The "Wrap Daddy" Computer

[Former member]

Well I just got my Fellers catalog.... I ain't gonna touch the whole cowboy conversation thats going on in another thread.

I guess they're selling computers now... The wrap daddy and the rip daddy...
Jeeeez they're pricey. They must be charging a 100 bucks a square foot for the wraps they slap on the cases, on top of the the price of the computer.

$7500 for for a PC ??!?! are you F$%#IN' KIDDING ME!

First off let me just say I'm a Mac guy... So I was astonished when I saw that price. For Kicks and Giggles I actually configured a POWER MAC on apples site. More Processing Power, More RAM, More RAID storage for about $2200 less!!! Granted I didnt include a Monitor or Wacom Tablet.

The funny part is the fine print which says it wont run Flexi....
You gotta be a sucker to by that thing!!

As far as the " RIP" daddy for $1800.... I built a better PC for my rip station for about $700 from NEW EGG.

Ther'es a sucker born every minute... I bet they'll sell quite a few.

 

[expresssign]

Yea, i thought $7500 was crazy myself.

That is a $200 monitor, 19" is small by todays standards, and a $300 tablet.

Sooo... $7000 for that PC, i just dont see how they would sell any of them. You can build it yourself (maybe even buy it) for under $2K i bet. (i didnt price check that guess).

 

[tmac]

What is going on with this whole wrap movement by fellers. If you bought everything they recommend it would cost 50 thousand dollars or more

 

[TheSnowman]

Pretty sure I read that if you buy it in kits, it drops significantly in price. I'd buy one from them if I was getting into the wrap industry and nothin' else. They just have it mastered. It's not practical always if you don't focus on wraps...but, that's what they see is the future, so they're going for it.

 

[jiarby]

DUAL Quad XEON Procs, 64bit Windows Pro, 8gb RAM.

the Xeon procs cost alot more than regular core2duo desktop processors... these are server class processors.

The 64bit windows is required to address the 8gb RAM...

the 64bit windows will limit the sales but I'll bet it's a screaming mimi for 64 bit apps.

$7500 is a reasonable price for an 8-core, 8gb, etc.. server class machine.

I used to build servers for a living...

 

[Techman]

by the time some big company gets into doing stuff like this... the object of their attention is a passing idea.

 

[Former member]

Dont get me wrong... It's a great configuration, just pricey!
There's just so many sources for computers out there.
I think Feller's is great... great service , great pricing. I buy almost all of our wrapping material from them, and their pricing is phenomenal.

If they threw in Adobe Creative suite.. then you would have a good deal.

 

[SignBurst PCs]

Apples to Oranges

Actually "Mac Guy", I took a look at the Mac Pro today as well. Configuring a Mac to get relative specs on The Wrap Daddy is impossible. The Mac doesn't even have options to compare with "TWD". I am not saying that a Mac isn't a great computer, just saying that you are not making a fair comparison. Take raid storage for example. Yes, you can get more storage for less money, but it isn't the same kind of storage. The drives on TWD are faster than the SATAII drives available. You could bump the Mac up to SAS drives, but then your price skyrockets. Then add in your monitor, G5 Mouse, and Wacom tablet and you are way out of the park.

The guys over at Flexi confimed that it will run on 64Bit XP, but in my opinion, it shouldn't run Flexi anyhow. In an efficient shop, you would seperate the RIP and Design computers. Flexi can and should be run on the Rip Station.

As in everything, you get what you pay for. A lot (years) of effort was put into designing and testing different computer configurations. Yes, you can buy cheaper design systems. Yes, you could even take the specs and have a similar system built. But, unfortunately, not all systems are equal. For example, we just had a tech support call from someone who had a system built using our published specs. They found out that they made a $6000 mistake. It was inappropriate hardware and all I can say is "ouch". They were so desperate, they called us to find out if there was anything that we could do.

Gaming rigs and non-xeon class systems are not even comparable to The Wrap Daddy. The speed, reliabilty, and support offered to wrap and sign shops who purchase The Wrap Daddy are awesome. Have you ever tried to call another computer manufacturer and ask them a Photoshop or Flexi question? The Wrap Daddy was designed specifically for wrap shops by guys that know wrap design. The guys at Fellers Cetified worked closely with Hotwiredtech to create an awesome wrap design PC. Speed was the object. Storage space wasn't. You can buy cheep storage drives. We wanted a systems that was focused on speed and reliability. Photoshop SCREAMS using The Wrap Daddy.

These aren't new systems. This is just the first time they have been in the Fellers catalog. Several users of this forum use The Wrap Daddy in their shops and have been completely blown away. Have you ever heard of Aurora Graphics? They use our systems (5 of them) to create their awesome fills. Have you seen their latest 3d fills? All created on our systems.

This is the first time that these systems have hit the masses in the catalog. I am sure there are going to be a lot of questions. I would just ask that you ask the questions rather than bash something new that you don't quite fully understand. So many wrap shops make the mistake of buying a sub-par computer based on price. A Mac user should understand this as well and anyone. Ask anyone that has The Wrap Daddy what they think of their design computer and see if they think that they made a poor choice. We are starting to see several shops buy their second, third, fourth, and fifth systems from us. There must be value there somewhere.

Of course, my opinions are biased. Our company manufactures The Wrap Daddy and the Rip Daddy for Fellers. We have supported and built systems for sign and wrap shops for years. That is what we do.

 

[ghetto_cowboy]

for 7500 bucks why skim on the monitor and vid card?

 

[Former member]

I was waiting for you to chime in... I saw you viewing the thread, and now I know why it took so long... you were answering in the form of an essay!

By the way, Welcome to 101.

Ok on to my response... yes it's a great computer, I'm not disagreeing with that. However I still think its pricey and that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

Just like you are entitled to think that a design computer should not be running flexi. I beg to differ with that. Alot of us here design wraps, but we also design other things like... signs. And flexi is pretty darn good at doing that, sometimes its more appropriate to design in flexi that Photoshop or Illy. So I think it's a good idea to have it running on my design computer. By the way I don't rip through flexi as many others do not.

Kudos to you building a really fast computer. Kudos that the aurora graphics guys used your computer create their "awesome" fills.
Kudos that you offer support on photoshop and flexi, I don't know why you would do that. You cant even get flexi to answer their own tech calls, but that another rant. As far as bashing something I dont understand... I think I understand completely, You've designed a high end machine, for a specific niche market, and are selling it at premium. Good luck with it. And I appreciate your biased opinion.

 

[MVIP]

Of course, my opinions are biased. Our company manufactures The Wrap Daddy and the Rip Daddy for Fellers. We have supported and built systems for sign and wrap shops for years. That is what we do.

You should go to the new member forum and introduce yourself!

 

[kstompaint]

the Xeon procs cost alot more than regular core2duo desktop processors... these are server class processors.

The 64bit windows is required to address the 8gb RAM...

the 64bit windows will limit the sales but I'll bet it's a screaming mimi for 64 bit apps.

$7500 is a reasonable price for an 8-core, 8gb, etc.. server class machine.

I used to build servers for a living...

This is the exact conclusion that I made when system shopping. I'm no techie, but I did do some research.

When I was at SGIA in Orlando equipment shopping, I decided (as did Fellers) that the Mutoh/Graphtec/Seal combo was the best equipment for the money. Then I started looking at the computers. I was working on a deal at the show, so I called a friend who has a business building and servicing large commercial computer systems. He pulled up the specs online and after questioning my need for so much "horsepower" he said he couldn't build it for much less (As a part of the package, I got a little discount on the system). Since my budget was at max capacity, I opted out of the RIP Daddy, and had a less expensive one built. I'm not saying it's as good or better, but it does the job quite well.

Is the Wrap Daddy Expensive? Yes. Is Hotwiredtech making a profit? Of course, are you? It does what it is supposed to do and so far, I'm very happy with it. I haven't needed support (I've only had it for 2 weeks), but if Fellers support is any indication, I'm not worried.

 

[Valentino]

it's nice but way to expensive for my taste, the sign monster is a more economical machine for wraps or big files.

 

[Valentino]

just playing around at alienware.

[1] Aurora™ ALX

Alienware P2 Chassis: Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling - Space Black
Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue
High-Performance Liquid Cooling: Alienware® ALX High-Performance Liquid Cooling
Acoustic Dampening: Alienware® Acoustic Dampening
Graphics Processor: Dual 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX – SLI Enabled
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 6400+ Processor w/ HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
Memory: 4GB Low Latency Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 x 1024MB
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Motherboard
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows® XP Professional – DirectX 9 Only!
Desktop Tuners and Remotes: Media Center upgrade options are not available with Windows XP Professional.
System Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 1TB (2 x 500GB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 16MB Cache
Optical Drives : Dual Drive Configuration - Drive 1: 20X Dual-Layer DVD±RW
Drive 2: 2X Dual-Layer Blu-ray Disc Re-writable
Blu-Ray Media: 25GB Rewritable Blu-ray Disc (2X Maximum)
Enthusiast Essentials: Dual High Performance Gigabit Ethernet Ports
Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
Power Supply: Alienware® 1000 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply
Monitor: 30" Samsung 2560 x 1600 (6ms) SyncMaster Widescreen Flat Panel
Keyboard: Logitech® G15 Keyboard
Mouse : Logitech® G5 Gaming Mouse
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® ALX Mousepad
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® ALX Desktop Binder
Exclusive ALX Extras: Owner Identification Card
Exclusive ALX Extras: Internal Wire Management
Exclusive ALX Extras: Exclusive Alienware® ALX Items
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
AlienAutopsy: AlienAutopsy - Windows XP Edition
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v1.0 Recovery Kit – Windows XP Edition
Power: UPS Protection - Opti-UPS ES1500C (980W Capacity)
Avatar: Alienhead Glow
Window Style: Silver Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alienhead 3D (Widescreen)
Power Plan: Always On
Automatic Updates: This personalization option is currently available for Windows Vista® operating systems only.
Sidebar Gadgets: This personalization option is currently available for Windows Vista® operating systems only.
RSS Feeds: This personalization option is currently available for Windows Vista® operating systems only.
Time Zones: (GMT - 7.00) Arizona


SubTotal: $6,734.00
Shipping: --
Discount: $0.00
Tax: --
Order Total: --

 

[Valentino]

thought you'd enjoy that 30" screen in there ghetto-cowboy

 

[Designer Wraps]

I think I'm going to move into the "Wrap Computer Building" business instead of actually doing wraps ... who knows, maybe there is more money to be made selling HIGHLY marked-up computers to sign (I mean wrap) shops that think they need them.

Do your research people before buying these things. They are worth half what they're listed at no matter what the 'wrap-computer-guy' and 'jiarby' say. Spec it out item-by-item and you'll see for yourself.

Or I'll build you one for $4000 and call it "The Wrap Mommy" ... with a tag line like "We give birth to beautiful wraps ... FAST!"

Umm ... yeah

 

[kstompaint]

Again, I'm a self-admitted non-techie but this looks to me like an arguement FOR the Wrap Daddy. I'll wait for the Hotwiredtech guy to chime in.

 

[Valentino]

signmedia, CUTE NAME and SLOGAN

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

What is going on with this whole wrap movement by fellers. If you bought everything they recommend it would cost 50 thousand dollars or more

Frank's got to pay for the Ferarri somehow.

For those of you that haven't seen it, they have a Ferarri Testarossa (about a 92 model, I'd guess) that is completely wrapped with one of the Aurara Graphics fills (and not that good looking of an image).

I love Ferarri's, and I just wanted to kick that guy in the backside for ruining a beautiful machine.

 

[jiarby]

Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 6400+ Processor w/ HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
Memory: 4GB Low Latency Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 x 1024MB
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Motherboard

Even though this is an impressive machine it IS NOT comparable to a dual 4x XEON processor with 8gb RAM running x64 Windows...

Be sure you are comparing apples to apples.