Remember Hybridgear.net? It appears that they've been reincarnated as PCMW - UPDATED

Sooo true... I must say. Shyster and other probably wouldn't have went searching for this information if there wasn't such hype about PCMW in the first place. Hype they caused.... I wonder if wats his name from hybrid is reading this now going... ... after trying to cover it up they found me!" lol....

Btw... i dunno if i think this should be STICKIED tho... Its almost as if we're advocating they're going to be another Hybridgear. I mean, people can search PCMW to find this. But as you can see, multiple people have decided to take their business elsewhere right here in this thread! Cuz the first post by shyst, albeit objective, is giving people who havent dealt with them a bad message.

 

I will see if I can confirm and get some answers from the horse's mouth.

I still believe in second chances, as Shyster put it.

However, we here at NBR have seen a few great (maybe too great to be true) vendors come and gone.

For the time being, I do not judge, I will run with facts... and at the moment, PCMW seems to have positive feedback from the numerous customers that have purchased from them. Actions are louder than words.

I, too, am not sure if this needs to be stickied.... though it does give a great deal of information for customer research.

 

I wonder if someone should email this to their customer support just to get their take on this.

 

^^ That's a good idea. This got me a little worried as well. Although I have a hard time believing that PCMW would just take off with people's money after being a relatively competent company these past couple of years. I mean there are plenty people on this forum who have bought from them and have been satisfied.

 

I am kind of curious where the positive feedback is? I saw that one person had multiple problems with their order (granted, the company sent out multiple repair items) and mine didn't even arrive with a properly loaded OS. I think we'll have to see what the others receive when they get their pre-orders...will the hardware be solid and the OS/Software be loaded properly? Only time will tell...

And as I said in another thread, once I got my OS properly loaded the "fusion" does seem to be doing okay (although it's the wife's laptop so doesn't get run very hard or very often). I am just thankful that I knew how to load an OS from scratch...imagine a novice receiving such a system that wouldn't even boot up!

 

i just read this thread and i'm neutral with the status of pcmw. i do have to add that some scams are built with good reputations, and if thorough, could possibly have many shills cheering for pcmw on this website. seeing pcmw's marketing practices, history way back when and closer to now, advertising first to market when intel wasn't even ready and the bios "upgrade" all i can say is if you pre-ordered, cross your fingers and put your hands together.

 

I've had an overall positive experience with PCMW, although I wouldn't recommend them to anyone based on what I've read here.

I'm encouraged by all of the helpful here. If something happens, at least we'll have a place to vent. I wish I had know all of this when I ordered my notebook, but that's what I get for trying to save a few bucks! It's a gamble you take, that may or may not work out.

 

anybody come up with an idea for the "trash" in the back?

 

Probably mold build-up. It occurs in many houses. Especially in parking lots.

 

Honestly, a sticky about this?
This is , in all regards,a company with a lot of clients, and I am sure that any PCMW customer would be offended by it.

It may or may not be the truth, but with all due respect, this is not a subject for a sticky.

 

I agree eleron. It is offensive, even if informative. How is PCMW compensated if they are legit and their name is tarnished due to this being the first thing people see? Or is the objective here to ensure the destruction of the company even if they are legit? Please, let me know.

Innocent until proven guilty. The sticky implies that the company is HYBRIDGEAR and that they will run off with your money. It leaves no room for reasonable doubt with a company that so far is proving themselves an excellent reseller.

I am offended, please remove the sticky.

 

What's with Hybridgear anyway ? Was it a flop company ?

 

I think a lot of the comment following the OP is a bit on the aggressive side, people using words like "scam" which sound a bit over-the-top to me - but on the flip side, drawing the connections between the previous company and the current one I don't think are offensive?

In fact, your post, while well-intentioned, further exacerbates the issue for the less informed reader by even joining the dots in a speculative way, in my opinion.

It's a tricky one - the whole concept of "innocent until proven guilty" is of course a criminal law maxim, and not really relevant to this discussion. The balance of probabilities is not the same for civil matters, which arguably this is (at this stage at least...).

Perhaps the OP should be left as sticky and all subsequent commentary around it put into a separate non-sticky thread?

Petrov.

 

I agree completely... Shyster in the OP just presented the unbiased facts. It is the discussion following which I think is harmful to PCMW

 

This thread was not stickied to do harm to PCMW. NotebookReview.com is in no way taking a stance on PCMW, and we welcome them and their customers to these forums like we would any other vendor's. However, we do believe that buyers should be as educated as possible before purchasing.
I think Donald's/Justin's comments deserve extra consideration in this thread; I know them both gentlemen personally and I can tell you they are not saying what they are saying to get extra business. Both PowerNotebooks and XoticPC have been in business for a long time relative to other computer shops and have seen many, many companies in the same market come and go; they wouldn't be in business if they didn't know what they are doing. This is not the first time something like this has happened with a reseller, and I doubt it will be the last. No one can say whether PCMW will succeed or not, and 2 years isn't enough time to say they are here to stay. They don't have a proven track record yet.

Invest wisely.

 

I think it is fair the public are made aware of the sellers past dealings before investing $2000+ on it. If the store closes down without notice, so does your warranty and support. (yes it can happen, even with large companies). Its happened to me before but thank god the product outlived the warranty term.

It would be nice if a PCMW representative came in here and clarify these things. Feel free to email PCMW about this so they can try vindicate themselves from false acusations and allegations.

 

on one hand, i'm surprised PCMW hasn't come to represent yet, but on the other hand i think they have but we don't know it. hmm...

 

shyster thinks its tip tip, i read his posts and its plausible. In my evel mind though, hiding your identity like that is just misleading and rude...........sigh

 

If its truely a one man show, then I don't think he would have enough time to browse around.

 

busy getting that plane ticket?

 

Whether or not to post information that could hinder PCMW sales?

I think there is strong support for both sides:

The customers of any store have the right to know full well what they are buying and who they are buying from. Many people would NOT buy from a store whose owner runs/ran another business with less than adequate service. A buyer has every right to any piece of information that would change his/her purchase decision.

Now, if you tell people not to buy from a store because of this then that could be described as slander (which is illegal but very hard to prove). You must let people judge for their own whether or not to buy from a specific store.


My opinion: Create a new thread that states all the information listed in the first post of this thread and close it. Do not allow anyone to post in reply to it. Let people be able to read the information provided and make their own decision as to whether or not purchase from PCMW. Only let the information influence buyers' decisions, not other people.

 

it's not a one man show. after browsing the thread again, i think there are shills in our presence.

 

It would be really funny if you thought I was working for PCMW.

 

don't quote me. i didn't imply you were. but i still think it's funny.

 

Not sure how you come to this conclusion. This is like saying if I were to tell you "don't buy a Dodge, the local dealer wouldn't honor my warranty" that I have slandered Dodge. Not true...fact is, they refused to honor their warranty and that's not slander (and I'll never buy another Dodge as long as I live). Now if it wasn't true, then that would be slander, but it appears the OP was very thorough in their research and doesn't seem to have a dog in the race of "which reseller to use".

I also haven't seen anyone calling PCMW a "scam" company but rather pointing out they were selling things they couldn't deliver (as evidenced by the fact they had to remove them as options). I have learned from these threads, and watching PCMW constantly removing/changing options on their offerings, to be a little more careful in my future purchases.

Finally, I am one of the people that bought a laptop from PCMW (Fusion from their outlet store...which seems to have disappeared), and I haven't felt offended in the least that people have questioned why people would buy from PCMW with their relatively short company history. Why would I feel offended unless I owned a stake in the company? It's my money, I spend it on what I want and others are entitled to their opinions. If I get "scammed" it's on me, if I get a good deal, it's on me...I need no one else to validate my decisions for me.

 

Okay, I agree with you. What I meant to say was we should not purposely deter people from buying from PCMW, rather present them the information and let them decide for themselves.

 

All of this talk of slander and defamation (the only one missing is libel, which would be most appropriate considering that comments herein are written and "published" to the forum) is a little bit beside the point because, as a general matter, this sort of discussion would most likely qualify for the so-called qualified privileges of either fair comment or common interest and, as a result, anyone attempting to prove defamation would have to prove that the privilege had been abused by proving common-law actual malice, i.e., a statement made with knowledge of its falsity, or made in reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of the statement so made.

In the US, this is almost certainly an insuperable challenge for anyone claiming defamation, and even in the other common-law countries that haven't yet seen the wisdom of the First Amendment D ) would still be a virtually impossible chore for any claimant to overcome.

That being said, I quite agree that everyone here should stick to the facts, and the direct inferences that such facts substantially justify, and should avoid the all to tempting desire to draw inferences from other inferences, until all that's left is inference, not fact. Also - and here I know from personal experience - while it can be very difficult to avoid the nuclear option of ad-hominem attack, that is the one style of argument that should be avoided as scrupulously as possible - it adds nothing to the discussion of the matter sub judice and only inflames the emotions of its target(s) and their supporters.

 

^^ oh the joys of legal mumbo jumbo ^^

 

Companies go bankrupt all the time...especially resellers like these operating on a tight margin. I will be buying from the whichever one offers the best value. The rest of you should head over to the alienware forum and see what happens when you don't have competition...price fixing sucks.

This thread should not be stickied. Its bad for consumers and anyone with a hint of objectivity.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of these companies. I also don't have an investigator license.

 

snowdoggin post count 1,
are you from pcmw? =P
i kid.

 

I suggest you guys take the advices of Shyster1/Justin/Donald like this:



It's not necessary for you to listen, but just don't cry for mom or pop when it happens.

 

I agree with the other couple of posters that this should not be stickied. This should be a discussion but it not really sticky worth IMO.

That being said, I bought my notebook from PCMW. I bought from them mostly because they had the parts that I wanted in my notebook when Sager, Xotic, Power, ProStar, Euro etc did not have the parts I wanted and could not guarantee my notebook having the pieces I wanted. The price was fairly close among most the resellers. This was all a year ago. I've had the notebook ribbon cable for my LCD mess up and I've since sent it in to have it fixed. I overnighted it to them and they fixed it and overnighted it back to me. Took about 5 days with travel time.

All I can tell you is my experience which has been positive, so far. I have the name of a sales rep and his extension and he always answers when I have a question. Thats about it.

 

It is a fact that there is a moderated bias.

 

Your first 2 posts on the NBR forums are about this topic - haha?

I would advise going and posting about some other topics too, just so it's not quite as glaringly obvious who butters your bread.

Petrov.

 

Actually I post here all the time. Just can't use my real logon for this one. Care to take a guess why?

 

Not true. We would have locked this forum and censored peoples opinions if it was. I only cleared out the offensive posts.

This thread has stated the facts for the record and i dont see anyone actually disproving it. Other than saying its slanderous to the company, its only slander if its NOT true.

You only joined today* and your first posts is about PCMW. Did you really come in here just to talk about them

Like i said earlier, feel free to email PCMW about this. So we can get this cleared up. Im quite sure NBR will be happy to add PCMW under a reseller status.

1) Cause youve got something to hide.
2) It is against forum rules to make multiple accounts. Im banning both snowdog accounts so you may use your real logon.

 

We talk about slander. We talk about 'a' happy customer two years ago. This is hard to swallow. I 'bought' from Rock (the major reseller in the UK) two months before it went into receivership and never received my 570RU. This was not a joyful event.

By the logic of some of these posts, I would have had no chance of getting a warning. The rumors of Rock having trouble paying its suppliers would have just been "slander" and about twenty happy posters from 2004 would have drowned them out.

As has been said on this thread, past performance is just a guide. Things change fast and the margins in this business are brutal. I learnt that the hard way. Please try to appreciate the efforts of those trying to prevent you from learning that lesson the way I did.

 

This is one reason why threads like this has to be stickied.Shyster did his job well and with proofs.

 

I have been to their location when I had to get the second card installed (sometime in March) as I was close to them, and couldn't wait for them to ship it across as I was traveling a lot at that time.

The office is one in something like a software park having 2 floors. There are many other businesses in the same complex.
They do have the conference room which was where I was sitting when they were doing up the system. One odd thing though was the lack of staff. i just met/saw 2 of them...

 

Well I guess that means its not a one man show and its not based out of an apartment. Which is good news as it seems to have some kind of a business front.

 

Has any PCMW customer been scammed yet?
That's what I want to know.

 

I doubt there would be anyone that has been scammed. Let's look at the two alternatives:

1. PCMW is legit and everything is good. No one has and will been scammed.

2. PCMW is not legit and they want to make it seem like everything is good. No one has been scammed until they close.

Right now we can only speculate on things we have heard and seen. There are always two sides to the story. Whether or not things go well for PCMW and their customers, only time can tell. If you believe the first case then by all means buy your computer from them and if you don't believe that PCMW is legit, then don't. This thread is not trying to scare customers but to make them aware. Ultimately, it is you who decides what to do with that knowledge.

 

What do you consider "scammed"? I ordered a Fusion from their outlet store a while back (late May 08). Their site said products had a 3 day burn in, however when I received my system, the OS wasn't even loaded properly (stuck in continuous error loop). Luckily it did ship with a real OS disk so I could do a clean install; since it worked perfectly when I did to a clean install, that would indicate that PCMW didn't even make an effort to load and/or validate the OS prior to shipping (which means they couldn't have done their 3-day burn-in. Additionally, I never received any proof of purchase, bill of lading, or anything other than my Google checkout transaction as proof of purchase. I got a laptop, a Vista 64/32 program disk and a utilities disk in a box. Needless to say, if I need any service I will likely have to use one of the other resellers if I don't want to jump through various hoops to prove my purchase. Maybe these are not "scams", but they are certainly very poor business practices...and weren't what was advertised when I bought the laptop.

Disclaimer - since "I" did the OS install, I haven't had any problems with the laptop and the parts all seem to be working. I am not skilled enough to determine if the parts are used or not, so I will err that they don't seem to be.

 

So what was PCMW's response to not giving you an invoice and what did they say when you asked why your OS was not loaded? You did ask right?

 

@ Wu Jen ... not my job to fix their business practices (unless they want to hire me as a consultant) and I vote with my wallet, as in fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Really wasn't my job to load the OS either, but considering the product I received, I could only imagine the results of sending it back for them to send a proper product...

 

I also agree with eleron... This is borderline slander and detrimental to a buisness....

Untill anyone is 100% positive, this thread IS speculation, regardless of whatever "facts" your friend emailed to you that he found on the Web (which doesnt mean its factual).

Frankly putting a sticky on this is kinda rediculous.

 

Has anyone brought this up to them?

 

i'm sure pcmw is aware of it. i think the audience is more than meets the eye here.

 

Agreed. If you go to PCMW's page on resellerratings, you can see that they currently have a rating of 9.41/10. Heck, this is even better than Dell's and Lenovo's combined (4.15 and 4.61 respectively, as of July 10, '08). I'm not saying that we should start judging stores by their resellerrating page, whether it be good or bad, but obviously something like this is an insult to a company that's been working hard to please it's customers. Some people who own PCMW's notebooks have even posted in this very thread about how sad they are to see this news since PCMW has been exceptionally good to them. It's nice what one can find by just googling stuff on the internet, but the fun and games stop when you end doing damage to an otherwise innocent person's/group's reputation. And the following part of Shyster's post definitely disturbs me:

It looks to me like Shyster's friend is hastily jumping to some plausibly faulty conclusions, wouldn't you agree? Where is the proof? Where is the hardcore evidence that Mr. O'Brien owns PCMW today?

 

They only have 17 reviews. lol