What is your opinion on Gateway?

Hello, everyone,

I am currently looking for a laptop and I found a Gateway at Walmart, which, based on the configuration, would fit my needs - cannot post the URL but if you google after 'gateway m-7309h', it's the first web site listed.

I was wondering, what is your opinion about Gateway? Any negative experience, anyone?

Thanks a lot,

Laurentiu

 

You're buying a laptop from walmart...? I would say thats more of an issue than the manufacturer.

 

Gateway makes some great value laptops (more bang for buck). However, if you ever try to go through Gateway support or customer service, you'll see where they made their cut-backs in order to get such great laptops out for so cheap.

 

My experience with Gateway tech support was poor when I needed to diagnose a problem, but when the part is clearly defective (you can see broken pieces), it's actually not bad. I had a desktop with a defective media card reader and they sent out a new one, no charge and no need to send the whole computer in (which is what Best Buy told me I'd have to do).

 

Complaint: No BIOS options...Other than that mine has been great!

 

Well... I know you are right, however, I can get this at a decent price - ~630 CAD, tax included. If I could find the same configuration somewhere else, different brand too, I would buy it.

On the flip side, I am too poor to waste >600 bucks on something that is not good! That's why I was asking what is your opinion about this brand.

 

I understand your point, I didn't mean to come off offensive or anything. I have no problem with Gateway but I would recommend looking for a sale at Best Buy or whatever big time retailers you have up there, you should be able to get a much better value for your money somewhere else.

 

No offence taken. I appreciate your opinion, otherwise I would not have asked!
I know you are right, I am not very thrilled about Walmart either and I know that BestBuy or FutureShop would be a far better choice. I should probably wait until I can get a better deal at one of these stores.

 

from what i read on them they are no good but from my own personal experience i think they are a fine machine. You usually get alot for what you pay for. And I don't see anything wrong with getting your computer at walmart, if they have what you need go for it, it's not like they are an unknown small store somewhere.

 

About a month ago I would have said: "Gateway still exists?". I bet a lot of non-techs might say the same (although I'm a techie).

Then I went looking for a game-friendly laptop and researched over the net. Several major publications and user reviews led me to the 7811; I couldn't resist. One of the best bang for the buck purchases of my life. It's that good.

 

The gateway site showed that this comp is 700. For a hundred bucks extra you can pick up a 6831/6860 off ebay. that is if you're a gamer.

 

Awesome Laptop. I have a thread in the works that will show you all how to play crysis in native res and keep the framerate over a very playable 20FPS.

So yes i love the laptop and i will be buying another one in 1 years time when they release more high end tech models.

I advice that you definitely go for it.

 

Gateways are much better then they used to be back in the day. They're a value brand yes. They can usually be had for 20% less then a comparable HP or Dell configuration. Also aesthetically they may not be as flashy or designer looking as HP and Dells.

But spec for spec they're a great deal. They're well built, and contain quality mainstream components from name brand manufacturers (Ram, processor, hard drives, video cards, etc).

IMO they're easily the best "bang for your buck" company going right now. Sure they may not be terribly attractive laptops, but they're of good quality, of good specs, and even better on price. No complaints

 

I have reviewed a few Gateways and now own one. I've had no problems with them.

 

Don't worry about the brand. Just buy THIS laptop. They've been working with this basic configuration for a while and aside from occasional overheating complaints there don't appear to be any serious problems with it.

Anyway, Gateway was Dell before most people knew about Dell. They once had incredibly good service and then became a joke when they let that go to pot. It's been well over ten years since that happened though and I was willing to chance it for the specs on this laptop.

Now Dell's service seems to be on the decline. I think the problem with modern corporations is that the execs don't get any credit for keeping a good thing going. If they don't enhance profits they're seen as failures. Thus the attempts at fixing things that aren't broken and scaling things down that indirectly hose their bottom line by pissing off their customers. Dell's been smarter about keeping their corporate customers happy though.

 

I just wanted to put my 2 cents in on this Gateway question and comments after. I had bought a Gateway P-6860FX (from best buy) and had the thing for 16 days before I started to have problems. Of course 2 days after B.B. return policy. Anyway, I've been dealing with Gateway's Customer service and tech support for months now, and they SUCK. They are the worse. I've never dealt with anyone less professional ever. They don't seem to care about thier customers. Since they had my P-6860FX (which is great if healthy) I've dealt with a lot of BS. They had it three times, and never looked into the issue at hand so they could correct it. They jusy reloaded the factory OS w/extra trial software, and shipped it back. I even sent in notes telling them in detail what was wrong, and they never attempted to fix it. They even went as far as sending it back to me with a good size scratch in it. My new laptop, only 16 days old now sits in front of me months later, in worse condition than when I sent it out for repair to Gateway Tech. Dept. Now to put the iceing on the cake, they want me to send it back into them for a forth time instead of replacing it like a respectable company should. So thats my opinion. Awsome pc if not defective.

Also...It shouldn't matter where you buy your laptop if it's the same exact one. Gateway is Gateway, it's not Gatemart or Best Way. Actually, you would probably have less of a problem at Walmart if there was an issue with it. They would probably have a better price anyway.

Sooooo...happy hunting, and peace

 

Walmart's return policy for computers and electronics is as follows:

• Computer hardware: Must be returned with any included software within 15 days of receipt.
• Computer components and computer accessories: Must be returned within 45 days of receipt.
• Computer software: Must be returned unopened.
• Camcorders and digital cameras: Must be returned within 30 days of receipt.
• GPS units, digital music players and portable video players: Must be returned within 15 days of receipt.

Not much better than BB. Except nothing about a restocking fee.

 

I prefer Dell, but the deals with the new lineup of Gateway is pretty much untouchable.

 

Ive been debating to trade my p-7811fx in for an Asus 15". I dont think Im going to be able to let go of the gateway. Compared to all competion, its surprisingly powerful and 'not too gaudy'. I looked closely at the Asus g50vt-x2. If it wasnt bright orange with dumb blue lights all over, I might go for it. Asus has 'real' bios, real support, more durability, OCable cpu etc. Their N50 is great looking, but it doesnt have the gaming card. If it did, I would do that. Asus is much better company. I think of this gateway as a fluke I got at a great price
so maybe Ill keep it. I wish I could find an Asus I really like, but I cant in 15" and if I lost this gateway I would def go to 15". Minor thing I like about 7811 is right fn key. I use it mostly since it allows one handed double-keying of brightness and volume. the top media controls suk. gateway support stinks.

 

I always had a negative opinion of Gateway, but in May '08, I couldn't resist the deal Best Buy had on the M-6841. It had everything I needed and wanted in a laptop.
Six months later, I haven't had a single problem with this machine. I would buy another Gateway in the future.

 

Why do you want to go to 15"? You want more portability, I guess?

It would be hard for me to go smaller now after using this sweet monster.

 

For years, I said I'd never touch a Gateway. A few months back, I decided to start shopping for a gaming laptop, was looking at a Sager NP5796 for quite a while. Just before I bought it, I happened to see a 7811-FX at Best Buy while I was there with my girlfriend. Came home and did a bit of research, found a lot of mixed reviews, but I just couldn't really turn down a deal like that, so I jumped for it. Saved over half the price of what I would have spent on the Sager, and this laptop is amazing. I haven't had any kind of problem with it at all, performance is stunning, the display is beautiful, build quality is way over what I expected...

I can't say anything about support since I haven't need it at all, but after a month with this machine, I can't find a single bad thing about it if I try.

Oh, fine. It gets fingerprints smeared all over the glossy paint too easily. That's the worst I can manage.

Wouldn't hesitate for a moment to buy another Gateway after this.

Also worth noting, after I'd had it for a week or so, one of my friends who saw and heard my opinions on it had to run out and get one too, and loves his as much as I do mine.

 

Amen. The 7811FX wil go down in history as one of the least expensive, best built, and BEST PERFORMING laptops in history.

 

yeah of course-portability. also, Ive become keenly aware of the inferiority of
LCDs to CRT (especially lappy LCD's). Most people arnt bothered by what they are missing on LCDs, but in games its a deal-breaker for me. For me Ive come to the conclusion that I cant really game on the 7811 screen, though I love it for everything else! But I know that 1050x1680 on a 15" will look about as good. Contrary to popular lore, lower resolutions look better scaled down from higher than they do native IMO. Believe it or not I'm getting another CRT to put in a second location so I can plug my 7811 into it. So yeah a 15" would suit me much better, but I cant find one that I like as well as the 7811. that G50vt-x2 is still possible though. the 17 screen I wouldnt miss except being able to sit it on coffee table and see it from couch. see my post on this page http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=319281&page=2

 

I find that it really depends on the game. F.E.A.R. in a lower res didn't really look any worse. But in Crysis, with all the fine textures, it does make a difference.

 

i never thought id buy one and now that i have i dont want anything else, well except one with an SLI setup =/

i had the 6860 first, was so impressed with it i bought one for my friend, now i got a P171XL, even more impressed; love these orange beasts

amazingly once you use a 17" screen for a while it starts to look really small, id spring for a 19" right now if they offered one

its also light enough to use on your lap in bed for hours; i use it on AC without the battery in its only like 8lbs, probably less

get one with an extreme cpu if you play CS:S or other CPU-intensive games

 

In all fairness, from a customer service/support standpoint, I might argue that one is better off buying from WalMart than Best Buy. I have returned items for a refund at WalMart with no receipt and no packaging, I kid you not. Granted, that's been a good 10 years ago or more, and I'm sure they've tightened up their policies since then, but still.

The only thing buying from Best Buy will get you is the opportunity to buy a better warranty than what comes in the box. Even then, you're no better off than if you had bought it from the manufacturer online after getting the laptop home, except perhaps it could save you some shipping. They will still likely be shipping it to the manufacturer for a lot of the problems you might run into.

One word of caution - if you do buy a laptop at Best Buy or any other major electronics outlet, and they try to sell you a special warranty on the display, consider that most often the policy will only cover *one* replacement, especially if it includes accidental damage protection.

 

I've never had any trouble out of gateway systems. Infact, two Gateway 2000 machines my dad bought in 94' and 95' are still running great! The former is still running its factory install of Dos / Win 3.11 But I've had great luck out of new gateway stuff too.

 

I had my 6860 for 2 days and it broke so I sent it to them for repair. They told me a week later they would be shipping it in a few days. A few days later I called and now they are telling me they wont get the part needed until December 31st. Their customer support is so bad where when I asked for status they sent me to an acer page where it tells me how to download drivers. Needless to say Ive been in contact with the BBB. Good computers **** support

 

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this problem with Gateway Customer/Tech Support. I had called them to check the status on my laptop repairs about ten days after shipping it to them, and they said "oh yes...we received yesterday, and they are working on it as we speak". So I said ok thanks, and then hung up. I then called them back about a week later because I still haven't received it yet, and they said "oh yes...they received it yesterday and they are working on it as we speak". I said that they told me that a week ago, and to cut the bull. They said "oh hold on let me look at report (or whatever they call it), and then they came back on about 5 minutes later and said ok sorry you were right they are waiting for a part. So again I said thanks and hung up. So a week later I called again, and they said (for the third time, and three weeks later) "oh yes...we received it yesterday, and they are working on it as we speak". You can only imagine what I said then. Again (after waiting another 5 minutes) they said they were waiting for a part. Needless to say, I was P'd off and hung up the phone. Now, a week and a half later I got my laptop (finally), and it was scratched up, and they only reformatted my recovery partition and reinstalled the factory OS and some other trial software. My next thought was...What @#$%'en part were they waiting for. Now to top it all off...it was still messed up. They never even fixed it. THEY SUCK!!!! I've had nothing but problems with them and my P-6860FX since a few days after the BB return policy expired. The machine would be awsome if it worked right. You couldn't ask for a better laptop for the price...as long as it was working right. So that's my take. Sorry for the venting Peace,

 

I am happy with my P-7811FX thus far, no complaints and the screen is the best I have seen, I paid $869.00 new at Best Buy 3 weeks ago. No regrets

 

Wow you just said everything that I have been going through even the we are working on it as we speak bull. They just tell you anything to get you off the phone. The better business bureau notified me today they have sent my complaint to gateway and I should hear back from them in a few days

 

lol wow, now i'm seriously worried about my laptop that went on a trip to Texas two weeks ago.

 

now Im told they are waiting on a motherboard....seriously you think they might have a few of those laying around somewhere seeing as its not exactly an old laptop series..yeah mines is in texas too

 

i'm gonna call them sometime next week, i'll let you know how it goes

and btw luky, in your previous post are you saying that the motherboard won't be there until Dec 31st? wow that's absolutely ridiculous, where do they get the parts from? Mars?

 

lol

Yeah that's what they told me and was reason enough for me to call the BBB. They have had positive results for me several times before dealing with other companies so it cant hurt to try them. I only had my lappy 2 days I get pissed just thinking about it

Someone else posted on this forum about they had to wait ten weeks and in the end Gateway just sent them another laptop which seriously concerns me

 

Pretty happy with my baby. The only thing that i dont like is the huge power adaptor, the rest, til now, perfect.
And every time i play Crysis or Cod5, much better!!!
Buy it!

 

I would question Gateway's viability as a company right now. I had a vendor just tell me they filed for bankruptcy.

Here's a link I found:
http://delawarebankruptcy.foxrothsc...nd-seeks-approval-of-critical-vendor-program/