“I was a little nervous about web-buying a high-end computer from outside the US from a company I’d never heard of … my credit card company was even more so. I was looking for an Ubuntu-preloaded machine. I liked the “quiet computer” concept, the sentinel model came well-equipped, with a nice small-form factor, some configuration flexibility, and a sensible price. While I hesitated, the fully-fanless model went out of stock, oh well, so I went for the not-quite-fanless “breeze” model.

It shipped 4 calendar days after I ordered and I received it 5 calendar days later. International and during the holidays, I’m not sure how they turned this around so quickly. Follow-through and follow-up were prompt, attentive, friendly, personal, and hassle-free. I like doing business with companies that I enjoy doing business with, and those seem to get harder and harder to find.

The computer has just arrived, so it has not yet been run much. There were no surprises. Everything on the order appears to have been in the box. I plugged it in and it booted. Since I bought a solid-state boot drive, it booted really quickly. Ubuntu was there and ready to use.

There is an external power-supply, which I had not given thought to until it arrived. And, I did find it curious that the bits leftover from assembling the computer, the things I might have kept if I’d assembled it myself, were included in the box. Unexpected. I may be glad I have them, later.

When I was a small child, my dad drove a little British sports car, which he enjoyed running as much as I hope to enjoy running my little British computer.”