Getting the best out of Gateway
Oct 18 '00
Gateway is one of what I like to call the "Top Tier" producers of computers for home and office users. Just by talking with anyone who has purchased or used a computer lately you will no doubt hear a little bit about the Gateway company. Gateway is really not much different than any other Large Manufacturer of computers. In fact when digging through the adds and online order forms it can be very tough to determine the Real difference in the products which are offered by companies like Dell, Gateway, HP and IBM. So I am going to help you out and shed a little light on making a good purchasing decision with Gateway.
Budget. I cant stress this enough. Before you even think about buying a computer you need to decide how much money you have to spend. Do not let yourself be sueded by a salesman or special offer on a website. Come up with a number like $900, or $1500 and stick to your guns. There are so many computer parts at the disposal of a company like Gateway that there is no reason to "HAVE" to upgrade, or use bleeding edge technology which will cost you an arm and a leg.
Use your Budget and decide what you want your computer to do. In the last 5 years of computing the basic pricing structure of computers from large vendors has remained unchanged.
$500-$1000 is a bottom level machine.
$1200-$1800 is a medium level machine.
$2000 is a top level machine.
Ok so really it looks like your stuck here doesn't it. If you don't have a big budget you don't get a great computer. Well that just is not so!
What companies are doing these days are adding extra "Junk" to a computer to entice you into spending more money with them. Things like a Free printer and Free scanner are just another way for the vendor to squeeze an extra hundred bucks out of you. Its really a great marketing strategy. Ill break it down for you.
You see 2 computers which look pretty much the same. Computer A is $500 and Computer B is $700. You notice that they are both the same speed and offer almost identical features. However Computer B includes a Free printer, internet starter kit and boasts an internet keyboard.
The reality of a deal like this is that; 1. you will never use an "Internet Keyboad's" features enough to make it worth the money. Internet Keyboards simply add buttons onto the keyboard which allow you to bypass a mouse click and press a key to sign on the internet, or load up a favorite website. In short it is a useless way to get you to spend a bit more money. 2. Free internet service and "starter kits" come with every computer on the planet now. If you have a mailbox you know that you dont even have to have a computer to get a free internet and trials. They just kind of drop from the sky. I probably have 4 or 5 aol/prodigy free internet cd's that I use for drink coasters at this very moment. Im sure more are on the way as well. 3. The free printer is never free. It is allready included in the price of the Computer. If 2 computers are the same price and one has a free printer, be very careful. The chances are that the company has decided to use lesser quality components in their machine to make up for the added cost of the "free" printer.
Ok so you just want me to come out and tell you how to get the best deal now. The truth is that the first thing you have to know is how not to be scammed. So just a little more on how to organize yourself before you set off to go shopping on Gateways website.
Pick up a sunday paper and find all the adds from places like Best Buy, Circut City etc. Now grab some paper and a pencil. We are going to make a list of side by side comparisons.
Make 5 or 6 rows & colums so we can compare features and price. I like to write the names of the product down the far left hand side of the page and use colums to the right for listing features. At the top of the colums we need to write down a few of the basic elements which make up the substantial parts of the computer. These parts are what you are comparing when you buy a PC.
The following is a great list to start with.
Brand, Speed, Memory Ammount, Hard Drive Size & Speed, Video Card, Extras, Price.
These components are the major price hoggs of the computer. They are what you should be looking at when you go to buy your computer. Generally higher numbers in these categories are good. Most all computer manufacturers use different brands of the same components. They do this because they are able to get better pricing on one brand over another. The only drawback is that some brands are poorly made. It is also a good idea now to note what brand of components a computer maker uses in their systems.
You can always scour the internet for Reviews on specefic brand named products to find out what the best Brand name is. I highly reccomend that you do this. Many computers use absolutley pathetic brands under the guise that they are the same as another leading brand, when they are not.
An example of this would be to call all GeForce or TNT2 video cards to be equall. This is done alot in the adds. They just say it has a TNT2 graphics card, not what brand. There are probably 20 or so companies who produce a TNT2 and GeForce graphics card. The same goes for hard drives, memory, and modems. Bottom line is that not all internal computer components are created equal.
Well I think we have a good overall understanding of what you should be on the look out for now, and you are armed with a great starting off point. Now you can take your table of prices and features to Gateway.com and do a little shopping.
Tips: On gateways site you start with one of a few basic models which you can then customize to your liking. Start in a price range which suits your budget and then add options as you like. Try configuring your computer with BOTH AMD and Intel processors. A general rule is that AMD processors are a bit faster and cheaper.
A basic Pc as of October 2000 needs to have the following and should cost you less than $1000. 600mhz+ processor, 128mb Ram, 20 gig HD, 32mb Graphics card. Gateway should pay less than $300 for those main components, so now you have about $700 to play with for adding other options like CD burners, DVD players and upgraded sound packages. I have not really touched on modems very much because their price is so moderate when calculating the overall PC cost that you dont really need to worry about it. Most of the time any modem offered will work just fine.
I have written a few other reviews in which I discuss the advantages and disadvantages of several types of Computer Memory and Processors. I encourage you to read them or educate yourself on those topics. They have the ability to save you over $1000 on a system.
Finnaly. If you have done a few of the basic thing I have suggested here in this article, you should be able to get some value out of your purcahse. You dont have to take the computer as it is configured online. you can always call Gateway and tell them EXACTLY what you do or dont want in your computer. If you dont feel that you are getting a good deal it might be wise to have a local computer shop build you a machine that meets your requirments a bit better. Keep in mind however that most local shops do not offer the great warranties that a place like Gateway or Dell is able to.
On a side note before you choose Gateway, Dell or any other place for that matter do a little research on the company itself.
Hope I have helped you out a little bit!
(sorry my spell checker is broken ill be heading back later to fix the errors, I went to skhul like evrebodie else, I promise!)
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Member: Christopher Collins
Location: round Rock , Tx
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