• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Anybody used a Union built PC?

F

Floppies_only

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 15, 2008
Messages
648
Location
Washington, United States of America
Gang,

I just got an email from Buy American that says that it's possible to buy a PC built in America by a large company. It's Union PC, unionbuiltpc.com. They are kinda pricey, so I'm wondering if anybody has used one or knows how they perform relative to other PCs.

Sean
 
I would find it very hard to believe that their PC's are all union made. Probably assembled from components made outside of the continental US. I noticed also that they sell software for managing union stuff like a "Grievance Manager" and "Dues and Membership Software". It's probably a way to bring at least something computer related back home when so many companies are abandoning US workers.
 
Chuckster_in_Jax said:
I would find it very hard to believe that their PC's are all union made. Probably assembled from components made outside of the continental US. I noticed also that they sell software for managing union stuff like a "Grievance Manager" and "Dues and Membership Software". It's probably a way to bring at least something computer related back home when so many companies are abandoning US workers.
Click to expand...

I guess you should sue them for fraud, because they do make the claim that they are unionized from top to bottom. Roger Simmermaker wrote that they use as many American made components as possible.

Sean
 
unionbuiltpc.com is registered (Tucows) to Ocean City PC, 716 Bradley Rd, Ocean City, MD. A quick check with Google, tells us that is is a 2-unit townhouse with one unit for sale. (A lot of places in that development are for sale).

So, no, I don't think they manufacture anything there. Probably a 1 or 2 person operation. Maybe a storage unit full of parts.
 
Chuck(G) said:
unionbuiltpc.com is registered (Tucows) to Ocean City PC, 716 Bradley Rd, Ocean City, MD. A quick check with Google, tells us that is is a 2-unit townhouse with one unit for sale. (A lot of places in that development are for sale).

So, no, I don't think they manufacture anything there. Probably a 1 or 2 person operation. Maybe a storage unit full of parts.
Click to expand...

Or the place where they take the orders.

Sean
 
It seems that they've moved to

510 146th Street
Suite 1
Ocean City, Maryland 21842

(Check the ocean city PC website. It identifies them as having "merged" with UnionBuiltPC. Building appears to be light office/commercial. Shared with a mobile home and RV service and supply outfit.
 
Just looked up the figures for manufacturing in the United States. It's at a 50 year low. Only 15% of the GDP is from manufacturing. Through great efforts from the corporations, manufacturing jobs here has been destroyed. We've become a nation of (bad) finance and money changers.
 
Chuckster_in_Jax said:
Just looked up the figures for manufacturing in the United States. It's at a 50 year low. Only 15% of the GDP is from manufacturing. Through great efforts from the corporations, manufacturing jobs here has been destroyed. We've become a nation of (bad) finance and money changers.
Click to expand...

Don't forget we also produce reality TV shows. :mrgreen:

Sigh. Anyone remember when Apple was proud that it built Macs in Fremont?
 
Chuckster_in_Jax said:
Just looked up the figures for manufacturing in the United States. It's at a 50 year low. Only 15% of the GDP is from manufacturing. Through great efforts from the corporations, manufacturing jobs here has been destroyed. We've become a nation of (bad) finance and money changers.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the success of government which wanted to eliminate the problems of traffic and pollution from the cities caused by old factories. We now have Robert Reich's vaunted knowledge economy; we push paper; they make steel.
 
krebizfan said:
Don't forget the success of government which wanted to eliminate the problems of traffic and pollution from the cities caused by old factories. We now have Robert Reich's vaunted knowledge economy; we push paper; they make steel.
Click to expand...

But as we've also learned--they're pretty good at pushing paper too.

I miss making steel (yes, I worked in the mills). It was interesting.
 
The only thing the US has going for it is stealing peoples money (financial sector) and blowing peoples money (massive government). Sooner or later other countries will be the center of money manipulation (because they will have all the money) and wall street will crumble leading to a debt default here.
 
i think wall street is already on it's way to crumbling, it came close twice, the great depression, and that little recession thingy we are "just getting over" *cough cough*. The prices keep going up, the wages do not, more and more jobs are being outsourced to countries where a dollar is the days pay and the people are happy with that. WE HAVE skilled people HERE in America that can do THE SAME WORK, probably ALOT better than overseas. Look at vintage computers for example. EVERYTHING vintage computer related, from say, the 1950's on to about the late 80's maybe early 90's, correct me if i'm wrong please on that one. Point is EVERYTHING in that era is ROCK SOLID, look at the computers that many of us still have. IBM'S, S-100 Bus machines, The commodore, and amiga lineage, the Tandy line-up. All ROCK SOLID. I'll say from experience, that i HAVE to fix or replace something in my main main machine every year because it keeps breaking, and it's all made in chine, india, malaysia... you get the point.. Bring the jobs back here to the US, let product quality sky-rocket again, lower the prices a bit and the corporations will probably make the SAME if not MORE because the people will become loyal customers again..
 
My view (engineer by training) is that it takes generations to design and build great products. From a few smart people you get innovation that starts an industry, once that industry gets going you have other individuals who start companies providing services and engineering to that main industry. Other companies come in and compete in that industry. While this gets going you have people working in production (or outside supply venders) who find ways to imrove the products manufacture and reliability while engineers take the present designs and with their knowledge and training make them better. All these things from outside suppliers, inhouse workers, 3rd party engineering, competition, knowledgable employees, is the value you create in the economy. When you outsource manufacturing outsider your borders the whole thing collapses. The people who build it get the knowledge and eventually their engineers are doing the designes cutting off the outside "owners" from the equation. While it take generations to get great products it only takes one to lose all the experience in that field and it will never be reproduced because of financial issues getting back into a mature field. For example if we lost GM, Ford, and Chrysler we would never again have a US car company, nobody would invest billions of dollars in a risky venture to someday make a few million in profits. We used to be a major manufacturer of ships in the world, now we cannot build anything outside of military vessels that are allways over budget. Those shipbuilders and their skills are gone forever.
 
Chuck(G) said:
It seems that they've moved to

510 146th Street
Suite 1
Ocean City, Maryland 21842

(Check the ocean city PC website. It identifies them as having "merged" with UnionBuiltPC. Building appears to be light office/commercial. Shared with a mobile home and RV service and supply outfit.
Click to expand...

Hi - just found the discussion about us here via Google. I am one of the owners of Union Built PC, and yes, we are a small company (about 15 people). We assemble, perform QC, and do the software loads on all of our PCs in the USA using union labor (some in Maryland and some, Michigan), and the parts are comprised of both domestic and foreign components. Mostly the latter, unfortunately, because almost all PC components are now made overseas. We try very hard not to source from China. Our tech support is all here in the U.S.

We are unionized 100% from top to bottom, as we state. Management is in a different union than the blue collar folks, but everyone who works for us is a member of one of the locals that we have contracts with.

Please feel free to ask questions here or there is a contact section on our website.

Sorry for what feels like an intrusion, but I wanted to clear up any confusion.
 
brandinius said:
Sorry for what feels like an intrusion, but I wanted to clear up any confusion.
Click to expand...

Your post is most welcome. I'm always glad to learn that someone is trying to do business with countries other than China. If all the trade we've given them has improved their human rights record, I haven't heard about it, and boy do they ever pollute.

Sean
 
Unknown_K said:
The only thing the US has going for it is stealing peoples money (financial sector) and blowing peoples money (massive government). Sooner or later other countries will be the center of money manipulation (because they will have all the money) and wall street will crumble leading to a debt default here.
Click to expand...

I think it's called "creative destruction".

Sean
 
With everyone running to China to have their products made by slave labour, eventually the only thing not made in China, will be chinese food. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top