Gateway gives Dell some stiff competition.
Written: Nov 19 '00
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Pros: Great components, fast
Cons: Cost of prohibitive
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| bobchezule's Full Review: Gateway Performance 1000 deluxe |
The Gateway Performance 1000 Deluxe is a tremendous machine. I have been a Dell supporter for most of my computer buying life, but this machine comes close to the best that Dell offers. You get a hot processor and some great components. This system is tagged as Deluxe because you get Microsoft Office 2000 Small Business as opposed to a lesser package of software. Below I will review what comes with the machine:
Processor: Standard with this machine is the Intel Pentium III 1000 mhz processor with advanced transfer cache. Advanced Transfer Cache is really just jargon designed to make the processor seem more impressive, but worry not, for the Pentium III is a powerful force in computer processing. Any and all tasks you put it to will be taken care of with ease.
Memory: Gateway provides 128MB of 133mhz SDRAM, as opposed to Dell who provides RDRAM with all their systems. Gateway comes out way ahead in this area. SDRAM is far superior to RDRAM, which never really fulfilled its promises. 128MB of RAM will be enough for any home PC, so you needn't be worried. If you plan on doing some heavy processing, you might want to upgrade to 256MB, but this is only for the most high end users.
Monitor & Video: Standard with this system is a EV700 17" monitor, which is superb. You will love the size, although not really comparable to a 21", it is still wonderful. If you are upgrading from a 15" monitor, you won't believe the difference. The standard video card is the 32mb NVidia GeForce2 Pro DDR Graphics Accelerator, which is the best you could hope for in a system like this. It uses the latest technology and provides you gamers with all the acceleration power you are ever going to need. You will be blown away by it's speed.
Hard Drive & CD-Rom: The hard drive is a 40MB 7200RPM Ultra ATA100, which is more space than most people know what to do with. Unless you are a heavy downloader or play hundreds of games you will find that this provides more than enough space for all your files. A nice bonus with this system is the inclusion of a DVD ROM drive. Now you can watch all your favorite movies on DVD without investing in an expensive DVD player as well as a computer.
Sound: The sound card is a SoundBlaster Live! Value, meaning certain components are stripped from it. It is still a great card that will provide you with high quality sound. For speakers you receive the Boston Acoustics BA735 Digital Speakers w/Subwoofer. These speakers will provide you with a pumped up sound experience. The difference between playing a game with high quality speakers and standard PC speakers is incredible. You will have to experience for yourself, but trust me when I say the experience is well worth your money.
Everything Else: Gateway's technical support is not the greatest out there, Dell takes this crown, but they are still helpful. They do their best to solve your problems, and as long as you don't present them with a major tech problem, you will find your answers quickly. One of the features I like the best about this machine is the expandability. You are given 5 PCI and 1 AGP slot to expand into, allowing you to add all sorts of cards and features to your machine. With some companies, such as Compaq, this sort of customizing of your machine is nearly impossible.
Final Thoughts: This machine really surprised me. I had grown to believe that Gateway provided poor products and incompetent service. However, this was not true. In fact, this is a great machine at a great price. For all these components, you will only pay $2128 dollars, as of 11/19/00. This will drop as time goes by. I recommend this system for anyone. It is a great system for gamers, home business owners, or someone who is buying their first system. Happy shopping.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2700
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 128
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
bobchezule
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Member: Benny Lipschitz
Reviews written: 46
Trusted by: 4 members
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