I just bought my First computer - a Gateway

[Doggiedog]

Good luck with your Gateway. I'm sure you'll need it.

I bought a 1Ghz Athlon Classic last year from them when it first came out for $3,500 and all I've got left from that system in my current PC is the video card, a GeForce DDR.

After a week the PS went out. Then a month later the SB Live went out. Then the SB Live went out again. The DVD broke after 6 months. And the whole period their customer service gave me a hard time about everything. They wouldn't help me solve a conflict with my Plextor SCSI CD-R despite the fact that they knew there were issues with their PCs and SCSI devices because I hadn't purchased my CD-R from them. The list of complaints goes on and on.

I think it is funny how Gateway just recently changed their customer service policy in that their reps are no longer judged by how quickly they can get their clients OFF the phone but how well they resolve their problems. Jeez! I wonder what took them that long to figure out? They've lost a customer in me. If I ever buy an OEM PC, it'll definitely be from Micron. They have the best customer support. I think Dell is no better than Gateway. I hate them equally but that is another story.

 

[Idiot56209]

<< After a week the PS went out. Then a month later the SB Live went out. Then the SB Live went out again. The DVD broke after 6 months. And the whole period their customer service gave me a hard time about everything. They wouldn't help me solve a conflict with my Plextor SCSI CD-R despite the fact that they knew there were issues with their PCs and SCSI devices because I hadn't purchased my CD-R from them. The list of complaints goes on and on. >>



There's got to be more to this. I wont even mention the fact that Gateway doesn't make the P/S or Sound Blaster, but alas, they are OEM parts so support would be from the supplier (in this case, Gateway) and not the manufacturer. But I have to wonder how these parts just &quot;quit working&quot;. They don't normally have that kind of failure rate. Hell, I've got three PCs running in the house right now and must say that when I built them, I didn't have any bad parts.

As for the SCSI card having a &quot;known issue&quot;... the board they used for the Slot A is an Irongate based board. No known issues that I know of. Do you have a link documenting this &quot;known issue&quot;?

As for who makes a PC better, Dell vs. Gateway... I don't want to touch that one. My wife's office had a Dell installed. Right off the bat, the thing doesn't shut down properly and often won't wake up from sleep mode. Twas a fresh install from the factory, but I figured the problem must be power management. I reset the BIOS and installed a fresh copy of 98 (not a restore disc). Problem didn't go away. We called Dell and all they could tell us to do is to recover from the restore disc. Nice.

It doesn't mean that Dell sucks.... just that this particular machine sucks.

 

[schdaddy]

<I think it is funny how Gateway just recently changed their customer service policy in that their reps are no longer judged by how quickly they can get their clients OFF the phone but how well they resolve their problems. Jeez! I wonder what took them that long to figure out>

call DELL &amp; see if you can make it past the 20min mark:Q
plus you can take it to a country store, for the average joe GW offers the best support


rbloedow
go over to HOT DEALS and find you a 256MB DIMM
have fun with your new toy

 

[Doggiedog]

Defective components aside, which I generally do not blame PC OEMs for, what really made me furious about Gateway was their customer service.

When I first called them to inquire about problems I had with my SCSI CD-R, they immediately assumed I had a Promise based SCSI controller and told me about known issues the PC had with them. When I told them I had an Adaptec controller and Plextor SCSI which I pulled from my previous computer, they basically told me to get lost because I hadn't purchased it from Gateway. Now, I have no documentation of any of this but if the company supposedly knows about these issues, I would think it would be their obligation to help out a customer with the problem, especially one that bought their most expensive PC. But apparently, their customer service policy dictated that the calls they take were to be as quick as possible and that their CS reps are judged by the sheer number of calls they take in a day. A policy which they just ended.

As for reliable PCs, the PC that the Gateway replaced was a Micron P2 233 which was over 2 years old. I had no problems with it despite the fact that it ended its life (voluntarily) equipped quite differently from the way it was built. I even called Micron about a PC problem a year after the free warranty was up and they were very friendly and answered my problem in 30 seconds.

Just reminiscing about my experience with Gateway brings up even more angry memories. I remember when I first got the PC, my video resolution was locked at 640x400 and I couldn't change it despite the fact that I downloaded the latest drivers from nvidia. When I called Gateway, they told me it was a software issue and told me to call Microsoft. WTF? I got a computer shipped this way and they wouldn't help me? I eventually found out I had to load in monitor drivers to change the resolution but a simple answer from Gateway would have been nice.

My Dell problems were also of CS nature not PC nature. They shipped me a PC with the Win NT 3.51 not NT 4.0 and wouldn't take it back, wouldn't change the HDD with an identical one with the other OS. They then blamed the problem on me and would hang up on me. Then I called back spoke to a manager and he started yelling at me and told me I ordered it with 3.51. I said WTH would I want 3.51 when 4.0 is out? Anyway, to make a long story short. They blamed the whole problem on me and screwed me. Thus, I will never buy anything from them again.

The funny thing was, each place I've bought these PCs from, I've bought top of the line PCs. From Micron I bought a P2 233 ($2,800), from Dell I bought a PPro 200 ($3,000) and Gateway a K7 1Ghz ($3,500).

My solution now is just building one. I can only get mad at myself if the CS is bad.

 

[CtK]

<< Yeah, but consider this:

He got a 19&quot; Diamondtron. You have a 17' Viewsonic listed

He has a digital camera listed. You have none.

He has a printer listed. You have none.

He has Works with Encarta listed. You don't.

He has a warranty. You don't.

All in all, it wadn't that bad of a deal. To add what he has, you'd have to add at least $500 to your system there. >>




OK THEN CONSIDER THIS:

he got a 1.2GHz mine is 1.33 266 FSB maybe his was 200 FSB
he got 128meg mine is CRUCIAL 256 of PC2100 who knows they prob gave him PC133
who knows what kinda MB he got tho prob a generic one mine has a VERY GOOD MSI K7T266
he got a 40g 7200 HD mine is a IBM 60g HD 7200 who knows what kind they gave him
he got ATI Radeon i think the GF2 64mb Pro is a little better??
and its a little more expensive

he didnt get a Plextor 16x CDRW so that would prob make up for the camera and printer
the camera is like $90
the printer is $130

his monitor cost about $300
i could upgrade the 17&quot; to 19&quot; for like $100 more

and software is no problem!!

i give 1yr warranty

so if he wanted the camera and printer instead of the CDRW then it would come out 2 almost the exact price as his

well mine was actually cheaper cause i added $100 for building the system
so he were to build it himself it would be a much better machine and i think most of the ppl here would agree on that!!

gOOd LucK with the GateWay

 

[Ryan]

i have never actually talked to gateway on the phone. I've e-mailed them all my problems.

I have only had three problems with my previous gateway: a dent in the case from shipping, a Iomega zip drive w/ the &quot;click of death&quot;, and a dead cdrom. For all of my problem, I just sent them an e-mail, and they asked me a few questions, then they sent the parts. All they asked was that I made sure to send the dead part back to them, on their ticket. Overall, I've been very satisfied w/ their support, whick is one of the main reasons that I went back to them.


About building my own computer, I just didn't want to deal with the hassel of having to do it. I know I could have gotten better stuff fore the same amount of money if I had built it, but I guess I fell safer going with a system made by a major company. There are usually no problems with the computers at all.

 

[prontospyder]

congrats!

 

[amdskip]

Gateway sucks. One of my friends had a video card go bad. Gateway said no one has ever had that particular card go bad. So they agree to send him a new one which takes a week. Get the card, open up, it's a different card. Ok

Call Gateway. Tell them they sent the wrong card. The go on saying that the card they sent is a newer card and will work better. The card they sent will not work with the cabinet rendering program my friend uses (he is a professional kitchen cabinet designer at a local custom cabinetry shop).

Gateway says ok. Sends out a new card again. Same card that won't work. Call gateway. Bitch them out. Say to look at the stupid card before they ship out. Ok. Get a new card.

Yay, it's the right card this time. One problem. This card is used. The fan is really dirty and it looks as if it's been runnin for a few months. (I saw this personally) Decide to just keep the card because Gateway obviously sucks bad.

 

[Doggiedog]

Here is a quote from Gateway's March quarterly filing regarding their PC CS:

&quot;In the past six weeks, the company has taken steps to price more competitively and is in the process of repositioning its marketing efforts to drive more traffic to its existing Gateway Country stores in the U.S., which serves both the Consumer and Business sales organizations. In addition, the company has taken a number of steps to increase customer satisfaction, from retraining its sales force to eliminating tech support policies that previously had a negative effect on the company?s overall customer experience. As a result, Gateway?s internal tracking measurements show that customer satisfaction scores increased nearly 15 percent in the month of March alone, to their highest levels in the more than two years the company has been tracking such results.&quot;

Obviously, they knew they had a problem in CS.

 

[LordMaul]

..Where people rule!

 

[pdo]

<<and software is no problem>>

Is the software legit?

 

[Amused]

<< well mine was actually cheaper cause i added $100 for building the system
so he were to build it himself it would be a much better machine and i think most of the ppl here would agree on that!!

gOOd LucK with the GateWay >>



The warranty and support cover the $100 easily.

At any rate, they're comparable in price. I'm not trying to say Gateway is better than building your own, because it's not. However, it's no longer true that it's always cheaper to build your own. Not with the price wars the OEMs have started.

Besides, I'd never buy a Gateway. If I bought another OEM, it would be a Dell

 

[Pliablemoose]

I recommend people buy &amp; not build their systems, price is just one factor, mostly, I don't want to have to do their tech support, wife, kids &amp; father in law (who just removed ALL audio from his Windows ME OS &amp; bugged me for weeks, telling me it was the on-board sound. I told him I thought it was a conspiracy by AOL to disable his MS programs &amp; he believed me

 

[Pliablemoose]

I recommend people buy &amp; not build their systems, price is just one factor, mostly, I don't want to have to do their tech support, wife, kids &amp; father in law (who just removed ALL audio from his Windows ME OS &amp; bugged me for weeks, telling me it was the on-board sound. I told him I thought it was a conspiracy by AOL to disable his MS programs &amp; he believed me

Personally, I don't keep a system in one piece long enough to justify buying one &amp; leaving it alone.

 

[FrontlineWarrior]

legit software? what's that?

 

[MrHelpful]

Christ, CtK, it's not like the end of the world if he has better stuff than you.

 

[Ryan]

it's here!

 

[RossMAN]

You're going to take pictures of it, right?

 

[bigd480]

seeing as there is no comparison of quality between dell/gateway and the fact the CS is suck for both, the price is what it comes down to and, when you look at profit margins, gateway just can't hang... i wouldn't be suprised to see them go under in another year or so...

 

[Ryan]

Gateway has a better price then dell, and I think that their support is great. They won't be going under anytime soon. I would take a picture, but I don't have the camera that comes w/ it. I found a little letter that says that they were out of stock, and I'll get one as soon as they are in stock. Darn!!!! It's very nice though!

 

[p0tempkin]

<< Processor - AMD Athlon 1200MHz w/Performance Enhancing Cache Memory $110
Memory - 128MB SDRAM $35
Hard Drive - 40GB 7200RPM Ultra ATA Hard Drive (+US$ 50) $110
Monitor - VX920 19 Mitsubishi Diamondtron¿Color Monitor (18.0 viewable area) (+US$ 230) $400
Audio/Video - 64MB DDR ATI Radeon VE with TV-Out and DVI, SoundBlaster Live! and 10/100 Ethernet card $160
DVD - 16x DVDROM $60
Speakers - Boston Acoustics BA735 Digital Speakers with Subwoofer ?
Modem - Home Networking/56K Modem Combo Card $15
Case - Gateway Mid-Tower Case $50
Keyboard - Multi-Function Keyboard $15
Mouse - PS/2 Wheel Mouse $5
Expansion slots - Three PCI and One 4X AGP ?
Printers - Epson Stylus 880 Color InkJet Printer with USB cable (+US$ 70) $110
Digital Cameras - JamCam 3.0 Digital Camera $35
Operating System - MS Windows Millennium Edition w/Win XP Home Upgrade Coupon (+US$ 15) $80
Application Software - Microsoft® Works Suite 2001 - Including Microsoft® Word and Encarta $50
Bundled Software - Norton Anti-Virus $10
Included Software - Creativity 101 Bundle ?
Network Card - 10/100 Ethernet Card $10
Service and Support - 3 Yr Ltd Warranty, 1 Yr Onsite Service, Ltd Hardware &amp; Software Tech Support


It was $1700 after shipping. The lady that worked for gateway that I ordered it through gave me a $100 discount. I'm gonna add (I already have this stuff) 128mb more ram (gateway wanted 100 bucks for the upgrade), a 12x10x32x cdrw, and a zip drive

I'm soo excited. I wanted to build my own, but I'm too lazy, and feel like taking the time to do it. It'll be here next week! >>



Probably comes out to around $1300; not bad, considering the gap between BYO and Gateway/Dell used to be bigger in terms of cost.

 

[Ryan]

Ok, I'm gonna have to call up gateway. They sent me a cdrw instead of a DVD. Hmmmmm :|

 

[mlip129]

if thats your first computer how did you post this?

 

[Ryan]

the first one that I ordered myself

 

[Ryan]

Shouldn't I be a golden member now?!?!?!?!? I just reached 1000 posts.