I recently ordered a custom-built PC from PCSpecialist, and the whole experience—from early research to delivery—was excellent. Customer Service & Pre-Sales Support Before making my purchase, I contacted the customer service team with several questions about their prebuilt systems. They were quick to respond, clear in their answers, and incredibly helpful. Their advice gave me the confidence to go for a custom build instead, using their very user-friendly dropdown system on the site. It was intuitive and made building my ideal setup a smooth and enjoyable process. Suggested Improvements One feature I think would really add value is a component lifecycle guide. For example, when selecting DDR5 RAM, it could note something like: “DDR5 is the latest standard and expected to remain relevant for high-performance systems until at least 2027–2028.” This sort of context would help buyers understand the longevity of their investment. Another helpful addition could be an AI-based FAQ assistant during the build process—something that offers suggestions, flags compatibility, or even estimates performance based on your parts list. The forums are a decent resource, but the mix of helpful and, at times, condescending feedback can make it a bit intimidating for newer users to post their builds for review. Dispatch & Delivery The dispatch timeline was accurate and well-communicated. I really appreciated their rolling 5-day percentage tracker—it gave me a day-by-day idea of where my order was in the queue. I actually used a probability-based AI tool to estimate when it would arrive, and sure enough, it was exactly on time. Expectations were met. Build Quality & Packaging The build quality is great. I didn’t go over the top—just aimed to maximise performance within a £1,000 budget—and I genuinely feel like I got excellent value. The system arrived well packaged, and everything looked solid. There was a slight issue with the GPU support arm, which was a bit loose and bent on arrival, but I reseated it myself and it’s held fine since. After setup, I noticed my RAM wasn’t running at full speed. A quick check in the BIOS and one simple setting change later, and it was fixed. Price vs Value There’s a common idea that PCSpecialist overprices their parts, but I compared my build against two independent vendors and the cost was only marginally different. When you factor in assembly, testing, warranty, and peace of mind, it’s absolutely worth it—especially for someone like me who understands hardware but doesn’t want the pressure of building a system solo. Final Verdict A truly excellent experience. Great customer service, smooth build process, timely delivery, and solid value. With a few thoughtful additions to the online experience (like lifecycle guides and an AI assistant), they’d be near perfect. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to customise without the stress of building it themselves.