Darkshado's Reseller Review (feat. Eurocom, Malibal and Pro-Star)

Hello everyone,

Here are my (long and likely rambling) thoughts on the multiple businesses I've dealt with, now that I've received my computer.

I originally placed an order at Malibal for a P150EM on May 14th.

My configuration was nothing unusual, except for one thing: I wanted a French Canadian keyboard. Listed as available alongside a plethora of other languages for a 50$ extra. (3720QM, 7970M, no RAM, no HDD, HDD caddy, 6235)

(Cultural backgrounder: the majority of the 7 million or so residents of Québec speak French, unlike the rest of North America. Quebec French is to France French what American English is to British English. And unlike our European cousins whom use AZERTY, we use a variant of the QWERTY keyboard)

I did this despite having seen some of the discussions on here that were less than cordial. I felt like this was an isolated occurrence, and that good business practices would prevail in general... The atmosphere on their forums was quite good and they were responsive both there and via email pre-order, this put me at ease.

Within a few days (May 25th) I received an email saying that there would be a three to four weeks of lead time for the keyboard, asking if I wanted to wait or ship my order out with a US English, or France French keyboard. I decided to wait, and asked about perhaps "having my cake and eating it too" i.e. shipping with a US keyboard first and send me the French Canadian one later on, perhaps for a slight supplement. (Since I would in all fairness have ended up with two keyboards.)

Around the same time, as most people reading here know all too well, AMD card production issues cropped up. I asked about those in the same e-mail.

Got a reply (still on May 25th) mentioning an upcoming announcement (it came in the next day) and that shipping one keyboard first and the other one later would be feasible.

Heard through the grapevine (here on NBR) that AMD 7970M had resumed. IIRC Malibal's forums failed shortly thereafter.

No updates until five weeks later (June 26th), when another email stated there would be additional delays for the keyboard with no additional information, frustrating.

I inquired (June 27th) as to whether there was a revised ETA and any explanation for the delays only to get a reply (July 3rd) saying they had no clear ETA from the factory in Taiwan but that they estimated two weeks.

By week six I felt as if Malibal were unable to get the keyboard and were trying to buy time/make me cave in, get the regular US keyboard and leave it at that. Busy IRL, I sent an e-mail (July 6th) saying I'd keep on waiting for the moment. Some sleuthing was in order, and probably a change of company.

As far as I know, only Sager, Eurocom and Pro-Star directly import Clevo shells in North America. Sager doesn't stock any non US English keyboards, so that leaves us the latter two.

I contacted Pro-Star (July 4th) and asked if they could get a backlit fr-CA keyboard. Ms. Lillian Hsiao was very quick in responding. I let her know that I had already ordered elsewhere but was evaluating my options. She initially sent me a technical drawing for a French AZERTY keyboard. (For those wondering it turns out the backlit keyboards are made by Sunrex.) After a few e-mail back and forth, she had checked some more and said that this was the only French keyboard they could get...

I also contacted Eurocom (on June 27th evening) asking if the backlit French Canadian keyboard was available, since it wasn't listed on their site. Nick Pavia was equally fast in replying (first thing the next morning). He said that they didn't have a backlit French Canadian keyboard, but had chiclet ones in stock.

It took me a few days, being busy with work and all, but eventually I asked him for a proper quote (July 6th evening), and if that meant the system would be a P151EM with a 180W PSU (and that I didn't mind).

Part of his reply: "If you would like to order send me shipping information and we will ship Tuesday for you." On a Sunday no less. In addition, shipping was free, and I saved both USD exchange on my credit card and provincial tax (they being in Ontario and Quebec not participating in the HST). All in all it came out cheaper than my original order, and this one came with 2x4GB of RAM.

I confirmed everything was in order and got a call for my payment info Monday morning (July 9th).
I sent Malibal an order cancellation e-mail immediately afterwards.

The system I ordered from Eurocom got here on Wednesday. There was a transport bag included in the package as well, neat.

Hope that can help a few of you in their shopping.

TL;DR: Eurocom did a great job. Pro-Star were quick, polite and knowledgeable. Malibal should have been more transparent. The Sager resellers on here also gave me a good impression if you don't need/care for a non-US keyboard.

Sincerely,

Darkshado

 

I must confess a guilty tinge of sadistic pleasure every time I see the word "Malibal" in a thread title now, because I brace myself for the latest and greatest of their hits in mistreating customers. rofl.

On a serious note, which of the three Clevo shell importers is considered to produce the most solid gaming laptop? I never heard much about Eurocom's productions or Pro Star's.

What other well-known brands of comparable quality shells to Clevo are there with their own hydra importers/builders/resellers?

 

@neoczar: none that I know of

 

but i taught Mythlogic were a clevo builder........
there is also some company called DigitalStormOnline they build custom desktops/laptop(laptops are clevo) but their prices seem to be a bit high and they are not that well known....

 

+1
I liked the TL;DR ty

 

I do also. It amazes me a company is so willing to neglect and ignore customers who pay $1500+ for a laptop.

 

I dealt with Nick at Eurocom when getting my system and he was really good. Quick to reply to phone calls or emails and easy to deal with. Good aftersales support too. I'll admit that the reviews of Eurocom from a few years back on here had me worried a bit, but my experience with them has been excellent. I've had the machine back for an RMA once and they dealt with it quickly and efficiently.

 

i think what he meant is that are there any other brands other than clevo that produces shells for laptop customization.

 

Thanks very much for taking the time to let us know what you thought about your experience DarkShado & amramsey!

I'll ensure the feedback gets passed on to Nick and to management.

Enjoy your notebook!

-Dan