OS Installation

I decided to wait about a year after receipt of my computer before I reviewed, in order to give a fair assessment of the operation of the new system. Short answer; awesome. This was absolutely the best experience in acquiring technology, or anything else, that I have had.
Puget guided me through the selection for exactly what I needed, helped me reduce costs, and sent me the best computer I have ever used.
Not one glitch. Not one problem with the hardware or installed software as requested – and the price was right. People walk into my office and see the four large HDMI monitors it drives and are really in awe. Oh, did I say quite, wow this baby is really quite with the liquid cooling, Antec Case, etc. I give Puget the highest recommendation possible as well as my sincere thanks for what they do so well.

I purchased a custom-built pc two years ago (June 2009) from Puget and have been very pleased with its performance. Beyond the hardware, however, Puget also has extremely responsive, competent, and gracious customer-support. When my RAID array wasn’t being detected by the BIOS (at 4am east cost time) and I couldn’t make heads or tails of what the problem was, within 12 hours Puget’s technical support had held my hand through the process of diagnosing and remedying the problem that stumped several of my more computer-savvy associates. I couldn’t have been more grateful. Thank you.

This is my second desktop I have bought from Puget Sound and if I need another it will also be ordered from this them!!! This company is First Class; it takes me back to the 1950’s when people cared about what they did and took pride in what they built.
I miss those days when a man’s word was good enough. This company reminds me of those good old days. It has been a pleasure doing business with a company which has pride and integrity. Job well done!!!

My company utilizes Puget as our sole source vendor for most of our data collection servers for the last 3 years. These servers are used for bleeding edge R&D projects. Although I’ve built systems for 20 years William George has saved me from making minor & major mistakes in our hardware configurations. Puget saves us money & time by not having to qualify our basic hardware & by helping us to not make design mistakes. I’ve always been impressed by the quality & depth of their build services as well as the quality of the technical knowledge of Puget’s employees.

Make no mistake: if you’re in the market for a custom PC, Puget is the world’s greatest custom PC builder.

Jon,

This is the second system I have purchased from Puget. I thought the first one was great but this latest one is Fantastic! Much more than I ever expected and Quiet! Hope it lasts over six years just like the other one. So see you in six years?

I shopped around, and you guys have given me the best choice, such as what options I can select, not to mention about the best prices.

In early 2011, I ordered the first Sandy Bridge Echo II with Linux OS.

The friendly staff means well, but I had several problems throughout the entire process.

Pros:
The binder with papers and spare components and the files with burn-in testing reports are very nice. The Build-progress website it very nice. Puget has the best website and prices for “white-box” custom builds.

Cons:
Puget has much room for improvement in build quality, pre-sales website. Pre- and post-sale Support is helpful and friendly.

Bottom Line:
Ultimately, I chose Puget because I couldn’t get the custom-spec machine I wanted built anywhere else. I’d hesitate before buying from Puget again, but I don’t know anyone else that is better. Ultimately, the PC world just isn’t Apple quality, so the tradeoff is “customizability” vs “top-line build quality”.

Details:

I submitted corrections for several product spec errors on the website.

My computer arrive with the case metal pieces partially separated, with panels screwed together in incorrect alignment.

The front panel audio jacks are misshapen, so headphone/microphone plugs pop out upon insertion.

For cable management, the hard drives were connected to incorrect SATA cables, so I had to remove and re-arrange the cable plugs when I added a second hard drive.

The Linux option is slightly misleading. Even though it is officially not supported, it would be nice to be warned that some basic functionality (like Suspend/Hibernate) flat out does not work on Puget’s current generation of hardware (Intel Sandy Bridge).

Puget kindly offered to replace my system with a rebuild, but I didn’t see how that would help, but it would add hassle.

The Asus motherboard driver CD had Zynga malware on it (but this isn’t really Puget’s fault — I assume the Puget-pre-installed Windows OS does not have the same malware).

Where to begin…. At five years my old computer, while fairly well equipped, was beginning to show its age. What I really wanted was a unit built specifically to address my needs in dealing with some rather large projets in Photoshop CS5, LR3, and Premier, as well as some fairly intensive HDR , Panorama applications…
Over the last 25 years I have dealt with the “big” computer manufacturers, foreign based (or virtually non-existent) Customer Service, seemingly endless phone waits, representatives that seemed genuinely offended that I didn’t hold a Masters Degree in Computer Sciences, and with units that were stamped out like so many cookies. I also tried a “custom” business on the East Coast that, at the time, had a good reputation… Unfortunately, as is often the case with rapid expansion, their product reliability in general and customer service in particular has really taken a hit. Make one myself?… An invitation to disaster!… Good at using them, yes… building them, no!
In my search (and an attempt to catch up with today’s technology) I began to see a good deal of input on a business called Puget Systems. . The more I looked and read… the more I liked what I saw. Their web site was extremely professional, well laid out, and very informative. No glitz and flashing signs or “fluff over substance”. The ratings for this Puget Systems were/are fantastic… With almost a thousand direct customer reviews in one source I couldn’t find one that was other than “five stars”. A common thread in every personal account was the ” outstanding customer service and the build philosophy of the company”..
My original e-mail inquiry was answered the same day by William George. Thus began a two week correspondence between the two of us relative to my needs. William was incredibly well versed on the various options open to me and even made suggestions relative to my build that ended up giving me better performance, less “overkill”, and a cost saving. While he was obviously knowledgeable enough to “bury me in technicalities” William addressed my needs and explained his reasoning in a manner that was easily understood by someone beginning to suffer far more “senior moments” than I would like to admit. There was no “sales pitch”, no rushing, no pressure to buy, and no question was ever regarded as to small to address. Patience, professionalism, and knowledge… a powerful combination!
Equally impressive was the content of the Puget Systems web site. In looking at the various models it was refreshing to be able to click on a component and have a window come up with comments from the staff on exactly why that unit/part was selected/recommended, their experience with it, and other important information.
The final price of the unit was more than reasonable considering its components. I came away from my discussions and research with the feeling that I was getting a well though out, compatible, and extremely powerful system with a company that was willing to back up its reliability.
The ordering process was painless (aside from the slight change in my $ balance) and it was enjoyable to be able to follow the fabrication and testing of my own unit on-line… Again, the result of a great site and obvious company pride.
I elected to travel the 100 miles from my home to take delivery directly from Puget Systems… On arrival, William was there to meet me and I had a chance to meet other staff members as well. The computer was hooked up and running. I was shown that all the special configurations of discs, partitions, and OS installation had been done as we had discussed. The interior of the unit showed that a great deal of attention to detail and pride had gone into the assembly.
I was also supplied with complete Benchmark and testing results, the unit is pre-setup for expansion of drives and the like… all the necessary parts and cables are included.
When I arrived home and began the dreaded transfer of data,photos, and installation of applications I fount that it was actually fun (?) . When I got Photoshop CS5 and LightRoom 3 installed I couldn’t resist doing some “tests”… All I can say is “WOW!”. I had timed some previous photo processing actions on one fairly large file with my old unit… 18 sec. Same action on the new unit…3 sec! Let’s just say “It is fast”.
I couldn’t be happier with Puget Systems, their staff, and their product. I will buy there again and will highly recommend them to anyone considering a step-up in quality, performance, and service. Maybe not the largest company in the U.S. but certainly among the very best!

#83200. Simply the best and most professional computer buying experience I have ever had, period. Quality top to bottom. Highly recommended.

#86087. This computer received in excellent condition thanks to the proper packing. Overlook shows the attention to detail given to this build by talented and interested Puget Systems staff. The machine fires right up with no noise, none, not even any kind of a sound. Fast boot, no heat. Everything works smooth and is a pleasure to use. The video drives an AsusVH2442H in HDMI 16×9 with a outstanding picture really breathtaking. Since the machine is silent a person can stay at the desk much longer than being next to one that noisey.

To sum things up The Puget Systems people design and build computers that are as good as you can get, SOTA. You receive a lot of extras that are to numerous to list here and then there are the people. The people make the the whole experience over the top. I like this company there products and there way of doing business. I plan to have several more machines built by them.