Rage Set's Review of XoticPC (Clevo P870DM3)

Please Note: This is a review-in-progress of my entire experience with the reseller, XoticPC. It will be updated and edited over time.

Foreword​

I will admit it before I delve deeper into my purchase experience with XoticPC. I am a tough customer to please. I have over 15 years in sales experience. My motto and therefore the motto of my company is zealously take care of the client pre and post sale. With that in mind, let’s get to the review.


Update 11/01/16: I initiated a return for my P870DM3 due to major CPU throttling when SLI is enabled. For the record, XoticPC has offered to troubleshoot the issue but the problem stems from Bios/EC. The machine is great overall, but I believe custom bios from Prema (not supported by XoticPC or Sager) would be the best fix and will allow me to do more with my machine in the future.

Update 11/07/16: I am still in the process of returning my P870DM3 to XoticPC. I didn't think it would take this long to get a RMA number. It seems like someone is dragging their feet. It has been a bit of a back and forth with XoticPC's customer service via e-mail but I was told it would take them 48 business hours (2 business days) on Nov, 2nd, 2016. It is now Nov, 7th...

Update 11/14/16: I was able to fix the throttling issue thanks to another reseller and two very helpful NBR members, however, I still shipped the machine back. Spending over $4,000 with a company, you expect a certain level of customer service and care. I feel like I did not get that.

Original Review​

I fell in love with Clevo’s Desktop Replacements (DTR) after I purchased Mr. Fox’s P870DM-G computer. It surprised me with its beastly performance. So when Nvidia introduced and later released the Pascal series for notebooks, I knew I was going to pick up a Clevo DTR with one in it, but the question became, from who?

After a week of intense research of Clevo resellers, I narrowed my choices down to three, HIDevolution, Mythlogic and XoticPC. HIDevolution and Mythlogic both offer Prema’s excellent custom Bios whereas XoticPC does not. I nearly dropped XoticPC out of consideration because of that single fact. However, what kept XoticPC in the fold was their payment options.

HIDevolution was the most communicative out of the three resellers, largely due to Donald and his superb customer service skills. I had zero communication with Mythlogic and not to any lack of me trying. I called the company four or five times over a two day span (during business hours) leaving messages on two and never heard back from them.

XoticPC’s customer service overall is good. If you call them, you can get in touch with a real person quickly, however, their e-mail correspondence is slow. If they say they are going to call you back, they do. XoticPC also is very good with the freebies you get with your order; I called them about adding a free headset that was being offered presently but wasn’t offered when I made my order, they happily made the adjustment.

What made me go with XoticPC was their traditional financing. I, for one, do not like to use my credit cards for large purchases over $3,000. I wasn’t going to lease my purchase either (if you look at the buyout options on most of these lease contracts, they are ridiculous). Add in the convenience factor of not having to go to a bank for a loan (the APR for my loan was highly competitive), they were the right choice for me.

I am a very loyal customer and I normally stick with a merchant if my experience goes well. Hopefully this is the start of a great, longstanding relationship with XoticPC.

As of 10/20/16, my P870DM3 with a 3K 120hz, 5ms panel, 1080 SLI is on its way to me. I will keep this post updated with post sale commentary.

Rage Set's Score of XoticPC
6 out of 10

Pros:​

• XoticPC offers competitive pricing on amazing customizable hardware.
• While most resellers have freebies, XoticPC often gives more.
• Generally you can get into contact with them via telephone fairly quickly if you have any issues/concerns.

Cons:
​

• Overall customer service is lacking. It feels impersonal.
• Their solutions to your issue might not be ideal if you are a novice or you rather not "DIY".
• E-mail correspondence is slow. Don't take that route if you have an urgent problem.

 

Happy to hear your machine is on the way! I would be happy to help and be a point of contact as well! You should PM your order number to me

 

10/26/16 Update:

I got my beast in yesterday and the one glaring issue is it has a Sager logo on the lid. I ordered it without any branding on the outside. I called XoticPC today and after several minutes waiting, I am told "you can remove the logo with some heat". I know you can remove it with heat, that's not the point. It's like me buying a brand new car and I request the dealership not brand the vehicle with their logo and they still do it. While you can remove the branding yourself, I shouldn't have to.

I plan on buying a P750DM2 with a 1070 in a week and instead of giving XoticPC my repeat business, I might end up giving another reseller a chance. I will give update my OP with my score of XoticPC.

 

I'd return it, settling for nothing but a full refund and them paying the shipping.

Better to just throw a BBB complaint and possible bank chargeback to pressure them.

 

The logo is literally a removable sticker, we can certainly help you with that or if you would like to return the machine because of it, we can assist with that as well

 

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not but I fell on the floor laughing because I saw your cookie monster avatar and pictured you saying what you wrote in his voice. Either way, I think what you suggested is a bit extreme, even for me.

I get your point and I hope you understand mine. I will make my decision soon.

 

Says the person who encourages others to commit return fraud against Amazon.

 

Isn't the logo indented inside the chassis? I believe the old Sager units did this.

 

No.

 

hmm, how weird

thanks for the info

 

I generally don't pay attention to the avatars here, but I might have to start doing this. I got a good laugh out of this once you bring that out. Not trying to pick on anything Mobius 1 said, but it just puts a new spin on the posts.

But anyways, I think the person who you talked to was just giving the one possible solution that doesn't require the system to be shipped back. No downtime, other than the few minutes to remove it. I see where they are coming from on that. But if you want to return it or look at getting the panel replaced with the unbranded one, we'll be glad to help out. I'm sorry that shipped with that on there and wasn't caught in the build process. Feel free to reach out to me if there is anything I can help with.

 

AMEN!!!

How easy is it to remove pat? If its literally a 5 min job

@Rage Set, its not worth the hassle of sending it back etc if its literally easy to get it off.. Especially if you have a proper unit and you'll have to wait till December...

 

It took me 5 minutes to remove all the stickers from the palm rests of my p751DM2. Used a hair dryer for a minute and they peeled off nicely with no residue at all. Maybe it's as easy with the Sager logo?

 

They come off pretty easy in my experience, they are a metal sticker so heat helps but sometimes you can get off with fingernails as well.

 

Well, it wouldn't take that long. In a case like this, it wouldn't require building a whole new system, or possibly waiting on back-ordered parts. A simple panel swap and it would be good to go.

 

I shipped back the P870DM3 during mid Nov. Sager received the machine on Nov 21st. I was told via e-mail by Barry from XoticPC that it will take 4 to 9 business days from the day they (Sager) received the machine to inspect it and issue the refund. In that same e-mail, Barry said he would send me an e-mail when they've issued the refund. Last Friday, I called XoticPC for an update and the gentleman on the phone said he needed to get a response from his financial department and as soon as he gets one, he would call me by today. I received no call today.

I do understand the holidays are causing delays for all businesses but I don't like being told you're going to do something and you don't do it.

 

I'm sorry to hear that nobody got back to you today. Yes, it was a busy day, but we should have checked back with you on this. If you send me your order number or RMA, and I'll make sure to get you an update on this. Just let me know if there is anything I can do for you. Thanks!

 

I sent you a couple of messages. Thanks for reaching out to me. I'll update you as soon as possible. Thanks!