Worst prebuilt Computer Manufacturer

[Ausm]

A person just left my shop with a computer she bought from Tigerdirect....She was having random rebooting problems with it so I agreed to take a peak and see what I could do for her. When I opened the case and from the looks of the ISA (Yes I said ISA with Jumpers too) periphials it took me back about 5 years but the most disturbing part of the whole deal was the CPU she had was a 300 Mhz Celeron on a slocket card.

I asked her how old the computer was and she claimed that it was only 6 months old.....she could tell by the strained look on my face that I was trying to hold back my laughter.

How could a Computer company like Tiger Direct sell such a P.O.S system like thas as if it was new?!?!?! Blows me away just thinking about it...If I pulled crap like that in my biz I would be filing chapter 11


Ausm

 

[Sniper82]

Oh I remember those tigerdirect mags that came in my mail. This was years ago before I trusted any web sites or other members. I always thought they had decent deals on computers. That was untill I found out about FS/FT forums. I never did order anything from their store though. Only hardware I ever bought around my area was a Velocity 4400 TNT 16mb PCI for $140. Which was a big mistake because TNT2 was just around the corner but I didnt know much about these things back then. I could have got it for $100 or less if I bought online then.

But now I trust alot of ppl on here and a few web sites. But I only buy from places that are popular(Newegg,Dell,mwave.ect).

Anyway did she say she ordered new from their store 6 months ago or from someone she knows? Maybe she bought it off someone who told her it was new?

 

[AA0]

A lot of places sell crap like this, but most people know they are not new computers.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?sku=A265-1004 There is something current from them, considering that 2Ghz machines are out now, its pretty poor. I could imagine a 300Mhz machine 6 months ago.

 

[billyjak]

I used to get the Tiger Direct magazine years ago, 1984 it started for me.
I ordered a mouse and some software, their DX2 computers sounded good back then.
Their advertising made a beleiver for so many people. Too bad I didn't kow squat back then.
Today it's funny to reflect back.

 

[BlueApple]

I say eMachines... those were horrible IMO.

 

[Ionizer86]

Maybe Compaq.....I heard those comps die on ya after 6 months (maybe they use Abit OEM boards .... if those existed)

 

[tweakmm]

I had a compaq back in the day. It was a P75 but it had a SPLIT MOTHERBOARD! you have no idea how much of a bitch that was

 

[Ionizer86]

It was a P75 but it had a SPLIT MOTHERBOARD!

Isn't a split mobo like one of those that has most of the circuitry on the main board, but some IDE channels and the sound chip rests on an ISA card connected to the mobo?

 

[Blayze]

I have a Compaq laptop that I have had for 3 years, works great...

eMachines are good "starter" machines, but they have a super small power supply. Both of my friends who had one had the power supply go out.

Packard Bells were the worst in my opinion.

 

[tweakmm]

<< It was a P75 but it had a SPLIT MOTHERBOARD!

Isn't a split mobo like one of those that has most of the circuitry on the main board, but some IDE channels and the sound chip rests on an ISA card connected to the mobo? >>


yes, it sucked... alot

 

[ScrapSilicon]

<< Packard Bells were the worst in my opinion. >>

preach on brother....have 2 here in pieces....lol..I was able to salvage some cards( ISA soundcard/modem...what a joke...lol ...anyone know what to do with a click clack 8 GB IBM ?? ) and the piece de resistance...a whoppin' 1.2 GB harddrive by Conner...hehe...loaded Win98se on it and mailed it off to a poor bloke with a P-100 AST/Advantage

 

[Ausm]

I have to agree some of the Packard Bell machines I have ran into were junk also

Ausm

 

[trenchfoot]

anybody remember comtrade computers and how they overclocked cpu's and sold them in higher rated systems? what a rip that was! i remember all the "i hate comtrade" websites that popped up over that and their lousy sales/service.

 

[oldfart]

Speaking of Packard Bell, I just worked on one for a friend of my wife's today. They said it was getting slow and low on HD space. I went over and took a look. Socket 7 233 MMX..old stiff. 32 meg ram, 4 Gig HD with ~ 200 Meg free..YUK. I grabbed an old 3 Gig HD and another 32 meg ram from the spare junk box.

It took like 20 mins to figure out how to open the stupid case up (you do it from the BOTTOM)! I put in the extra 32 meg and added the 3 Gig drive. Of course, I had to put in a new IDE cable since the factory one had only one IDE connector on the cable instead of two.

Booted it back up and cleaned out some startup junk to speed it up a little. Even for an MMX 233 it seemed VERY SLOW. I couldn't figure out why. I was all done and rebooted it one last time to be sure all is OK. When it was posting I noticed L2 cache was 0 KB. Huh? 0 KB? I went into the BIOS to see if it was turned off..Nope...Check jumpers...none. I looked up the specs. It was designed and sold that way! 0 KB L2 cache! What a POS!

 

[CubicZirconia]

I used to have a 300 MHz compaq. After I got it, I decided to put a voodoo 3 3000 in it cause the onboard sucked big time. Recently, I tried to remove it and revert back to onboard, but after 3 hours of trying I decided satan possessed the computer. Now I try and stay at least 20 feet away from it. However, the newer compaqs seem to hold up quite nicely, although I prefer DIY systems. My voter goes for hewlett packerd.

 

[Paulson]

<< It was a P75 but it had a SPLIT MOTHERBOARD!

Isn't a split mobo like one of those that has most of the circuitry on the main board, but some IDE channels and the sound chip rests on an ISA card connected to the mobo? >>

It's called a riser card...

And yes I have a p166 compaq that has a riser card in it... well, actually it's dead now. I scrapped all the usable parts and now it's in computer heaven.

Compaqs Don't die after 6 months either, lol...

 

[Rankor]

Packard Bell...

It was the first time I ever heard the word "proprietary" and "computer" in the same sentence.

Can't say I miss them...

 

[WarCon]

Yeah and its too bad they don't die in six months...............

My mom has one she bought second hand from a friend who needed money. (She was doing them a favor and I am the one that has had to pay.) One of my friends also bought one new. I let him, because he knew I built systems and he still went to Best Buys to get it (I would of built it for him at cost too, thats what I don't get). Hell I have paid for that one too. I have reformatted it and reloaded completely 3 times in less than a year. It seems to not be able to stay stable with Windows 98SE. (I have to rename a file to stop it from blue screening after I reload, I mean come on). It came with Windows ME and his scanner (mostly the software) refused to work with ME. I have tried so many different drivers for the onboard sound (it goes flakey very fast), that I am tempted to buy him a sound card out of my pocket. Now it is doing some kind of reverb/skip thing (only thing I can think is that he loaded the C-media driver from Microsoft because it was in the list and isn't now) that there aren't settings that even let it do that. Anyway enough of a rant about Compaqs.

My most hated OEM was Packard Bell. I just finished working on a give-away one of those that actually went very easy for a Packard Bell. But I have fought many losing battles on those beasts. And those towers that open from the bottom stumped me for a while too. Why would you do that to a tech?

 

[bbarnes]

Easy question.

Correct Answer:

ALL.

 

[jar5tyle]

Emachines aren't really that bad in my book. I bought one a couple years ago (when I first discovered the wonderful world of computers hehe) and it's held up fine. Sure, I'm on to bigger and better things, but it's done all and more than what I expected it to do. I liked how bare the "user friendly" software department of it was. Looking back at my mom's old Compaq 200 pentium and all the "crap" they give with it, it's a pain trying to disable all the "wonderful features" it offers and the Compaq software. My Emachine was bare and nifty. lol

 

[ssanches]

<< Easy question.

Correct Answer:

ALL. >>



Quite true I've also seen some sad HP boxes recently come with a slower P-III on a castrated i810E platform with 64MB RAM. Most manufacturers really skimp on things. That's why I always prefer to assemble rather than buy prebuilt.

 

[TimeKeeper]

Let's be fair. Tigerdirect wouldn't stay in business for more than a decade if they are not doing something right.

ISA slot is pretty much standard during LX, BX, Pro133 era. And Jumper definitely doesn't mean it is bad, or old. Many mobo manufactures still using it till today even w/ P4, XP system. (some claim it is actually more stable than jumperless rig)

Anyhow, if your friend's rig experience random reboot w/ their system, you should let tiger do their work by issuing RMA.

So-call reputable company like dell, sony, Hp etc all using all-in-one mobo to save the cost. A friend of mine paid $2000 for a 1Ghz Hp system 3 months ago. OUt of curiosity, I open it and also found ISA slot as well as SLOT A configuration. By today's standard, that's rip off and old technology, isn't it?

 

[ShadowFox]

I've also seen some sad HP boxes recently come with a slower P-III on a castrated i810E platform with 64MB RAM.

*Raises hand* I have one of those, PIII Coppermine (133fsb) on a "castrated" Asus i810E (onboard sound is gone) but mine had 128 mb of PC100 (DUH HP!!!, GIVE ME 133!!!)
I got it about a year and a half ago, it was pretty decent back then, but my Athlon box beats the cr4p out of it

Athlon box: "Come here, its time for your daily beating"
Hp 8660c: *whimpers*

 

[Maggotry]

A moron built a pc for my mom (long story). The guy plugged all the fans into each other. Never plugged them into a power connection, just plugged them into each other. Obviously none of them were spinning and caused lots o' heat problems. If you want it done right, do it yourself.

 

[LukFilm]

LOL, I used to have a store of my own and Packard Bells were the WORST computers. Before I found out how to open the first one, I spent 30 minutes on it!!! Damn things. And I will NEVER, EVER work on a computer that has less than 1Ghz in it, they are too slow and too old and cause too many headaches. I'm glad I got out of it and don't do it for living anymore, it was causing me extreme headaches, all those problems that you've NEVER seen before and every time you worked on a computer, something totally new poped up EVERY DAMN TIME! Happened to anyone else?