Originally Posted by schmunk
A few years ago my parents bought a Time laptop. We got it home, used it for an hour and promptly took it back. What a pile of ****e it was. We ended up with a Sony Vaio which my brother uses for internet browsing and homework now.
Time used to be a well respected manufacturer (and component shop too..?), but they got complacent and Dell/PC Shed took over the market.
Agreed it is pointless.
I was scared by this...
I feel sorry for anyone who built any of the other systems they made!
But i totally agree, their brand has been destroyed, and yes people just will not trust them any more. Especially with much more renowned competitors which are either better value or provide better customer support.
This TimeFactory UK makes me laugh, with all its 'best notebooks' etc etc.
Ian
Mac fancier > white macbook base spec .................. CS: muddyfirebang
Time were a sub-division of Tiny.
I know people who have been left stranded with Time PCs (if I had known they were getting them, I'd have stopped them!), with no support. I can't help them much because of the way these turnkeys are built.
This is not good news.
Last edited by Silent Shark; 05-02-2006 at 11:37 PM.
Nope, Time Group Ltd was the original holding company.
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=2019
Which changed its name to Granville Technology Group, and then bought Tiny from administration in 2002.
http://www.pcw.co.uk/vnunet/news/214...lated_articles
Last edited by schmunk; 05-02-2006 at 11:55 PM.
Hehe,
A fickle thing, bankruptcy.
I completely agree with the general feeling on this one folks - their problem is that they have resurrected not just the company's assets, but also the brand identity, which seems to me to be utter madness, given its potted history. Just the name comes with so much baggage that it seems barmy that they gave it a second thought, let alone tried launching it as some sort of premium manufacturer??!?
If they'd given it a new name they could at least have shrugged off SOME of the negative connotations?
I can only assume that the new owners are emotionally attached to the name, because there's no way that any consumers in their right minds will be. Even if their new PCs are bulletproof and work when dipped in treacle.
My mistake, I just remembered they were related, and assumed Tiny was the bigger co.
No no, it's Tiny....
Colossus was the big brand!
never, ever a truer word spoken dudeyou know it
I have to say I owe a great debt to Time Computers. I bought my first PC from them, a state of the art AMD K550.
Naturally it went wrong within the first week, everytime the screensaver popped up the machine crashed. It was sent back a few times to be repaired but the fault was never fixed. Eventually I got my money back & decided from that point on that I would build my own as I must be able to do a better job than Time. I was right & 5 years on I've never looked back from that descision.
So thank you Time for getting me into PC's & teaching me that build yourself is nearly always the best way.
Now will you please, quietly, lay down in the corner and die, once and for all.
Last edited by jimborae; 10-02-2006 at 12:19 PM.
I had a Time Athlon 600, with 128mb of RAM TNT2 and a 19" Samsung Monitor - cost a shade under £1500, and its still going as a server (with a bit more memory) under linux. No problems with any of the components, they were basic but from good brands - msi mainboard, oem tnt2, sony & hitachi dvd/cdrw and a seagate hdd. the case was pretty solid, and as far as I know, one of the first to use metal drive rails to ease optical drive installation.
So, thanks time, you did a good job to start with, but why the great decline?
Dave
It turns out the "new owners" are the same people, granville technology group.
Makes you sick doesnt it, where is the protection for consumers from blatant rackets like this.
Actually I read up from a few weeks ago that the original (people) owners of the company bought it back again.
Bastards They owe me a laptop, sent back for repair and so now I've filed for compensation from the credit finance company who are still trading BUT under a new MOTHER company.
So, here's to hope!!!
Woohoo now Assistant Manager!
Not being a law type person but IMHO I think this may have happened.
1. Granville died a death, people who were owed money by them will never be paid.
2. Some of the directors/suppliers etc (whatever) bought the assets.
3. Time (or whatever its now called) decided to start selling the trash again.
Coincidence that they are using the same factory and probably the same cheap components? I think not...
I think the term 'exploiting legal loopholes' comes to mind.
The problem is there is very little margin in retailing PCs, the money is in the warrenties and random rubbish they sell with it. That is where Time and Tiny lost out - oh, and the systems they were producing were using the cheapest available components. HP, Dell and whatever PC World/Dixons conglomerate sell have the market stitched up in all honesty.
Dave
The family that owned Granville Technology Group set up a complex legal structure around its businesses, including Tiny and Time. The new company will operate from the same factory which the family bought back from the administrators
A company run by the family owns the land on which the factory sits and never went into administration.
"Time Uk Factory"'s Marketing manager Brian Trevaskiss who worked for Granville before it went into administration admitted it faces a major task to convince people to trust the brand.
It shouldn't be legal but it is, isn't the british justice system a wonderful thing.
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