WOW! I am impressed
Written: Dec 15 '99
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Pros: well configured, complete, fast, great tech support
Cons: limited choices in components, a bit pricey
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| msk's Full Review: Gateway Performance 600 |
When I ordered my Gateway 600, I was hesitant as I had never owned this brand before. I ordered it in a full tower case with 128 meg/ram, 27 gig/hd, Soundblaster Live, DVD, CD-RW, 19 inch monitor, nVidia RIVA TNT2 graphics card with 32 meg, Boston Acoustic digital BA735 speakers, 56K modem and Microsoft ergonomic keyboard. Also I chose Windows 98. I'm wishing I had chosen NT instead.
It came very well configured and is extremely fast. I'm used to systems with SCSI drives, but I'm extremely pleased with the advances in IDE technology and speed. The monitor is first rate. The sound quality from the SB Live card is stunningly accurate. I would have to say my first experience with Gateway has been overwhelmingly good. Even the shipping was faster than they quoted. I haven't dealt with their tech support yet, but I've heard it's quite good. I normally do all my own computer work, but living only 15 minutes from their store I may have them do any needed work on this one just to save time.
On the negative side of things, I dispise a winmodem and they didn't have anything else available. This is an unforgiveable shortcoming! While I'm happy with the Soundblaster Live card, I don't like the "value" versions of things. I was hoping to get a fully configured card and not have to upgrade later which I'm doing right now. Also I didn't like the fact that everything came preinstalled. For example, I had a tray full of about a dozen and a half buttons. Half were not needed and just wasted toolbar space. Out of habit, I spent a couple hours uninstalling software I had no use for. In retrospect, I didn't need to remove anything with a hard drive of this size. I can understand that many people would wish to have all their software preinstalled for them, but we should be given that option at purchase. I sure wish they had all the programable buttons available on the Microsoft keyboard also, but we can't have it all.
Overall, I rate this system highly. It's a much better deal than any system I've previously owned. In this configuration, it's a gamers delight and fills the needs of any serious power user. I would highly recommend Gateway to anyone looking for a high-end system. If you're looking for a lower-end system though, I can't help but think you could beat the price by shopping elsewhere.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2600
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 501-600
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): Over 12
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Epinions.com ID:
msk
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Member: Mike Kelley
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 44 members
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