I recently bought a new computer from Palicomp. They’re featured often in places like HotUKDeals as having some of the best deals on gaming PCs and lower-end ones. Are they as good as they seem? Since I’ve tried them out, I thought I’d write about my experience.
What Do Palicomp Offer?
Palicomp offers PCs of quite a few types. Whether it’s high-end or low-end, there’s something for most budgets. They even sell component bundles or standalone parts. I personally bought a PC build that didn’t have the hard drive or graphics card as I already own those, but that included everything else I needed.
The major benefit of Palicomp compared to some other retailers is that they allow you to customize existing builds on offer. With that said, the options are limited, so you can only choose from set offers. Typically there is a lot of flexibility though. Some builds even come with specific ‘Promo’ offers, that can have free upgrades or particularly cheap ones. Do be aware that cheap parts can be used though, such as motherboards with minimal PCI-slots or lower-end PSUs.
Generally, if you wait for the right deal then Palicomp is great value for money. Though be aware that you get what you pay for.
Follow Ups: Good and Bad
Starting on a positive note, Palicomp noticed an issue with my order and got in contact. I included a part that wouldn’t fit with the case I chose, so they offered an alternative. Unfortunately, this was an internal memory card reader for £15 and their ‘gracious’ alternative at ‘no extra fee’ was an external one. The same model they sent me is £4.75 on Amazon and I was charged the same £15.
They were pretty aggressive with the aftersales too. I didn’t select the ‘3-year warranty pack with additional upgrades’, so they emailed asking if I wanted it. They used the ‘I’ve just spoken to the boss spiel’, reducing it twice from £108 > £88 > £48. The final time they threw in next working day dispatch and highlighted that.
This was the initial offer:
Free Upgrade – Windows 10 PRO (RRP £20)
Free Upgrade – OS Tuning (RRP £25)
Free Upgrade – Cable Management (RRP £25)
Free Upgrade – Arctic Alpine 23 95W CPU COOLER – Quieter Fan/Lower cpu temps (RRP £30)
Free Upgrade – Headset/Mic (RRP £10)
Free Upgrade – Webcam (RRP £10)
Free Upgrade – 5 Random Steam Game Keys
What I didn’t appreciate was they quietly took out a CPU cooler upgrade when lowering the price and didn’t mention that at all when relisting the benefits. They only mentioned adding things.
On the more positive side, it looks like they can be negotiated with. I said I didn’t care about the headset, webcam, or 5 random Steam keys, so they took those out and put the CPU cooler upgrade back in. They also confirmed that there are no issues with the warranty being affected when I add my own parts in.
More Downsides
One downside, which is a weakness of the case I upgraded to on offer (CIT Flash RGB), is I found very limited space for hard drives if you do cable management. Essentially the cables were all stuffed in the hard drive bay, and my build had no hard drives, so I needed to redo it when I added these in… A warning would’ve been nice here, but it’s probably why these cases are on offer.
There were also minor issues on arrival with the build itself. One side panel was not screwed in fully. One of the PCI-slot covers on the back was partially bent in, so I needed to break it off. A screw had been seemingly been overtightened to the point of only spinning in place and couldn’t be removed other than by breaking the metal off. There was a bent pin on the motherboard too.
I imagine they’re not expecting beginners either. The side panel’s plastic covering required it to be unscrewed to remove it.
More positively, it was well packed, though I did laugh to find GTX 1060 boxes used to fill in the box space to stop movement.
Verdict
There were certainly some issues with my Palicomp experience. It’s a budget build and well-priced, with some great options and offers. That said, you get what you pay for and there were some upsell attempts and unfortunate tactics used.
As long as you know what you’re doing, Palicomp is okay for the most part. Though the damage to the computer I received was minor, it’s worth very carefully inspecting on arrival.
A gamer since the days of Amstrad and DOS and someone who has dabbled in a variety of professions. He enjoys a wide variety of genres, but has been focusing on visual novels and virtual reality in recent years. Head Editor of NookGaming. Follow him and the website on @NookSite.
