Need Help With Gateway Decision

Been planning on buying a new notebook since December 05, but couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger because the thought of missing the newer line of processors and video cards slated to hit the market kept me up at nights.

Well, I didn't have to wait long till they started trickling in, and now I'm presented with an even harder task. Do I jump in now, or wait for some more players to throw out their entries into the "latest and greatest" cutting edge computer pool.

Here's a little background on where I've come from to get to here. I have a budget or around $2,100, and courses that require the use of high-end content creation and CAD/3D programs. I originally was interested in the HP nw8240 workstation with the ATI FireGL V5000 128mb graphics card for $2,099. Then the HP dv4000 caught my eye with the ATI X700 128mb graphics card installed, it wasn't the workstation, but with a powerful graphics unit and costing only around $1,500 including purchasing 2GB of corsair memory, I put it under consideration (I'm in school, saving $600 bucks is a big deal).

I've had experience with IBM and HP/Compaq warranty service through a ThinkPad and two Compaqs my father had purchased. And their warranty service has been stellar. Call, next day pickups, 3 day turnarounds, no haggling over what needs to be fixed, simple stellar. I haven't had any previous experience with Gateway, so I decided to hit this forum up for some opinions on Gateway Systems in general, and the Gateway warranty service in particular. Since those things can be deal-breakers when it comes to buying a computer.

Now after looking over the offerings of Asus, Sager, Dell, Acer, and Gateway. Gateway wins hands down in the price vs performance ratio. Here's my config (look at that price with a 4 year warranty to boot):

Gateway? M465-E

Operating System: Microsoft? Windows? XP Professional Edition (SP2)
Operating System Software Backup Media: Microsoft? Windows? XP Professional (SP2) Backup CD
Application Software: Microsoft? Works 8.0
Processor: Intel? Core? Duo Processor T2300 (1.66 GHz, 667MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache)
Memory: 512MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-256MB modules)
Video: ATI Mobility? Radeon? X1400 128MB Graphics (up to 256MB HyperMemory)
Screen: 15.4" WSXGA+ TFT Active Matrix (1680 x 1050 max. resolution)
Hard Drive: 40GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive
Optical Drive: Modular 24x/10x/24x CD-RW / 8x DVD combo
Extended Service Plan Including Limited Warranty: Notebook Value Service Plan -- 4 year part/labor/no on-site/4 year technical support
Battery: Primary 6-cell Lithium ion battery with AC pack and 1 yr. limited battery warranty
Carrying Case: Not Selected
Replicator: Not Selected
Integrated Wireless Networking Adapter: Integrated Intel? 802.11a/b/g wireless networking card
AntiVirus Software: Symantec Client Security 90 day introductory offer
Mobile Technology: Features Intel? Centrino? Duo Mobile Technology
Floppy Drive: 6-in-1 media card reader (Memory Stick?, MemoryStick Pro?, MultiMediaCard?, Secure Digital?, Mini Secure Digital?, RS-Multimedia Card?)
Expansion Slots: One type II PC card slot
External Ports: (4) USB 2.0, VGA, S-Video (TV Out), IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Keyboard and Mouse: Full-Size Keyboard and EZ Pad? Pointing Device
Multimedia Package: Integrated sound and stereo speakers, headphone/speaker jack, and mic jacks
Modem: Integrated V.92 56K modem
Network Adapter: Integrated Intel? 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter
Drivers Backup Media: M465/M685 Drivers and Applications CD
Trusted Platform Module: TPM - Embedded security chip for user authentication and data protection (version 1.2 ready)

Price: $1,664.00

 

My opinion on Gateway:
I love all of their notebooks.

That machine that you customized is very nice. I have been eyeing this chassis for a while now, and I love everything that I see. Clean looks, decent build quality (above average to my understanding), and simply 'the best' keyboard and mouse pad (IMO, of course). The one thing that I don't like about it is how there are no buttons to change the volume or track. Everything else seems perfect though With the business model that you have listed, you have even greater build quality, integrated Bluetooth, and a dead gorgeous screen. If you feel comfortable with how it is laid-out, go for it by all means
One thing that you might want to do is wait for comments from people who aren't regulars at the Gateway Forum.. opinions vary greatly!
Happy Shoppings!

 

Thanks for the quick response. Always good to hear from customers (satisfied or not).

The does look hot, but unfortunately while tabbing through the forums here (I haven't been here in over a month) I ran across info that discourages me from the purchase.

It seems the X1400 (4 pixel pipelines 2 vertex shaders) is less of a graphics unit as the name implies, you'd think higher numers mean better performance, and it turns out the X700 (8 pixel pipelines 6 vertex shaders) is a more powerful unit.

So when I consider that the new Intel Dual Cores (no 64 bit support) are a transistional chip and the Intel Merom chip coming out later this year, will for all intent and purposes, be an extensive upgrade to them. There is no need for me to purchase a comp with the Intel Duo or these "lame imposters" of a discreet graphics unit (I'm sour grapes now as you can see..lol)

My search goes on....

 

Yeah, that is a common mistake some people make. The name can be very misleading.. Still not a bad GPU for such..
From here, I could only second the HP DV4000/Compaq. They seem like nice machines, though I am not very fond of the KB and mouse, or some of the textures used.. still, the GPU is a significant improvement, and to most people, that is much more important
Either way, good luck on your search!
:decision:

 

The 465 is the same as the home division's NX560. If you order the NX560XL through the home division, you pay $25 less and get a DVD burner and a larger hard drive. I've also heard "that, if you order it over the phone, sometimes they use a discount margin tool" (which I assume is actually a manager who asks what the configuration is) to drop the price another $100-150.

The base configuration actually uses Windows Media Center Edition, which is better for most people's uses (still a lot of stuff you don't need, actually). The Pro upgrade is $100 - not worth it, IMO.

Best,
Howie

 

@Hellmanns Yeah, I'm not crazy about the dv4000 interface either. The gpu, processor, and hd are my main concerns for a notebook at the moment, so by default it's in the running. If I were using a notebook to pick up girls, with all that big blue writing across the keys, I'd toss it

And thanks for your opinions and all around good karma.

@HMLintz I wish I could configure without an OS since I already have retail copies of Windows 2000 and Windows XP (yep the holographic CD). So far I've only seen boutique dealers that allow you to configure without an OS and I'm not at all comfortable with purchasing from them.

I checked out a Sager, nice configurations, nice price point, relatively expensive and vague Phillips Magnavox warranty?

Checked out Asus, for the lack of a better term, "sucky looking" dealers and after "getting a load of" the vernacular and attitude of one of the dealers in the ASUS forum, I think I'll pass. Also, on ASUS` official site they have the audacity to say that they're no longer offering extendend contracts to North American. Standard two year warranty and you're on your own for a $2,000 appliance? I think not.

So dictated by my preferences or "because I don't have the stomach" for that type of risk taking, I'm stuck with choices from the major dealers. To whom PR (public relations) is everything.

Dealing with IBM before Lenovo brought the computer division was stellar, also HP. In the span of 3-4 year warranties spanning both companies I had 4 motherboards replaced, 3 LCD screens, 1 battery, and 1 DVD ROM drive. All without a hitch, and no more than 5 day turnaround from door to door.

On a side note, Gateway actually wants you to pay for shipping the computer to them when it breaks. Well what is this expensive warranty for, I ask? Thats just price gouging and possibly a deal-breaker if they're in the final running and I can't get the price concessions you spoke of from a manager HM. Taking $100 or so off the price of a configuration might ease the sting of having to ship and "insure" myself.

Thanks for the heads up HM.

 

@Hellmanns and HMLintz , thanks for your opinions and suggestions regarding my Gateway queries.

The Gateway sales rep never got back to me on a discount so I continued my search and I've come full circle. I decided to go with my first choice, the hp compaq workstation nw8240. Ordered the 13th, shipped the 15th, in transit as I type. This ends this chapter of notebook purchase journey.

 

No problem. I enjoy helping people with 'the' decision
Enjoy your new notebook

 

Or you could just wait till socket AM2 this summer and get a dual core turion 64 bit....