Gateway 700XL Great System!
Written: Aug 09 '03
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Pros: Does all and more than I had expected
Cons: The Wireless Mouse/Keyboard Mouse I don't need it.
The Bottom Line: Reliable (7 months strong here), Easy to use, Has everything that I could want with the Speed. Had to go DSL to match the computer :)
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| cassi2m's Full Review: Gateway 700 XL PC Desktop |
I bought the Gateway 700XL in Jan 2003. They had a promo where they gave you a free desktop (300s which is still not hooked up) so I basically got 2 for 1. The unit is pricey, however after doubling the RAM from 512 to 1024mb, (i see now its shipped with 1024mb), and upgrading to actual sound card and video card, I realized that I had a wonderful system.
--not enough room up top, so on the Wireless Mouse/Keyboard, the first mouse ate batteries, they changed it out and even sent me an Optical mouse at no charge. ---
6 months at zero percent interest helped to pay it off. I'm really happy with it, and have had minor windows based problems, but as for the system itself, it's been great so far...knock on wood.
I would suggest the 700XL with 3.2gb cpu, if you are able to afford the price. The Surround Sound is awesome, 4 speakers with center console. Add in the 12" subwoofer, I can now blow my daughter out of her room, for once. Revenge - Teenage Daughter.
She has the Gateway 500s-school special package deal purchased in June 2002.
700XL Dvd player/recorder seems to be a bit noisey, guess that might be an issue, noticed other 2 reviews mentioned it as well. I'll give them a call about that, but with 2 hard drives at 200gb each, I have plenty of room to work on genealogy, Internet Store and scanning family photo's, etc. I'm not worried about running out of hd space nor does the sys freeze up from lack of memory.
Setup was easy, When you open the first box, there are the instructions, layed out, step by step. Anyone can do this. The subwoofer was a bit confusing but I called in the big guns for the noncomputer related connections.
Would I buy this system again? You Betcha and I wouldn't think twice. I actually thought about this for a month before I finally purchased it. I bought a Com.... Computer in Dec and returned it after 10 days of realizing that I would have to upgrade it after a year, it just wasn't what I needed. Been there, done that comes to mind here.
When Gateway told me about the standard parts/components included on this system, I was in heaven. My old computer was a 1996 Comaq 9230 120mhz cpu, 1.66gb hd. It was expensive for it's time -15" monitor when 12 was common. But I upgraded that cpu to 200 & tossed in a video upgrade (ebay for 5.00) and lasted over 3 years. Its in the other room still working fine. I paid $3500 with monitor and 3 yr warranty.
My next system was a home built 233mhz with 4.0gb hard drive. The parts were pulls from working on friends systems or pricewatch.com for additional parts. I had $200 invested in that one lasted over 2 years - in other room still runs, so I could justify buying a decent machine that will last for years to come with this one.
This Gateway will run for at least 3 years since I purchased the 3 year extended warranty. I Highly suggest it to anyone/everyone.
Support has been Great, daughters 500s CD went out last week, Gateway was sending her a new one (needed credit card to secure it and ship it). I talked to tech, didn't know her CD went out. I asked for permission to go into her system, him on phone. I unplugged CD rom drive from mother board - ide cable- and on back of drive. Replugged, and switched out electric plug from p4 to p6 plug. Booted it up, and Bam worked like a charm. Not sure if the plug went out or if it was loose, but they didn't have to send out another cd rom drive, Saved Gateway some money, I want them to stay in Business.
Overall, I am very Happy with my Gateway. Since I did repair computers for a few years, I would Highly suggest their Systems, Good, Solid, Dependable, and Stable! Time to donate my old dinosaurs to the homeless shelter. Gateway even supported an old Gateway sys that was donated to the homeless shelter in my area. I did a bit of volunteer repair for them a while back. They sent new parts at no charge, Replaced a 14" blown monitor with a 17" new warrantied monitor, new video card, and added in lifetime support for the shelter! So..do I like Gateway? You Bet I do!
Hope this has helped others out.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 4400
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
cassi2m
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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