Reliability on Gateway laptops?

Very much interested in ordering the P-171S FX Edition but pretty much, everyone of my gaming friends are saying I'm gonna regret buying a Gateway laptop. The specs/price ratio is the BEST out there right now on the P series but I'm having second thoughts now.

I've owned a XPS Gen1 before for 2 years and never had a single issue. I sold it and then bought a used Toshiba (non-gaming laptop)...again no major issues...HDD went out but was a easy replacement. I gave that to my cuz in college and went back to desktops/consoles. I did own a Gateway monitor that went out in 8 months so based from my experiance and the fact the company went down due to bad busniess practises and cheap parts and terrible support, I have my reasons to twice before going with another Gateway product.

The P-171S (or the BB version) seems to hold well so far, if not for the cheap screen, keyboard and some minor overheating issues.

To the current owners, do u guys feel comfortable with your Gateway laptops or wished you went with another vendor instead?

Thanks
Frag

 

I have had absolutely no issues at all, and as one who sells every large brand laptop, I had zero qualms about paying for this P-6831FX. None at all.

 

there are i think two screens, an LG and a samsung, correct me iff im wrong, and the samsung is good, which is what I have, the LG one not so much.

and I have never had overheating issues, whats your ambient room temp and where is ur laptop located? get a cooler if overheating becomes a problem.

 

I'm quite happy with the quality of the laptop. Pretty much using it as my desktop right now, which really can't be healthy for it (leaving it on for 2-3 days in a row running torrents and background tasks) but it's holding up pretty well.

My laptop for this year was supposed to be the Toshiba Tecra M7, and quality wise I'd say that are just about on par. Not regretting getting this over the M7 one bit, and I'm enjoying the 1000 dollars I've saved but I do miss the touchscreen functionality. Oh yea, I got the P-6831FX.

 

Another happy owner here.

And frankly, i do not find the keyboard cheap at all. I used a Dell 9300 before it, and like the Gateway KB better.

Also, there are no overheating issues (not sure where you heard that). The only issue i have had, was when i stupidly blocked the GPU vent; that of course, was my fault. In normal use, there are no issues; I have gamed with UT3 for hours on the highest settings and with no issues.

 

I've not had any problems with my FX. Physical build quality is not the same as my previous Dell i9300/i9400's (plastic vs. magnesium alloy) but the thing just works, and that's what really matters. IMHO the keyboard is the worst part, but hey it works. BTW, the best keyboard I've ever used is on my 6 year old Gateway 450 laptop.

 

What issues? Am I missing something? Mine has none of those issues.

 

Yeah, the Gateway 350, 450, 305, and 405 were very solid machines. Real tanks from Quanta.

 

I agree.. the keyboard could be better... mine seems to be solid with no flex... but it appears as though it has a wave (sits uneven)... I can look past that since it doesnt flex at all... but other than that... I really dont think I can complain about much anything else.

I havent had any overheating or anything like that.

 

I just have a cheaper retail model, the mt3705. but reliability is great. mine is on 12+ hours a day. and over the past year i almost guarantee it was on that much over 90%. only if i worked real early did it not get turned on first thing and left on. the best advice i could give you is do a clean install when you get it. i had the occasional BSOD until I reinstalled and life was good after that.

 

I can't remember where I've read it but some guy said that Gateway uses unshielded power adapters which will eventually damage the mainboard in a year or two.
I've heard that the P-6831FX's power adapter makes some hissing sounds and now I'm a bit worried.
Should I replace the adapter with one from a different manufacturer (same specs, of course)?

 

im proud of my gateway t-1616 i treat it like dirt coz i move around alot in school, running and stuff but of course i do my best to take care of it with a laptop sleeve and swiss bag and stuff. but yeah it survives me, and its been 7 months!

 

I have a really old Gateway Solo 2000 that ijust dug out of storage and it fired right up, it has a 133mhz pentium and 32mb of ram, and is running Windows 95.

 

You can see what I have, and all run great exept when I screw them up

 

Thanks for the quick replies guys!

I am new to this side of the forums since I usually hang out in the ASUS section but it is good to know that people over here are just as helpful.
I just bought a P-6831FX which was posted on eBay and it should arrive next week so expect to see me around here more often

And as for the P-6831FX, I think only time can tell since it is too new to really debate about it's reliability but I'm still worried about this whole power adapter thing.
I might just buy another one from a different manufacturer just for my peace of mind.

Thanks again guys

 

Gateway is a mixed bag for me. My MX7527 that I purchased in May 06 was a POS. The screen went out constantly, the DVD drive failed twice. All in all, it went in for repair 5 times and Best Buy finally replaced it (I upgraded). I ended up upgrading to the P6831FX and I love this laptop. Now, my wifes Gateway laptop that we purchased in August of 06 has had no issues whatsoever. None. It runs great, though it seems to run a little warm. Of course, it stays at home mostly and gets very little abuse.

My advice: Buy a comprehensive extended warranty if for nothing else, than the piece of mind. I'm not saying it because it's a Gateway, I'm saying it because it's a laptop. If you're going to tote it around and use and abuse it (the way a laptop should be used), then you'll need the warranty. I didn't regret purchasing my 2 year extended warranty. It got me a new laptop almost two years later, and I had absolutely no heartburn shelling out another $300 for a 2 year w/ accidental coverage.

A few tips on the warranties:
*Set up a file in a safe place. ALWAYS put the following in that file:
-original purchase receipt (scan it too and put a copy on photobucket or e-mail it to your gmail account so that you always have it...If you purchased at a retail store, that heat printed receipt won't be readable in about a year).
-keep your original warranty pamphlet. This is especially true for retail warranties (Best Buy, Sears, Circuit City, etc)
-Keep documentation of all of your service orders. This includes packing slips, service order receipts, etc. ANYTHING paper generated from services, keep it.
-Keep a notepad of who you spoke to, when, and where they were from. Everyone! From the Geeksquad doofus, to the people you talk to on the phone. Days, times, what they said. If you talk to phone reps, get their ID#s.

 

The gateway adapter hisses when the notebook needs more power than the adapter can supply.This happens when over clocked or other times.

 

I saw the same thing in hardforum.com like a month ago, someone had two laptops from Gateway and both of them broke down in around one year or so.

 

I am also wondering about the power supply since it does hiss but even when nothing is really running. I was hoping i could get an aditional adapter but it may be hard to find the right plug. Any suggestions? I was hoping to pay under 100 dollars.

 

If your PSU is hissing, and you have a warranty with Gateway, you can probably call/email them and ask them to send you a new one.

 

Never heard of an unshielded switching supply or why this would be an issue in any laptop. As long as there is adequate clean DC power the laptop should be happy. Anyone has the link to the article?

 

I bought a P-6860FX last weekend from Best Buy and had a hissing power adapter. I got on online chat with tech support and they agreed to ship me a new one after about 2 minutes of talking to them. It was sent Fed Ex 2 day air and arrived today and works perfectly. It seems to be a little different model so maybe they fixed whatever the problem was with the original ones? Anyways, you should definitely get on with tech support as they were very helpful with minimal hassle.

 

Thanks for this thread guys, I'm trying to get one of the FX series way over here in Australia (it's either that or an 8600GT equipped machine). I just wanted to know the likelihood of having to ship it back to the states for repair.