Best Buy ''Optimization'' A Waste of Money

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Consumer Reports said that purchasing Best Buy's "optimization" packages is a big waste of money.

The word "fake" probably isn't the suitable description for Best Buy's "pre-optimization" of PC's sold within its walls. However, The Consumerist and Consumer Reports secret shoppers report that Best Buy's so-called optimization really showed no improvement when compared to identical, non-optimized factory PCs. In one case, reports The Consumerist, a Best Buy-enticed laptop actually performed 32-percent worse than the original factory model.

Is it just a pre-paid gimmick to offer "pretend" low prices? That seems to be the case. The report also indicates that Best Buy's post-optimization service--allowing consumers to bring in their rigs for Best Buy's $39.99 tune-up--just doesn't hold up to its claims of boosting processor speed by 200-percent, reviving "incomplete" computers, and more. Ultimately, the optimizing performed by Best Buy specialists is just a big waste of money--before and after a PC purchase.

But that wasn't enough. The Consumerist and Consumer Reports wanted to find out just what Best Buy performs in its optimizations. The Geek Squad blog says that the agents perform up to "100 system tweaks that improve PC performance and functionality." There are also various plans of optimizations, ranging from $29.99 to $219.99. Documents provided by the Geek Squad were both confusing and intimidating, replicating that experience of "having your car serviced."

The Consumerist's report is indeed disturbing. One pretend shopper was told by a Best Buy salesman that her laptop would be incomplete without their optimization. One shopper was told that manual updates via Microsoft would take around two whole days to complete. Ultimately the Consumer Reports electronics testing experts purchased three "optimized" laptops at a local Best Buy and concluded that the optimizations are not a good deal for most consumers.

Kevin Parrish

Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then, he’s loved all things PC-related and cool gadgets ranging from the New Nintendo 3DS to Android tablets. He is currently a contributor at Digital Trends, writing about everything from computers to how-to content on Windows and Macs to reviews of the latest laptops from HP, Dell, Lenovo, and more. 

78 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Abrahm
    Best Buy has always been a huge rip off when it comes to computers and computer accessories. I can't say I'm surprised by this finding.
    Reply
  • dtemple
    There's not enough information here to say that the optimization that Geek Squad offers is a bad thing. I know a guy who works at geek squad, and I asked him about this whole thing. He said that the optimization is 40 dollars in-store, no matter when you have it done. It doesn't get rid of viruses (which is a software repair closer to 200 dollars) and it won't speed up your computer 200 percent. It DOES give you all the Windows updates, they disable startup items that aren't necessary, they uninstall the trial bloatware, and then run a registry patching program that speeds up everything just a tad - making the computer devote more CPU time to foreground apps than background apps. If you get it done with the computer brand-new in the box, they also set the date and time, as well as configure it for automatic updates and configure your username and password for you.
    Did the geek squad guy say Windows Updates could take 2 days? Maybe if the consumer said they have dial-up. Maybe the person who they said the computer would be "incomplete" without the optimization meant it wouldn't be 100% ready to go out of the box without it, since you have to go through the initial setup process.
    For 40 bucks, people who dont have time to clean out bloatware, do updates, and configure the initial settings are getting a deal here. For most Toms readers, it's a waste of money.
    Reply
  • walt526
    "For 40 bucks, people who dont have time to clean out bloatware, do updates, and configure the initial settings are getting a deal here. For most Toms readers, it's a waste of money."

    FWIW, I think that your conclusion is spot-on. If my parents didn't have me to basically do that for them (for free), then I'd suggest that they would pay someone to do that.
    Reply
  • christop
    It's total bs. I use to work for staples and they had a tune up for 20.00 and it was just a norton tool kit. The same tools your os has defrag stuff like that. I loved how they told me if I didn't sell a pc with the extended coverage they lost money. I told them they are retarded and that their purchase order er is buying all these computers at retail price and hoping to sell an extended warranty to make money yeah right.. They are stupid to think I would not know they are making 30 percent profit if not more.. So I quit working for those freaks.. ALL THE TUNE IS.. EMPTY YOUR WALLET WITH UPSALES...
    Reply
  • PLiNkO
    OMG,I've been saying this for a while now. Best Buy is such a rip off, they only sell flashy low quality electronics marketed to twenty something morons. I've made lots of money following the Geek Squad around with a mop.
    Reply
  • jsc
    I shop at Best Buy - for CD's, DVD's, and other minor parts and accessories. But for major computer parts, my vendor of choice is newegg.
    Reply
  • loomis86
    Best buy occasionally has a killer sale. I bought a hewlett packard HP50g RPN scientific calculator there last spring for 60 bucks. that's a hundred dollar calculator. Not too enthusiastic about their extended coverage plans etc.
    Reply
  • jrewolinski
    Agreed, BB, is not worth giving money to. Unfortunately they are just about the only retail electronics store left in Anchorage.

    And why can't the suppliers just stop installing all of that useless crap on consumer PCs to begin with? BB has a big enough name to go to their suppliers and say "Don't install Bloatware". But hey they can make an extra buck if they don't.
    Reply
  • adillhoff
    jrewolinskiAgreed, BB, is not worth giving money to. Unfortunately they are just about the only retail electronics store left in Anchorage.And why can't the suppliers just stop installing all of that useless crap on consumer PCs to begin with? BB has a big enough name to go to their suppliers and say "Don't install Bloatware". But hey they can make an extra buck if they don't.
    Because those advertisers give companies like HP and Dell money to put that bloatware on there. Best Buy is simply offering a service to remove all of that junk while applying registry tweaks to slightly speed up the system. It definitely does not increase processing speed by 200%, but it is a great value for a lot of people who don't have the time or resources to set up their PC correctly.
    Reply
  • pangedit
    Why am I not surprised.
    They also have the PS3 setup thing for $130.
    Reply