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

[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

[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

[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.