Digital Storm - Website and Ordering Impressions
Digital Storm's website immediately comes up in a web search, as do their forums. Their current Reseller Rating is 9.61/10 for the last six months and 9.04 lifetime, which is very good. Besides the raw scores, the customer feedback and reviews from buyers are very useful to read before making a purchase. As a testament to their support, many reviewers who had slight problems on arrival still gave them glowing reviews, which is unusual. Digital Storm actively responded to even minor complaints, which we like to see. Reading through their forums also revealed quite a few happy customers and very few complaints. So far, so good.
The website layout is clean and fairly streamlined. The main page shows links to Desktops, Laptops, the forums, Upgrades (installation cost is free for parts purchased through their website), and a "Guide" page that offers advice and recommendations.
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The four desktop enclosures currently offered are shown across the top of that page (but are not clickable, which is a little deceiving), and five platforms are offered that can be customized with any one of the four cases.
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Their most inexpensive systems start at $1200 (Phenom II and DDR2, minus $50 "Instant Rebate") and scale up well above $6000. They have a shipping calculator available prior to ordering, which we really like to see, but it requires a full address and threw an error when we attempted to put in a zip code only. Ground shipping is currently free, and other shipping rates, while high, were not outrageous, with almost zero increase for multiple systems (this may be an error in the calculator, or it's a large price break for dedicated customers ;)). We did notice that it's possible to add configurations to your cart with missing items (e.g. no chassis selected) and it doesn't alert the customer about the error. Presumably, they would catch this after purchase and follow up with a call or email, but the engine could easily prevent this.
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frozentundra123456 - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - link
Amazing performance,but overkill for most people. Still, I would love to have one. Wonder how SLI HD4670x2 cards would compare to the triple GTX285 in performance and power usage.The price seems relatively reasonable considering a 3 year warranty.
Clauzii - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - link
Yes, they should definately do that.gamerk2 - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - link
I brought my PC from DS. Even watercooled, thanks the all the extra fans, it is a LOUD system, but it also stays quite cool. Had an nforce releated freezing issue for a while, but to be fair, it was rare and took months for me to track to a cause (Either Overvolted RAm or a 1:1 RAM-FSB ratio fixed the problem). Support is all around great, forums are more active then some other competitors, and you can find answers to your questions quite quickly.As long as you know you are paying a premium for your system, and don't mind the extra noise that comes with cooling, then DSO is the way to go. I'd definatly buy my next PC from them after my experiance with this one.
Matt Campbell - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - link
Thanks for the feedback!HOOfan 1 - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - link
I wouldn't be suprised if the leaf blower of a power supply you got was louder than anything else in the case.NicePants42 - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - link
After owning a PCP&C 'Silencer' 750, and experiencing a PCP&C 1000W unit, I will guarantee you that the PSU is the loadest thing in that case BY FAR.A Corsair HX1000, Thermaltake Toughpower 1200, Cooler Master Real Power 1000W, Enermax Galaxy Evo or Revolution 85+, just off the top of my head, would be much better choices in terms of noise without sacrificing quality.
aigomorla - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - link
and u are one of the few who does not own a classified to know how picky it is with psu's.I personally went though 3.
The enermax revo does NOT work 50% of the time.
HOOfan 1 - Wednesday, May 20, 2009 - link
That is EVGA's fault though....not Enermax'sNot being a rabid overclocker, but instead a rabid PSU hound, I would rather get a Gigabyte mobo and a nice quiet quality PSU.
NicePants42 - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - link
Of course I meant 'loudest'. Yay for edits.Hauk - Tuesday, May 19, 2009 - link
I have a friend who's a packaging engineer. I laughed when I first heard the title, but I've learned that solid packing methods are critical to insure product quality remains unchanged through tranist.As we can see from the shipping box exterior, heavy boxes like these are subject to extremes during transit. I was very impressed to see Digital Storm using injectable foam packing ON THE INSIDE of the system. This packing prevents the heavy components (graphic cards, oversize air coolers, etc) from the forces of gravity. Imagine a typical shipping box sliding down a 20 foot chutes in shipping hub.
Newton's Law at work here, the large components want to keep moving as the box comes to an abrupt halt, the custom molded foam insert pervents that from happening. This is CRITICAL for a pre-built high end system, as they in particular contain heavy components inside.
A big thumbs up to Digital Storm on the packing...