"I don't feel like getting into details but i ordered my PC a couple of years back and I just decided to write a review looking back and regreting my decision. The first PC they sent me didn't even work! I couldn't even put an OS on it. They eneded up sending me a second PC but it ended up not having the right graphics card or disc drive which was supposed to have lightscribe. long story short, they ripped me off and i ended up not doing anything about it because I didn't want to deal with them ever again. I'd reccomend buying from anywhere else or just building your own PC."

"So far my experience with Widow PC has been absolutely perfect. I ordered a Sting 917D SLI (desktop replacement laptop) on February 22, 2008, and Song, the salesperson, was extremely accommodating, upgrading my order to a solid state drive and Vista Ultimate 64-bit at late notice. I couldn't believe it, but my laptop arrived in about a week's time after I placed my order. They had chosen to ship out my laptop immediately, even though nVidia hadn't yet provided the SLI bridges for the 8800 cards (it would be about three weeks, so they apparently didn't want to make me wait for my laptop). Brandon, the very nice tech support guy, shipped me the SLI bridge/drivers as soon as the bridge became available.

Here is my system configuration:
1 x Custom Sting 917D SLI
Chassis & Display: 917D Chassis, including a 17" 1680 x 1050 WSXGA+ ClearView Super Bright Display, CCD Camera, Bluetooth, Carrying Case, Battery
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme X6800 2.93GHz 4mb Cache 1066MHz FSB
Video Card: Dual nVidia GeForce 8800M GTX 512MB - Preorder only, Ships Mar 16, 2008
Memory: 4GB - 2 x 2048 MB 667MHz Kingston DDR2
Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (64-bit) with Microsoft CD
Hard Drive: 2.5" 160GB 7200RPM SATA-150
Second Hard Drive: None
Third Hard Drive: None
Technical Support: Lifetime Tech Support (Toll Free Phone and Email)
Optical Drive: 2.5" 8X DVD±R/RW Double Layer Burner
Wireless Network Card: Internal Pro/Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g Card
Warranty: WidowPC Laptops Three Year Parts and Labor Warranty
Software: None
Mobile Accessories: None

In addition, I have 64-bit Vista Ultimate housed on an MTRON 32GB solid state drive.

This baby is a screamer, that's all I can say. So far I've run Crysis and Oblivion on it, and it runs both games amazingly. I can actually play Crysis with very high detail settings across the board at a resolution of 1440 by 900, no sweat. Oblivion runs as smooth as butter. The system runs so quiet, I can't even hear it purr.

I'm just incredibly happy with this screamer of a laptop. It came without any bloat-ware and has run without a hitch since I received it. Other applications, like MS Word 2007 are incredibly responsive (due to solid state drive?), as is iTunes. I am elated with Widow PC, their very responsive customer support, and the fastest system I've ever used.

-Brandon
"

"To start let me just say that I was one of those who thought Widowpc was awesome. Not anymore. I will not promote them. I will make sure that all of those that I know, and can influence, stay away from this company.

I have several good reasons for being upset. Now let me just say that normally I dont get upset and I understand certain business practices (like warranties), but my experience with WidowPc has frustrated me like no other. They were suppose to have been a great company back in 05, but they sure have gone downhill since. Customer service is nearly impossible to get a hold of, the website is horrible (when its running), and they dont help their customers who are trying to work with them.

Anyway, let me start at the beginning... I bought a WidowPc on 8/06 and did so because I only heard the best about them. After some frustrations getting a hold of customer service; I was finally able to find out that my pc was shipping in 9/06. Well that didnt happen....I eventually got it in 10/6. To their credit they did give me a pc game for the pain (the only time they did so).

Now I had no further complaints with them for nearly a year (good until than), but in 09/07 the motherboard died. I sent it in for repairs 10/07 (told still in warranty)but unfortunately they didnt have those parts in anymore (nice of them to tell me after I sent it in), and that I would need to upgrade (or send it in to the manufactuers in which they told me it would take months). Well I wasnt happy, but I had been considering an upgrade anyway, so I gave them the go ahead. After weeks of emailing and calling them for updates (rarely got a reply) I finally got my pc back in 12/07. I asked about the charge but told everything taken care of.

Than in 2/08 I check my credit card and randomly see a charge from widowpc. Big surprise its the charge for the upgrade. Let me say that One: I was under the impression I wasnt going to be charged, and Two: they gave no warning but just went ahead and charged me...

About a week later my pc dies again (power saving mode issue) and I again try to get a hold of Customer service. I send in help tickets and call in...finally after days of this I get a reply. They tell me that it sounds like a video card issue and that I am not under warranty for that. Now I just sent this in to be fixed and two months later its busted again.....and they dont offer to help at all.

So now I have to buy a video card and hope that it will fix the issue, or else send it in and who knows when I will get it back plus be charged for shipping. Now why do I have to buy anything? With everything that I have had to put up with I think the least they can do is replace my video card.

Dont you?????


I hope that my review might help those that are considering widowpc. Thanks"

"I think my first order was in late 2004. Received a keen system (better than expected, in fact) that time and came back recently for another. In 2004, I had not heard of this company and found them via a search. I've since read about them in several mags and congrats on the recent PCGamer review! Couldn't have happened to a better group of fellows.

This time around I wanted to find a great system for my son. Of course, he plays World of Warcraft and several other computer games and has done well in school. I felt he deserved something more than a local big box special and remembered my good experience with this company. I have very little doubt that this company may be one of the best in the business. Every time I call I get someone who understands what I'm talking about. I don't have to explain to them like I have done with other companies in the past. I work as an IT professional and there's quite like trying to explain a detailed technical desire to a sales rep who doesn't understand IT.

In the case of Widow, I've always found their people to be very knowledgeable and very personable. In fact, Josh, the company founder emailed me recently just to check up on me and see how my experience had been. Well, I thought it couldn't have gotten any better until that happened. I was shocked by the amount of effort taken to ensure my happiness with a purchase that occurred quite some time ago.

When I get home from a day of work, I'm often stressed and need time to just bash things. Although I spend most of the day at a computer, I certainly don't see my Widow system that way. I see it as a source of stress relief as I bash, fire and slash my way through hordes of monsters. How many games have seen life on my Widow system? Half Life, World of Warcraft, Doom 3, Civilization (all of them), Sim City, The Sims (not me), Gun, Counter Strike, and the list goes on... All without a problem and at very nice performance. Some of those on a system purchased in 2004, no less. It's very nice to know that, even for a system purchased nearly 4 years ago, I can call up a tech at Widow and get advice on how to upgrade and even trade gaming stories. To even think of that kind of service at any of the Big Boy computer companies is laughable.

The people of Widow really make the difference, I say. Perhaps that is really the case with all companies. The people make the difference. If they really care, the customer will have a good experience. If they don't care, the customer will not be happy. Why can't everyone care about what they do the way this company does?

Specifically, Josh, has always been someone that said "yes" when I wanted something. In my professionaly status I've participated in purchases of IT equipment. So, to have a computer company say "yes, we can do that." when I ask for something out of the ordinary really made me feel like a VIP.

Also, Ryan, hand built our system and we got to talk with him while he was working on it. To think that I would get to talk with the actual person who built my system was a shock, by itself. To know that the person building the system was so intelligent and perhaps even more knowledgeable than I am about how high performance gaming systems run was absolutely jaw dropping.

These are just a couple of the MANY exceptionally good people I’ve me at Widow during my phone and email discussions with them. When I need a computer beyond something just for work...ie something that I know will play the games we play, I will continue to think of this company. I can't recommend them highly enough. I feel that I have found a friend or, I should say, friends.

To the fellows at Widow, thank you for making my son and me very happy on many late nights. You've made our father-son time a constant source of shared fun and a lasting memory for both of us.

Thanks for all you do. Your customer (and friend) for life..."

"I did quite a bit of research before buying my new gaming computer. I found both good and bad reviews on every single computer company I searched. What turned me on to WidowPC was their attitude of real customer service. I figure if I ever need help I can call and talk with someone at WidowPC who knows my system instead of someone in China or India. That makes me feel really good about this purchase.

I purchased in July and received my computer about a week and half later. The wiring job inside the case is immaculate. The system lights up a neon blue and looks really awesome in my room with the lights turned out. It plays WoW much faster than my old system and I seem to be able to react faster than most of the people in my guild, during raids. I owe that to this extremely fast system...it even boots up faster than I've ever seen a Windows based system boot.

Much thanks, Widow!!"

"An update: I received the machine and I highly suggest that anyone that orders from them check to make sure you get what you paid for. I did not and am currently waiting for a call tag to return the machine. All I can say is buyer beware.

I have to say so far I am greatly disappointed in Widowpc. I place an order online on 8/25/2007 and got the automatic reply thank you for your order. Since it was the weekend, I waited until Monday to email them to make sure there was no problem and they received my order. There was no response to the email. So, I called them a few days later and was told yes everything is good, it is going into production. The day before yesterday I sent them another email asking and estimated ship date and to be sent an email with a tracking number at shipping so that I could make sure someone was home. Again no response. So, I called them yesterday to find out what is going on. The person who answered the phone didn't know the status of my order and said he would check and call me back. Guess what, he didnt call me back. So, I call again today, talked to the same person and again he didn't know that status of my order and said he would call me back. I told him I hope he meant it this time. A few hours later a different person calls me back, I forget his name but I guess it the person in charge. He told me my order never went into production, they had lost an employee and my order was never processed (of course the payment for the computer was processed no problem right away). I asked how long before the computer would ship if it went into production now in order to determine if I still wanted it or not, or just a refund of my money. He said he would find out and call me back, and guess what, here it is 3 hours later and no return phone call. Plus, when I call now, I get a recording saying we are busy, you are important leave a message and we will get back to you. At this point, I am fed up with them and don't how they can say they have superior customer service."

"I must agree with a couple of the previous posts. WidowPC is a good company, although I have had some issues.

Everything went fine with ordering and shipping. No delays. The computer was a beast, huge and heavy. Not your ordinary laptop, and not very mobile. The performance was great for a while, until I had a few issues which any computer can have. The hard drive died and there were issues with the video card. Also, the battery does not work anymore, it died also. I had sent it back and it was fixed with no issues. Although, after about a year now it is about dead. My warranty has expired and now the power button has issues. Usually, if you hold it down for 5+ secs. it will turn off (used maybe because it crashed etc). Mine unfortunately, dimmed the screen and powered off the main components and froze the OS. I have to manually unplug the power cable and plug it back in. Then, I have to press the power cable before it passes POST or else the keyboard wont work and the OS wont boot. Another problem I have had all along is the heat. The case was not designed very well to dispense of heat. I didn't notice many problems in the beginning, but now the processor is about burnt out. It has caused the whole computer to crash. The processor is almost smoking because it is so hot and you can definitely smell it. Since it is dying, the computer crashes about every 20-30 mins of usage. I must then wait for about an hour to turn it back on. No dust, no overclocking, not even games now.

In conclusion, WidowPC is a dedicated company and has pretty good support. Although the machine itself (what you should really care about) has some issues over time and is pretty much a desktop. Not something I would enjoy carrying around. If you are a gamer and carry it around once and a while, then ya its ok. But again, if your a gamer the performance is nice, until it starts dying. I have somewhat turned away from games now that I haven't been using them for a while and am going to purchase a Gazelle from system76 (system76.com), which isn't toward gaming. Hopefully this has helped you future buyers in making a good decision about the company and the hardware/case they supply. Good luck!"

"Well, I've had my "Sting 917" laptop for 1.5 years now. I've waited this long to write a review because I never really felt inspired to, until now.

Recently, my computer has suffered some serious issues like, poor performance and stability issues. Since my laptop is beyond the one year warranty I've always just fixed the problem myself. It's actually great practice for me seeing as how I'm an IT student working towards my A+ cert. later this year. Anyway.

A long story short, about two weeks ago my laptop wouldn't even boot up to the OS. It would pass POST fine, however, when startup BIOS looked for the OS it found NONE. In fact the error message was "Operating System Not Found."

I tried replacing the hard drive, that didn't work, I tried switching out RAM, that didn't work. I tried rebuilding the MBR, that didn't work. Well, in my frustration, I brought my comp. to school and had one of my teachers help. It turns out that most likely, the motherboard is dying, hence the random errors and now... death.

Being a student, I can't afford to buy a new laptop / computer. However, as an IT student I desperately need a computer to run my programs. I'm stuck now with a dead 3200 dollar laptop that my aunt is still paying for. It's amazing that such a "high grade" laptop would die so swiftly.

The problem: judging by Widow's rarely updated website I doubt there's anything anyone is capable of doing. In fact, the website is so out-dated that they mention a "massive" 100gb SATA(!) hard drive as being cutting edge. That was true two years ago. Now cutting edge is an internal terrabyte HD. You get the picture.

If Widow PC is still around I hope they read this. Also, I hope anyone who reads this should take into consideration the long time support that would be offered by indie brands like Widow.

Luckily for me, I now have the world's most expensive (and large) paperweight.

-Jeremy."

"Well its been some time since I have had my WidowPC rig and I have been putting this off for way to long now. So here is my review.

Computer was purchased back in mid May 06
Received in late June 06

Back when I was in the market for a new PC I called all the major high end pc builders out there. I wanted a custom pc, but none of the major builders were really custom. I had to pick from what they offered and that was that. Then I heard about WidowPC so I figured I would give them a call. I talked to Mr. Adam about what I was wanting, during the talks he let me know I would
be receiving a call from Mr. Ryan about my inquiries. I got my call and thats where things started looking on the up and up. Through my talks with Mr. Ryan everything I wanted was laid out and put into action. I was made aware that with the custom work I wanted it would take some extra time for the computer to be built. And trust me it was worth the extra wait.

Well when the time came and my computer was ready
I drove out to WidowPC in Georgia to pick up my computer. Why did I go pick it up and not have it shipped you ask.... because this computer is a work of art.

I will not go into details on the specs of the computer, but I will say this. This puppy is a beast. And the detail that went into wire management and hose management [liquid cooled] is out of this world. And the custom paint job just tops the cake.

I have only had two issues since I have had this computer, both of which was not the fault of WidowPC. One issue was the video cards. Which was due to a bad batch of cards from Nvidia. And one HDD was showing Bad on boot but still worked. And WidowPC had me replacements for the items in no time.

For those out there who want benchmark scores, and remember at the time this computer was new these scores were top notch.
3DMark06 10,074
Also as far as games go, I have yet to find a game that I can not run with all high settings.

I recommend WidowPC to anyone who is in the market for top of the line computer. Customer Support is out of this world. And I have yet to see any other company put such quality into the build process.

Thanks,
Ben "DeadSpider" Abel"

"After a nightmare experience with one of WidowPC's competitors, which may have been bad luck but after all the customer service errors and excuses I jumped ship and decided to go with WidowPC after reading many reviews and looking at prices.

WidowPC offered the same or better components for the same price as many of the other high end computer companies. I only found a couple others that offered the same high end components.

i was also surprised they offered a military discount. The amount was like throwing sand at the beach but to me it was the thought that counted.

I was immediately impressed by their customer service when I got a phone call from Adam to verify my order and to discuss some of the comments I made in their feedback section about improvements they could make on the web site and their computers.

He also informed me that I should expect a delay on my order due to some components I ordered and why (they needed to test it for ensure there would be no problems). I am happy they did, I prefer the truth even if it sucks.

I am still eagerly waiting for my Sting 919, but as they say "All good things come to those who wait" or something like that. I would rather wait and have them test the heck out of it before I get it an start working on it and then lose data and time.


Well, due to the AMD backlog I either had to wait until after the New Year or downgrade from a TL-60 (2 GHz) to the TL-56 (1.8 GHz). They sweetened the downgrade by giving me an additional $100 on top of the downgrade refund.

After getting my computer I was surprised at the size. Their website says 19" but I got a 20" screen. It is huge. Basically, a portable desktop. I like it though.

I did notice a buzzing when I tried to use the headphone jack. I sent it back and it was determined that it could not be fixed so they paid for half of an external sound card. The buzzing made it impossible to do my foreign language courses. They have awesome service well worth the extra money."

"We ordered a new computer from this company and got much more than we expected. We told them what we wanted to use the computer for and what programs we used. This processor is much more powerful than our previous one. The salesman, Adam, was very knowledgable and helpful. We would order another one from them and have referred them to family members."

"I bought a gamers desktop, core 2 Duo, quad SLI that scored 3DMark05 at 14,500 right out of the box. All air cooled and very quiet. All operations and gaming have been flawless except for one software glitch that was quickly resolved by their tech support and was not a WidowPC error. Cabling and tie-backs are excellent and the interior is wide open for easy air flow. Very satisfied with a rock solid gaming machine."

"Beautiful laptop, very impressed! We ordered the 517D, and with a wireless router & DSL it couldn't be faster. WOW!"

"This has probably been one of THE most iritating and frustrating experience of my LIFE. First, I ordered the PC prior to the holidays and was promised a ship date before Christmas. Nope....didn't happen. THEN...I was told that the original gfx cards I had ordered...they didn't REALLY have in stock, although their website listed them as AVAILABLE. (These are TWO nVidia 7800 GTX 512 mb cards...VERY expensive at the time, because they were BRAND new). So finally, after MONTHS of waiting, the PC arrived and the XFi Platinum sound card I had ordered did NOT work except through the front ports of the computer. Sound did NOT come from the back connections at all. After HIRING a professional to come assess the situation, I find that they had put the sound card in the wrong PCI slot. So that had to be fixed. To fix that, the media card reader had to be disengaged to make room for the fact that they had oversold the number of drive bays and PCI slots that I had available. So presently, I can't even USE my firewire or media reader. When it finally came time to refill the liquid coolant, I could not get any help from TECH SUPPORT (I supposedly got 3 years tech support with my purchase...HAHAHA), because they now don't use the same tower as they used before, and the gentleman that built MY machine no longer works there. They referred me to Thermaltake for tech support. Well...I didn't pay Thermaltake 9000 dollars for the dang computer. But they referred me to THEM for support. So I go to remove the aqua bay flow regulator with the Thermaltake BigWater SE system and find that the screws had been completely stripped while they installed it, apparently, and I cannot get the drive bay OUT of the machine to refill it. It took about an hour to remove these stripped screws to get out the bay to refill it. I am only listing the things I remember right at THIS moment. The company asked me to give them a nice review on this site. After everything I have been through...I laugh at the THOUGHT of that. I would NEVER EVER AGAIN purchase a computer from WidowPC. If the opportunity ever arises for me to AFFORD another machine (unlikely since I paid as much as some new CARS cost for THIS one), I would certainly NOT purchase from WidowPC.

EDIT after response from WidowPC:

Well that is a lie. I contacted the store only ONCE regarding this problem, so they did not offer me the "opportunity" to ship it back "several times" as they say. Also, you ship back at YOUR expense. To ship a super tower the size and weight of this monster machine costs $250 US dollars! I'm not made of money! I saved for many years to afford this machine. Now, I'm quite sure that WidowPC would honor their promise to fix the most recent problem if I spent the money to ship this beast back to them, indeed. But if I had had to ship this back EVERY time I had had a problem like this, I'd have spent an EXTRA thousand dollars on the machine by now. The heck with that. It was more convienient and cost effective for me to find a local computer company to fix it. As a matter of fact, they build computers very similar to this and they've done a wonderful job each time fixing my issues with this machine. They are able to special order the same parts, etc. and they are a half a mile from my home. This has all taught me a lesson....you pay...BIG TIME...for a brand name or "famous" name on your PC. I wanted a PC from WidowPC to show off. Boy did I get knocked down a notch. Next time I will go local, skip the "fancy name" thing...and get a PC that can be cared for, pampered, and kept running right from my hometown. The liquid cooling issue is fixed now, thanks to this other company, and I didn't have to pay $250 dollars in shipping to get it done. I will add....WidowPC dow put together a machine made with AMAZING hardware. It is a BEAST of a machine when it's all running top notch. To give them the benefit of the doubt...perhaps I just had a run of bad luck with mine at first, because a lot of things had to be readjusted inside the case for it to all run right. AND....the gentleman that built mine no longer works there, for some reason. Hmmm. Anyway, it's a great machine....NOW."

"My prior laptop was stolen, and so I did a lot of shopping and decided to try Widow PC because of their good feedback ratings. It was a slightly delayed process, more on that later, but for now I am absolutely 100% happy with them.
I called Widow on June 19th and Adam took my order and made some suggestions, and my Sting laptop was quickly in their system. I hoped to get it the following week when I arrived back home, but then something I really didn't expect happened: I got a all from Widow PC with a little mixed news. Unfortunately, they couldn't use the graphics card I had wanted, but instead of simply making me wait for a back order like some other companies have done in the past, Adam said I would be getting a free upgrade. Well, I was pleasantly surprised and so the wait wasn't a big deal.
three weeks later I called up and spoke to Adam, who was quite polite when I called, and explained that I was going back out of town again and still didn't have my machine, and he told me that it should ship the following day. Lo and behold, it shipped, and I had it in my hands just in time to head back off to work.
I am exceptionally pleased. I was a little nervous at tying up so much money in a machine, but now I am a believer. This machine is a Sting 517D, and it absolutely flies through my daily work. So far the price is worth it, and my computer is a much better stable machine than my last laptop... and this one takes anything I've thrown at it so far and begs for more!
Having dealt with other major laptop "manufacturers" I can say this: so far Widow has set themselves apart by taking care of the customer. Unless something really unexpected happens, I'm a customer for life. "