Opinion: Gateway

[Cody]

POLL: What is your opinion of Gateway computer systems, in all aspects?

[SPEEDO]

Expensive.

If you or one of your friends has the knowledge you could build yourself a couple of real good systems for what you would spend on one of these, That's my opinion anyway.

Good Luck SPEEDO

[Sweeper]

Not to bad. I have one. But, Dell seems to have the market now. They have been very competitive and are getting some really nice PC's down to a very good price.

Sweeper

[Cody]

Well, one thing, is that most Computer Magazines state that you can save $100-$200 on building your own PC. Those computers don't include Windows, Office, and other software that Gateways would. Their prices don't seem too bad at all to me.

Dell would be horrible, in my opinion, due to the fact that I would have to ship my system to TX if I had a problem. Ugh.

[jman01pa]

They are decent for beginner to intermediate users. I have worked on a few and they are relatively easy to service. I agree they are a bit pricey these days. If you are a member of this site then you have all the resources you need to build your own custom system. Give it a shot. You will learn a lot, save a few $$$$ and have it your way.

J http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[korgul]

Just had a coworker ask about getting a new PC or having me build one for him. I told him to go with gateway or dell because they have the tech support that I could not offer ( 3 years ). He ended up getting a gateway and the tech support has changed. They offer tech support for as long as you own the computer. They also have 1 year onsight service.
If you can build it yourself then do that, it would be alot cheaper. Then you can add more RAM, larger HD, faster proc., or what ever you want.

korgul

[Cody]

For what I want, (Eventually... This one is good enough for now, although with PC MHz Speed nearly Tripling my PC now, and 4x the bus speed [or darn close], AND 64 bit processors coming out, this thing won't be great for long).

I have found a few things:

If you build your own computer, you must contact the Manufacturer directly, and wait for the part to be shipped.

If you buy it from a company that builds them, though, it is more likely that it is in stock, and you will have your PC back faster.

If you need technical support on something, a company can help you, whereas, build you own, you have none. I know there is SysOPT, but you guys aren't always accurate, and Tech Support is much quicker.

If a company goes out of business (that makes, say, CD-RWs), and you build your own, that means if you have a problem, you are out of luck, whereas a dealer will probably have a replacement for you.

Overall, (with all the software, and the many advantages), don't you think the extra $100-$300 is worth it?

[jman01pa]

I think you may hear some feedback with this statement you made

"I know there is SysOPT, but you guys aren't always accurate"

Give us a little more credit than that....

J http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by jman01pa (edited 08-18-2001).]

[Cody]

Well, it's true...

With a Company such as Gateway, they can access your PC over the internet right then and there, and probobably be able to fix it.

With SysOPT, you guys list all the possible solutions and we, the "end-user", have to try them all. Thus, a company would also save time.

Oh, BTW: at least it will get some people to respond to the thread http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[Philip1952]

If someone asks me that is a first time buyer. I tell them to buy Gateway or Dell. With the limited knowledge and skill that a first time buyer has. They are better off most of the time with the support that these two companys offer. I'll offer advice on the hardware selection. Then I'll go help them work the bugs out of windows and shut all the garabage off that is running in the background. Then let the mfg handle the dumb service call questions. You know the type of questions. (Where is the any key).

[Cody]

I know that Compaq and HP put a TON of garbage on their systems, but I have never seen a Gateway that had a ton of garbage, and didn't work GREAT right out of the box.

[Cody]

Any more opinions?

[Darknyt]

DO NOT BUY GATEWAY COMPUTERS!!!!! They overcharge you for everything and they use extremely cheap parts. I have a friend that works there and he has told me horror stories about how mobos caught fire. I have seen some of there RAM catch fire. Its rediculous. I have even seen them use remarked cpu's!!!!!!!!!!!! A friend of mine has a Gateway PC and wanted to overclock. He could'nt do it so I took a look at his P3 800 and stuck it in my mobo at the time......
ABIT BE6....I couldnt even squeeze 5MHz out of the thing without it freezing up after it posted "Intel Pentium III at 806MHz". I took the cpu out of my mobo to look at it closer only to find that a very fine line around the edges of what appeared to be a sticker on the cpu describing its speed and cache size. If I didnt look at it close enough i would have missed it, but it was there plain as day....REMARKED PENTIUM 3 800!!!!!!!!!!

[This message has been edited by Darknyt (edited 08-18-2001).]

[FeOats]

I have purchased 2 Gateways, a PII and Gateway Select with an AMD cpu. I haven't had any problems with the PII, which is nearly 3 years old. The Select had a modem go bad about 16 months. I opted to replace and have not had a problem since, and that computer is 2 years old now (belongs to my daughter). The Dell I purchased for my son 8 months ago came with a bad hard drive and was replaced in the first week by a technician who came to my home. But it took my husband 2 days to get somebody on the phone and that was aggravating. A couple of months ago, the Dell developed a problem where it would not boot. The lights came on, but it just sat there. According to the manual, it said to try a different power outlet. We moved it downstairs to a different outlet and it worked fine. However, just a couple of weeks ago, the same thing happened. I emailed Dell and got a really long reply but somehow I managed to get the darn thing running again. I'll save the reply to try the 'remedies' should it happen again. In my opinion, it really does not matter which vendor you purchase a computer from when it comes to Dell or Gateway. Purchase from whomever has the best deal and/or the configuration your heart desires.

[bhess]

Just remember that tech support isn't always as good as it sounds. Usually they will try a few things then tell you to stick in the rescue disk. Then you lost everything. Even onsite service they will try everything before they send someone out to your house.

[ufrich]

I dont know about the rest of you guys but i think Gateway PC"s are excellent. Besides the price i cant find a thing wrong with them or their line of laptops. I personally have 3 of them and they are excellent machines. Tech support is excellent. In the 2 years i have owned my PC's i have had a broken floppy drive, bad CD burner, and a monitor that burnt out on me, and all i had to do was call them up and my parts were in within days. Dont get my wrong they are pretty expensive and i would probobally not buy one anymore since ive learned how to build one on my own, but there tech support is arguably the best around.

[Joe03]

Expensive, and not always optimized for full performance. Decent reliability (my 1993 gateway is still working).

Better to build one yourself if you know how

[Spacetrek5]

You could do worse than Gateway.

Our first home system, a G6, was purchased a few years ago. Gateway's tech support had a better personal touch back then but has always been decent and they answered a question I emailed a few months back even tho it was after the 3year period. Their support for updated drivers could be better. The last time I upgraded the O/S, I flash upgraded the BIOS to the latest version only to end up with a no boot situation. The hardware has been reliable - they did replace the mouse within a few days when the original crapped out.

If you're the type who doesn't really want to 'play' with your hardware and who values a tech support department, go for it. If you want to stay on top technologically, and do regular upgrades, build your own.

[card_magic]

I'm with everyone else here... they are way expensive. (Then again, so are Macs.) I was talking to this girl who just recently got a Gateway for $1800. I spent $1200 on mine this summer (I already had the HDD and CD-ROMs though), building it myself, and it blows her's out of the water. I'm sorry, but 600 dollars for a worse computer, and a bunch of tech support? Not worth it to me. But then again, I know computers. And I'm fully against ANY factory systems. But as someone else said... you could do a lot worse... remember Packard Bell? Those things sucked. My advice.. find someone who knows computers, have him build you one.. and throw in an extra case of beer. He'll give you free tech support for life, then. hehe.

-Jim

[LiLRiceBoi]

Well i just skimmed through the posts...

I agree with bhess.

the tech support, isnt really that great. they sit there with a manual and try to diagnose the problem while you describe it over the phone. they usually dont know much about computers either, they just read some possible solutions. AND the worst part, you usually have to wait on hold for a LONG LONG time.

[Cody]

card_magic: one thing that is wrong with your post:

Add $150 - $200 for your HD
Add $100 for the CD-ROM (assuming it's not CD/RW or anything).

Then, that brings your system up to $1,400. Now, there is probably $400 worth of software on their (Office XP costs that much alone for you to buy it, not including Windows, that, and other programs).

I don't see why you couldn't upgrade a Gateway. I asked their eSales and they said it was fine if you did internal tweaking and added and removed parts. Whatever was left of the original was still under warranty (software always is).

[Cody]

LiLRiceBoy:

Oh yes, I forgot this. Most tech support (for advanced users like me) can be done online. They have a Java thing or something where you can talk to the TechSupport on there. I tried it 3 times: Once on a Sunday (around 6:00 in the morning, CST), once on a Friday night at 6:00 PM (CST) and once on a Monday Night night (9:30). I waited no longer than 2 minutes for a tech rep to show up. I asked some advanced questions, and they answered them all (Such as, Would there be any advantage to upgrading my system from ATA/66 to ATA/100? some stuff about hardware and BOIS, etc. etc.). [note: these aren't very very advanced, but not all places would know things like this]

It is also helpful to have a Gateway if there are other people in the house that are computer illiterate. Makes it easier for them, too.

[Cody]

Hey guys... I am building a system that I printed off from gateway (probably from either Pricewatch, TigerDirect, or egg something)

not building as in buying the parts, but putting the prices together.

[Fingers]

Cody I agree that it's no bargain to build your own IF you factor in the software that comes bundled with a Gateway or Dell, but I'll still never buy another prebuilt PC.

As for tech support, I couldn't disagree more though. I've owned Zeos's and Microns, both of which have/had top rated customer support, and it's almost always better to come to SysOpt. When you use the manufacturers tech support, you are getting the opinion of ONE person, who is reading off of pre-prepared guide notes, and might not have any practical experience of their own. That's fine for known problems that are common on similar machines, but when you start using hardware and software that wasn't on the machine when it left the factory, those guys become babbling idiots... in my experience.

More times than not, I've still had to find the answer elsewhere (read here) after getting off the telephone and rubbing my sore ear.

[This message has been edited by Fingers (edited 08-19-2001).]

[RADAR1797]

I have ordered and serviced hundreds of computers for the government and Gateways seem to have less problems than Dells. Nothing empirical, but I stopped ordering Dells and get all of our computers from Gateway.

-RADAR

[jad1097]

Cody you save quite a bit more than $100-300 when you build your own. In this thread (http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum1/HTML/015508.html) you could see a system I configured for about $1,300 (including Windows 2000) but a similar gateway I configured on their site was over $2000! That is at least $700 saved! Who needs Office XP when you can download a FREE office suite (http://www.staroffice.com/) , your average user does not need an office suite anyhow. Most people don't even use most of the software that comes with those computers either. Even if I only saved $100-300 instead of over $700 I would still build my own.

[joerg]

I currently buid my own comps but i baught my first 2 both compaqs baught them on sale and thaught i got a fair price. I would recomend a compaq even though they get a bad rap. My friends own gateways and dells and there always bragging about how there cdrw broke or there monitor burnt out and they had it replaced for no charge. I dont no why they brag they say compaqs suck and they wouldnt replace my parts but after having my first comp, compaq presario for 3years now and it still turns on everday and has had no problems runnes just as good as when i baught it. Compaqs tech support has always been helpful and even today i called compaq and they supported the fact that i was builing my own comp and would be tearing some of the parts off of my old one they even emailed the drivers to me.

[Cody]

I would never buy a Compaq. A cousin of mine has one, and they have trouble even turning the thing on!

Their modem doesn't always work, their sound card sounds like a scratched record (even with high quality speakers), and they can barely crank out 10FPS in games (not multiplayers) with the lowest settings.

Please note that this was a system they spent good money on. I have been over there so many times... Ugh.

I agree that their tech support may not be the greatest. But for most big problems, I would probably go online first anyways. I just hate the idea of having 30 different places to go for different hardware problems. I am researching for the future (for when 64-bit systems come out), and trying to have an idea of what I want. The 3 contendors are: Gateway http://www.gateway.com , Milwaukee PC (my current system, excellent) http://www.milwaukeepc.com and building my own.

Is there anything besides tech support and some idiodic rants about their parts catching on fire (which I seriously doubt. If that happened, they would be dead already), I don't see anything wrong with them. I am almost done doing a field test of Gateway vs. MPC (Milwaukee PC) vs. build your own as far as prices!

Hold onto your horses.

I expect MPC to be a bit more, because their systems are a hair more expensive, but their tech support, is like *wow*. I had a DVD drive fail on me once. I emailed them with what it was doing, and less than 5 minutes later, I got an e-mail back (this was on a Saturday too) saying to bring it in whenever. I took a 20 minute trip to thier store, and in 5 minutes I had a new DVD drive (the old one was an AOpen 12X, and they said they would give me an AOpen 16X instead).

[joerg]

I seems like you came in here asking for our opinions on gateway and other computer manufactors. We gave you the information we knew and half of it you did not believe and the other half you didn't even consider. It sounds to me like you work for gateway or something, i dont know why you asked are opinions on something you have allready decided on especially when you should know being a sysopt member that most of our advice would be to build your own. I am sorry if i have said something wrong or incorrect but this is how i feel about it and if you think i just didn't like you coment about compaq you wrong i was just trying to give you more options to explore.

[Cody]

I have understood and taken in the information on Tech Support. I even acknowledged it in my previous post! I would never buy a Compaq. I have seen many many problems with them, and I am happy that you have yours working!

On a different note, here is the total I have come up with:

Intel Pentium 4 1.8GHz $549
256MB PC800 $81
Intel 850GB Motherboard $145
40GB 7200RPM HD $105
GeForce 3 64MB DDR $290
Toshiba 16X DVD-ROM $47
Plextor 16/10/40 CDRW $162
SoundBlaster Live! Platinum 5.1 $53

$1432

Now, add to that $100 for a decent case, $150 for shipping, and $50 for tax, and you get: $1732.

I configured a Milwaukee PC system, and that cost $2,600. That one comes with a Titanium case (Worth over $300) Fire Wire, Rumblepad, Force 3D Joystick - 3 Year Limited Warranty. Soo, I would tack on $500 to get my self built one up to the MPC price. you hten have 2,200. Then you add the three year warranty, and you are pretty close. The gateway cost $2,174, so, as you can see, they have pretty good prices.

They are (I will honestly confess) more expensive than building your own, but, with the tech support, warranties, and PGS (Pretty Good Service), I think it is worth it.

What I have found is that price varies little between Gateway, MPC, and BYO (Build Your Own). Basically, if one has a deal, get it. Otherwise, if they were all the same price, I would probably go with MPC. I get AWESOME tech support, and they are friendly and helpful.

Please keep this thread going, though, maybe for suggestions on other brands for other people who are in similar situations.

[joerg]

Have you considered amd there 1.4ghz cpus run almost as fast or faster than the p4 that would save around $500 on the build you own.
Also Voodoo PC, Alienware, and Falcon make exceptional PCs.

[jad1097]

Cody,I could build a way better system than that for $1732. Of course I would not use the weak P4. If you look at the link to the other thread in my last post you would know that.


Your $100-300 savings is also incorrect. At least from what I have seen today by pricing parts from newegg.com and gateway, I could save you over $600.

[Cody]

jad: I am sorry that I offended you... jeez. I was simply comparing the P4's because that is what I compared!

Shave $500 off each system and there is still the same diff. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

BTW: There is no way that I am going to buy a PC from some puny little company that may shutdown at any time.

[jad1097]

No, you did not offend me. I think you missed my point but that is fine.

When I said "I could save you over $600" I did not mean by going with a Athlon instead of a P4. I did mean that you could save $600 by building your own if you are smart about it. A $2000 Gateway cost about $1,300-$1,400 to build yourself with better parts(including W2K instead of WinNOT ME).


Anyhow, to each their own. I will continue to build my own (and for our friends) to save my money for things we need.

[Cody]

What do you guys think of Alienware? They have struck a chime in my head....

As far as:
Price
Performance
The company going out of business,
etc.

I was looking at their Aurora DDR

[jad1097]

http://www.resellerratings.com/vendone.cgi?AlienwareComputers

[joerg]

If you like the support you get with Milwaukeepc I would say buy form them i just did a little research and built the exact same system with a few exceptions from all the major manufactures. Here goes.

I used a p4 1.6,1.7(dell only sells intell)
256megs
40gig
32meg graphics
16xdvd
12x8xcdrw
17" monitor
windows me

Heres the results

Voodoo Pc=$2649.49
Alienware=$1947.00
Dell=$1818.00
Milwaukeepc=$1609.97
Compaq=$1689.00
HomeBuilt=$1118.00

Take your pick.

[Cody]

joerg: hold your horses http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif. From MPC, did you build a Monster series (Either beast, gorilla, or monster)?

If so, those come with a gamepad(GameShark?), a joystick(SideWinder), and 3 years onsite service.

That adds some value to the system.

[rowan]

I just want to echo some of the other opinions here:

I would never buy a pre-made box. I'm a firm believer in building your own computer, or having a friend do it for you. These huge builders like Gateway, Compaq and Dell build computers that play on the expectations of the market. An example is the mhz buzzword. Stating the mhz of the cpu is the primary way that these companies advertise and sell their products.

As any pc enthusiast will tell you, the mhz of a given cpu is often a very small piece of the overall puzzle. The quality of the mobo, mobo drivers, harddrive and GPU are all essential in building a computer that not only runs efficiently, but runs in a stable manner. For this reason alone, home built computers (when built right) and boutique computers (Alienware, Minotaur, Monarch etc.) are simply better machines.

The tech support arguement doesn't work for me. I think Gateway, Compaq and Dell tech support is TERRIBLE!!! What a waste of time! Often, they will only address symptoms anyway, not underlying problems with the system. I've had MUCH better luck with the folks at Sysopt than I've had with any tech support I've ever used, and fully trust that if I have a problem, the gurus that grace the Sysopt forums will be able to help me.

This is not to say that prebuilt boxes don't have a place. There are a lot of small builders who do a fantastic job: PCs For Everyone here in Cambridge MA (see www.pcsforeveryone.com) (http://www.pcsforeveryone.com)) is top noch and reasonably priced. I would recommend them to anyone who doesn't want to get their hands dirty.

That's just my .02.

r.

[bhess]

Here is some more points.
If you are patient you can keep an eye out for great deals on computer parts. Hard drives, cd-roms, monitors, and especially video cards. That would give you more savings. I just got a cd-rw for free 2 weeks ago. It's not the best but what you get from a pre-build aren't either.
Also there is savings from using existing parts from your old pc. floppy. extra hard drive. monitor. cd. Maybe the case.

[Cody]

Yeah... for whenever I do get a new PC, I think I have narrowed it down to 4: BYO (Build your own, i.e. build it myself), MPC, Alienware, and VooDooPC... out of AlienWare and VooDooPC, which would you reccommend?

[bhess]

OOPs I for got the free saving by overclocking. Not sure about the P4 but to get an AMD 1.2 or 1.33 and get another 200 mhz on top of that. Can't do that with most pre-builds.

[hirschY]

With that kind of money your looking at, BUILD your own Dual Intel PIII system.
I think you would REALLY like the solid performance.
Take a look at www.2cpu.com (http://www.2cpu.com)
Take a look at the reviews, and go that route.
I have built many PC's, and the Dual boards are by far the most stable.
Also, look to your local PC maker.
Right now, everyone is hurting, so why not get a PC or the parts around the corner http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif
Also, EVERY PC company around me has at least two-three year warranty on all there parts, and I would rather drop the PC off next door to get it fixed if something does go bad.
Also, I cant stand waiting for parts in the mail:P

Anyway, good luck on a new PC!

[Hawkeye178]

I think Alienware is VERY expensive, they probably have good performance, but I think they might go out of business soon.

P.S. These are just my opinions and things I've heard. I was thinking of buying one but WAY too much for me http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif.

Good luck,
Hawkeye178

[Cody]

Hawkeye: it also seems VERY Screwey that an exact-same configured system (Their Aurora DDR vs. Area51), essentially AMD 1.4GHz vs. Pentium 4 1.4GHz, the AMD was 200 dollars MORE!

Yikes...

I think i'll stick with either Voodoo or MPC if I want a prebuilt one (BTW: Milwaukee PC will let me tell them exactly what I want. They will order the parts, but them all in boxes, and I can pick them up. I build it myself. I get their 3-year parts warranty, but [obviously] if I break something during install, it is not covered.

[jad1097]

That seems like a good deal if the price is right. I wish more stores would do that.


As far as a dual system goes read this (http://www.aceshardware.com/Spades/read.php?article_id=45000195) if you are considering one.
Let us be honest here, even at 1.7 GHz, the Pentium 4 Xeon has a hard time competing with the much cheaper 1.2 GHz Athlon MP. SSE and hardware-prefetch used to make the Pentium 4 1.5 GHz slightly faster in some benchmarks, but now that the Athlon is also equipped with these weapons, the Intel chips can only beat AMD's latest in the MP3 and video encoding benchmarks where it is able to flex its powerful 3.2 GB/s DRDRAM memory interface.

[Cody]

What are the advantages of a Dual-Processor system? I think it would be overkill for what I like to do (Some gaming, Word Processing, DVD viewing, etc.)

[jad1097]

These may help. http://2cpu.com/FAQ/2cpusmpfaq.htm

http://2cpu.com/How-To/article2.htm

[hirschY]

If you want to do many tasks at once, then a dual system is by far the best way to go.
The only drawback I see is you cant run Windows 9x/ME, as they really dont support dual proccesors.

If you are really into Quake III, it is the way to go.

If you want a VERY stable system, that you can do almost anything on, at the same time, then do it http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

If you just want a machine for home use, checking email and a few games, then the Duron is the cheapest way to go, and very stable.

AMD just announced lower prices too, so you can get a 900Mhz for about $80-100(I havent seen the new prices yet, maybe less)

Just my 2 cents worth of bable.