SEC Custom Computers
2 clicks to start the buying process.
Selection / Customization process
Product Clarity: Moderate. In one sense you know exactly what you are getting, sometimes including the brand name of the component, but the title of the component is all you get— sometimes with abbreviations customers may not understand. There is no further information. Not everyone knows what a KDS XF7 (17) monitor is.
Price Clarity: Low. The price of the total system is clear, and instantly updated, but the components aren’t priced individually at all. The total price changes for different processors, but won’t change at all when some other significant options are changed.
Speed: Fast. No processing time needed.
Range / Power: Moderate. Choice of 10 CPUs (1.07 GHz to 3.06 GHz), 3 levels of memory (126 MB to 256), and 4 hard drives (40 to 120 GB) is about average or maybe a little below; more (6) options for video card than most other places; but few choices for monitor or operating system and none for mouse and software.
At SEC one could start the buying process in two clicks, despite an animated applet (with sound) that downloaded on the first page. Clicking on this applet brings one to another applet offering the choice of Budget or Premium systems. It isn’t clear what need there is for this separation, as the main difference is processor speed, and the two lists of processor speed could be The presentation of each was identical.
There was no pricing information with the components themselves that one chose to put into the computer. Although the total price was instantly updated at the lower right-hand corner of the page, this was not necessarily on the user’s screen. More important, even if the updated price were obvious and prominent, it is an awkward way to compare the prices between, say, alternate CD drives.
Arranged in a simple table grid, 3 columns and 6 rows, with a dropdown list of the options under each category. It is a lot more overwhelming on their page than as presented here:
| CPU | Memory | Network Card |
| Monitor | Video Card | Hard Drive |
| Floppy Drive | CD-ROM | Sound Card |
| Modem | Case | Keyboard |
| Mouse | OS System | CD Software Bundle |
| Printers | Other Options | Total Price |
This overwhelming presentation of the options was not necessary for the range they actually offered. The depth for some components was so shallow so as to make the real range far smaller than their apparent range. A number of their drop-down lists, such as for Sound Card, for Case, and for Keyboard, had only one “option”— not even the choice of, for instance, ‘no keyboard.’
The SEC Custom Computers site also displayed the typical problem with the dropdown lists format. Under “Other Options” were five drop-down lists of the same seven accessories.
When you pick out the components for your system, it is not a direct sale, nor even a final price. “All prices subject to change without notice.” From the company’s point of view, the main problem here is that no payment information is collected either.
Problems
- $-220.00 – that’s a price I could get on a “computer” by not selecting a CPU. Other parts, meanwhile, did not affect the price at all. This is not just for the mouse and keyboard and such: going between 128 MB of RAM and “reserved for future” and a 40 GB hard drive and “reserved” did not change the price at all. Presumably, then, the base price of a system is included in the CPU price. This reduces price clarity and allowed the silly possibility of a negative price quote.
- Graphical applet that eventually turned into an (unclickable) ad taking up most of the front page wasted time (download and presentation) and space.
- Web pages did not flow to fit smaller browser windows without horizontal scrolling.
- Customers couldn’t directly purchase the computers they designed.
- Completely unnecessary bifurcation into budget and premium systems.
Good Features
- The range of customizable options (if not the depth) was good.