"Over the last few months, I have been researching new PC technologies and looking into a few different PC builders for my next PC. I decided now was a good time to buy, with the new Intel chipset with dual core technology out. I was going to build my own at first, but I decided against it as it did not offer too much over going to a good builder in my eyes.

Before deciding on Velocity Micro, I was looking into the following companies, and below I explain why I did not go with them.

1.) ABS- They had very good prices, and they were cleary my second choice. I went with VM instead because they were significantly more polished, and I liked some of the hardware options more. (Like an Intel 955 mobo for VM, while ABS only offered an ASUS 925XE)

2.) Alienware- Like ABS, their prices are decent, having improved over the last few years. I did not choose them because I've read far too many negative reviews on customer service, and the case is a bit too plastic and toyish for my tastes.

3.) Falcon NW and Voodoo- These are fine builders, but extremely overpriced. Velocity Micro had the same hardware and similar service for far less.

And now, to talk about the actual computer and service:

It took 11 days from my order to delivery, which is very fast. Velocity Micro had constant e-mail updates, and I was able to talk to a representive with virtual no wait time. They have a very professional website, and the service was just as high. I called to change three parts, and thankfully they did not delay shipping as it was done before the building process began.

I've had the system a short time, but it is extraordinary. The window panel with the neon blue light is very beautiful, and compliments the case well. The system is very quiet, I can barely hear it over my AC. I decided to go with a P4 3.6 660 instead of a dual core CPU for now. The Dual core is much more expensive at the moment, and this difference does not show up in benchmarks as much as I can justify. I do have the i955 motherboard, so I can upgrade in the future if the gap widens.

I've played a few games (Battlefield Vietnam, WC3, Half Life 2, Far Cry, Doom 3) and the 6800GT is very fast. The graphics are amazing, and the card is a lot less noisy then a 6800 Ultra would be.



Of course, no review is complete without some minor complaints! (And I mean minor!) I would of liked the new ASUS SLI motherboard, but it had a 10 day delay over the Intel 955. This is more of a supply and demand issue, and not really VM's fault, of course. SLI was not the main concern, I just would of liked the ASUS because I've read it is more versatile in terms of tweaking. No big deal though. Also, it would of been nice if they bundled something like Microsoft Works, instead of cheaper alternatives like Corel Office or Open Office. It came with Battlefield 1942, but perhaps another game or two in the bundle would of also been nice. That is pretty much it for complaints, as you can see, they are very minor and do not hold much importance.

So far, I enjoy it tremendously. Everything from the customer service, to the packaging, to the system experience has exceeded my expectations of Velocity Micro. I will definitely recommend them to my friends and family, and I am very happy with the experience.


"

"Outstanding product. Outstanding sales and customer support. Highly recommended.

Things that were very important in my satisfaction with Velocity:
1. No extra BS software installed on machine, just the OS and a DVD-RW program "

"This computer has exceeded my expectations. I am very glad that I chose to purchase from Velocity Micro. From the moment I opened the box, I could see that I had purchased a SERIOUS computer. The case is absolutely beautiful! However, the real beauty is when you open it up, and see how much care they've taken on keeping the interior tidy. I've only had it for 2 days now, but I must say I'm extremely pleased. My only complaint is that I'd wished the sales rep would have steered me away from Windows x64. I was assured that I would not encounter any problems with this updated version of XPpro. Unfortunately, some of my devices do not support this new OS (like my printer!). Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait a few more weeks for the drivers...

All in all, a truly fantastic PC, with wonderful tech support so far!

Update: 04/07/06

After being an owner of a Velocity Micro PC for eleven months now, here's my current take...

First of all, I am still remorseful about my decision to go with the x64 OS. VM in my opinion recommended this OS prematurely, and a home user such as myself, should have never been steered towards it. Also, after exhausting all tech support resources with my peripheral manufacturers, I contacted VM for assistance. There final response was, "contact Microsof, no joke..! Now if you've ever tried that avenue you know how fruitless it can be. In short, my printer has never had full functionality, and I had to return my scanner due to the manufacturer not supporting my OS. VM recommending OS x64 to me... bad move.

Next, I wanted to upgrade my RAM to 2gb, because I could not afford my "dream system" at the time of build. So, I ordered the RAM from Newegg and made sure that it was an identical match to that of the RAM indicated on my invoice. When I went to install the additional 1GB of memory, wouldn't you know, but VM shipped my PC with the wrong RAM. Now I have to obtain an RA through Newegg, return it, and then wait for the correct (or incorrect as it were) RAM to arrive.

Now those two matters I could have let slide, and indeed did, as this is my first post since 05/03/05. However, my recent predicament has forced my hand.

A few weeks back I decided to upgrade my video card to a new Nvidia 7900GT. I called VM to get their advice on whether or not it would be a worthy and hassle-free upgrade. I was assured it would be, and even was convinced it was a good idea to order it from them. So, I ended up paying an additional $40 for a non-retail card, which must've been sent by pack-mule (11 days to arrive).

After encountering problems with my installation of the new card, I contacted their tech support. To make a long story short, they had me searching for a PCIE connector that was not in there (I even submitted digital pics of the interior of my PC for their review). After completely dismantling all of the meticulously organized wiring inside (a VM premium feature), they then told me I'd have to wait for an adapter (which was supposed to be included with my video card!), which would ship in 3 days. After indicating my dismay over this type of customer support, they then offered overnight shipping. Although courteous, I never felt as if the support there really cared about putting me through the wild goose chase that they set me on. End result: after overpaying and waiting too long for a card that doesn’t work yet, and undoing all of the beautifully organized wiring inside, I also feel like no one at VM really was bothered by that.

Velocity Micro has steadily lost my confidence in them as being one of the premier PC builders out there. I feel there is a lot of room for improvement, especially with their attention to detail, approach to customer support, as well as their product knowledge. I am not tech savvy enough to tackle building my own pc, but then again few of us are. However, having to troubleshoot the can of worms that has been my VM PC, I am now quite a bit more educated.

In closing, if you’re looking to buy from them, know that there are other alternatives with better customer feedback. This post is in no way intended to be a deliberate “slam” on VM, but instead a first-hand account of the troubles I’ve had since dealing with them. Perhaps what I’ve said may cause others to reconsider buying from them, and hopefully encourage VM to take a harder look at their customer and technical support follow-through.

At this point, Velocity Micro has some sucking up to do in order to make me change my views on their company. I will no longer recommend them as I had in the past. As ironic as it may seem, I have another system on its way which I’d purchased from them a few weeks back (prior to my recent ordeal). My history with them did not dissuade me from purchasing again, but this recent matter definitely would have, and will.

-Craig Junghandel"

"Completely satisfied with my purchase of Velocity Raptor 64 DualX pc. The system was excellent and questions were answered in a considerate and upbeat manner. It was a pleasure doing business
with this firm. Tucker P of Velocity Micro's customer care desk was particularly helpful.
The pc was good value for an SLI pc with the latest technology. I would have no problem recommending this company to anyone shopping for a pc. "

"i bought a promagix pcx from velocity after alot of research which paid off. i waited to see how everything worked before posting this review- i've had the machine almost 2 months now and everything's been flawless. i've had two sony vaio's prior to this, which have proven to be great workhorse machines, but i was fed up w/all the proprietary software and junk sony bundles into their systems. so a stripped down machine was desired.

configuration on VM website was easy and very flexible. two days after my initial order, i upped the vidcard and my rig went through assembly w/no problems and shipped on the target date.

i was happy to see it arrive and found the packaging minimal, but nontheless effective. upon opening, i was immediately impressed w/the build quality- the aluminum chasis feels and looks solid and i wouldn't be surprised if a forensics team couldn't find a fingerprint on its body. it is quite evident that time and care was taken in the prep and testing of my machine. the clear window lets you look into the innards and it glows a neon blue at night, which is a nice touch. all spare parts were in a separate bag and VM encloses all docs & software in a nice binder.

since the day i fired it up, it has performed flawlessly and i run it on avg. 5-10 hrs a day. i used tech support for a couple of minor issues and found them helpful and courteous- on one incident i must mention, the tech was busy and asked for my # to call me back. i gave it, laughing to myself, thinking "yeah, right." about an hour later he called back and heard me collapse on the floor. i think that says much about VM and their mindset. i would recommend them to anyone and now, in a weird sort of way, be nervous about buying from anyone else."

"I am an engineer for a company that manufactures High Performance SANs (Storage Area Networks). Needless to say if I had the time I could have easily built my own system. But considering how little free time I have these days I would rather spend my time enjoying the system rather than debugging it. This is where Velocity Micro comes in. Jon and the team did a GREAT job! This system was build exactly the way that I would have done it if I had the time. Clean, neat, top shelf component choices. Quick turn around with quality work and the best part was that it fired up without issue and has been working perfect ever since. It will be quite a while before I wear this one out (W150 with Dual Xeons and SLI) but when I do, I will be back for the next one.

Thank you,
Jim Kleinmeyer"

"First off, let me say that I am more then satisfied about my purchase, experience, and Vision 64 PC from Velocity Micro.

After weeks and weeks of research on whom to get a custom PC from, I chose this company. I have been a HP user for years, and decided to step up to a 'proper' PC.

The layout, ease, and convenience of VM's website is astounding, and I was pleasantly surprised by the extensive list of configuration options available. When I called to place my order, I spoke with Chip. He was extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and willing to talk about my new PC purchase.

Even as impatient as I am, I found VM's constant emailing on the status of my system very refreshing. It shipped within two days, and my only complaint with shipping is the UPS driver left the PC sitting on my front porch....yeah.

I set-up my PC, everything booted fine, and off I went. Every single thing I have tried with this system thus far has been flawless, and definitely exceeded my expectations. I did have a few questions about my PC and the Far Cry game was missing. I sent an email, and was responded to in under 20 minutes. They are shipping another copy of Far Cry, and my questions were answered promptly. Thanks Dan.

Overall conclusion: Top Notch company. I would recommend them to anyone.

Thanks Velocity Micro."

"My forst experience with Velocity was surprisingly good. During the past 20 years I have purchased desktops from Micron, IBM and Dell. Big has always seemed safe. My last purchase prior to this SX-V from Velocity was a Dell with a MS Millenium OS. It was horrible. That started my slippery slide into world politics, outsourcing and endless wait times. It was the worst imaginable experience I could have imagined.

This time around I did some resaearch and saw that i might have an alternative - Velocity. I received my order on time and in fine condition. I did have a problem with the set-up and was told by Customer Support that I needed a new motherboard.

I'll spare the details but I can say that I was as plerased as could be. No wait times on the phone. The part arrived in one day and the local tech the next day. He was not as talented as the Velocity people and he needed some support. Evenm this was done seemlessly. After resolution of my problem, I even received a call from Customer Support to make sure that all was well and that I was happy. This was a major difference from my Dell experience!!

will leave the specs to those that care about such things. For me it is an issue of having an excellent performing machine with world class cutomer support - right here in Richmond!!"

"Last year (not certain of the precise date) I purchased a custom PC from Velocity Micro. For one thing, I appreciated just how accomodating those customizing options are. For another thing, I appreciated the diligent service. Initially I was trying to order a Dell, but there was a discrepancy in what they posted online for my order, and the communication with them was horrendous to the point where I canceled the order. Maybe it was a fluke, and I know Dell also offers excellent products, but the service I personally received from them was terrible. Days of trying to reach them, being bounced around from person to person when I did reach anybody, people saying they'd get back to me and then not hearing back for days - all over my simply trying to immediately clarify an apparent error they'd made with what I had ordered.
Doing further research, I discovered Velocity Micro, and preferred what Velocity offers anyway. The PC I received from them runs beautifully. Their support service is prompt, courteous, efficient, and accomodating, and their products apparently share those same qualities. I would recommend Velocity Micro to anybody. You get plenty of bang for your buck, so to speak."

"Purchased on-line without difficulty, notified immediately regarding order, provided with updates as building process progressed via e-mail, easy assembly instructions, computer arrived 3 weeks after order, excellent computer for the money."

"****Update*****
It has been 8 months since I posted this and we have not had one problem with the computer. It is still boots fast and I love that it has so many USB ports on the front and back. We are now thinking of upgrading our ram and adding another hard drive and am glad we didn't choose a Dell and be forced into their components. I would defnitely recommentd VM (and have!)

***************************************

So far, I have had some mixed feelings about VM. I love the computer, and the tech support has been excellent! Unfortunately, I have had some problems that make me worry what will happen after my support plan expires. At this point, I would definitely recommend them and buy from them again, but we will see what happens at year end...

After much research, I decided on VM due to its excellent ratings here, its awards/reviews from CNET/PCMagazine and the customization of their computers for a great price. I purchased the SX-V with some upgrades.

When the computer arrived, I heard a banging sound from inside when I took it out of the box. I opened the case and the heatsink fan had come unattached from the processor and was floating free. I called customer care, sent pictures of the fan, they immediately identified the problem and sent a new part. In the meantime, I was worried that since the fan had been banging around during the entire journey from the east coast to west that it could have damaged other parts. I emailed customer support and they did not hestitate to offer a complete rebuild. I sent the original computer back (including the gray binder with manuals).

The new computer came and I opened it up just to make sure that nothing was loose, and low and behold one of the usb cables was unattached. I called customer support and they walked me through attaching it to the motherboard. Also, the gray binder did not come back when they resent the computer and I had sent an email requesting, but did not hear back. But since I had all the CDs for drivers/software, I did not push the issue.

So, the computer was fast, and graphics great and working fine for a while until today (2 months later). I got the blue screen of death/system stop screen and had to restart. Upon restart, the computer hung and then requested boot cd or bootable medium. I called customer support and they are sending a new hard drive. Again, customer support is wonderful, but why am I having to speak to them so much? Does make me worry for long term. I will update when the new hard drive comes in and as time goes on."

"UPDATE: Been about a year since purchasing the SX-V, and I am still happy with the computer. I have had occasionaly problems with the DVD-RW drive and the front USB ports. I was able to fix the drive myself but I may need to call tech support for the USB ports, so I'll get to test out the extended warranty that I bought. I'll update if anything out of the ordinary goes on with that.
Otherwise, the system has been great, it has handled games such as Half Life 2, Madden 2005 and Tiger Woods 2005. Not bad for a little over $1000.

Just got the Vector SX-V, overall I am extremley pleased. Customer service is fantastic from what I've seen so far. I have a problem with the CD-Key they gave me for Windows XP Pro (seems like it's been compromised), but they are more than willing to help and said just to call back on Monday when their supply guy is in to get me a new key.
Performance wise, this machine is good so far. For $1000 I was able to configure a computer that can handle most graphics intensive games, and for the normal home use, this computer doesn't miss a beat. Features like the standard DVD-burner and 7 in 1 media reader set it apart from other computers in this price range I was looking at. My only complaint would be with the custom hand wiring. The wiring itself is expertley done, and really does leave a lot of space inside for airflow. However when adding extra components, such as the dvd drive from my old computer, the internal power lines a very difficult to access. I had to purchase an extension to get power to the drive. Also the computer is fairly loud, but I purchased a quiet case fan for less than $10 to replace the stock one, and that helped a lot. VM should consider optional quiet add-ons (for case fans & CPU cooling) on this model like it does on some of its others."

"Very positive experience. Called with questions and they did not try to up-sell me--they were very honest about meeting my needs. Also, checked Dell, IBM and a couple other vendors for same options--VM was at least 15% less expensive (also had more options). In addition, after the order was placed, they did a super job of communicating about processing, building, and shipping the unit. Great!"

"A great vendor to work with, an excellent product I was able to configure for particular needs."

"Machine was DOA in multiple ways on arrival. A screw was loose that ended up in the power supply fan. A screw was missing from the video card holder (most likely same screw that was in power supply fan). Several wires were disconnected from internal parts. The restore CD was missing the data file, the floppy that was supposed to contain the SATA drivers was blank. A dent was present on the back of the case. The machine would not boot.

1 or 2 of these problems could possibly be from a bad shipping trip (although I've not had any problems like this with any other PC order), however, the misssing floppy data and blank data file on the Restore disk can't be explained away like this, and I don't see how screws come loose like this.

I did not like the case choices that were offered, relatively ugly.

Good Things: customer service rep was competent and properly apologetic. She offered me a no charge $85 upgrade on sending out a second machine (which I ended up not accepting, $85 on a $2800 purchase that might not work was not very attractive. I suggested a $200 upgrade which they did not accept, which is just as well as I regretted making the offer the more I thought about it). The machine was fairly quiet for a 3800+ Athlon 64 (I had added some "quiet" upgrades from the web site, the availability of the quiet upgrades was relatively unique). I got a full refund, including shipping, within a couple of weeks of return (they paid for return shipping).

Pricing was competitive with ABS, etc. (not high priced as implied by the Reseller Rating).


Summary - I really wanted this deal to work, except for case the product was an excellent combination of parts at a good price. But the amazing number of problems with the machine, prevented a happy ending to the story. Velocity Micro promotes their burn in and hand crafted wiring, attention to detail, etc on the web site. This machine must have been mistakenly shipped before the burn in and hand crafted attention to detail step."