Rock/Kobalt/Overclockers... which one?

Hi Folks,

I am looking to get a notebook from one of the three above, any comments regarding reliability/reputation of these companies? Many thanks in advance.

 

Rock has had liquidity problems in the past, so I'd stay away. Kobalt Computers enjoys a very good reputation here on the NBR forums, I'm sure for a good reason.

 

My laptop from rock has been great, my only problem was they stretched out the time for my laptop to be delivered a lot and it was about 1month delayed in the end which i wasn't impressed with, i got free upgraded delivery and a free notebook cooler to compensate this. In their defence i believe it was due to the notebook being new and them moving offices at the time, not sure what its like now.

Although the help that i received from jack@rock who was on these forums but seems to have disappeared was really good.

DK

 

Thanks for the response whizzo... the one thing that is putting me off from Kobalt is that they are not offering the 9800M GT, only GTS, with their 15.4 inch laptop.

 

Actually, Rock went into administration, and quickly re-emerged with a new owner and fresh capitalization. Also, the "liquidity" problems were largely caused by a single employee stealing them blind; I do not believe that employee is still employed with the company. I am, of course, happy to be corrected if you have more up-to-date information than I.

On that basis, unless there is current information suggesting that they are having new troubles with liquidity, I do not think that their recent troubles with insolvency and employee defalcation are a continuing cause for concern.

If I'm wrong, please correct the information I've provided.

 

It does seem that Rock has dealt with their problems for now. With that in mind, how long does it usually take with either company to deliver in the UK (from the moment I order and pay for it)? (I know that this is something I should be asking them, but thought it might be worth a try).

 

I got my Rock (m57ru) fairly fast after ordering, about 4 weeks, but also it was sent outside of the UK. So I guess it would be faster inside the UK. Then again this was before they went into administration, and I havnt had to deal with the customer service at all yet.
Have a look in their forum http://www.rockforum.co.uk/.
Its hidden from their homepage, so not so easy to find ><

 

Always found it slightly amusing that Rock got bought out by the 'Stone Group'.

For your info on deliveries I can vouch for OCUK. Their deliveries tend to be very quick. The kind of speed you should expect from any Clevo reseller or laptop specialist for that matter. You choose the date within a two week period of delivering your notice and they will deliver it on that day. It usually only takes them a day to built and test it before they can send it off. So you can expect it at your doorstep within 48 hours, if needed.

Before people started buying the OCUK Ultima Mobile, there use to be a lot of gossip about OCUK being a bit untrustworthy, a bit unreliable. Maybe it was more to do with buying individual components, but based on their service with laptops and having bought an Ultima Mobile myself I'd say it's up there with Kobalt for the UK top spot. You just can't beat those prices inside the EU either.

Judging from what a few people have said to me on this board, novatech offer a fair service as well for UK buyers.

 

Spoke to one of Rocks sale reps and he said that it would take about a week; 10 days for Kobalt. I think I am going with Rock - better warranty, faster delivery, 9800M GT instead of GTS. Price difference is minimal for their top 15 inch laptops.

 

Got mine from kobalt, they were fast, professional and really helpful. Also they tend to reply to your questions either by mail or on the forums amazingly fast. It was a pleasure to order from them .

 

ill second what ioaniro said.
nothing but praise for the Kobalt team.
the reason why the 9800GT card has been removed was because Nvidia discontinued it to be replaced by the GTS. other resellers may have stock left so thats why you can still get it from them.

 

Got mine from kobalt. Flawless service and only got delayed by a day but then again I ordered mine during the busy times and stuff. They even answered all my queries asap

 

I bought a laptop from Rock a few years ago... was fine for a year and then had all the problems under the sun. I have had dealings with their support from both before and after the liquidation, both of which were alright but no where near as good as the support I have had from Novatech on my new laptop.

I would recommend both Novatech and Kobalt - I would have bought a Kobalt if I had the money! Both of them have really good support

 

Kobalt all the way, great and personal service, quality support.

 

ordered mine from overclockers, less than a business week to ship it out and My M860TU is very good, also arrived with the better 5300 wireless card, which was a bit unexpected.

 

I bought 2 machines from Kobalt a D901C and a NP8660 and everything went smooth and professional,quality products and most importand great service.

 

Thank you all who responded. I have already ordered the Rock Xtreme 620, so I hope I did not make the wrong choice given all the recommendations regarding Kobalt. We'll see in a week.

 

good luck.

 

I'm sure you'll have no problems. Although from what I've read (not bought a laptop from any personally) OCUK are the fastest and cheapest, Kobalt have the best customer support and only ones to offer dead pixel guaranty and custom paint jobs (if either are important to you) and nobody can currently really comment on Rock due to recent changes (but past reports were bad.)

Good luck and hope you enjoy your machine.

 

Just to throw one more comment in, another point in favor of Kobalt is that they have a representative who posts on the forum, Neil. Having a rep "on site" if you will makes some customer service issues a little quicker to get moving on.

 

I ordered my Kobalt Comanche SLI a week ago and they've started building it now. It should be arriving it next week.
They have been VERY helpful, professional, friendly and - as some others have pointed out - amazingly fast at replying on emails and forum posts.

I would definately recommend Kobalt Computers!