Origin PC: Getting Back to the Roots of Gaming PCs

Origin PC was founded in 2009 by three former Alienware employees. In the about us section of the Origin PC website, it states that the company provides true personalization with a focus on customization, service, gaming, technology, and quality.

Alienware used to always be the first name that came to mind when I thought about a good gaming PC, but today we have many options which include Origin PC. We still have Alienware, and Razer is a company that’s quickly building a name for itself, but there are also lesser known companies like CyberPower and iBuyPower. However, for me, Origin PC has stood out more in the past year due to good PR and being the PC of choice at event booths.

I recently attended AirVenture 2014, the world’s greatest aviation celebration, and visited Saitek’s booth which used Origin PCs to operate flight sims and the Saitek’s flight sticks. While talking with Saitek’s PR rep in charge at the event, Monty Rimorin, he mentioned how much admiration the Origin PCs were getting among the attendees. After the visitors of the booth had asked all the questions they had about the Saitek flight sticks, they had to know what those machines were with the bright red O on the front of them.

I understand why. The Origin PCs certainly look pretty neat, which is important, and that caught the attention of a lot of booth visitors. That’s also what inspired me to write this article so that I could learn more about Origin PC myself. The more I look into Origin PC, the more I like what I see. Being the casual gamer that I was years ago, Alienware seemed like a name to trust. So, seeing that Origin PC is the product of three former Alienware employees who want to bring back a focus on customization, service, gaming, technology, and quality, makes me more confident in their product.

So why choose Origin PC? What’s the difference between all of these companies? They all build computers capable of playing computer games, right? So why not just go with the cheapest option or the one that looks the coolest? Why should I get this particular PC?

Well I decided to take a closer look at Origin PC to gather the full experience and discover if what they say is truly a good and personalized experience that will make gamers happy with their choice. But before I go diving into one of their PCs, I decided to put together a list of questions for Origin PC CEO Kevin Wasielewski to learn more from the actual source about the company and its mission.

Kevin began by telling me that they are passionate about every PC they build. “We strive to offer the most custom options, the highest performance, and the best support in the industry. We have over a decade of industry related experience and the expertise to know exactly how to build and support the best PCs on the planet. All of our systems include FREE Lifetime 24/7 based support, so no matter what time of day, we’ll always have your back. If you’re looking for the most custom options, the highest performance, and a dedicated support team that is not only 24/7, but based right here in the U.S., then ORIGIN PC is the perfect choice for you.” He said.

So how does Origin PC offer customization, service, gaming, technology, and quality differently than other companies? Kevin told me it’s because they seek to offer the best experience possible from sales to purchase, to lifetime support of their product. “It’s exactly what people should get from their PC experience. This is based on our lengthy experience building high performance PCs and based on our own passion for the same products. If you take a look at the large OEMs they all don’t offer a high level of options, service, or support. They use generic and cheaper quality components, and outsource their tech support. Some companies such as Apple even charges for basic phone tech support, it doesn’t come standard with their PCs. ORIGIN PC is the complete opposite of all of that. We offer the best quality components, the most options, and FREE Lifetime 24/7 US based Tech Support over the phone or online.”

FanBolt (FB): Origin PC was created by three former Alienware employees, including yourself. What was the driving factor that led each one of you to making the decision to create your own brand? Did you feel you could do it better or was there something more going on behind the scenes that you wanted to make sure to correct with your own company?

Kevin Wasielewski (KW): Hector Penton, Richard Cary, and I worked with Alienware for a decade and even stayed for two years of Dell taking over Alienware. We saw the changes and felt that we wanted to get back to our passion of building the best PCs possible. We wanted to get back to the roots of gaming PCs when it was all about customization, the best parts, the highest performance, and the best technical support. We felt that with ORIGIN PC we could really offer the best PC experiences on the market and we’ve had some success in doing so. Every day we strive to get better and offer more for our customers.

FB: Since the creation of Origin PC in 2009, how easy or difficult was it to get your name out there and build your brand?

KW: Like any new brand, it’s not easy and it takes time and lots of consistency on delivering on our brand promise. We take great pride in our award winning reviews with Maximum PC, PCGamer, Game Informer, Digital Trends, PCWorld, CNET, and many more. We’ve been lucky enough to work with Activision, EA, Ubisoft, Warner Bros, Rockstar, Wargaming, Bethesda, 2K Games and many, many others. We have a very positive and impactful word of mouth with many of our industry partners and customers recommending ORIGIN PC to their friends, family, and co-workers.

FB: What have you learned the most in the five years that Origin PC has been in operation? What mistakes have been made, if any, and what do you hope to improve on in the future?

KW: As we’ve spoke about we have plenty of experience, but we are always looking to improve and we’ve actually learned a lot over the past five years, not just from the market in general, but most importantly from our community. We have a strong community of gamers and PC enthusiasts and we value their feedback at the highest levels. The market is constantly changing and we are as well. When our customers and our fans give us feedback, we listen and we take action.

FB: What will we see from Origin PC in five more years?

KW: A lot can happen in 5 years, but you can definitely expect us to launch the latest and greatest technology and continue to strive to offer the best PC experiences. We will continue to innovative and offer new products like our ALL NEW MILLENNIUM and GENESIS desktop case or our latest EVO15-S Thin and Light high-performance laptop.

FB: How does a casual audience get involved in buying an Origin PC without getting too overwhelmed by all the options?

KW: We certainly understand that not everyone always knows exactly what they want or that they can be overwhelmed with all of our custom options. This is why ORIGIN PC has a dedicated and personal sales team who can help them choose the best specs based around their budget. The customer can call us anytime from Monday-Friday during our business hours from 9-6 PM Eastern or use our LIVE CHAT option right on our website to answer any questions quickly. We are also accessible vie email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

For the casual consumer, we periodically offer a line of pre-built desktops and laptops using recommended high-quality components that have been tested and approved by ORIGIN PC engineers. We call this line our “RTS” line or “Ready-to-Ship” and these systems can ship within 24 business hours after we’ve already received payment.

FB: What’s the biggest, absolute need-to-know fact about Origin PC?

KW: That we’re all extremely passionate about gaming, technology and offering our customers the best PC experience from top to bottom. When you choose ORIGIN PC, you are choosing a company that will stand by their products with free Lifetime support and free Lifetime labor.

FB: I really appreciate the facts listed on the comparison checklist on the Origin PC website, especially the free lifetime tech support and labor, all name brand high-quality components, and a 72 hour stress test period and burn in. Really, all those facts are great, but I can only imagine how big of a smile one would have when the Origin PC wooden crate shows up with their PC.

It sure sounds like the entire experience is a quality one. How much time was spent coming up with every little detail and how important was it making sure to get everything right and not just the building process of the PC?

KW: We’ve been building, shipping, and supporting high-performance PCs for over 15 years so I guess you can say it’ been in the works for a while. As mentioned though, we are not done yet and we continue to learn and improve whenever possible. We’re constantly changing and looking to improve to offer the best PC experience and ensure that every customer is beyond satisfied.

Thank you, Kevin, for taking the time to answer my questions about Origin PC and providing us with more insight into your company. I certainly look forward to getting my hands on what surely will be quality product and can’t wait to see what five more years brings to your company.

For our readers, look for more coverage on Origin PC as I get my hands on product here in the near future. Keep checking back here at FanBolt.com or on my personal Twitter @CaffeinatedGamr.