Customer Testimonials

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.

To encounter a company that takes quality and customer service as imperatives is rare in the fierce competition of the PC arena – Puget Systems does. The Serenity model delivered: silent and swift. Other observations on this Serenity that is used primarily for financial analysis with Excel:
– There was no effort to sell me hardware I did not need
– The prices are fair
– My questions about the final system were answered by Jeff who was knowledgeable, patient and courteous
– The system was built and tested over a holiday, shipped on a Monday, reflecting a serious work ethic
– The shipping package is by far the most carefully thought out I have seen
– The computer arrived intact after a flight from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast
– Quality parts and meticulous cabling were a welcome sight
– The software was installed and updated with current patches and drivers
– A Rescue Disk was included with the all parts and extensive documentation
The list goes on. This was not a minimum configuration, a sizzling i7, 16 G of memory, a SSD primary drive, a 2 T secondary internal disk, and a potent graphics card. I have yet to hear a fan crank up. The Serenity is not just quiet, it is silent. An ideal office machine.
There may be other companies that can match Puget Systems quality and service but I haven’t found them.

Fed up with a decade of the best and most expensive Dell had to offer: dead in a week, in a year, 8 on-site service calls without resolution, it was time to end the frustration and look for a quality company selling a quality product. Months of research finally turned up Micro Velocity. More in-depth scrutiny revealed serious issues with their third-party on-site technical support. Their sales staff sounded a bit like used car salesmen. While checking their ratings on ResellerRatings, found Puget Computers and started the research all over. Months of thorough review resulted in ordering a high-end air-cooled computer. It arrived (configured exactly as ordered) on time and well-packaged. It’s so quiet, we both remain in disbelief after two decades of listening to fans. The staff is exceptional. Patient, able to answer technical questions in plain language (rare) and without hesitation make suggestions to improve my configuration choices, despite reducing the cost of the computer, they are a breath of fresh air. Their website provides a formidable array of educational topics. Probably the best on the Internet. All American companies should model their business practices after the Puget Computers approach.
The product quality, technical support, and warranty make, what might seem like a high price, actually an exceptional value. An elder semi-geek, with decades of computer buying experience–Puget Computers gets a long standing ovation from me!

Phenomenal customer service. Those 3 words are very powerful and comforting when ordering a custom-pc. I was looking for a custom-built machine for my photo and video editing work. I did some web research and heard good things about Puget Systems, so I went to their custom configurator to spec and price out a “dream machine”. I abandoned the configurator after thinking that the system would be too much money. Well, a few minutes later, I received an email that said, “It looks like you were visiting our site and using our configuration tool, can we help you further?” So I wrote a quick email back explaining my thoughts, and Jeff at Puget Systems explained things and configurations that I was not aware of, which reduced the price – and gave me the confidence they they really knew what they were talking about. Additionally, they gave me the confidence that they were building me a real photoshop machine vs. so many “gamer” machines. There is a difference.

The most enjoyable thing was that I felt engaged in the build – throughout the whole process. On their website, I could log in to see the stages of the build, review the parts, see the experts discuss the various components of my system, and then photos were taken during the build and posted to my profile. THAT was so COOL! It all built the expectation and anticipation that you were to receive something truly great.

When the computer arrived, the box was impeccably packaged. Everything arrived perfectly, I received a 3 ring binder kit including my system information, phone numbers, paperwork, help info, system discs, repair discs, etc.

The whole experience was second to none, and for that I am truly grateful – and cannot recommend them highly enough!

-Michael

I am, quite simply, blown away. Puget Systems not only delivered everything I asked for, they went so far above and beyond my expectations that I recommend them without reservation.

They made it easy to select a set of compatible components to build a computer with. When I submitted the order, they contacted me to say that they recommended an additional component that I didn’t include the first time. I asked them why they recommended that, and they gave enough information to satisfy me and convince me of the need-and I’ve built computers before, so I know what I’m doing.

They were always responsive, courteous, and respectful in emails-and we exchanged several when I was figuring out the payment and shipping options.

The thing that really got my attention was the detail with which I could observe their progress in building the system. They have a detailed series of tests that they run, including a full suite of benchmarks and temperature readings, to be sure the system is not only assembled, but operating well. They even took pictures of the inside of the computer, and screenshots of the BIOS! I wouldn’t have ever thought to request such things, but they are useful. That’s the sort of thing that really separates these guys from other vendors.

In short, I can’t recommend Puget Systems highly enough. They did a superb job, and I’m looking forward to working with them again in the future.

I purchased my Genesis I computer system from Puget Systems predicated upon following:

Requirement: The computer’s usage is dedicated to a single specific purpose, editing high resolution digital images using Adobe’s Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3. Image files in CS5 routinely exceed 6 GBs. These files contain multiple image layers and adjustment layers as well as channel masks. The images are manipulated using computation intensive processes, lens corrections, blurs, content aware, transformations, etc. The machine is not used on the Internet except for software updates.

Pre-Order: I discussed my requirements with several other vendors/competitors prior to selecting Puget Systems. Although some of these other vendors initial offerings were less expensive than Puget Systems their understanding of configuring a dedicated computer system optimized for Photoshop CS5 exposed their weaknesses and lack of depth of knowledge. In the end their prices are close to Puget System or expanded above Puget Systems to meet my requirements.
My discussions with William George, Customer Service Lead and Daniel Brown, Customer Support Lead were always on point to support a Photoshop system. I was impressed by both William and Daniel in their open and frank discussions and their sharing of information and knowledge. William George went out of his way to show me how a Puget System “Standard” configuration would adequately fulfill my requirements and reduce the cost for the computer over addition customization.

Delivery & Satisfaction: Puget Systems delivered on schedule. Packaging/shipping container for the computer was extremely well engineered and organized. Nice binder containing details of build, testing and software disks, separate container for spare hardware and un-used cables. A really nice clean build/assembly of the hardware, very impressive!

Best of all it works!

I have installed my Adobe software and two legacy monitors in addition to several legacy HDDs (which Puget’s William George had the cabling preinstalled – nice touch). The system has been up and running in full use for forty five days as I write this review. It is extremely quiet and generates very little heat. It is very responsive and handles the tasks well within the configured system. To date the system has not exceeded the installed 12GB of DRR3 so it has not used a dedicated cache HDD. The CPUs (8 cores) are rarely taxed to 60% doing the most intensive computational tasks. Looking at some bench marks that I have established, specifically configured images files, I am achieving a 3X to 4X performance improvement over the previous computer I used.

Summary: Puget Systems has been a pleasure to deal with, personnel are dedicated, professional, and very knowledgeable. The product delivered demonstrates and reflects the integrity of the company, first class. I received the product I expected at a fair price as well as enjoying my experience with Puget Systems personnel.

Genesis I System Configuration:
* Intel Core i7 Quad Core 950 3.06GHz processor
* 12GB DDR3
* EVGA GeForce GXT 460 1GB Video Card
* Intel X25-M 120GB SATA II SSD
* Antec CP-850 850W Power Supply
* Antec P183 Case
* Puget Hydro Liquid Cooling
* Windows 7 Professional

Bill Esch-
Palm Desert, CA