How to choose an MSI reseller

Hello all,

I'm thinking of buying the MSI GT73VR-017 and now I'm trying to figure out how to best decide on a reseller. Is there any significant difference regarding how warranty service would be handled between the resellers if it is needed, or does that get handled by MSI, making the reseller not all that important in the overall picture when it comes to repairs?

Some of the companies I have talked to have offered larger discounts than others, even free upgrades and other freebies. All things being equal, I'd certainly prefer get as much for my money as possible. However, I don't know if all things are really equal. I assume if I buy an MSI laptop, they'd be identical regardless of reseller...but is that really the case? When it's a stock configuration, which is what I'm considering for the most part, is it completely done by MSI? I have no idea how that works.

I'd also prefer to find a reseller that doesn't charge sales tax in NC.

Does anyone have any feedback they care to share on Gentech, Xotic, HIDevolution, iBuyPower and others? I have done a forum search but I still wasn't completely sure of the answers to the above questions after reading around for a few days. It's certainly possible I missed it, though.

Thanks in advance! PMs are welcome if you'd prefer (including from any of the resellers on the forum).

 

All resellers that participate on these forums are very reputable. I'd say the main difference of going with a reseller is the additional customer service you get from them. All, as far as I know, will price match and will offer most popular models, as well as offering good customization (though keep an eye on prices, it can get VERY expensive if you just add stuff!) so the difference comes from each reseller's customer service.

I've dealt with GentechPC the most and I have been happy with their excellent service, but I have spoken and dealt partially with most others and I can tell you they are great. If you have specific questions to them, they can certainly answer them here, or you can ask them personally via PM if you have questions for them

Other users can chime in. On these forums, you will see both the good and bad experiences, though the least we can confirm is that the resellers are legit, and our own personal experience with them Even if you see a topic that is negative, you will often see resellers doing their best to help out.

And in my experience, it is thanks to resellers that we have gotten faster updates, as they can channel comments here directly to manufacturers.

 

Thanks for responding! I am definitely aware that many times the complaints hit the forums while those who are happy with their experience are off enjoying their new laptop and not even thinking about saying too much. I know before I bought my Alienware a few years back, I was on here regularly. Then after buying it and having this beast (at the time) of a machine to play games on I didn't come around much. Now that I am ready to purchase again, I need the wisdom and insight of those who are around more than I happen to be.

 

I've been eyeing the same model you mention. I think it might be one of the better current MSI machines right now. It has slightly lower performance than my SLI 980m, but much more single GPU performance, and that's important to me because VR. I can crank the settings with my Vive with a GTX 1070 or 1080.

I also have my eyes on the GT62VR with similar specs, also the barebones version with desktop CPU (although this one seems to be handled by fewer resellers).

 

I recently purchased my first gaming notebook (an MSI GS43VR), and I took some time to research the various boutique resellers by reading reviews from users on these forums, on resellerratings.com, and other sites that popped up on Google. I also private messaged their reps here on these forums, both to get to know how their customer service is and to ask questions. The three things I looked for in choosing a reseller were:

(1) How good is their QA process? For me, that's probably the biggest value a reseller can add - the last thing I want is a dud computer! I'd prefer to never have to use the warranty if possible, and having a reseller conduct an extensive QA process can only help head off problems from the start. Resellers don't typically go into details on their websites though about their QA process, nor do reviews usually cover it, so it's a question to ask them directly. I learned that each company's process is different, and some appear to be more extensive than others.

(2) How is their customer support? You can get a sense of this from reading reviews of course, but it's also helpful to contact them directly to ask them questions (such as, "what's your QA process for MSI laptops?") and see how they respond - are they quick to answer? Is their answer detailed? Did they actally answer your questions? Etc. Again for me, results varied - some resellers got back to me super promptly and provided detailed answers, others didn't get back to me for days or even weeks, some didn't actually answer my questions, etc.

(3) What's the price? This isn't as big a deal, as often the resellers price match one another. But that's not always true, especially for discounts or sales. Also note that the NBR member discount varies between resellers too.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful advice for you. If you're curious who I ended up buying from, it was Prostar, and I had a great experience and would recommend them. But as ryzeki says, all of the resellers with reps on these forums are reputable. Really, the best thing you can do is contact the resellers directly (private message their reps on the forums, or send an email, etc.) and get to know them better.

Good luck!

 

That is good info, thank you! I definitely noticed the difference in NBR member discounts. It is quite different between vendors in some cases.

May I ask, if warranty service is a requirement at some point during the warranty period, do you deal directly with MSI or do you deal with the reseller?

 

Nope, you'll always deal with MSI for warranty claims, unless you have the reseller install particular parts that are different from what MSI installs stock; if those particular parts malfunction, the reseller will handle warranty claims for those parts only, and everything else will still be handled by MSI. (Of course though if you want to return a MSI computer within the return period, then you'll return it the reseller, not MSI.)

 

Excellent. That's very helpful. Thank you for responding. I've narrowed it down a bit and may even pull the trigger this evening after my workout. I appreciate your assistance!

 

Since I started this thread for help on choosing a reseller, I figured I'd come back and follow up with my experience. I followed the advice here and after several messages back and forth with Ken at GentechPC I elected to go with them. I did talk to other companies as well, either through this forum or through their website chat.

From our initial contact, through all my questions, and follow-through, Ken did everything he said he'd do...exactly how he said he'd do it. He even messaged me when my unit shipped, confirming everything we agreed upon. He was very quick to reply to my messages and gave me direct responses that did not feel like a sales pitch, but rather he sounded like someone who wanted to earn my business.

I'm sure there are other companies who are also great to deal with but I just felt very confident that Ken would be there if I needed anything. Certainly, I hope I don't have any issues, but if something should happen, Ken gave me the confidence that I could rely on him for assistance.

The laptop has arrived and I look forward to breaking it in more over the weekend as I have only had a few hours each night to get it set up. I'll possibly post some first impressions on the appropriate thread later on. It sure is a pretty beast, though. Thanks to all for your input and thanks to Ken for making this such an easy process. Up to this point I am exceptionally satisfied.