HighSpeed PC Tech Station

Value

It is hard to view the Tech Station as anything other than overpriced. In the US, the Standard and Large Tech Stations are priced US$79.99 and US$139.99 respectively. Given the poor quality materials and flawed design, it is hard to see why you you would choose this product over a cheap case with a removable motherboard tray.

Things are even worse in the UK. By the time you factor in the cost of import duty, VAT and most importantly freight, the retail price from Kustom PCs is £75 for the Standard Tech Station and a whopping £110 for the Large version. For those unfamiliar with the current exchange rate, those prices equate to US$131 and US$192 respectively.

We fully acknowledge that if the heavy kits were imported via sea freight rather than air, the price differential would be lower. However, there is no escaping from the fact that the Tech Station is an expensive proposition on both sides of The Pond.

Conclusions

What HighSpeed PC has attempted to do here should be commended - very few companies are brave enough to spend the time, effort and money to develop a bespoke product aimed at the enthusiast market. We really wanted to like the Tech Station as a successful execution would have had a direct impact on our daily working lives.

Regrettably the Tech Station was a disaster from start to finish. We could have forgiven the missing parts if we hadn't found that both our kits had missing components. To their credit, HighSpeed PC were very responsive when they found out we had problems, so we are confident they would look after you should you encounter problems.

Having said that, it is impossible for us to recommend the Tech Station in any way. If it was a £20 / $40 product then you might forgive some of the design flaws. If the materials and quality had been outstanding, then possibly you could justify the high cost. Unfortunately, the Tech Station is neither of these things.

Should you find yourself in need of a product like this, we suggest either buying the cheapest case you can find that features a removable motherboard tray, or design and build your own version of this Senfu / Tech Station idea using parts from your local DIY store.

As for the guys at HighSpeed PC, they have promised to take our feedback on-board and continue to develop the Tech Station. They already have several improvements in the pipeline but we had to review the product in it's current state. We hope they will be back soon with a new and improved Tech Station that everyone will enjoy.