Consumerist/CR rips Best Buy's computer "optimization" apart

[Ns1]

Some tidbits. This should be a surprise to no one, but it's nice to see someone actually DO it

Reader Nelson, however, wasn’t as lucky. He wasn’t able to walk out of the store with the advertised deal. Despite protesting, he was charged a fee for a service he didn’t want.

"It wasn’t optional," Nelson told Consumerist, "They said that they sold out of the unoptimized $250 Acer laptops and the only ones left were the optimized versions. The other Best Buys around my area were sold out too."

Though we did learn a few interesting things about Best Buy’s sales practices, we found ourselves no closer to being able to tell if optimization was a good deal - or even precisely what it was.

As to what the optimization was?

When we received our test models, the initial impression was of a rushed service: Some samples were left in standby mode, and two had not finished installing Windows updates. A quick start guide for one laptop had been mixed in with the papers in another laptop’s box, and a power cable for one sample was missing.

Upon comparing the optimized changes, the first noticeable change was a cleaner desktop. Most of the removed shortcuts were for trials, promotions and software added by the manufacturer. The programs themselves were still installed and available for later access. Updates had been downloaded on all three models, but differences in the factory default setup can affect how the system is optimized. On one laptop, for example, because Windows Defender was deactivated by default, its definitions had not been updated.

Some optimization changes seemed intended to make the laptop easier to use, such as adding the status bar to the file explorer, or displaying the file menu bar in Internet Explorer. Including a link to the Downloads folder in the Start menu, for example, can save you a few clicks. Security settings were adjusted to allow for automatic Windows updates, and in Internet Explorer, privacy settings were eased up to allow websites you visit to save info you provide on your PC.

We ran the 3DMark 2003 graphics benchmark on each laptop, comparing optimized and non-optimized settings. For two of our samples, the Gateway and Toshiba, performance changes were negligible. On the Asus laptop, however, optimized tests actually scored about 32% worse than the non-optimized setup. We have been unable to isolate the source of this performance change. On none of the three tested laptops did the optimized settings give a performance boost in our test.

http://consumerist.com/2010/01/cons...-is-a-big-stupid-annoying-waste-of-money.html

 

[Miramonti]

Nice job Consumer Reports/Consumerist. :thumbsup:

Best Scam.

 

[fleabag]

I think they scored worse because of the Microsoft patches which tend to increase reliability at the cost of performance. Just compare XP SP0 with SP2 for example..

 

[JD50]

I think they scored worse because of the Microsoft patches which tend to increase reliability at the cost of performance. Just compare XP SP0 with SP2 for example..

Let me guess, you watched your Dad optimize a computer at Lake Tahoe in the winter?

 

[Tsavo]

I'm surprised they aren't loading Softram 95 and charging $100 for it.

 

[fleabag]

Let me guess, you watched your Dad optimize a computer at Lake Tahoe in the winter?

Troll HARDER...

 

[Cheesetogo]

What a worthless service...I wonder how much they charge for it?

 

[olds]

I think they scored worse because of the Microsoft patches which tend to increase reliability at the cost of performance. Just compare XP SP0 with SP2 for example..

Let me guess, you watched your Dad optimize a computer at Lake Tahoe in the winter?

Troll HARDER...

It WAS funny...

 

[vi edit]

Heh. One of the best "optimizations" I can do for XP is to turn off the fade effects on the menu. That makes the computer "feel" instantly faster to most people. And won't do jack for a benchmark score.

 

[frostedflakes]

Best Buy is a ripoff in general, for example, how they try to push "premium" Monster cables on people with deceptive sales pitches, or sometimes even blatant lies. But at the same time, it's kind of hard to place all the blame on them when idiots who have more money than sense eat it all up.

 

[Pepsei]

people who doesn't know any better will get ripped off... like me paying out the ass for car problems.

 

[Fritzo]

The whole problem with that service in the first place is the manufacturer puts a bunch on crapware on the computer to cover the cost of the building of the computer, then Best Buy charges you to remove that software.

It's like an artificial business model.

 

[ivan2]

knew a victim to this scam. computer was a 600 one and end up paying 700 and it comes with 1 year of norton antivirus. I was told that the excuses given was that the 600 price was black friday price which was complete bullshit because it was a month away from black friday.

another one dodged a bait a switch. He went there and narrowed down to 2 budget laptop, ran the numbers with me I told him to go for either, he tried and was told that both laptops were sold out. Went back home to find them in stock online. luckily, he waited a few days and saw an even better deal, this time he got smarter and did in store pickup.

 

[SSSnail]

So, how long does it take for my CPU to warm up to operating tempature in Lake Tahoe's winter? And, will it be covered with solutions?

 

[soulcougher73]

The whole problem with that service in the first place is the manufacturer puts a bunch on crapware on the computer to cover the cost of the building of the computer, then Best Buy charges you to remove that software.

It's like an artificial business model.

This bubble is about to burst. lol

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Let me guess, you watched your Dad optimize a computer at Lake Tahoe in the winter?

I nearly spat my tea over the monitor...

LOL.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

If there weren't so many goddamn idiots out there that accept BS like this it wouldn't even be offered. I blame the consumers.

 

[OutHouse]

yawn. what did the consumerist think they were doing? 90% of the computer users would get totally glassy-eyed just by reading that. they have no clue period. to them its lilke taking a car in to get its oil changed.

 

[shortylickens]

I think they scored worse because of the Microsoft patches which tend to increase reliability at the cost of performance. Just compare XP SP0 with SP2 for example..

Ummmm, I got increased DirectX performance going to Service Pack 2, and OpenGL performance stayed the same.

-What kind of shit are you smoking?
-And can I have some?

 

[frostedflakes]

yawn. what did the consumerist think they were doing? 90% of the computer users would get totally glassy-eyed just by reading that. they have no clue period. to them its lilke taking a car in to get its oil changed.

They may not understand all the details, but the message is clear: Best Buy's computer optimization is a ripoff.

 

[lxskllr]

yawn. what did the consumerist think they were doing? 90% of the computer users would get totally glassy-eyed just by reading that. they have no clue period. to them its lilke taking a car in to get its oil changed.

Maybe, but anyone can understand the bottom line. More money, performance no better, and sometimes worse. Throw in missing manuals, and components, and it's a scam of the worse type. They're no better than the fake antivirus companies.

 

[Meghan54]

Ummmm, I got increased DirectX performance going to Service Pack 2, and OpenGL performance stayed the same.

-What kind of shit are you smoking?
-And can I have some?

It's called "Know-it-all teenager" skunk weed. Very cheap, but seems to work pretty well. After all, fleabag "knows" absolutely everything about anything, despite the fact he's never done anything in his sheltered, cloistered life. And part of the effect is that it gives one the ability to completely ignore facts and experience of others in preference to the delusions that the weed gives.

 

[marvdmartian]

This is aimed toward the lazy/unknowing/ignorant types who actually believe that Geek Squad is full of mega-knowledgeable computer geeks that will be able to instantly diagnose and fix any problems put in front of them........for a nominal fee, of course! I mean, ya gotta PAY for that kind of service, right?

Like an old co-worker of mine, who complained about his son's system that was infected with X number of viruses. Come to find out, he'd let the antivirus lapse about 4 months earlier, and there's no telling what sort of sites junior was surfing to (teenage boy.....go figure!). Since there was so much garbage on the system, and really no reason not to do a reformat & re-installation of windows, I talked him through it, then told him to get his butt downtown to buy a new a/v. Sucks having to buy retail, but that's what happens when you're a dumbass that wastes my time, right?

Well, he not only paid $30 for a new version of Norton A/V at Best Buy, but proved what a dumbass he was when he told me he'd brought the system in with him, and paid Geek Squad $50 to install the antivirus and update it!!!

Yeah.....I just shook my head at that.......

 

[Zargon]

I work with someone who just quit the geek squad

her tremendous lack of IT knowledge is saddening.

 

[BigPoppa]

Sample size: 1

Having worked at a Geek Squad for close to four years (Feb 06-Dec 09), the store didn't perform the service correctly.

Basics of an optimization (29.99 or 39.99, price has gone up and down, not sure where it is at currently):

Remove trial/adware.
Apply AgentTweaks (Registry edits to improve speed, functionality, appearance of speed in some situations, ie window fade time, etc)
Edit startup items.
Edit services as needed.
Apply all Windows Updates, including service packs if needed.
Minor other tweaks can be applied, setting home page, sidebar widgets, etc.

For someone computer savvy, the service is garbage. But, for the non computer user, it can be a great service. I'd recommend it to my grandma 10/10 computer purchases. Hell, I'd pay for it myself to save me the headache of dealing with her over the phone on a new computer. And forget trying to get her to install something like LogMeIn rescue properly.

The Geek Squad is an optional service. It is not aimed at the techies of the world. It is targetted towards the people who cannot or would rather not do the work themselves.

Where I lived and worked at the time, I compared prices for a diagnostic and virus removal to the mom and pops around the area and they had similar prices and I usually had a faster turn around time. My personal redo rate was extremely low. The Geek Squad toolset is a great piece of work. You can find MRI 5.1.1 on torrent sites, download it, infect a machine, and use the FACE scanner to clean the computer. It will quite readily clean 99% of the garbage out there. Some manual work in system32, the registry, and maybe HijackThis would typically take care of any stragglers remaining.

Full disclosure: the MRI phones home, I wouldn't recommend using it very often.