How is Gateway as a brand?

About as good as any other OEM PC Maker, all sell the same specs in the retail markets, and are priced about the same, can't say if one is better than another, at least Here in the US Retail Market they are all the same to me, I'm not Bias about them, I have 2 Gateway Notebooks, cuz I got a good deal on a 2nd Gateway Notebook on Ebay, but Gateway WAS NOT my 1st or 2nd choice OEM Brand Name PC's and Notebook are meaningless, it's what the specs are (the Hardwear inside) that really counts

I find their notebooks to be less than desirable. The one I use to own was a mx6455 amd it was poorly constructed. It was made of this cheap plastic that if you litterally pulled hard enough, could probably break it. The hardware in it was horrible, but then again I think it was designed for casual stuff. Anywhoo, the harddrive was the worst. It was a 4200RPM and it was just utterly slow. I do a lot of transferring files, and it took forever. Their tedh support is decent.

I now own A dELL, and havent looked back since

All I can say is know your hardware and dont trust the sales rep's at Best Buy, Circuit City, etc They seem to have a general undersanding of things, but not as advanced as we'd like

LOL!!! I have to agree w/ you about the Sales Reps at most of the BigBox Retail Outlets, the best thing you can do, is do ur homework on the specs everybody has different needs as far-as-price go's, most store techs won't even talk to me, cuz they know I'm educated, at least about what I want to buy (spec wise) and at what price I wanna pay when they see me most of them go-the-other-way, and will avoid me at all cost, it's kinda funny how they treat me...........LOL I'm a DJ worked in that field for many yrs. when I go to a DJ store, the sales techs treat me the same way, I get a kick-outta-it!!!

I always like to screw with BB ppl. I act all stupid and they are telling me facts about hardware that i know is wayyyyyyyyy off.

Give em' HELL!!! make them earn thier pay!!!

so mean

cheers ...

None of the big retailers seem to have anyone that knows anything... nature of the beast.

My .02, Gateways are pretty good, our company only sells HPs and Gateway.

I think it depends on what model you get, some are MUCH nicer than others. I had a MX6455 and it was only good for...........Surfin net and Downloads

I own a MT3422 and after 6 months of owning it the motherboard went bad. Doesnt mean that they make crappy laptops . If i could only hear more from persons who had MT3422 laptops to hear what they say

I have nothing but Praise for Gateway Products. I've owned the M505x, M Series, P Series and they are by far the best bang for you buck PCs and I never had problems with any of them

I am sure we can all agree Gateway, or Dell they all break, Dell for one is not known for extended life products with laptops, but you can pretty much say that about any brand. The facts are that laptops run hot for the most part due to the inherent lack of ventilation. They can only be cooled so much by the little active cooling they get.

As far as fit and finish Gateways are one step below HP laptops as far as finish. But I personally feel its a step above Acer which has always felt cheap to me. I would lump GW in the middle of the pack in that regard.

Other than that, the internals are all about the same in performance if you get an intel rig with a T7200 and 3GB of Ram in a Dell, and one in a GW. They will perform pretty similarly.

Best thing is to just do your homework. Search Google/Forums for reviews etc. And dont rule anything out unless its an across the board concensus that something is not right.

I have had alot of Dells I felt that the I8600 was ok but felt cheap, the i9300 and the E1705 I had were very decent. The vostro I had was great running but felt like it could break on me physically.

I had one Acer, and two HPs including the beast I have now the 9494 20.1" and I like the finish of it, my GW 6860 is awesome, some parts feel flexible, but its pretty sturdy, the LCD hinges for example are way firm the way I like it, no wiggle like my E1705 had.

-D

Gateway mt3423 Manufacturer's defect

My Gateway MT3423 was sent back to gatway twice while under warrantee
... it would not boot - just power up and stop - no bios load, no video, nothing. The last time was in February of 08 and it worked ok for 5 months then did it again. Now it's out of warrantee and they want $200 to send it back again. A bad investment I think... I read online about many other 3423's having this problem. Very frustrating having a laptop you cannot depend on and could not get 2 years of use... Went with a new HP this time... Anyone need some landfill?

if you still have documents regarding the past repairs and so forth, it is worth a shot to write them a letter and escalate it. One never knows.

cheers ...

ghn has the right idea, contact Gateway support via the phone and ask to speak with a mgr/super regarding your problems. Some key points are be polite, dont give them a hard time, you will find that will get you farther than yelling at them.

I have returned a few dells in the past and have had good luck with this approach. You may find them sending you a new replacement if your lucky.

Make sure you can backup what you tell them like ghn stated. Have documentation or e-mails just in case you are called on it. Often times though they have the info already on file.

-D

mine went bad just outside the warranty...same model, same motherboard issues.