A couple months ago, I decided I would buy a new computer. Hearing that the Pentium 4 would be out before the end of 2000, I decided to wait for it. And finally, the day came that Dell, Gateway, Compaq, HP, IBM and a couple other companies released their P4 systems. I waited just a little longer for the prices to drop some, and then I decided to buy a system.

I decided to buy a Dell because my family and friends had had good experiences with them, and because of the price. The Dell Dimension 8100 I configured cost about $1770 (P4 1.4 GHz, 128 MB RAMBUS, 40 GB HD, SB LIVE, nvidia GeForce 32 MB DDR, without a monitor, I already have one). I was pleased with this price, and I would be getting 5% off from STOCKBACK (www.stockback.com), lowering the price to below $1700. So I went ahead and ordered my system. A few minutes afterwards, I realized that the RAM that came with the system by default was PC600 RAMBUS RAM, not PC800 (PC600 is slower). I wanted to change this, so I promptly called Dell. After getting disconnected multiple times and waiting on hold for almost an hour, I finally got through to a person. They told me that even though I had ordered my computer on the internet, Dell had randomly assigned me a Sales Representative, and that Rep was the only person who could change or cancel my order. This was frustrating, but I asked and got the name and extension of my sales rep so I could call them. When I did call them, no one answered, and their answering machine was full. So I had to email them, and run the risk that they would not read my email until after my system had been shipped and I would be stuck with a computer I didn't want. Surprisingly, my sales rep responded to my email promptly. He told me that he could change the RAM if I wanted. But, he also told me that change or no change, my system wouldn't be shipping until after Christmas. This all happening about a week ago, I told him that if he couldn't ship it within a week I wanted him to cancel the order. He emailed me back saying he cancelled the order.

And so this brings me to Gateway. I did have one relative who bought and enjoyed Gateway computers, so I thought maybe I'd give them a shot too. I got a quote for the exact same system on Gateway's website, and my total came to $1915. Not to mention, Dell would have given me a free printer, scanner or webcam, and free shipping. So I decided to give Gateway a call. I was quickly connected to a friendly Sales Representative to whom I explained that Dell's price was substantially cheaper than Gateway's, and that Dell would give me free shipping and a free printer. He went to Dell's website to double check all of the information I gave him, and it was verified. He told me that they would match Dell's price, and give me free shipping and a free printer too. So I went ahead and ordered the system. My total came to $1799. I was also very pleased when he told me my computer would arrive on the 23rd, especially because I was ordering on Sunday, the 17th. The computer ended up arriving on the 21st, two days ahead of schedule.

I unpacked the computer, and set everything up. From the three speaker system to the Canon printer, and back to the actual system everything worked flawlessly. Not only that, this system is blazingly fast! Web pages load literally in the blink of an eye (my broadband connection probably helps this too, though). I have SETI on my computer, and it is cranking out data units faster than any other computer I have ever seen. The video and sound cards are great, but I must admit I haven't had a chance to really test the video card's limits. The CD Burner (8x4x32x) works well so far--I've only burnt one music CD. The hard drive is spacious, although Windows ME reports the capacity at 37 GB, 3 GB less than what I ordered, 40 GB. Oh well.

There were a few unexpected nice surprises with my system, too. Upon booting my computer up for the first time, I realized that it had GoBack by Adaptec included. This allows you to revert your computer to an earlier day (turn back the clock) if you install software that damages your computer, and it also allows you to recover deleted files if, for example, you get a virus that deletes important documents. Hopefully I will never have to use this utility, but it is a nice security blanket. My computer also came with CLICKRADIO, which is free from www.clickradio.com, but is a huge download. This software is like an ad free radio, and it works great so far.

My two complaints are first that when I tried to open my "Easy Access" case to install a network card, I had a lot of trouble. So much, that I almost had to call tech support to ask them how to open my case! Finally, I was able to pop it open and stick the card in. My second complaint is that when I ran a CPU benchmark with Sisoft Standard, my machine was a little slower that it should have been. Only slightly though. Also, I had programs in the system tray at the time that I ran the test.

So that has been my experience with Gateway, and with buying a computer in general. I'll keep this updated if any problems arise. I hope you benefited from this epinion.


UPDATE!!! January 6th, 2001

I leave my computer on during the day because I run a distributed computing client on it. Yesterday, when I came home, I noticed that the computer was not running. I thought it must have gone in to Standby mode (also known as sleep) despite the fact that I had it set not to, so I moved the mouse to wake it up. Nothing happened. I pushed keys on the keyboard. Again... nothing. I could not awaken it despite multiple attempts and the only way I could get it up and running again was to unplug the power cable. I did this, and I began using the computer as usual again. About an hour or two after I had turned it on it spontaneously shut down as I was using it. It again went into the state where it looked like it was in Standby mode (because the power button was glowing amber) but I could not make it respond. I could smell that something was very hot inside of the computer.

So I called technical support to help me with my problem. I must admit, the support was very good. My hold time was about a minute before someone was talking to me. I explained my problem to the representative and he came to the conclusion (after about 20 minutes of making sure I didn't have it set to go into Standby, even though I had told him I had it set to stay on) that I needed to reinstall Windows ME. I was reluctant to do this, especially since I was almost positive it was a hardware problem. I told him this, and he got somewhat defensive and told me I could call back if I wanted a second opinion. I did just that. The second representative I spoke with had a little more faith in me, and trusted that something in my computer was most likely overheating and automatically turning off to prevent damage to components or worse a fire. I told him, just as I told the first person I spoke with, that my computer was in a computer desk designed to hold a tower, but that it was a tight fit. He thought that this was probably the problem because the air around my computer was not circulating well enough. So he told me that I should move my computer to a more open environment, as it is not designed to run properly in a closed environment. So I told him thank you and went to sleep for the night.

Today, when I woke up, I moved the computer into a more open area. I turned it on, and it seemed to be working great. But once again, within 1-2 hours it had spontaneously shut down. Puzzled, I called technical support yet another time to explain my whole ordeal. This time I mentioned that, lucky for me, I live by a Gateway Country Store. Not only do they sell Gateway Computers there, they also service them. So when I told the woman I was speaking with that she told me I should take it in. So I thanked her and put my computer in the car to drive it to the Gateway Store. The person there was nice and he had me fill out a few forms to describe my problem and (probably) forfeit all of my rights and so on and so forth. Then they took my good old (new) computer away and said that I could expect a call within 5-7 days. And so that's where I am! Hopefully everything will be OK (or else I can return it and buy a Dell!) I'll update this review as needed.

UPDATE!!! January 18, 2001

My computer was finally ready to be picked up from the Gateway Country Store today. It took some extra time because they ordered new parts. The people at the Service Center told me that they left my computer on for an hour, and it seemed to run fine. This is probably because it takes it over an hour to overheat. Oh well, they told me that the motherboard and power supply were replaced anyway. I called Gateway and got my return policy extended for an extra 30 days at no extra charge, which is nice. Hopefully their work solved the problem! I'll keep you posted...

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 1799
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: CD-RW
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40