How Bad

I really don't know how to post this but I am curious are there so few Gateway owners on this site or are the Gateway computer so bad or so good that no one bothers to post in this forum? I asked a question about the Gateway 510X the other day, although, the post received 40 views no one answered my question. Two ways to take this no one owns or knows anything about this patricular model, which is okay or no one will bother to give assistance on this question. I asked the same question on the HP Compaq forum and received many views and five direct answer. None had anything kind to say about the Gateway. If anyone on this forum has had any dealing with the Gateway company I would appreciate any pros or cons because I am still interested in the 510X. I am more or less like to know how they treat their customers after the sale. All I know about Gateway I have learned from HSN. Any feedback will be appreciated> Paul Courtney

 

Gateway has failed to keep up with the other major companies (HP, Dell, Lenovo, etc) due to pricing. There are good deals with Gateway computers every now and then, but it's always in the entry level laptops. If you were to customize a high-end Gateway on their website, a comparable HP or Dell would easily beat the price.

Now that Acer as acquired Gateway, maybe they'll become a little more competitive.

 

Now how are Acers?

 

well, my gateway was a good deal, thats all i can say.... acer, idk i think u should stick with asus, dell and ibm (im not an HP fan)

 

Acer is a fine company, number 4 in the US and 2 in Europe I believe.

 

Acer's are pretty bad in build quality, and you can get better built machines at similar prices (at least in the U.S.). Gateway's have good deals sometimes, but usually their pricing kills them.

 

Acer is actually number 1 in Europe and Asia,and the third largest computer company in the world,behind HP and Dell. They passed Lenovo for third spot. Acer laptops are well designed,they actually run cooler than Dell,Sony,Apple and HP. They are designed in Italy and built in China. Acer is a Taiwan based company. Another brand to consider is Fujitsu. Number 1 in Japan and made in Japan. All parts are made in the same factory. Gateway laptops are supposed to be made by Samsung now,if that's the case then they are a good buy.

 

I agree that Acer is a large company, but they still (in general) have crap build quality. And no, in general Gateway's are not a good value for the money. Fujitsu's can be very good.

 

Acer as far as I have heard have really bad customer service. I think that is a given when you buy from large company. Plus since they sell alot more in Europe I wonder if they send all the good notebooks there the same way Mercedes Benz does to North America.

 

Hey.....I am new to this website but I just seen your message about Gateway....I can't speak for everyone but I will let you know my experience with them.....I bought a desk top computer fron HSN a few years back....when i ordered it i was real excited and couldn't wait to get it...the way they were talking about the computer i thought it would be the best one i ever had. I think i paid around $1200 for it...after i got it i started to have problems with it right away....it would just freeze up on me and i couldn't do anything except for manually shut the computer down and start all over again.. I called gateway about the problem and they would tell me what they thought was wrong with it over the phone and i would try to fix it...this happened probaly 3 or 4 times before they finally told me to ship it back to them...they would send it back and say they couldn't find anything wrong with it ...i would turn it on and again the same problem....this happened atleast 5 or 6 times...i would send it to them...they would send it back...same problem....i asked them many times to just replace the computer with the same model but they would not....the computer sets on the floor...next to my Compaq ...and it is still messed up...they never fixed or replaced....which is all i asked....i didn't ask for my money back...just to replace the computer with another one like it or fix this one....but 2 years later...I wasted $1200...that is all i can say.....James

 

(in the US) Gateway produces a fine laptop – they aren’t usually competetive by offering high end graphics cards and inputs, but a lot of people don’t really care. It depends on what you want from a computer. You can usually find a very slick deal on one when they go on sale (almost every week).

I find there is usually a threashold around $500 for a decent, basic laptop when I go to the store (Vista Premium, Core Duo, at least 120GB HD, DVD-RW, 1GB memory). You’ll usually find a Compaq, Acer, Toshiba, and Gateway with those similar specs. I think the Gatway is the better choice in that category.

 

Well I got a gateway refurb (look at sig) and am very pleased. Good deal, and so far no problems. As far as customer service goes, I am not really sure since I haven't had an issue with my laptop. Also it isn't a big deal because even though I have a 1 year warranty, I am in Japan for the next year, so it isn't like customer service or warranties will really help me anyway.

 

oh, i almost forgot... a few years back i got a gateway desktop for $20 it was nothing but problems, it eventually got returned.

 

that was a H311 of a deal though, might i ask where u got it so cheep?

 

He must have bought that through gateway's ebay sales, where you can find plenty of refurbished laptops. Here is an NX860XL for sale right now-
http://cgi.ebay.com/Gateway-NX860XL...yZ140081QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The high bid as of this post is 799 dollars, and it is spec'd nearly identically to the NX860XL that I ordered from gateway last week for around $1,800. Makes me sort of want to cry, but the one I got was a gift and it comes with a full 3 year warranty so I don't feel too bad.

 

Gateway wouldn't be my first choice anymore. I had bought a notebook a couple years back and it worked perfectly. I had a problem with the hinges on the screen cracking so it was sent back and fixed. Then later on the screen would just be rediculously loose, wobble like crazy to the point of it falling to a 180degree angle. This was fixed and happened 4 times. My notebook would turn off on it's own very often. This was a problem as well. It was fixed when sent back 2 out of the 4 times. Finally after many phone calls and shipments they gave into replacing it. About 2 months after their decision to replace it, it came. They sent me a refurbished laptop, that turns off randomly. But the screen is nice and tight....

 

Yeah an eBay auction ran by the seller gateway_auctions which is direct sales right from gateway.

I am extremely happy. Lets just say I hate all computer companies that sell their pre-built things. I myself am more of a build your own desktop person, but I needed a laptop for portability. If you want my opinion, it doesn't really matter what laptop you buy, especially from the larger companies, because the build quality is all going to be very similar. Customer support, well gateway has Americans and basically the rest have Indians and I myself never would never call customer "support" unless it would be something covered by my warranty for a hardware defect.

Gateway isn't advertised as much as HP and Dell. One reason you can get a cheaper laptop, but also at the same time not many people buy them so people think they might not be so good.

I have had friends with Dells, HP, Acer, Gateway, etc. etc. and the truth is, any laptop will eventually have problems. All customer service is a headache and sucks! Almost every company just wants your money, not your satisfaction, but they will "sell you satisfaction." Every company has it's poorly built laptop and it's super laptops, every company makes mistakes in manufacturing. So the reason gateway has a worse rep is just that less people buy them. Most people look for forums when they have issues. The gateway users most likely can't find info so they find this website and post an issue.

It is either I am EXTREMELY lucky with my purchase because I received it in about a week, had not 1 problem, and got a great deal, or maybe down the road I will experience trouble. Right now though, for the couple months I have had it, it has been nothing but great. I would recommend eBay gateway_auctions to everyone looking for a laptop, or even a desktop at a awesome deal.

 

wow i remember back in like 97 98 or so gateway was one OF THE COMPUTERS to have.. they were huge back then and everyone raved about them... i honestly cant say the same anymore we had one at the shop last year we bought from office depot.. needless to say we had to return it in the first 30 days due to the fact we had tons of issues with it and got nowhere with their customer service or tech dept.. lucky for use office depot rocks and they took it back without any restock fee after we explained the sitaution with gateway directly..

 

I bought two 17-inch laptops recently, including the MX8738. These were for friends who live abroad. The first one is only 5 months old so too soon to tell how they will last. The MX8738 is only two weeks old. But they both run Vista Premium well.
I had to contact Customer Service about the allocated video memory for the MX8738 (you might have seen my message in the other thread) and was quite pleased in how they handled it. First I did online chat support who had to escalate my call. Next day I got a phone call to confirm that my call is being escalated and to expect a call the next day which was Friday. I was out most of Friday but there were two messages from them on the answering machine, leaving an 800 number and ext. where I could reach the person directly. Monday rolls around and before I could call them (CA time, I'm in Florida) the guy calls me back.
Way to go Gateway Customer Support!! I hope your laptops are as good.

 

I have a gateway m285e. it arrived 1 month late ater 6 phone calls. they probably have the worst customer service i have ever experienced. to get a high end laptop also costs a lot of money. mine was about 2300 and i could have gotten an alienware with a 7600 card .2 more ghz process. and it would have been 500$ cheaper.

 

Not to sound cold, but then why didn't you get the alienware? That would have seemed like the obvious choice.