Falcon NorthwestReviews of falcon-nw.com

DRX system failing from the jump. In 2023 I spent over 5K on a DRX laptop... upon receiving it. The thing would immediately black screen while trying to play Dota 2 a game that ran flawlessly on my old Razer laptop that cost about 2600 when I bought it. I've sent it in to be told "we never had issues" then I immediately have issues upon its return. Games that this unit has failed on Dota 2 Ready or Not Baldurs Gate 3 Rimworld Delta Force Gran Blue Fantasy I've spoken with support umpteen times and the most direct answer seems to be it's overheating and failing. I was told "it's a laptop it's not going to be a good system" by a support tech. That would hold water if I didnt experience 4 years of joy with a Razer laptop running most games on ultra with no issues. I was told to lower settings to help with heat but no matter what I do this damn thing is at 90 celcius cranking up the most basic programs. I don't understand. I'm shelving it to be a glorified work paperweight for PowerPoint and the like. Just going to buy a PC from cyber power PC or something. I cannot explain the frustration and embarrassment of spending 5k on a laptop to have it fail mid game while your boys on rigs from 6 years ago have no issues. I swear to God if I knew a way to get my money back I would.

I purchased this system 2 years ago and dealt with a failed 2TB samsung SSD and AMD 6800 GPU. They helped me with both. But it was certainly exasperating after shelling out $4,000+ to have to troubleshoot and repair my own PC. Here we are 2 years later and the liquid cooling is failing. My Ryzen 9 5900X is idling at 90 C and overheating if I try to do anything. I have never been compensated for any of the many hours I've had to put into getting this rig running from the start and, though it served my faithfully for 2 years, here I am again encountering another showstopping problem. Before you ask, yes I routinely clean the interior, and front radiator grill, with compressed air. I hate this computer.

Horrible sales support. No support for military, veterans, contractors, or government personnel who are stationed overseas. The sales person told me Falcon will not ship to an APO address, period. My credit card address is my APO address and the sales person authenticated that address passed your systems authentication, but he could not use it, because you do not ship to APO addresses. UPDATE: I have contacted Falcon again and they still state they will not ship to an APO address, but they are "looking" into it again, but it is unlikely to be allowed. Also, the only other available way to pay is a direct wire transfer, which takes away any possibility of the buyer to refute a purchase, or get their money back in the case of an undelivered, broken, or substandard system. A wire transfer is not even a slightly good way for a customer to pay for anything anymore.

I have been a customer and fan of Falcon Northwest for over about 15 years. My builds were always essentially maxed out in every area of performance and quality. When I decided to buy a high end gaming laptop for my son I went back to FNW, hyping them up to him as the best of the best. I explained that even though it might be a little more expensive, we could get a monster of a laptop that has a quality on a different level then the mass produced machines of the regular companies. Unfortunately, when I received the laptop I was shocked at the cheap construction. The whole thing is made of flimsy plastic. The screen is supported by a thin piece of plastic and noticeably flexes when it is opened and closed. In most laptops, when you tilt the screen back to it's limit, it tips the laptop back. This feels like if you open it to fast, you will literally snap the screen off. The keyboard feels like some Chinese generic knockoff of a better keyboard. I felt so bad for my son because it looked and felt so cheap. I just started apologizing and getting him to focus on it's performance rather than it's looks. From the beginning I had concerns about its durability. Plastic pieces fell off the hinges in the first month. And then the laptop tipped off a coffee table onto the carpet and landed open on the keyboard and screen. In any other laptop this would have absolute non-issue. But with this laptop it kind of came unglued and all the plastic pieces unsnapped. Seeing the inside where the hinge is glued to the plastic leaves me shaking my head at the design choices. I am an professional engineer who has appreciated Falcon Northwest for the quality of their computers for a long time. I have no idea what happened in the company for them to think that this was the kind of product they wanted to represent their business. The protection plan doesn't cover accidents, and this was clearly caused by an accident. But the extent of the damage is due to the incredibly poor build quality. Even though this is a brand new computer, I honestly don't know if it is even worth sending back to be fixed.

In short - received the computer.... Finally. It would better use of your time and money to go elsewhere. 1. Ordered computer: stated 17 days to build. 2. While I was waiting on the build I had questions about the components used in the build. 3. Customer service became defensive and combative and never really answered my questions. 4. Its been 21 days and they still have yet to complete the build. 5. It seems a lot like retaliation for questioning build components. 6. Horrible customer service. While can certainly appreciate being swamped, workload was not communicated to me anytime during the wait period. In fact, the ship date was stated twice in the email communication. Furthermore, I clearly communicated a business was reliant on the build and could not afford delays. Again, there was no communication from Falcon NW regarding a delay at any point of the dialog or on the status of the build. Help me understand how this is customer centered service and not to be construed as retaliatory? In the end, I will be losing money and do not have the option to wait for another company to build a computer. Glossy sock puppet reviews from so-called expert sites speak to the effort made to produce a perfect product – for the review, but do not speak to the actual experience. The seasoned company has lost its way and only seems to cater to critics – not the average customer. Will I receive this same dismal service and support if there’s a problem? It certainly seems likely. Finally received the computer. I had to call and email to get a status on shipping. Its the complete lack of communication and follow-through that most upsets me. They truly do not care for the little guy. I highly suggest you look elsewhere for a computer. Better yet, use their "configure" application to build your computer and then replicate the parts on PCPartPicker to build your system and save about 2k. Otherwise, use Origin or any other boutique builder for your custom solution. Falcon NW simply lacks the capacity or simply refuses to take care of the customer.

First Talon I purchased repeatedly had the Blue Screen of Death. Gave them another chance 5 years later. Now I can't even get the computer. FNW uses UPS for delivery with very limited delivery options. Must be home to sign for it or travel many miles away to pick it up (and only after you demand this option). There are better choices!