CompUSA Mod Contest?

[Crimson Sky]

Got money to burn?..Tired of that fat wallet giving you a bachache?..Someone die and leave a fortune?...Those pesky kids of yours can wait another year for dental braces!!

THEN ENTER THIS CONTEST!!!


The modders who competed in C3 this Winter were let in on a future contest sponsored by CompUSSR..err...USA. We were told that this first round of planned contests would be for the "beggining to intermediate case modder" and that our work would not be allowed...

You have to read the "suggested specs' they are looking for in this first contest...xp3200???..Radeon 9800???..2x250GB SATA Drives?..Liquid Cooled??are they insane???..

We are talking about $6k of hardware for a $10k prize...

**All entries become the exclusive property of Sponsor and will not be returned**

**PRIZES: First Prize winner will receive Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) cash. Second Prize winner will receive Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000) cash. FIRST AND SECOND PRIZE WINNERS: First and Second Prize Systems become the property of Sponsors**

wtf?..Someone wake me up, this is a strange dream. Or I've taken Nyquil and Sudafed at the same time again..

http://www.compusa.com/casemodcontest/

[mashie]

I love the contradicitng rules:

"Note, a purchase or use of any Sponsors' product is not required and use of such component(s) shall have no bearing on judging"

Judging criteria number 8:
"percentage of retail components (your ability to use retail components in System)."

"FIRST-SECOND PLACE PRIZE WINNERS: Each winner will receive an "upgraded" replacement component for each component used in the System entered, provided however, that replacement components will only be provided for those components manufactured by the Sponsors. In the event any winner submitted a System which contained a component which is not manufactured by any of the Sponsors, the winner will not be provided with a replacement for such component. The approximate retail value of each replacement component will vary."

So all in all, make a case with top of the range gear made by the sponsors or you are stuffed. I bet you will get bonus points if all components are bought from CompUSSR when you show the required receipts...

[scopEDog]

ROFL...this gets better and better:

"Acceptance of First and Second Prize constitutes entrant's irrevocable grant to Sponsor of the right to modify, edit, adapt, alter, and publish and/or use the System in any way in any and all media without limitation and without consideration or payment to the entrant."

So you spend 5-6 grand and tons of time and talent on a beautiful case. If and only if (holy smoke the suggested PC is so unrealistic, and there will be alot of disappointed modders out there) you win first prize you'll make $4k..ok not too shabby. But then they own the machine and own the rights to the machine...and publish it as their own, get tons of publicity, sell tons of compusa gear, make millions and you get...

...a pat on the back.

These rules are insane(and it gets worse the more you read). I wanna see a car competition where the event actually keep the 1st and 2nd place cars.

[mashie]

Well if you buy the "right" brand on all hardware for the full retail price in the specified timeperiod you will get an upgraded version back, too bad you need the top of the line stuff to even enter the competition... :blink:

[adwhitworth]

Medal of Honor:

Thermaltake v1000 - Change to Lian-Li PC60
P4P800 ASUS - Change to Abit IC7-MAX3 with 6 Channel Serial ATA RAID.
Intel P4 3.0 - Intel P4 Extreme Edition 3.2 P4
ATI 265MB 9800XT - Asus ATI Radeon 9800XT/TVD 256MB
Creative Audigy 2 - Change to Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro Sound Card
Netgear 1gigbit Card - Can stay as it is
(2) Maxtor 250GB SATA - Add 4x 74gb Raptors in Raid 0+1
(2) MadDog DVD-R /-RW - Change to Pioneer 106 DVD-/+R/RW
Cooling: Prometia System base without top case and Lian-Li kit.
(2) OCZ 1GB (2x512MB) PC4200 Dual Channel EL-DDR CAS2.5



Talk about easy to beat...;)

[mashie]

Well no one in their right mind would build such thing considering the fineprint.

[Crimson Sky]

We are forgetting the TAXES on the prize money:

2nd Place winner gets $5000. Ok.

You spend close to $5000 on NEW hardware (purchased after November 1st 2003, with receipts) THEN have to spend money on case modding supplies, and bust your butt making it. Even if you have a case you've modded already..

It gets better.

You HAVE WON SECOND Place!!!

*You've already spent $6000 on the mod for parts.

-$1000

US Federal and State taxes for prize: $1300

-$2300

You are out $2300 USD for winning.

And then you lose the case mod and all artistic rights to it. Forever. This is a contest?

There is only ONE clear winner in this contest. CompUSA. Can they possibly be that out of touch with their market?

[mnpctech]

Blech.. I got the same "sick to my stomach" feeling reading this as I get walking into their store. "Why am I in here?" I never buy anything, but always feel compelled to go in and look at stuff.

[GruntmaN]

Well hopefully with this many threads about the scam they call a contest, CompUSSR will get the idea!

The thread we're in,

This One (http://www.gruntville.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=5443&highlight=)
Includes a copy of the email I wrote them and

This one (http://www.pheatonforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2941&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0)


It really pisses me off that they could be so arrogant about this. I go back to my statement that the modders are more than a bunch of peeps that like the same hobby. We're a community.

The replies in they've made in LP's forum just fuels the fire that is pissing me off. The don't mix drugs comment sent me over the edge!

[Nexxo]

:blink: :blink: :blink: Are these guys for real?!?

Sounds like CompUSA is a bit like PCWorld here (but I suspect there's also a PCWorld in the USA -albeit unrelated to the UK one). Except I'm almost sure PCWorld UK would not be so stupid to issue a contest with such rules. I think. <_<

And giving up a case I lovingly modded together? Only from my cold, dead, stiff rigor-mortis grip of death, dude. -_-

[Starbuck3733T]

This contest makes me want to vomit. The time frame given wont lead to much of anything good... good work takes time.

Essentially, the only people who will be able to enter are jobless 13 year olds w\ rich parents... and/or their jobless parents... or people who do this for a living and can spend the coin to get into this st00pid contest.

I'd rather with a local LAN's (not that I could ever lug goliath to one) mod contest. At least there's some respect there and nobody's using you for their pack mule. :angry:

[dutchcedar]

The one thing this contest is lacking is a $1,000. non-refundable entance fee, to keep out the riff-raff, ya understand. :blink:

[Pug]

It's almost as if a bunch of guys there thought up the compo concept, then had to pass it by a board of directors (who added their bit) and then the lawyers got a hold of it last.
Insane. :blink: