powernotebooks review

I figured I'd get a jump start on this and update it as I go. So far the experience has been good with just one hiccup, I'll explain below...

Phase One: Finding a Reseller

I looked at all the companies (Xotic, PowerNotebooks, Gentech, etc) and initially decided on Xotic. The issue I had was, while their customer service/sales staff answered my questions, they didn't seem all that attentive. When I'm spending $1500 I really want someone to go the extra mile.

I decided to call up PNB and I got Abe on the phone. He explained several things, why I might not need to bump from the 4700MQ to the 4800MQ and several other things. Also advised a different laptop and explained the difference to me.

PRO: Powernotebooks sales staff is more attentive than Xotic, it seemed like with my limited interactions


Phase Two: Choosing a Laptop

Here things got a bit tricky. I was initially interested in the Sager NP-7338. Abe guided me away from that and towards the MSI GE60. He assured me the cooling power on it was solid and I wouldn't have an issue.

--June 17: Place order for MSI GE60 with PNB, they gave me a discount when I placed the order. I asked for an upgrade instead of the discount which was slightly more. Abe said sure (thanks Abe!)
--June 17: Get confirmation emails. Apparently despite the upgrades on my unit, it still ships directly from Sager. Can't have the branding removed because of this. Boo.
--June 17: Speak with a gamer friend who has a Ge60/in same academic program as me. He says of the GE60 if you can, it tends to run hot when he maxes out. Email Abe asking to change to the Sager BP8268 (after business hours)
--June 18: He replies first thing in the AM saying that works and he's on it (thanks Abe!), Email Abe back a few hours later saying wait, I might go with a different system. End up going with the 8268-S, no discounts on Sagers sadly, but I'm cool with paying more for a better system. Can't remove Sager logo because ships direct

--June 26: Haven't heard anything so email Abe to make sure funds went through/couple of questions. Accidentally emailed wrong person. Whoops
--June 27: Realize I'm not as tech savvy as I thought. Email Abe again, hopefully get email early Monday AM.
--June 30: No reply from Abe by around 3 pm Pacific time. They do note a 24-48 hour response time on their site, but if it's urgent or you want a quicker response, just give them a call. I did and got Charlotte. She said she'd look into it for me.
--June 30: Charlotte emails me saying there's an issue at Sager. My unit won't ship before next week. Boo. But not their fault, so no negative there. She also said she's sure Abe emailed me about the issue, which he hadn't. Maybe a miscommunication at their office. Not worth adding to the CONs list, but something to note.

PROs: Switched my order twice in 6-8 hours and Abe was there each time, updating it like a boss. Got everything squared away with 24 hours of getting the process started.
CONs: Advised on the GT60, but it's louder, hotter, and has shorter battery life than the Sager (this is anecdotal so it could be wrong, everything I've read and been told supports this though). Could not remove branding from the product because it ships direct from manufacturer - this should be clarified next to the option.


Conclusion

That's where I'm at so far. I've enjoyed all of my interactions with powernotebooks. There was a hiccup on deciding which system to get, but maybe Abe is just a big MSI fan? It just threw me off since every other source is anti-GE60 though not necessarily anti-MSI.

<strike>If the system shows up and it's what I expect, I'll be ordering from them again solely because of customer service.</strike> I'm going to hold off on making future decisions until the transaction is concluded. I wouldn't say the cons outweigh the pros yet, even though there are more of them. This will really come down to communication between now and when I get the notebook and the condition in which the notebook arrives.

Sidebar: You guys should update your site, I almost didn't even consider PNB because it doesn't look very professional. When I'm throwing down $1,000+ for a new system, I want to be confident in their professionalism. It's hard to get past the way you guys present yourselves with your website. I know a lot of people who wouldn't by from you all just because of how the product is presented. Don't mean to hate, hope this was taken as constructive criticism.