Irrelevant. Unless you know the machine you buy will work flawlessly forever and ever, you're better off with a company that provides good support. HP won't give you free telephone support for machines that are out of warranty. but they have given me free support through their online chat system for such machines. OTOH, just trying to navigate Gateway's site to useful info is torture, and getting even basic info from a tech about where to find info on their site is like pulling teeth... but they WILL try to sell you an aftermarket support contract.
Almost all of at least the lower priced laptops are built in the orient by the same few companies, differing only by brand specific details. If you're going to get the same hardware from most companies, you'll be better off with the ones that treat you well and want to keep your business. Gateway lost mine, along with my respect, years ago. :thumbsdown:
