Best Buy Launches Own Computer Line

macaddictmacaddict
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I just read on Ars that Best Buy has recently released a line of computers dubbed "vpr Matrix" to sell alongside Sony and HP systems. My first thought was "what?" and then "eww!". I checked out Best Buy's website to see the speccage, and I must say, it's not bad. For $1299 you get an ATX case/mobo with 6 USB, 3 FireWire, 24X CDRW, 2GHz Williamatte, 512MB PC2100, 120GB 7200RPM HD, and a case that doesn't look ugly (still beige, but at least it doesn't try to look cool). I am concerned about reliability and stability of the machines. Best Buy would probably be the *last* place I'd look at for a computer. According to Ars though, it's the number one brick and mortar comp seller. I bet the n00bs will buy them in droves due to the spec appeal of them, compared to the HPs and Comcraps that they will be shelved next to.



Your thoughts? I hope Best Buy completely crashes on this. I hate Best Buy.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 32
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    Whatever, I use mac so it doesn't bother me what Best Buy sells or makes. I'm biased to this thread I guess.
  • Reply 2 of 32
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    This is a great idea. They already have brand recognition and an assload (technical term) of outlets to push their product.

    And the specs on that thing kick ass.



    The <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/ComputersPeripherals/specials/vprSplash1_27.asp"; target="_blank">link</a>.
  • Reply 3 of 32
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    I can see people being convinced by a Best Buy salesperson in store, but it's still an uphill battle against Dell, HP, Compaq, Gateway, IBM, etc.



    Best Buy has name recognition, but not in PCs. I think they're in for trouble as they'll have to expand on tech support, training, etc.
  • Reply 4 of 32
    mjpacimjpaci Posts: 79member
    I wonder what motherboard they're using? I wonder, too, how two machines with the same model number differ. Some companies (eMachines) are horrible about that while some in the corporate space (IBM) are great and keeping things the same across the board.



    --Mike
  • Reply 5 of 32
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    With all of the PC makers deciding to stop selling consumer PCs, Best Buy realized that within a year, they will only be selling HP-Compaq machines (after they merge), and they would have to rely entirely on that company to produce good machines with good service that people would want to buy. If the public decides that HP-Compaq machines are nothing but junk, then they're screwed in terms of selling PCs. Therefore, they make their own. Looks like a POS with cheap components, though.
  • Reply 6 of 32
    tigerwoods99tigerwoods99 Posts: 2,633member
    Yes I saw of what you speak on. They have been advertising it in their Sunday ads for a couple weeks now I believe. I just assumed it was some other generic brand, not some Best Buy thing. Yes those are good specs. Why do you hate Best Buy? I think that store kicks ass, tons of electronics goods. Also they sell stuff pretty cheap and have good deals. If you ask me that would be the perfect place to display the new iMac. Employees aside you know how many people I see in that store when I'm there? Quite a few and if they placed it somewhere viewable where everyone could see people would start to take notice. I say put Furiously Fast G4 with Velocity Engine instead of what the MHz is (or just put the MHz rating in smaller print) and list all the other cool stuff you get with it. Then people use it say "Damn this is fast!".
  • Reply 7 of 32
    groveratgroverat Posts: 10,872member
    The best source of information on this is the ArsTechnica <a href="http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=174096756&m=4940966463&r=4 940966463" target="_blank">thread</a> tied to the news posting.



    Looks like they're using good components. Intel motherboards, WD HDs, Lite-On CD-RW/DVD drives & logitech mouse/kb. All standards. (Sound is onboard in the low-ends, SBLive5.1 on the top-ends).



    Coolest thing I noticed, not pre-loaded with shitty software like you get on Dells and such. Every national ISP pre-loaded and all kinds of moron-apps starting up when Windows launches... *shudder*

    It's a good idea to not dirty the damn thing up before the customer gets it.



    [ 02-03-2002: Message edited by: groverat ]</p>
  • Reply 8 of 32
    macaddictmacaddict Posts: 1,055member
    [quote]Why do you hate Best Buy?<hr></blockquote>



    The employees are so useless they make more of a problem than there would be without them.



    Me: Hey, I'm looking for a Sony MP3 CD player.



    Salesperson: Sony doesn't make any. Go check out our line of portable MP3 players in the computer section.



    I went online that night and bought a Sony MP3 CD player for my parents. Glad my parents weren't shopping alone because they would have picked up whatever the Best Buy person told them to.







    The components do not look like crap...rather good anyway. 300W PSU, good drives, etc.



    [ 02-03-2002: Message edited by: MacAddict ]</p>
  • Reply 9 of 32
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    wow, there must have been some serious shit that went down between Best Buy, Compaq and HP. you have to realzie that Compaq relies almost 100% on retail sales of their computers, and Best Buy is a huge outlet for them.



    for best buy to turn around and start selling their product right alongside the HP's and Compaq's had to ruffle a few feathers.



    also, having macs in the stores along with these other machines would be horrible. i worked as an Apple rep. when they introduced the iMac, and were in Best Buy stores, and it was 100 times worse than CompUSA has ever been. i have never seen such dedication to talking someone out of buying a product.



    they resorted to flat out lies to keep people from buying a Mac, stuff that they knew for a fact wasn't true. it was bad, i almost got banned from the store when i started calling the Best Buy employees on the lies they were telling.



    guess management didn't like that.



    oh well, the world keeps on turning.



    wonder how long it will take until Dell decides to slit Best Buy's throat.....
  • Reply 10 of 32
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    [quote]Why do you hate Best Buy?<hr></blockquote>



    When you see salespeople actually grab something from a customer and say, "Oh, you don't want this, it's junk, buy this instead", you just can't help but feel angry at them.



    Plus, even when they have 'good' deals, they always involve sending rebate forms in. I have sent in about 7 of these 'rebate forms' and have yet to get any money back or any response, for that matter.



    For the most part, they don't know what they are talking about. When they sold Macs, I couldn't believe the effort they went through to not sell them. I saw an elderly couple ask to buy one. The guy said he would need help in getting one for them, and went a few aisles over, and started snickering about the customers to some other Best Buy guys hanging around. Then he went on break. The elderly couple, in the meantime, got the machine by themselves, and got it over to the registers, only for two completely different Best Buy employees to come over, and offer to help. But instead of helping, they said that they didn't want to buy that computer, and started trying to sell them a cheap PC while carrying the machine back over to the shelf where it had been sitting. They ended up going to CompUSA instead.



    Personally, when I go in there actually looking for something, either they don't have it, or it's overpriced. I usually have better luck at Circuit City or CompUSA if I really need to find something. Plus, the only time I ordered something online to pick up in the store, when I went to pick it up, they had sold it, even though it was already paid for!



    I could go on, but you get the general idea of what I am saying. It's been my experience that Best Buy is generally a poor store. I've never had much luck with them and try and steer clear of it now. I'm sure their leap into the consumer PC market will be just about as successful as CompUSA's PCs; not at all.
  • Reply 11 of 32
    willoughbywilloughby Posts: 1,457member
    I like Best Buy for my occassionaly oooh ahhh when I'm in the Mall. They have a lot of neat stuff to play with. I would never buy something in there that I wasn't sure about. I wouldn't want to be talked into an inferior product.



    However, if I was looking for a DVD that another store didn't have and I didn't feel like waiting for it to be shipped (i.e.: last minute present) then I'd go there. They have a nice selection of DVDs.



    They must be making $1 on each of those PCs that they sell. I wonder if employees get commission on them. Those prices are pretty cheap.
  • Reply 12 of 32
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    For Computers, TVs, and stuff like that, they suck. For CDs, DVDs, and that stuff they're great. The prices are very low. For that stuff I love Best Buy.
  • Reply 13 of 32
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    No wonder Best Buy decided to buy Futile Shop. They ain't up here in Canada yet, but it sounds like exactly the same store. ::Shudder::



    <img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" /> &lt;-- Not a 'No' there, just shaking head in disgust.



    [ 02-04-2002: Message edited by: Matsu ]</p>
  • Reply 14 of 32
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    [quote]Originally posted by Eugene:

    <strong>I can see people being convinced by a Best Buy salesperson in store, but it's still an uphill battle against Dell, HP, Compaq, Gateway, IBM, etc.



    Best Buy has name recognition, but not in PCs. I think they're in for trouble as they'll have to expand on tech support, training, etc.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    IBM doesn't build consumer desktop pcs anymore



    only time i shop at bestbuy is when i have a gift certificate, which has happened twice... both times i had to ruffle around all the overpriced crap to fine the one or two things in the store that were pretty good deals...



    also the lines are disgusting, and the tech people are poorly trained and generally rude YMMV



    [ 02-04-2002: Message edited by: janitor ]</p>
  • Reply 15 of 32
    applenutapplenut Posts: 5,768member
    [quote]Originally posted by janitor:

    <strong>



    IBM doesn't build consumer desktop pcs anymore</strong><hr></blockquote>



    <a href="http://commerce.www.ibm.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/"; target="_blank">http://commerce.www.ibm.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/</a>;

    ProductDisplay?cntrfnbr=1&prmenbr=1&prnbr=682322U&

    cntry=840&lang=en_US&c=homeoffice&n=spottwo&t=ad



    [edit: Broke up overlong URL. Recombind to visit. -Amorph]



    [ 02-04-2002: Message edited by: Amorph ]</p>
  • Reply 16 of 32
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    okokok they still do now, but they're pulling out of the market
  • Reply 17 of 32
    fran441fran441 Posts: 3,715member
    Technically, IBM does not make consumer PCs. They have a line of consumer PCs that are outsourced for someone else to build.



    IBM designs the PCs and then they are built by another company.



    They are looking to fully exit the consumer PC market in the short term.
  • Reply 18 of 32
    macaddictmacaddict Posts: 1,055member
    Really? That is quite newsworthy. The company who started the Windows mayhem is pulling out of the PC business, cheated out of it's own platform by a geeky teenager.



  • Reply 19 of 32
    sebseb Posts: 676member
    Well, if by geeky teenage you mean Bill Gates, I don't think it's Bill Gates driving IBM out of the consumer PC business. Could it be some other manufacturer of PCs, like oh I don't know...



    (and no, not Apple sillies)
  • Reply 20 of 32
    thinkingdifferentthinkingdifferent Posts: 1,604member
    CompUSA is doing the same thing. <img src="graemlins/surprised.gif" border="0" alt="[Surprised]" />
Sign In or Register to comment.