Gateway 3018GZ

Hi, I found a good deal on the Gateway 3018gz at BestBuy, but I have one question about its specs. A label on the computer states that you can burn DVD's on its combo drive. However, I'm confused by the wording on the Gateway website which reads as follows:


Optical Drive
CDRW/DVD Combo
Write max: 24x CD-R/RW
Reads max: 24x CD-R/RW/ROM disks
4x DVD±R/RW and 8x DVD-ROM

I thought I understood all of this lingo, but I'm not so sure anymore. Can someone please tell me wheather I'll be able to burn DVD's (all be it slowly) on the 3018GZ?

Thanks in advance for your response.

Tom

 

I'm not 100% sure, but the way I read it it's a CDRW and DVD combo and DVD burning is not a possiblity on this laptop. Here's the product page we have,

http://www.notebookreview.com/price/default.asp?productID=11719&productFamilyID=550&brandID=7&display=priceDetail

J&R is the only merchant we have in the database as selling it right now, and on their page they indicate no such thing as a DVD burner either.

And I don't know where you found this laptop on the Gateway website, it's a retail store model only, the models sold on the website are different.

BargainPDA.com | SpotStop.com | TabletPCReviewSpot.com

 

abaxter,

Thank you for your quick reply. That is the way I read it too, but the sticker on the laptop itself says otherwise. If you go to the Gateway home page and search for 3018gz you will get a link to it. Gateway does tell you that it is a retail version and lists the specs and then the places you might be able to buy it. I guess BestBuy could confiqure it another way, but I doubt it.

I really don't want to open it up to try it out and then pay the 15% restocking fee if it doesn't burn 'em. Of course I could try arguing that it says it can do it right on the laptop! I'll try to talk to BestBuy and Gateway tomorrow.

Just out of curiosity what does the last line of the Optical Drive specs mean?

Thanks again.

Tom

 

I bought the 3018GZ last week at Best Buy. The original price was $999, they had an instant -$150 off plus by buddy works there so I got a chance to use his discount. [ ] I'll be getting an iBook later this spring also.

There is no DVD burning, the folks at Best Buy probably placed a wrong label [?]

Btw, the machine is really nice.

 

Karim,

Perfect! That's exactly what I did, but it had to be shipped to me since they were out of them at the store. Thanks for definatively answereing my question! So now the question becomes should I keep the Gateway or keep the Compaq V2140US for $1124. Of course, the V2140 has a Centrino chip (715mhz), a DVD burner, and 2mb of l2 cache (vs 1mb). Other than that they are the same size, weight, screen, etc. So is the Compaq worth the $200 more (after taxes)? Any thoughts?

Thanks again,

Tom

 

They are nearly identical in size, w/e differences these two notebooks might have, it would be are very hard to notice them. I've read an article earlier this week on how Centrino is no better than Celeron M chip set. Personally I don't have a need for DVD burning on a laptop because I burn DVDs on my PC box, so I can't really recommend the best for you. I've looked at the Compaq machine at local CompUSA store and wasn't really impressed by it, maybe I'm a little spoiled after having an Apple PowerBook (12" model) as my first laptop, but I gotta say that I'm really impressed with this Gateway notebook.