Power to burn
Written: Feb 19 '01 (Updated Feb 19 '01)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Quality of Tech Support: |
 |
|
|
Pros: Power to burn, nice package, easy to configure and use
Cons: The ordering process wasn't as smooth as I would expect (Hopefully exception)
The Bottom Line: Well designed and easy to use system with power to burn.
|
|
|
| Saar's Full Review: Gateway Performance 1500 xl |
I was looking to get a new PC, and decided that this time I would get the top model. I considered both Gateway and Dell. I initially ordered a Dell, primarily because it's web site was easier to use for custom configuring. However Dell had a problem with getting parts and the system kept on getting delayed so I canceled and switched to Gateway. Gateway also scored better on the preformance tests PC Mag did on 1.5 Mhz systems.
Ordering:
I needed a custom configuration that I could not get on the Gateway web site, so I called them direct. The representatives were very friendly and helped me get the exact set up I wanted. Unfortunately, due to some mess ups, my order later got lost and it took 2 weeks to straight all the details out. Although Gateway was very friendly and helpful through out the ordeal, they should have fixed it in less then 2 weeks and multiple phone calls. However, I think this is the exception rather then the rule, so I give then the benefit of the doubt.
Order modification:
I already have a Sony 21 inch monitor and a nice sound system, so I opted the cheapest speakers (could not order none, and no monitor).
I added 128 Mb of memory (total 256), because I never want to run out of memory, but I will admit that most users wouldn't notice the difference
I choose the 64 MB DDR Nvidia GeForce2 Ultra Graphics card, since it was the top of the line, and although I don't play a lot of games, When I do, I want the system to rock.
I got the 60Mb HD, (seems enough for now) + both a DVD Rom drive (gotta have DVD) and an additional CDRW drive (for burning CDs)
General impressions:
The system is well built. If you open the case, you will find a very clean design in side as well. Un like most systems ,There are 2 USB ports ON THE FRONT PANEL and that is a great touch, since I hate fiddling with cables in the back. In addition, the other cables (Mouse, Monitor, Modem, Lan etc.) are all color coded and this really helps figure out what plugs into what. The system also comes with a nice help utility that was more useful then I anticipated. For a given problem, it provides step by step instructions on a solution. The Gateway keyboard also comes with "special hot keys" for 1 key access to speaker functions and programs like E-mail etc. These are user configurable. Of course the system has power to burn, however I would expect most 1.5 Ghz systems to give that impression. But at least based on the PC Mag benchmarks, Gateway is among the best, though I doubt you would notice much difference between vendors in most applications.
One quirk I found annoying was the fact that the pre installed "Internet Explorer" tried to force me to sign up with AOL, and it took a bit of fiddling around to get around that.
And last but not least, the system comes preconfigured (at least the WinME one) with some sort of "GoBack" utility that keeps on logging your every change so that you can "undo" any changes to your system in case of a misconfiguration that leaves your system hanging".
While this is a cool idea, it's implimentation is not very elegant. Because of how the feature operates, it has to write to the Hard Disk almost constantly, even when you would think the system should be idle. I found that this made to much constant noise and bothered me. So I disabled the feature (YES YOU CAN DO THAT ).
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 3400
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Saar
|
|
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 5 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.