Considering bying Gateway 450x laptop for $1415 (comments please)

[SuperTool]

Hi. I apparently get 8% Gateway discount from work:
I am considering getting this laptop for $1415:

Optical Drive Modular 24x/10x/24x CDRW and 8x DVD combo
AntiVirus Software Norton AntiVirus 90 day Introductory Offer
Floppy Drive Floppy drive not selected
Speakers Speakers not selected
Processor Intel® Pentium® M processor 1.3GHz........... $-46
Extended Service Plan Value Service Plan-1Yr Parts/Labor/No Onsite/1 Yr Technical Support........... $-140
External Ports (2) USB 2.0, IEEE 1394 (FireWire), VGA, Parallel, Serial, and PS/2
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
Application Software Microsoft® Works 7.0
Modem Integrated V.92 56K Modem
Carrying Case Not Selected ........... $-55
Mobile Technology This system features Intel® Centrino? Mobile Technology
Keyboard and Mouse Full-Sized Keyboard and EZ Pad® Pointing Device
Expansion Slots Two Type II or One Type III PC Card Slots
Memory 256MB DDR SDRAM
Multimedia Package Integrated sound and stereo speakers, headphone/speaker jack, line-in, and mic jacks
Hard Drive 30GB 4200rpm Ultra ATA hard drive
Video ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
Network Adapter Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 VE network connection
Wireless Networking Adapter Integrated 802.11b wireless networking card
Gateway Music VaultSM Gateway Music Vault
Screen 15" SXGA+ TFT active matrix
High-Speed Internet Service Not Selected
Battery Primary lithium ion battery with AC pack and 1 yr. limited battery warranty
Internet Service Provider Six months America Online® Internet access


item Product# Base Price Config Price Total Price Qty
Gateway 450X 15136461 $1,800.00 $1,415.00 $1,415.00 1

Questions I have:
Is it a good laptop for the money? The only bad thing I found about it is it doesn't have built in s-video out. But my TV only has composite input anyways. Also, I put only 256 RAM. They charge $90 for another 256 stick, which is $30 on pricewatch.
Will adding memory void the warranty? Also, I put only 1year down for warranty, because it's $100 jump to 2 years and $140 jump to 3 years. How reliable are notebooks in general, and how fast do they drop value? Also, Is it worth paying $18 more for an allegedly higher capacity battery?
Also, I get 10% off at dell, but their centrino notebooks are 14.1 inch, and don't look as nice.
I get 10% off at IBM, but also smaller screen, and with these options, the t40 gets expensive. It's around 2K.
This is going to be a laptop mostly for text editing/ office, internet, and watching dvd if I am on a plane or something.
I already have two PC's and a Ultra-SPARC workstation to do other stuff like games and MP3's and number crunching on, so I don't really need much storage, as most of media will be kept on desktops.
I appreciate advise on the matter. Thanks.

PS
Also considering this dell:
Inspiron 600m
Intel Pentium®M,1.3GHz,14.1XGA ATI 32MB Video
Qty: 1
Price: $1,571.00


Date: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 11:25:01 PM CDT
Catalog Number: 23 6000
Inspiron 600m: Intel Pentium®M,1.3GHz,14.1XGA ATI 32MB Video B13BGHN [221-1918]
Memory: FREE UPGRADE! 384MB,266MHz,2DIMM (from 256MB,266MHz,2DIMM) 384MB2P [462-1501]
Hard Drive: 40GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive 40GB [340-8046]
Floppy Drive and Additional Storage Devices: No Floppy Drive NOFD [340-8972]
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition WHXP [313-1828] [412-0313] [420-2427]
Integrated Modem and NIC: Internal 56K Modem and Integrated Network Card 56MPC [313-1659]
Optical: FREE 24XCD-RW/DVD Combo Upgrade (from DVD) Roxios Easy CD Creator® 24COMBP [313-1370] [462-0253]
Wireless Networking Cards: Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 WLAN (802.11b, 11Mbps) miniPCI Card IP2100I [430-0481]
Cables And Accessories: Multi Media Cable Kit MMCBL [310-1670]
Bundled Software: WordPerfect®Productivity Pack with Quicken New User Edition ICOREL [412-0303]
Security Software: Dell SecurityCenter by McAfee, 90-day introductory offer MCAFE90 [412-0328]
Digital Music: Dell Jukebox powered by MusicMatch MMBASE [412-0298]
Primary Battery: 48WHr Primary Battery 48WHR [312-0055]
Limited Warranty, Services and Support: 3 Year Limited Warranty plus 3 Year At-Home Service SI3OS [412-0360] [950-1000] [950-1002] [950-3339]
Dial-Up Internet Access: 6 Months of EarthLink Internet Access ERTHLNK [412-0377] [420-3223]
Digital Imaging: Dell Picture Studio, Image Expert Standard DPS [412-0277] [412-0275]
Multi-Media Players: RealOne? Player, with 14 day SuperPass trial REALBAS [412-0380]

Smaller screen, but 40gb 5400rpm harddrive, free 256mb ram, and 3 year warranty instead of 1, and s-video out.

 

[johngalt9999]

great looking laptop, (almost designed like an apple powerbook 15") but the gateway's service and quaility is worse than compaq.

 

[SuperTool]

Also considering presario 1000

 

[Namael]

With the dell you also get the better video card

 

[tremmer]

NEVER BUY GATEWAY! CUSTOMER /TECH SERVICE SUCKS! 900 NUMBER TECH SUPPORT IS A JOKE! AND COSTS 3.00 A MINUTE! :disgust::frown:

 

[thelittleprincess]

yeah, i heard that gateway isn't doing too well - that's why they have the price drops right now. been told that usually when a company does soemthing like that, they usually end up with less stress on providing good customer service. so...you might end up paying less for a pc, but you'll pay for it in the end when you need good customer service and support.

i've heard that dell is pretty good also. but then they have a 1 out of every 4 laptop requiring repair rate. fujitsu has alow repair rate, and good customer service according to my friend - but haven't heard anything else about their customer service. i think i may end up going with ibm - yes, expensive but i'm scoring a discount by getting my relative (who's an ibm shareholder) to buy it for me. i decided agaisnt gateway b/c i'm scared that i may have problems with their pc and be stuck with crappy service.

 

[thelittleprincess]

by the way, i learn pretty quickly, but it's been a while since i've had my own computer - so i'm a little behind the times with all this new technology. hence the heavy research into a company with good customer service. covering my a$$ in case something goes wrong with the laptop and i dunno how to fix it.

 

[351Cleveland]

IMHO you can do better:

Presario X1000 Intel + $100 MIR + Free Ship - BTO1446632
- Intel Pentium-M 1.4GHz
- XP Home Operating System.
- MS Works/Money/Encarta.,
- 15.4 inch WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050)
- 128MB DDR SDRAM
- 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9200
- 40GB 4200RPM HDD
- DVD-CDRW Drive
- Built in 56K modem+10/100 LAN
- High capacity 8 cell LiION
- USB floppy drive $50 rebate

$1498.99
Less: 10% coupon = $1349.09
Less: $100 MIR Presario = $1249.09
Less: $50 MIR floppy= $1199.09 (might as well, it cost you $49.99, you get $50 rebate)
Add: Memory 512MB $80 = $1279.09

Bigger HDD, better video, bigger display, more processor, less memory (but you are gonna upgrade anyway), no wireless (get it aftermarket, it will cost less and work better).

That seems like a better deal to me, eh? You can save some more $$$ by backing the vid card down, shrinking the display, and backing down the processor.... if you want to. If you put vid, graphics, and screen back to (or as close to) what you selected above, you would save another $157 ($175 minus the 10% coupon).... so $1122.09 final price... and free shipping!!

 

[cdd543]

I have heard nothing good about Gateway laptops. I only paid $1300 after rebates for my Dell i8500. It is 2ghz, 40gb hd, 64mb 4200go, sxga+, truemobile 1300, cd/rw-dvd etc.