Nice company with good products at competitive prices
Aug 05 '01
The Bottom Line ABS is a good company with quality computers at competitive prices. Seasoned computer users should check this company out, but new people should probably go with Dell or Gateway.
It looks like no one has written a review on this company in a year, so I'll write one up. I've had an ABS Performance Athlon for a little over six weeks now, and I am very pleased with the quality and speed. Most of you are probably thinking "Who's ABS?", and that's what I first thought also when I read a review on one of their computers. Their computers have been reviewed several times by Computer Shopper, and most of them have gotten good reviews, so I checked the company out.
Their website layout is average, with a drop down menu near the top right corner showing their various lines of computers. Their Performance Intel/AMD lines contain the majority of computers sold by ABS, and within these lines are 3-6 different levels of computers, ranging from $1000 up to $2000+. Basically, find a price point, pick a line, and then configure how you want it. Their site has decent configuration ability, and you can choose from a fairly wide variety of processor speeds, memory, graphics/video, speakers, and other things. The site also has a specials page and monthly special systems which appear to have very good specs for the prices they offer them at. They do include some information and specifications about the components available, but you should know a decent amount about what you are looking for before you go to try and configure a system.
As far as the ordering experience, it was very good. I wanted to order a system w/out speakers, but their website didn't allow such an option. I gave them a phone call, and one of their ordering personnel told me "Sure, we can configure one w/out speakers, let me know what you want." We went through every component and I specified my choices, which they configured w/out a problem. I got a price quote, went ahead and ordered, and every three days they sent an e-mail telling me the status of where the system is.
When I received it (about 2.5 weeks after I ordered), it was packaged well, and had a large foldout with the quick-setup instructions. Components are color-coded and the ports all had plastic covers. It doesn't take long to hook everything up, and the nice thing I found was a 3" three-ring binder holding all component manuals and driver cds, organized in zip-up plastic bags w/color coding for the different components. I didn't pay much attention to the quick-setup foldout as I know how to set up a computer, but it is laid out well for a person new to computers and should be easy to follow.
The computer works very well, and appears to be manufactured well. I looked inside the case, and everything was configured and installed properly, with several fans (I counted four - two case fans, one for the processor and one on the graphics card). Unused cables were tied up and set aside, and it didn't seem like anything was overlooked. I got the AMD Performance with a 1.33 GHz Athlon, 256 MB DDR Ram, Geforce 3 Video, SoundBlaster Live 5.1, 16x slot loading DVD, and a 16x CDRW. Everything works great, the performance is very good, and I haven't had any problems with which I needed to call technical support. Thus, I cannot comment on technical support but I can guess it would be okay.
Their systems come stand w/3 year warranty but no onsite service, but you can upgrade (1 year onsite $29, 3 year onsite $129). Their web site for support is kinda bad in my opinion, as it has little info and not too much on drivers and other tech support issues.
You can get a complete top of the line AMD Athlon system for about $2000 w/a 19" monitor, and 5 speaker system, which isn't bad. If you don't know much about computers, I'd suggest calling them and seeing if one of their advisors can guide you to getting a system around a certain price range. If you're a new person to computers, this may not be the company to go to as I don't know how good their tech support is, but if you know some stuff about computers and want a system with quality components across the board, I recommend that you cheeck out this company and configure a system, you'll be happy you did.
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Epinions.com ID:
mark_ufl
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Reviews written: 35
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
UF student majoring in computer science. Wish me luck!
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