Computer Essentials

Reviews 4

MI

Michael Rancourt

I purchased a custom gaming desktop from Computer Essentials and I am very pleased with the product and the before/during/after-sale support, particularly from Rob, the day manager and computer-builder. Rob double-checked my list of components, discovered some incompatibilities, and made several helpful suggestions. I planned on $2,000 but we came in under-budget at around $1,549. The major components are: CASE: Corsair Obsidian 450D ATX mid-tower PSU: Corsair 650 Watts CPU: AMD FX-8350 8-core 4.0GHz MOTHERBOARD: Asus M5 A97 LE R2.0 RAM: Corsair 2x4GB sticks (8 GB total) GPU: AMD Radeon R9 270X 2GB HD: Crucial 240GB SSD/Seagate 500GB 7200RPM HDD FANS: Two blue led 125mm on top, two blue led 140mm in front CPU FAN: NIC F4 CPU cooler OTHER: HP DVD-RW drive, wireless networking card. Rob dealt with my goof-up of leaving out a wireless card like a professional who valued my business. He took five minutes to select, install, and test a wireless card on-site after I took my tower home and realized my error. When I pressed Rob for a package discount, Rob acknowledged I would save a couple hundred dollars by ordering online ( NewEgg=$1,399 to my door), but his computer-building experience and the Computer Essentials additional 1-year warranty on top of the included 2-years convinced me the markup/labor was worth it. He threw in four blue LED for cooling and that sealed the deal. I highly-recommend working with Rob if, like me, you do your research, you know what you want, but you want a skilled-professional to assemble your rig for peace-of-mind. I plan on working with Rob again when its time to upgrade. EDIT: Year One complete! All computer components are still working well. Planned upgrades are a better video card and 16GB of RAM. The blue LED front fans have stayed in alignment surprisingly well. Still a great machine.

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MA

Mark Stephens

Just got a new purpose built base unit from Computer Essentials for my business and after just starting it up for the first time i feel i need to say how pleased i am with it. Its a common misconception that people think PCs are always cheaper from the big box stores or online. I wanted a specific specification and that was not available online or from any big box store. I went to CE and talked specs and rough prices, went home and the next day emailed them the spec i wanted, agreed a price and 2 days later the system was ready for collection. Great service! Yes i probably paid a few $ more for the system I wanted but lets look at the bigger picture for paying a few more $ 1, I got the exact system spec i wanted 2. If i have any need for phone tech support i call Bangor Maine and its sorted quick and easy. No need to be calling a foreign call centre anywhere. 3. If the base unit ever needs to go in for repair, i take it to Bangor Maine and do not have to send it to via UPS to some other part of the USA. I dare say ill get it back a lot quicker too 4. 2 year warranty on my base unit at no extra cost 5. Ive already discovered that some other computer related business im thinking of is going to be a lot cheaper using CE than any big box store 6. Great service Just wanted to update after 2 years of great use. When you get a computer from CE, they will give you the original Windows CD as part of the package unlike big box stores or mail order that tell you, you have to make them yourself, thats ok... as long as you remember when you first get the pc .. right? Well last night i appear to of installed a corrupt file that stopped Windows from starting properly. I got my original Windows CD and booted from that, did a system restore and everything is perfect once more.. Im very happy

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Aimee Phillippi

On the positive side, they did fix my computer and within the price range they quoted. However, their customer service and general business efficiency practices leave something to be desired. I dropped my laptop off first thing on a Monday morning and described to the gentleman at the desk what I believed to be the issue (needing a new charging port). Based on the symptoms, he agreed that was the likely issue and that they would most likely need to order the part. He then told me the service time was 4-6 days. I called on Friday, day 5, and no one could tell me anything about the status of my computer because the person assigned to it was out at lunch. I was told hed call me back that afternoon. When he did not, I called again Saturday morning, day 6. Again, no one could tell me anything about the status. Monday morning, day 8, I did get a phone call telling me that they hadnt even bothered to look at my laptop until last Friday (day 5) when at that time they ordered the part, which they expected to be in "some time this week". The part finally showed up the next Friday (day 12) and my laptop was fixed and available for me to pick up. Why, when they knew from the moment I dropped it off, that they would likely need to order a part, they didnt spend a few minutes confirming the diagnosis and put the order in on day 1 or 2 is beyond me. In addition, the fact that there is apparently no inter-office communication process so that if the one person assigned to your computer happens to be out, no one can give you any information, is absurd. If you are taking your computer here for repair, just be prepared to be without it for twice as long as expected and to not know anything about its progress.

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Aimee Leighton

My moms computer was very slow because of a lot of files on it. When she brought it in, they started listing off prices for all this virus stuff, and it was getting up to the $300 range, and I stopped him and said "How about a complete system restore?" and he said "Oh, that will be $57." So that just shows that they will get all the money out of you they can. That should have been a big signal to take it away right there. He said it would be 7-10 days, so my mom called after 10 days, and they had JUST started working on it that day. He told her that the hard drive was completely screwed, and that it was unusable. In the same breath, he made sure we realized that we can buy one of their computers if he could keep ours. Just like the reviewer below said, they rather offer you a small amount of money than actually fix your computer. She told them that she wanted it back, and they were like "Okay, but it wont work." So when she picked it up, they tried again to sell her a computer but she took back her own. When she plugged it in at home, it would NOT turn on at ALL. The button would glow, and the fans would spin, but then stop and the monitor was black. As I said before, EVERYTHING was working when she gave it to him, it was just slow. So I dont know what they did to it, but she is now out of a computer, and her job is surrounded around her computer. The only thing they did right was waving the fee, but only after grumbling after my mom made a fuss. They were soooo much better and more helpful when the business was called "Computer Renaissance" I dont know what happened. DONT GO HERE. Staples and Best Buy charge the same amount and actually know what theyre doing!

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