I need computer advice! We are looking to buy a new computer to replace this one. I have talked to people I know here, but nothing has swayed me either way when considering Dell and Gateway.
I do like the fact that Gateway has a local brick-and-mortar store that I can go to. They also have an in-house service area and classroom. The Dell is just a mall kiosk where I can t keep the salesman s attention because of all the people milling around. Pricewise, they are close to the same, although Gateway is offering a pretty sweet $100 off to go with cable internet access.
So, I like Gateway.
Any comments for or against either one?
Larry
brainpauseLarry,
My company was strickly Gateway for years but in the last year or so, we have switched over to Dell. I sought out the advice of several computer geeks here at work when we bought my son a new computer earlier this year. The overwhelming recommendation was with Dell. Price wise, I think it was a little cheaper than Gateway because of an employee discount program, but not much. We have been very pleased with our Dell,and I actually ordered mine off the website. We got it in about 2 days! I don t know for sure if it was actually made up the road in Lebanon TN, but I did think that I might be putting $ back into the local economy.
Happy shopping!
Tricia Hicks
brainpauseIMHO, I wouldn t buy one from either place. I want a generic computer I can install drives on whereever I get them. I bought mine from [link=]Tigerdirect.com[/link] Never had a problem with them. This computer went on sale a couple weeks after I bought it, so I called them, they refunded $100. I did buy the warranty (onsite) for $50. I had a problem with the CMOS not booting up right. They sent a guy 60 miles, and replaced the motherboard at no charge. To my house! Seriously look at them too. 3 years old now, and no problems.
brainpause---
brainpauseWell, I have both a Dell and a Gateway as well as a Generic . Don t as why, but I do. Each has it own features and characteristics.
The Gateway has been a trooper with no major faiures as well as the Dell. The Generic dose have some problems, but the initial price offset this.
My recommendation is find the one that will do what you want it to do for the next 2 years (by then it probably won t be able to run future software well if at all). Also find the price you are comfortable with.
Unless you are hardware capable Generics are lower on my list.
Now, if I could just find a CHEAP laptop for the Pop Up.
brainpauseAt work and at home I use Dell. Never had a problem with either one. Space can be a little tight when installing a new card or drive but other than that no problems. No compatability problems and it seems well built.
brainpauseDell without a doubt. All our machines and servers here at work are Dell. No problems at all. My machine at home is a Dell and has never given me a bit of trouble. Also, if you order your machine over the net from Dell, you can customize it to your suit your needs/wants. Gateway has severe limitations. Also with a Dell you get great customer service. If they can t get you back running over the phone, a tech. will come to your house as long as you are under warranty. Mine was for 3 years. The few people here y=that have built their own are constantly having compatability problems.
FWIW, I am a senior Printed Circuit Board designer and our 3 major clients are T.I, Compaq(HP), and Dell. I have laid out mother/system boards for both Dell and Compaq.
brainpauseBikolee, do you know anybody who needs a good IT person ? You would have all the right contacts :)
brainpauseWhen I purchased the computer I have now (HP) I came very close to buying a Gateway for the same reasons you give. Only thing that changed my mind was a major price savings with the HP. In fact, I gave the Gateway salesman an opportunity to talk me out of the HP. He advised that given the price, I should go with the HP.
FYI: I m not very computer savy but did spend a great deal of time researching this purchase. Given all that I have read, seen and heard from those who know more then I, Dell was never an option. I may be wrong but my decision was based on the info I could gather. I m very happy with my HP but I believe I would be just as pleased with a Gateway.
brainpauseWe have an older Dell that still works like a charm, a newer generic that adores shutting down at the worst of times. The Dell was and is very easy to add on to, more memory, cd recorder/rewriter. DH s laptop is an HP, but only because it was on sale at the time he really needed it. Otherwise he would have gone with Dell. Can t say much for Gateway since we never had one. But Dell and Dell s support have been great (not that we have needed their support much at all.)
birol
QuoteORIGINAL: birol
Bikolee, do you know anybody who needs a good IT person ? You would have all the right contacts :)
Unfortunately Birol, I don t. But, If I hear of anything, I ll be sure to let you know.
brainpauseOur company also uses Dell exclusivly. We have had good service form the systems. As a former IT Manager, I have utilized both and even gave Gateway a government contract due to end of the year deals. Computer systems change so much so quickly that the one you pick out could be from a great run or sometimes from a bad run/ By this I mean that the components that are used to build your system all come from a " lot" that the company buys to build a set of systems. As long as these " lots" of components work as designed, chances are that your system will work without any issues. With any computer builder, any given line or models could have problems or work great. If you have a lemon, someone else has a wonderful system. Both of you will have deceidly different views of the same company.
Go to the web site of both Dell and Gateway to build a configuration of the system you want. You then can take it to the local kiosk or store to see if they can meet your expectations. They probably will have simular deals but might not have the exact configuration options due to individual sales insentives or limitations. As was mentioned in an earlier post, if you are comfortable with building your own computer, then that is the way to go. But if you do not want to deal with the hassles, then either Dell or Gateway will do a good job for you. Sometimes you can find a local store that will build a system for you as well. They will be motivated to keep you as a customer, and should provide good service.
Under the covers, all systems do the same basic functionality. Load up on memory, get a CD-RW, get a DVD (for fun), get lots of video memory.
Good luck.
brainpauseOur company is all Dell as well. Since we have a corporate account with them, service has not been an issue. Very solid machines to begin with.
I noticed now that they also have an " accidental" coverage to cover liquid spills, drops, or electrical surges.
One thing to keep in mind when buying any computer, buy as much memory (RAM) as you can afford. As the operating systems, and programs, get larger and larger, this is where your performance will come from (after the CPU speed that is)
brainpauseI ve had a Dell laptop for 2-1/2 years with no problems. We just bought a new Dell desktop and it s great. No problems with the set up. Our office bought a Dell and my SIL has a new one. Everyone is happy with their Dell s.
brainpauseI am on my second Gateway and both have been trouble free.
Customer service at Gateway has been very good. I purchased the 3 year warrantee for parts and lifetime support for software.
DS has a Dell and has had no problems.
Both pc s were purchased over the Internet.
Only thing that bothered me about Dell was their free shipping. I noticed everytime the free shipping was offered, the price of the pc went up about $50.
Dell tends to offer more software than Gateway.
brainpausei got an emachine at bestbuy...and it was.
brainpauseI have a DELL desktop and a laptop,and both are great computers.
brainpauseDell
brainpauseI went with Gateway for customer service, great! I have a desktop and a laptop. By accident they sent two laptops, so we sold the second to my sister instead of them having it shipped back. Had a bad CD rom in my desktop, bought from a Gateway store. They shipped us the CD rom and a man to come and install it for us at our home, way to go Gateway. Other than that no problems and still loving Gateway.
Have had no experience with Dell, so I can t compare.
brainpauseThanks to all for the replies! Keep them coming! It is a major purchase, so I wanna do the right thing.
Larry
brainpauseEmachine,got one for dw,came with windows xp,256ram,cd,cdr dvd rom,60gig hard dive, 17" mon. 4usb ports,and a few other things I can t think of right now but it coast less than $800.00 out the door with a 2yr. warrenty.
This was on sale prior to Christmas
brainpauseWe use Dell equipment at work and it seems to do fine. However, at home, I m on my 3rd Gateway. Bought the first one in 1996, upgraded that one in 1998, and just purchased a brand new whiz-bang model with flat screen monitor, DVD drive, and CD burner this past June.
I ordered the 1st two Gateways by phone. The last one I drove to the local Gateway store to place the order. I already knew what I wanted...just kinda wanted to take a look at it and talk to someone about it.
The one I purchased in 1998 is still working...it s in one room and the new one is in another.
I ordered the 1st Gateway because I liked their ads better than anyone else s! The second one I debated between Gateway and Dell, but Gateway had the software I wanted. This last time I also debated between Gateway and Dell. Got a little upset with Dell when I e-mailed them with a question about shipping and sales tax. After several days I got a reply, but the reply they sent was a canned response that did NOT answer my question. So I sent another e-mail, asking the same question. That was sometime last year and I m still waiting for the answer!!! Since I spend about 8 hours a day answering customer s e-mail...and we can usually guarantee an answer within 8 hours, I was not impressed with their customer service.
The few times I ve had to contact Gateway for service, I ve had good experiences. The monitor I purchased with the 1998 system started dying around Christmas 1999. The system was purchased in January of 98 so it was almost 2 years old. The monitor finally wouldn t come on at all. I called Gateway tech support. I was prepared for a long wait on hold, but got right through. I told the lady that my monitor was dead. She asked what it was doing. I said, " Nothing. The screen is black." She told me to try a couple of things and I did. She asked what the monitor was doing now. Same answer: " Nothing, the screen is black." We tried one or two more things, and I gave her the same answer. Then she said, " OK, we ll send you a new monitor." I was a little surprised...I didn t realize it was still under warranty. She said the new monitor would be there in 4 to 6 days. It was there in about 3 days! It came with a letter telling me to put the old monitor back in the box after I took the new one out, and send it back to Gateway. They included prepaid shipping labels. The new monitor worked fine...and it s still working!
That s my idea of customer service!!
I m a big fan of Gateway, but I don t think you would go wrong with either.
brainpauseMy second computer was a Gateway and my third is a Dell. We went with Dell the second time, because they are supposed to have better support (I haven t needed it). With my Gateway I spent hours on hold waiting to talk to their support people. The other reason we went with Dell is that they had a better price for what I wanted. Gateway said they would match the price, but they changed the video card, modem, speakers and processor. It was not the same computer. We had the Gateway for 7 years and my sister still uses it for email. The Dell is going on 3 years.[:)]
campingcopI have a new Dell and it really has been a great investment for me as my previous computer lived a long and happy life running on Window95 until I retired it a few months ago. I did read the Consumer Reports computer comparisions and the most interesting thing that stuck out in my mind about the article was that those that purchased their computers online were MORE pleased than those that bought theirs in person. I found that to be very interesting and so I didn t feel uncomfortable going online to Dell and putting together what I needed. However, the model I did go with was considered " over kill" by Consumer Reports standards as they pretty much touted both Dell s and Gateways more entry level models. However, for the most part Gateway, Dell and Apple were crowd pleasers in the report. This probably doesn t really help you much in your quest but if you listen to the folks here and configure what you need (hard drive capacity, etc) and then compare the costs I am sure that you will be happy with your choice. Sadly, no matter what you buy it seems that as soon as you get it home and unbox it something new and better will be ready to take its place! But as one who has lived through many hard drive crashes in my business computers the only thing I can say is to buy the best you can afford and then backup religiously. After all, they are just a machine and they will eventually fail just hopefully not until AFTER your friends start making fun of you for having a " dinosaur" on your desk - LOL! Good luck in your purchase!
campingcopHaving been around computers for going on 30 years ( back in the days when a 8" floppy drive was a big addition and cost big bucks) and purchased them for both work and home use. I can say that for the average plug it in and use it with no intention of ever opening up the case yourself any of the major brands are sufficent for your uses; and that includes both home and work as long as you really tell the salespeople what you intend to do with the machine.
Having said that my last two computers were both purchased from a local computer store that builds from components. The equivalent computer from Gateway, Dell, and HP were in the $1700-$1900 range. Mine cost $1100.
No I didn t get " learn to type on the computer" , " Reader Rabbit" , and the other 98 software titles that very few people ever use and just take up space on the hard drive, but they both came with software suites from either Microsoft or Lotus that more than fill my needs for either home or carry home work. Other were transfered from older computers for specialized applications or for other hardware I ve got connected. I also saved the $90 or so that the big guys charge for shipping and got a killer 5 speaker audio surround sound sytem and top of the line video & sound cards.
So don t think that the big three are your only choices, take a look around, your local paper classified ads can bring in some real bargins and look for some testimonials from friends in your area as well as your friends here. Don t forget buying from the big guys you re helping paying for those million dollar commercials you ll see on the SuperBowl.
campingcopLarry-
It sounds to me that you have your reasons for choosing between the two but I might also add that....
Macintosh has to be one of the most friendliest, and easiest to use systems out there. I teach digital photography at the college level, so I have to be able to teach in both the mac and PC world and he macintosh world is a much easier one.
Don t just take my word for it, check out: http://www.apple.com/switch/
**PC users- I am not posting this as anything other than what it is, My opinion.
campingcopGateway, Dells, Generics oh my. Gateway, Dells, Generics oh my.
You know I ve purchased both over the years. Back when Gateway was " small" and up until a few years back when they were huge. Honestly they are both about the same on quality. I do suggest the 3 year warranty, just because it seems the monitors and other parts usually go about 2 years before having problems or they go forever without a thing. I ve outfitted four of the organizations I ve worked for using either Gateway or Dell. I ve also bought local generic. I can t judge all generics but I wouldn t buy from the place I did before, after I ve left I ve heard the generics had a lot of problems and were slow on service/parts. Over the years with Gateway and Dell I ve replaced hard drives, monitors, video cards, etc., after a quick diagnosis they ship the part out FedEx and I can install the next day and be up and running. Only once did I have them send a tech out. In our house we have a Gateway from 1996, one from 1998 and a Dell from 2000. All are running just fine. If you can get a good deal, free shipping, etc. then go for the one you like that has the best features, best/fastest processor you can afford. Oh and I recall that Costco is now selling Dells too.
The one thing I don t like on the Gateway/Dell s are the cheap keyboards. They usually feel very hollow, so I opt to buy either a Logitech or Microsoft and not one they have branded with Dell/Gateway. When they do that they always have a cheap feeling.
Happy shopping!
brainpauseLarry,
I still say Dell, but it really all depends on what applications you plan on running. I use my machine at home for CAD on the weekends. I am hooked into our network here at work thru a VPN and DSL connection. My computer at home would normally be way overkill for a home machine, but with the apps I have to be able to run, it was needed. I won t get into all of it, but I have 512M of RAM, a 128M video card, 19" monitor and I run Windows 2000 professional. The apps I run need a NT based OS. Nowadays you can buy a Dell or Compaq, don t really recommend Compaq, for about the same price as a no name. You just need to figure out how much machine you need. But remember, within a year it will be obsolete so buy more than you think you need.
The Memory Maker
QuoteORIGINAL: The Memory Maker
Macintosh has to be one of the most friendliest, and easiest to use systems out there. I teach digital photography at the college level, so I have to be able to teach in both the mac and PC world and he macintosh world is a much easier one.
Don t just take my word for it, check out: http://www.apple.com/switch/
**PC users- I am not posting this as anything other than what it is, My opinion.
I completely agree. I just dumped our PC s in favor of two Macs...a big dual processor PowerMac and an iBook. I haven t been this excited about using a computer in over a decade. Easiest and best operating system I ve ever used (and I m a systems programmer).
Apple s license agreements aren t nearly as abusive or restrictive as Microsofts, too.
brainpause" DUDE it s a dell"
Larry I purcahsed a Gateway for the oldest as she is in college and it has been hastle free. I purchased from Tiger Direct.
Work I use a nice new Dell GX1 and Dell is what the company is going to. Wife got a new one last week and it was a Dell..
Mine at work is W2K on the NT framework.
I haven t had one blue screen since I got this PC.
But the daughter s works fine and makes digital picture transfers to CD easy as pie. She has WXP.
randy
brainpauseBoy, is this a topic I can deal with!
For Christmas 2001, we recieved a Gateway LE500 for a gift from Linda s daughter. It worked great, had no problems(it was a little slow). About three weeks ago, Linda went to reboot it, and ..nothing. Called Gateway, and found out our computer s warranty ran out on Dec. 28, three weeks before it died. A friend in a repair shop checked it out and said the mother board was shot. He replaced it for $260, labor included.
For being only three weeks past the warranty date, you think they would make an exception, or offer us a repair discount(Linda s daughter still owes on it).
In the future, we re going to check out other makes.
BTW-that s why I haven t posted lately.[:@]
campingcopI have been researching the gateways and dells, online and in person. My aunt has a gateway, she isn t happy with it. There is something always going wrong (personally I feel she downloads too much crap and gets virus s). A friend of mine in canada has a dell and she absolutely loves it. A friend in california has a dell, he likes the computer but he never got his $100 rebate. I checked with a friend of mine who builds is own and told him the one I was looking at, we went through the specs and he told me it was cheaper than what he could build. So to sum it all up...
" DUDETTE IS GETTIN A DELL"
ordered it yesterday, suppose to ship it out on the 6th