EndPCNoise.com - a customer review

Sno Crash · Post by **Sno Crash** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 5:42 pm

I have recently purchased an HTPC from a company called EndPCNoise

My needs were simple: I needed a fast, slick-looking (living room friendly) HTPC with tons of room for future expansion and upgrades, and most importantly SILENT. I had no desire to build my own from scratch. I'm definitely a tech-savvy guy, but building a machine just isn't for me. Buying a system with these requirements is remarkably difficult, and options are limited.

I did a fair amount of research and based on the recommendations from SilentPCReview, I felt confident that EndPCNoise could build what I wanted.

What follows is a two part review.
First, I will give my review of the system itself, and secondly, I am also providing my review as a customer of EndPCNoise. I'm hoping that this review will provide customers out there some insight in their first HTPC purchase.

I spec'd out, and submitted my order via email. My specs were as follows:

AMD AM2 Media Center PC
Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 AM2 X2 Dual Core 5000 BLACK Edition CPU
2GB (two 1GB) Corsair PC-6400
Western Digital Quiet 320GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA 2 Hard Drive
Nexus NX-8050 500 Watt 80 Plus Modular PSU
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 32 Bit w/Remote
Remote for MCE 2005
Silverstonetek Black SST-LC17-B Case
Asus 8500GT 512 Meg PCIE (Fanless)
No TV Tuner
ASUS (BLACK) Quiet LightScribe 18X DVDRW
Zalman CNPS9500AM2 CPU Cooler
No Sound Card (use onboard sound)
No Microsoft Office Software
Install Nexus Damptek
Standard Processing- Ship within 5-10 Business Days
Restore Disk

There are several things of note here:
(1) The Deluxe motherboard has a ton of options onboard - SLI, Dual gigabit Nic, wifi with antenna jack, onboard surround sound, etc. While I didnt take advantage of all of these features now, they provide a lot of growth later when I do decide to upgrade.
(2) The Silvertek case is fantastic looking. Simple, and understated.
(3) The Nexus damptek sound insulation will hopefully improve the sound insulation.

This system came to $1736 as spec'd, which fell just under what my budget needs were. Could this system have been better? Sure, but cost is always an issue.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: (placing order)
I submitted my specs via email and simply asked for some "validation" that this system made sense and that I wasn't mixing parts together that didn't make any sense. I was immediately greeted with an email in return from their customer service rep who confirmed my system was a good choice and good value for the money.

I pulled the trigger and placed the order.

The next business day, I got an email from the billing group informing me they couldn't ship the machine to a different address than the billing address. My parents bought the machine on their credit card, and wanted it shipped to my house. Thats a big no-no for some companies - they wont allow it to prevent credit card fraud. No problem, I agreed to ship to the billing address. I was informed that the build process would take 6-10 days, and I would recieve a shipping notification when the system was done.

So far, I was very satisfied with the speedy response, however...

6 days into the build, I sent an email asking the status of the build. No response. Day 11 came and went with no notification of shipping and no communication about a delay. I was frustrated and decided to call and see what happened. The people on the phone were extremely friendly and informed me the machine was shipping that day and they apologized for the delay.

CUSTOMER SERVICE: (help!)
The machine arrived and I eagerly opend the box. The machine was extremely well packed, and had instructions in the box on how to properly unpack the machine and set it up. The inside of the chassis even had packing material to prevent the insides from jostling around. Since you have to open the case to remove the packing material, I got to take a look at their handywork. I must say, I was impressed. The insulation was well done, and the cable management inside the box is very nice. My only complaint is that the cables are tied with zip-ties, which makes future upgrades very painful. I would prefer velcro straps.

I unpacked everything and set the box on my rack, and plugged everything in. I was immediately struck by how phenomenal the case looked. The front panel is very high-quality metal, and just looks brilliant. Pictures online dont do it justice - belive me.

I anxiously pushed the power button on the case, and .... nothing! No POST! The case powered up, the fans spun, the Hard Drive powered up, but the machine didn't POST. As a quick aside - the machine is indeed completely silent, which made this situation all the more confusing. Is it even on?!?

Now, EndPCNoise is on the west coast, and by this time they had closed for the day. So I decided to send an email to tech-support, as well as leave a voicemail on their tech support line. I made sure to include my order number for reference, as well as a description of the issue.

Next business day... nothing! No call, no email. I waited two hours after business hours started and decided to call them, again. To my surprise, I was instantly transferred to a tech-support person who was extremely friendly and eager to help. I didn't understand how I could not get a return call, but I can call up and get thru to someone on the first shot.

The result of the tech-support call revealed that the CPU had not been properly installed, and at this point is damaged. The tech-support person was extremely apologetic, and guaranteed to make this situation right for me. He said he would have an RMA shipping sticker sent to me via email in the next 1-2 hours and I could send this machine back to them for repair. I informed him that I am on the East Coast, so I needed the RMA sticker as soon as possible so I could make the shipping cut off time. If I didn't, this would have to sit all weekend and ship on Monday.

4 hours go by. Nothing! No email, no call. So again, I call them back. The receptionist kindly checked on the status and said the RMA would come to me in the next 10-15 minutes.

2 hours later. Nothing! No email, no call. At this point I'm fuming. I wil miss my shipment if I dont get the RMA soon.

I called again. The receptionist tracked down the RMA, and informed me that the guy "forgot about it". How is this possible?

The machine is now sent, and I am waiting for it to arrive back at the company and get repaired.

---------

TO BE CONTINUED:

I will continue my review of the company's service as this situation unfolds, and will review the machine itself once I have everything powered up.

I am extremely frustrated with the experience so far. I don't have time to continually pester and call and force my way into getting an answer or assistance on things. That is not proper customer service.

In fairness, I do understand they are a small company and possibly have not fully developed the customer service side of their business.

I am holding out hope - I want this situation to go well, and I am more than willing to allow EndPCNoise to make this situation right.

More as it happens...

breakspirit · Post by **breakspirit** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:04 pm

I've bought from them before and never had problems, but I'll likely never shop there again after reading this.

Michael Sandstrom · Post by **Michael Sandstrom** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:21 pm

Moral of the story--Do It Yourself!

blackworx · Post by **blackworx** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 4:20 am

the cables are tied with zip-ties, which makes future upgrades very painful.

Blondie · Post by **Blondie** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:05 am

Removing the zip ties shouldn't be painful! If you don't have a wire cutter or similar tool at home, get yourself an inexpensive PC tool kit at Radio Shack or online. The snipper cuts through the zip ties perfectly, without damaging the wires. And the kits usually come with some zip ties, so you can replace the ones you've cut.

Thank you for keeping us posted on the Endpcnoise.com saga. I am interested to hear how it all turns out.

ky · Post by ky » Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:01 pm

Have you contacted Mike about this? Surely there is an EndPCNoise rep who browses the forums and maintains a presence in the community.