I took the plunge!
Feb. 25th, 2004 01:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miko2And I lived to tell about it!
But first! An update on the stupid people I talked to yesterday!
First of all, as I wrote up my report on the stupid conversations I had, it occured to me that the one woman at a nameless company in Sequim that wanted me to reroute her shipment to a job site... well, I'd forgotten to look for her shipment at the end of the night and do that. So I was even stupider. Only, I looked for her shipment today and it wasn't even in the system, which means I wouldn't have found it last night anyway so no harm done really. Also explains why she didn't call up today and complain that I failed to do what I promised to do. But anyway, I was stupid either way.
The other woman who needed to ship freight from Rhode Island called back and was ecstatic. Apparently she called ABF using the number I gave her, and they connected her to their "U-Pack" division which is specifically designed for shipping household goods, so it's pretty much exactly what she needed. I hadn't really thought about them, in part because she seemed so concerned about costs and I've always thought that their pricing was enormously expensive, especially since you have to do all of the loading and unloading yourself. But I guess it's better than other options out there because she was extremely happy about the deal they gave her. So she called to thank me! That was quite nice, and now I feel bad that I called her stupid. ^_^ So Miko no baka!
Okay, after all of that buildup, this is actually quite a boring story... but anyway.
As I said before on Saturday I visited Fun-Key Computers in Tukwila and was not recieved with open arms. Now, for a little backstory on my experiences with local computer companies:
1. I bought a computer from Bear Computers in Bellevue/Redmond a few years back. Quite a few, really... ten or more. Anyway they were okay but it wasn't the best computer I ever had, nor the cheapest, nor did it have a practical case. Having a practical case that you can crack open and work on easily is important.
2. I bought my next computer from CompUSA, and a laptop from Circuit City. Both computers were good enough, but I wouldn't really reccomend either store as an outlet for a new computer.
3. I bought my neato gaming system from Fun-Key Computers about two years ago for about 1,000 bucks. It's still a very good computer... probably the best I've ever had. Fun-Key had *just* opened their store in Tukwila, but actually I had to go to Federal Way (their main store) to get my system. That was a long ways South... I haven't been back there. But I've been to the Tukwila store on a regular basis since then.
4. My backup gaming system was assembled from parts that I picked up mostly at CompuSave and PC Club in Lynnwood. Both are good stores. I also got the video card at Fun-Key, and maybe some other stuff. I don't really remember now.
So the upshot is... I've liked working with Fun-Key, and CompuSave, and PC Club.
But Saturday I visited Fun-Key and was pretty turned off by their attitudes. They basically said they were too busy to sell me a barebones system that day, and couldn't sell me a "you build it" kit and install the cpu & fan for me. Now I understand that if you want them to build a computer (even a bare bones) you need to give them time, call ahead, whatever. And I know that a build-it-yourself kit is exactly that. But the point was that they didn't go out of their way to say, "tell us what you want, and we'll have it ready by Monday" or "we can install the cpu but we'll charge you extra, and it won't be done today" or anything of that nature.
When it came right down to it, they were an hour from closing and didn't want to deal with anything that wasn't a direct sale. They wanted to go home. They weren't interested in making any extra effort to make a sale or keep my business. They could care less if I took my business somewhere else. They were busy, right? They didn't need more business.
So I took my business somewhere else.
In the Computer Source there was a two-page ad for a company called IQS Computers. It was one page back from Fun-Key's add. They were new, and claimed to have the best prices in town. They appeared to have most of the parts that Fun-Key listed in the bare bones offer I'd been looking at, and at very competetive prices.
On Monday I thought about asking them for a price quote, but when I went to their web page, all they had was the add from Computer Source. They're still working on the web site. No e-mail either.
I was going to call them but... ran out of time.
I was going to call them today (Tuesday) but again I goofed off and ran out of time... was working on one of my stories.
But I left for work early enough and realized on the way in that I could probably stop and check this place out. They're in South Kent, right off of 167 and Kent-Demoines in a shopping area right in front of a Safeway. I knew exactly where they were and it's right on my way to work. So I took the exit and checked them out.
It's a new, well-stocked store... very small. The owner was behind the counter. He wasn't too busy to deal with me and was in fact very eager for any business he could get. He's just starting out, after all. So he worked up a quote for me -- by now I pretty much knew what I wanted -- and said he could have it assembled in an hour or two. But of course I was on my way to work and didn't need it until Wednesday... piece of cake.
And his prices were as good as Fun-Key or anything else, so I decided to order it. No need to wait since it was what I wanted at a good price. I'll pick it up tomorrow... most likely on my way in to work since I don't want to drive to Kent twice in one day.
What I got is this:
MSI KT4 AV motherboard
512mb PC-2700 ram
AMD XP 2000+ cpu
Fan (naturally)
Mid Tower Case w/400mhz power... usb ports and all that good stuff
40 gig hard drive
I wanted a quote on 2200+, but he only had 2000+ and then 2500+ and up. But as I said, this is really meant to be just a web surf/writing computer in my back room that I can game on if I really want to. ^_^ It's already going to be as powerful as my game machine... no need to get greedy.
Anyway that was it. Very basic. The motherboard has onboard sound and 10/100 Lan. I probably should have added a floppy drive, since they're cheap and it doesn't hurt to have a new one... but I'll just pull my floppy and cd-rom from my old computer, along with my video card which if I remember is a 64mb Geforce of some sort. I can add a better drive like a dvd-rw or something later if I want.
The only thing I regret is that I'll have to install Windoz 98 on it... but I can fix that some other time. Right now I have a new toy to play with, for just around $300, which is pretty much what I was looking for.
The best part is that I felt good about the deal. The owner seems like a nice guy. I'm happy to take my business to him, and hope that his new venture works out... I don't think there are any other computer stores down South where he's at, and he's in a good location so he should do well.
But first! An update on the stupid people I talked to yesterday!
First of all, as I wrote up my report on the stupid conversations I had, it occured to me that the one woman at a nameless company in Sequim that wanted me to reroute her shipment to a job site... well, I'd forgotten to look for her shipment at the end of the night and do that. So I was even stupider. Only, I looked for her shipment today and it wasn't even in the system, which means I wouldn't have found it last night anyway so no harm done really. Also explains why she didn't call up today and complain that I failed to do what I promised to do. But anyway, I was stupid either way.
The other woman who needed to ship freight from Rhode Island called back and was ecstatic. Apparently she called ABF using the number I gave her, and they connected her to their "U-Pack" division which is specifically designed for shipping household goods, so it's pretty much exactly what she needed. I hadn't really thought about them, in part because she seemed so concerned about costs and I've always thought that their pricing was enormously expensive, especially since you have to do all of the loading and unloading yourself. But I guess it's better than other options out there because she was extremely happy about the deal they gave her. So she called to thank me! That was quite nice, and now I feel bad that I called her stupid. ^_^ So Miko no baka!
Okay, after all of that buildup, this is actually quite a boring story... but anyway.
As I said before on Saturday I visited Fun-Key Computers in Tukwila and was not recieved with open arms. Now, for a little backstory on my experiences with local computer companies:
1. I bought a computer from Bear Computers in Bellevue/Redmond a few years back. Quite a few, really... ten or more. Anyway they were okay but it wasn't the best computer I ever had, nor the cheapest, nor did it have a practical case. Having a practical case that you can crack open and work on easily is important.
2. I bought my next computer from CompUSA, and a laptop from Circuit City. Both computers were good enough, but I wouldn't really reccomend either store as an outlet for a new computer.
3. I bought my neato gaming system from Fun-Key Computers about two years ago for about 1,000 bucks. It's still a very good computer... probably the best I've ever had. Fun-Key had *just* opened their store in Tukwila, but actually I had to go to Federal Way (their main store) to get my system. That was a long ways South... I haven't been back there. But I've been to the Tukwila store on a regular basis since then.
4. My backup gaming system was assembled from parts that I picked up mostly at CompuSave and PC Club in Lynnwood. Both are good stores. I also got the video card at Fun-Key, and maybe some other stuff. I don't really remember now.
So the upshot is... I've liked working with Fun-Key, and CompuSave, and PC Club.
But Saturday I visited Fun-Key and was pretty turned off by their attitudes. They basically said they were too busy to sell me a barebones system that day, and couldn't sell me a "you build it" kit and install the cpu & fan for me. Now I understand that if you want them to build a computer (even a bare bones) you need to give them time, call ahead, whatever. And I know that a build-it-yourself kit is exactly that. But the point was that they didn't go out of their way to say, "tell us what you want, and we'll have it ready by Monday" or "we can install the cpu but we'll charge you extra, and it won't be done today" or anything of that nature.
When it came right down to it, they were an hour from closing and didn't want to deal with anything that wasn't a direct sale. They wanted to go home. They weren't interested in making any extra effort to make a sale or keep my business. They could care less if I took my business somewhere else. They were busy, right? They didn't need more business.
So I took my business somewhere else.
In the Computer Source there was a two-page ad for a company called IQS Computers. It was one page back from Fun-Key's add. They were new, and claimed to have the best prices in town. They appeared to have most of the parts that Fun-Key listed in the bare bones offer I'd been looking at, and at very competetive prices.
On Monday I thought about asking them for a price quote, but when I went to their web page, all they had was the add from Computer Source. They're still working on the web site. No e-mail either.
I was going to call them but... ran out of time.
I was going to call them today (Tuesday) but again I goofed off and ran out of time... was working on one of my stories.
But I left for work early enough and realized on the way in that I could probably stop and check this place out. They're in South Kent, right off of 167 and Kent-Demoines in a shopping area right in front of a Safeway. I knew exactly where they were and it's right on my way to work. So I took the exit and checked them out.
It's a new, well-stocked store... very small. The owner was behind the counter. He wasn't too busy to deal with me and was in fact very eager for any business he could get. He's just starting out, after all. So he worked up a quote for me -- by now I pretty much knew what I wanted -- and said he could have it assembled in an hour or two. But of course I was on my way to work and didn't need it until Wednesday... piece of cake.
And his prices were as good as Fun-Key or anything else, so I decided to order it. No need to wait since it was what I wanted at a good price. I'll pick it up tomorrow... most likely on my way in to work since I don't want to drive to Kent twice in one day.
What I got is this:
MSI KT4 AV motherboard
512mb PC-2700 ram
AMD XP 2000+ cpu
Fan (naturally)
Mid Tower Case w/400mhz power... usb ports and all that good stuff
40 gig hard drive
I wanted a quote on 2200+, but he only had 2000+ and then 2500+ and up. But as I said, this is really meant to be just a web surf/writing computer in my back room that I can game on if I really want to. ^_^ It's already going to be as powerful as my game machine... no need to get greedy.
Anyway that was it. Very basic. The motherboard has onboard sound and 10/100 Lan. I probably should have added a floppy drive, since they're cheap and it doesn't hurt to have a new one... but I'll just pull my floppy and cd-rom from my old computer, along with my video card which if I remember is a 64mb Geforce of some sort. I can add a better drive like a dvd-rw or something later if I want.
The only thing I regret is that I'll have to install Windoz 98 on it... but I can fix that some other time. Right now I have a new toy to play with, for just around $300, which is pretty much what I was looking for.
The best part is that I felt good about the deal. The owner seems like a nice guy. I'm happy to take my business to him, and hope that his new venture works out... I don't think there are any other computer stores down South where he's at, and he's in a good location so he should do well.
