Advantages: reliable
Disadvantages: None

...Reliaility and quality make P.B. a system to be reckoned with. I have a Packard Bell PC which I bought 18 months ago and have found the system to be reliable and trouble free. I have previously bought systems fro other lesser name retailers and always experienced serious problems with them. With Packard Bell I am pleased to say that I have had none of these problems at all. The system came pre-installed and running correctly but also has a restore disk to re-install the system to its factory defaults should you hit a problem.... Read review

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Advantages: reliable, good value, excellent support, good package
Disadvantages: None

...The Packard Bell Club80 PC represents good value for money. It was easy to set everything up and came with excellent instructions which will certainly help the first time buyer. The package came complete with DVD Rom, 17" monitor, printer, scanner, digital camera and a host of useful software including Microsoft Word 2000, Windows 98 SE (on disc!), Norton Antivirus, Encarta99 and money 99 to name but a few. It made a pleasant change for a PC to come with worthwhile software and not a load of rubbish that gets left on the shelf. The system also comes with an excellent restore disk enabling you to reinstall your system to the factory settings should disaster strike. In all a powerful, reliable and easy to use system. A great overall package.... Read review

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Advantages: Good computers
Disadvantages: Poor customer service, patronising staff

...I am more than pleased with my Packard Bell computer however I am not happy with their level of customer service. I recently required some technical advice from them regarding the restore disk they supplied with my PC. I was referred by them to the point of sale (PC World). They in turn referred me back to Packard Bell saying it was not their reponsibility. A further call to PB eventually got me through to a tchnician who treated me as if I was totally thick. His whole attitude was patronising. Needless to say I didn't get very far with this enquiry. Instead I e-mailed my query to them. I got an automated reply saying my mail had arived but I have to this day heard nothing further despite 6 other e-mails being sent to and received by Packard Bell. I have finally given up on them and resolved the problem I was experiencing by going... Read review

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Advantages: Pentium III, good scanner, ok software bundle
Disadvantages: Poor technical support and limited upgrade options

...This was quite an expensive computer, but it did come with a lot of extras. There was a printer, a scanner and DVD rom drive and lots of software. It is quite good to get all these things in one package but the printer isnt the best and the ink cartrages are quite expensive. The DVD is very good but I find it uncomfortable sitting at my desk watching a film on the 15" monitor Id prefer to lie down on the sofa and put watch on a big TV but there is no way to connect it to the TV. The sofware is pre installed on the hard drive and is mostly for people new to computers but did include the excellent microsoft word. One thing that bugs me is the Packard Bell website has no mention of this model of computer, the club 80. This means I have to search around for drivers myself and the documentation is very scetchy aswell. But on the whole... Read review

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Advantages: reliable, fast
Disadvantages: trouble with initial installation of cable ISP

...This past Christmas, we finally upgraded to a new computer in order to get online at home. We chose a PackardBell pentium II, which was, of course, on sale! The computer works just fine, and with the cable connection, is quite fast. The problem comes in when we had the cable connection installed. First, we had 2 people come in, try to install, and we were told that they can't connect to a Packard Bell computer????? Since we didn't accept that conclusion, they called in reinforcements, and another 6 people came over to hunker down over our computer. Two hours later, the 8 people said "nope, can't connect to a Packard Bell - they have weird connections". I thanked them for all their hard(????) work, and when they left, called the head of the department, and he came out the next day and installed it in 30 minutes!. There also does seem... Read review

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Advantages: its a well known brand
Disadvantages: Customer service is very poor

...Packard bell customer service? Dont make me laugh. Go to their UK web site and there is absolutley no mention of my model the club 88 despite the model being advertised in national newspapers and TV. The spec of the PC is low. Most of the software we got with it will never be used, I mean GCSE maths? Passed it years ago when CDs wernt invented. They dont give you a manual in the form of books, it comes on a CD which might be environmentally friendly but if the computer is down and you can get windows to load, its no help.... Read review

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Advantages: Not many. It works occasionaly, and providing you dont want to do much other than play solitaire it should be ok.
Disadvantages: Bad design make upgrading and the frequently needed servicing difficult and doing anything more than switching it on a nightmare. Customer services are in existance but do not help whatsoever.

...and refused to run anything over Windows 2.0. Whilst the neat curves on the outside may look nice, the inside is nightmare to upgrade - when the engineer made his all-too frequent visits last year he commented a number of times on how bad the design of the newer Packard Bell's was, and indeed that he had seen other systems with similar problems to our own. As for the customer services... they are called 'MasterCare' in the UK, yet that implies they actually care about their customers which, from my experience, is completely false. Holding for hours on a £1 a minute waiting for a customer service representative who has no idea what a computer is let alone how to fix one became a regular part of my saturday activities, and then getting shunted from desk to desk as they searched for the 'Idiots Guide' for another hour really didnt inspire me EVER... Read review

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Advantages: I beg your pardon?
Disadvantages: The staff are only qualified in "how to be bad at your job"

...PC World ... oh dear. What can I say that hasn't been said already? Not much really because virtually everyone has got something bad to say about them. Alas, I am no different. I'm thinking of telling my 90 year old granny to apply for a job there as an expert assistant, as she will probably know more about computers than the current staff, not to mention the fact that she would most probably be more helpful, coherent and intelligent. Having bought a Packard Bell (don't even get me started on Packard Bell) from them, a steady stream of problems with it developed which PC World and Packard Bell seemed determined to magnify through their incompetence. Basically, within a few months the computer reached the stage of no longer working. PC World had contrived to not include the discs necessary to permit the required reinitialisation... Read review

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Advantages: easy to use
Disadvantages: needs fax software for modem

...Packard Bell computers are ideal for all the family. I bought the imedia with an AMD Athlon 1000MHz processor, 128MB RAM and 20GB harddrive. This computer is ready for action the moment you turn it on and the wealth and diversity of the pre-packaged software guarantees that every member of the family will be squabbling about who goes first. I chose the option with the 17" Monitor with diamond 3DSP speaker system - meaning that the picture is good and the sound excellent. The system boasted 4 USB ports for instant connection to things like scanners and cameras that use USB, but you have to bear in mind that 2 of the USB ports are used for the mouse and keyboard. Luckily, USB is very expandable with 127 connections possible for each USB controller!!! I had a problem with my PC when connecting a RolandED U8 digital studio to one... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, good spec, pleasing to the eye
Disadvantages: Problems with PC, issues with Warranty and Support

...to me on the PC World web site. I definitely thought it would be perfect for what I wanted. The total cost for the PC was £399.00, which included a TFT monitor. PC Worlds web site advised that it was in stock in my local store, but as I had now set my heart on getting the PC, I decided to ring them just to be sure. The friendly shop assistant advised me that they had over 100 in stock. After work, we went to PC World and told a shop assistant straight away what we wanted. He took us to the PC in question, so that we could have a look and a little play on, to make sure we definitely wanted it. Apart from being faster than any PC I had owned before, the Packard bell iMedia 1307 is also aesthetically pleasing - but I'll get to that later We decided we definitely wanted the PC, and purchased it there and then. *Please note... Read review

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