing phase of the build. The replacement of parts has been questionable as well, the first two replacement parts not being sent when I was told they would be sent. Of course they can’t be blamed for the technician falling asleep and missing our appointment.

I last agent I talked to I asked to notate my account regarding the fact in the less than one month span I’ve had the computer, I’ve had only 2 or 3 days of smooth operation. This was in the hopes that my 1 year warranty would be extended an extra month to cover the time I wasn’t able to use the computer.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine machine, and now that it’s running, it’s running as good as I’d hoped. Assuming the replacement drive does the job, I’m sure I’ll be satisfied with my Velocity Micro computer. I’m certainly satisfied with technical support. Everything else though, has been more than a hassle than it should be for a brand new computer. I’m confident it’s an isolated incident, so I wouldn’t deter anyone from purchasing from Velocity Micro. "

"I received my system last weekend -- it took a bit longer than the originally projected ship date of Dec. 17, but after it arrived I had no problems once I finished setting it up (after an initial goof with plugging the output cables into the deactivated motherboard sockets instead of the audio and video cards).
"

"If I had discovered this website and read these reviews before my purchase of the Vision A/V/D Velocity Micro PC for $3763.00, I may have spent several more months to research more PC companies for who had the best PC deal.

I purchased this PC to replace my Gateway Performance 1500 bought in Jan 2001 for $4000.00. I was looking for a fast PC with Small Business MS Office Software. I also took a chance with the AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800 processor. I wanted the dual code Intel 2.93Ghz, however, I am extremely impressed with the architecture of this ultra cool looking and fast performing PC that the AMD Athlon processor will be quite fine for now.

I too had a rough start receiving my PC and after the first power up, having it not re-power up after opening the case and inspecting this awesome looking PC. At first I was disappointed that the PC didn't restart, but after talking with Tech support, I had to send the PC back to VM and have the motherboard replaced. At first, I felt that this should not have happen with a brand new PC, but I was still impressed with the extras that VM gives to their customers; example: Great customer service and tech support, excellent response time back to me considering the Christmas holiday was approaching and many new orders were probably being received because many were completely blown away at VM custom build website partnered with the BestBuy website. I Also thought the neon blue folder with the unopened packaged software and cool blue T-Shirt were pretty cool too.

I can not see ever wanting to buy an overpriced XPS 700 Dell or Gateway anymore. I will continue to deal with this company despite the few customers as myself that had to return their PC's and wait even longer before getting to use this fantactic PC that I will enjoy for years to come.

Thank you for being such a cool, friendly, and extremely bend over backwards company to please your customers.

Sincerely, Joe PCguy, Boston, MA"