The name iBUYPOWER has always made me think of infomercials, a time share companies, or the latest in legal pyramid schemes.
iBUYPOWER is a horrible, terrible, no good name for a computer company. Why dismiss a product because of its name? Because it shows bad judgement from those who run the firm. With so many other choices out there, why go with them?
iBUYPOWER's corporate name actively sells me against their product, no matter its merits.
I agree. Having the word "buy" in the name always strikes me as some cheap bargain system. Not exactly a computer name that I would want to brag about owning.
I don't have much respect for any company using lower case i's-then-second-letter-capitalized to start words, either. Well, except the one company who mostly popularized it.
Well I agree that it's a stupid name choice, but I wouldn't prejudge based on that, provided that it's a known name, sold on serious shops and there are lots of reviews available.
how on earth these spammers manage to put links in here??? and wtf are they trying? the target audience here it tech-savvy, we can spot a spam with lies from distance...
I read a good post about this awhile so. They aren't trying to get us to click it, they are trying to trick Google into thinking their links are good since they are linked through the respected and popular Anandtech... Even if it's only comment spam
I'm amused that this has been hit with the AMD branding. I count 1 mention of an AMD GPU; 1 mention of a (higher end) nVidia GPU; and 3 mentions of Intel CPUs.
I was just looking at the pricing and thought integrated graphics for 999? An i3-4130 and integrated graphics for $1000? That's an insane markup. The Asrock system is $550 anyone can buy separately. All you need is to add CPU, hard drive, and RAM and you're good to go. So essentially you're paying ~$300 of the $1k for them to build it and give some tech support if you need it.
I did the math already, in the closing paragraph. The $999 system is about a $100 markup -- the i3-4130 is $130, another $70 or so for the RAM, and $70 for the 1TB HDD. Now all you have to do is add another $100 for the OS, which most people probably forget. That works out to roughly $920, or $80 less than the prebuilt.
Looking at the photos on Newegg, it looks like the case is pretty much designed around blower-based coolers because there's a metal plate that runs parallel to where the video card goes on the PCI-E riser board.
It's the ASRock design btw, not the company re-selling it. iBUYPOWER doesn't seem to jump to the conclusion that it is a BMW-designed system as it's not mentioned at all.
Hence, the statement: "no doubt the 'BMW-designed' chassis is as much about marketing as it is about quality." I've removed BMW from the title for you, but obviously the iBUYPOWER site has the mention still so I'll leave it in the main article.
I dont get how BMW has influenced the design here. At least put some kidney shaped grilles or the BMW roundel somewhere. It doesnt even have the ///M slashes.
"There now one of the larger boutique PC vendors, and you can find their prebuilt systems for sale at Newegg.com, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Walmart, and other retailers."
They mention thermals can be problematic, but offer an excellent work-around that ASRock then took them up on in making a revision to the configuration of the fans.
Another potential for problems is how the 450W PSU distributes power. 200W GPUs are supported, but that possibly eliminates GTX 770 and above...
Just do yourself a favor. STAY AWAY from this company. Yes they look good. But when it breaks and it WILL. All they do is give you the run around. They have had my system for over 2 months trying to fix the garbage they sell. Worse company out there for support. DONT BUY
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Dentons - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
The name iBUYPOWER has always made me think of infomercials, a time share companies, or the latest in legal pyramid schemes.iBUYPOWER is a horrible, terrible, no good name for a computer company. Why dismiss a product because of its name? Because it shows bad judgement from those who run the firm. With so many other choices out there, why go with them?
iBUYPOWER's corporate name actively sells me against their product, no matter its merits.
todlerix - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
I think it's fine.boozed - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
I'm with Dentons.Chugworth - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
I agree. Having the word "buy" in the name always strikes me as some cheap bargain system. Not exactly a computer name that I would want to brag about owning.HisDivineOrder - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
I don't have much respect for any company using lower case i's-then-second-letter-capitalized to start words, either. Well, except the one company who mostly popularized it.Murloc - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
Well I agree that it's a stupid name choice, but I wouldn't prejudge based on that, provided that it's a known name, sold on serious shops and there are lots of reviews available.HardwareDufus - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
I quite fancy the name "Laser Beam Computer"CecileWamsley - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
My Uncle Alexander just got a year old Buick Regal GS just by parttime work from a macbook. see it here... http://smal.ly/8wUo2marc1000 - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
how on earth these spammers manage to put links in here??? and wtf are they trying? the target audience here it tech-savvy, we can spot a spam with lies from distance...Trefugl - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
I read a good post about this awhile so. They aren't trying to get us to click it, they are trying to trick Google into thinking their links are good since they are linked through the respected and popular Anandtech... Even if it's only comment spamDanNeely - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
I'm amused that this has been hit with the AMD branding. I count 1 mention of an AMD GPU; 1 mention of a (higher end) nVidia GPU; and 3 mentions of Intel CPUs.JarredWalton - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
Yeah, anything tagged with AMD gets snagged. I removed the AMD tag because really it's only one minor option.DanNeely - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
I suspect it's a pricing error; but on their site you can currently customize the $999 base model with an AMD 7850 for nothing extra.Jumpman23 - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
I was just looking at the pricing and thought integrated graphics for 999? An i3-4130 and integrated graphics for $1000? That's an insane markup. The Asrock system is $550 anyone can buy separately. All you need is to add CPU, hard drive, and RAM and you're good to go. So essentially you're paying ~$300 of the $1k for them to build it and give some tech support if you need it.JarredWalton - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
I did the math already, in the closing paragraph. The $999 system is about a $100 markup -- the i3-4130 is $130, another $70 or so for the RAM, and $70 for the 1TB HDD. Now all you have to do is add another $100 for the OS, which most people probably forget. That works out to roughly $920, or $80 less than the prebuilt.Murloc - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
well it's a good deal then, shops will rip you off and be incompetent with one-off configurations for much more money, at least in my country.Aikouka - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
Looking at the photos on Newegg, it looks like the case is pretty much designed around blower-based coolers because there's a metal plate that runs parallel to where the video card goes on the PCI-E riser board.boozed - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
That doesn't look anything like a BMW.Owls - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
ah yes it is missing a set of wheels. good observationPenti - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
DesignWorksUSA has nothing to do with BMW car designs. BMW just happened to buy this design-firm back in 1995. It's misleading to make the jump and call it a BMW design. It is not. It's legal name is BMW Group DesignworksUSA, and it's brand name is not BMW. Their design-language is not that of BMW's but rather their own. Just look at all the other computer related items they have designed. Like the Thermaltake stuff. http://www.thermaltake.com/content.aspx?id=119 http://www.ttesports.com/newsdetail.aspx?s=229 http://www.bmwblog.com/2013/03/12/designworksusa-a...Penti - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
It's the ASRock design btw, not the company re-selling it. iBUYPOWER doesn't seem to jump to the conclusion that it is a BMW-designed system as it's not mentioned at all.JarredWalton - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
Hence, the statement: "no doubt the 'BMW-designed' chassis is as much about marketing as it is about quality." I've removed BMW from the title for you, but obviously the iBUYPOWER site has the mention still so I'll leave it in the main article.mond0 - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
Interesting coincidence.mond0 - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
Durr forgot link http://imgur.com/r5ZasdJJarredWalton - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
Am I missing something? That's just a screenshot of our site with this article showing. Spam?User457 - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
You're missing the ad in the screenshot. Easy to miss because it looks like a part of the article.JarredWalton - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
Ah, I see. Well, I mentioned ASRock already, so no worries. :)blau808 - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
I dont get how BMW has influenced the design here. At least put some kidney shaped grilles or the BMW roundel somewhere. It doesnt even have the ///M slashes.boozed - Friday, October 25, 2013 - link
It doesn't even make me vomit.Murloc - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
"There now one of the larger boutique PC vendors," Oy vey, oy gewalt, mein grammar!Aradalf - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
"There now one of the larger boutique PC vendors, and you can find their prebuilt systems for sale at Newegg.com, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Walmart, and other retailers."Should be "They're now one of..."
JarredWalton - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
*Grumble* That's what I get for dictating and not proofing well! Thanks. :-)XenIneX - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
So, it's a mini-ITX rig with roughly the same exterior dimensions as a comparable micro-ATX one. I'm having a hard time seeing the point.meacupla - Sunday, October 27, 2013 - link
because the matx one will be limited to low profile cards?although, I do agree with you that there is a lot that can be trimmed and refined.
R-Type - Monday, October 28, 2013 - link
Tom's Hardware did an excellent review on this barebones system: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/asrock-m8-mini...They mention thermals can be problematic, but offer an excellent work-around that ASRock then took them up on in making a revision to the configuration of the fans.
Another potential for problems is how the 450W PSU distributes power. 200W GPUs are supported, but that possibly eliminates GTX 770 and above...
Drittz121 - Friday, February 28, 2014 - link
Just do yourself a favor. STAY AWAY from this company. Yes they look good. But when it breaks and it WILL. All they do is give you the run around. They have had my system for over 2 months trying to fix the garbage they sell. Worse company out there for support. DONT BUY