question about quality and longevity

I'm currently helping my Aunt shop for a laptop, I do (or would atleast like to believe) know quite a bit about computers. She's just going to use it to surf the web nothing to intense, so basically any laptop, in theory, would do. However I'm looking for something that will run Vista relatively fast, so because of that I've been looking at computers with True C2D's versus Pentium Dual Cores.

Which led me to the Gateway M-6843 that's currently 549.99 at bestbuy. The only thing is I'm alittle weary about Gateway. Back in the 90's Gateways and Compaqs in my experience, were the worst computers out there. However I know that Gateway is now owned by Acer, so I'm curious as to how much their quality has improved.

Also questioning the longevity. Now I'm well aware this computer isn't state of the art now, and won't be futureproof in the least bit, however that being said, I don't want the notebook to die in 3 months. I know that you can get "duds" but I'm really curious about how reliable they are.

So I guess the real question is how are current Gateways?

If you have any other theory about a good laptop I'm open.
The basic specs I've been looking at:

C2D's 1.8ghz +
2GB of RAM or more
160 GB HDD 5400RPM or better
15.4 in

and a cap of 700-750....

 

I don't know about Gateway's build quality across the brand. But the specs on that laptop should run Vista well. The $500 + price point is what I look for now in a basic laptop. We just bought a Dell 1525 with the same basic spec but 4G memory and it runs Vista very well. Your CPU is 2GHz so that's nice.

I know you are asking more about the build quality. So now I'm subscribed to follow all the answers you will get.

 

Well I know the recent ones I've seen have been built well IMO. I've had my P-6860 for several months now and it is holding up very well. I only have one or two very minute scratches that aren't very noticable unless you are looking for them. And it's built nice and solid. My friend has had one of the m-series (not sure which model) for about 5-6 months now and it is still running strong. I anticipate that both of them will keep on kickin' for a while to come. Plus, several co-workers of mine have gateways that are several years old and they are running good.

 

been around this forum for few months now, i dont see many people getting any major failures on these gateways, most failures are first week and are replaced by BestBuy for a new notebook. very happy with my purchase.

 

my roommate has had a 17in gateway notebook now just just over a year and it is still going strong. He keeps it on pretty much 24/7 and has done so for about a year. of course he doesn't drop the notebook from tables or anything, but regular use he's not had any problems. It's part of the reason i even considered getting a gateway myself.

p.s. I always had great luck with my compaq computers back in the 90's. my HP's were always funky in some way, but my compaq's were always quality. so you know just goes to show that you never can tell.

 

I have had 2 different gateway laptops in the last 3 years. They don't die on me, I'm just a compulsive upgrader when it comes to laptops haha. The ones I've had have never had quality issues of any kind though. No severe flexing of the unit. No dead pixels. Battery life remained roughly the same even after a year of use on the same battery.

I just got my 3rd one today! Woot! So I guess it's good enough that I keep going back to em haha (also I'm super cheap!). I'd bet the build quality is better then the Dell Inspirons though.

 

I have had 7 gateway laptops. I never buy any other brands as they have awesome quality and support (if you know how to exploit their phone systems). I have dropped laptops, smashed screens, broke keys...and never had to pay for anything.

 

Interesting,
Gateway, for awhile, just put a "bad taste in my mouth". but since hearing about them getting bought, and the success of the 6831 and such I gave them another look. Seems like they're doing well.

 

Posts like this always kill me. OP, I mean no disrespect, but it's been tens of years since companies(With the notable exception of pre-HP Compaq) used anything but off the shelf components available to every PC manufacturer. Just about all the brands use the same parts across the board. This means, in general, none are any less reliable than the other.

Most of the so called problems, early on, were due to software. Namely a still very young and bugged OS called Windows. Unfortunately, the majority of PC buyers do not know any better and associate a software problem with a machine defect and boom. insert your brand here, is a terrible computer company who should be stricken with AIDS.

Every manufacturer has its share of lemons. It's a fact. But if you look at the competition, they aren't necessarily doing any better.

Gateway makes great computers which are no more and/or no less reliable than any of the other major brands.

 

count dooko,
while what you say about components is true, there is the engineering part about putting it all together (dell xps 1330 wink wink- global warming - get my drift?), there is chassis build quality and there is general feel to a product.
some manufacturers / models seems to get get it better than others, all in all i think its a fair question to ask.

 

Yea, I wasnt bashing the guy, by any means. He's certainly just going on what he has experienced, I just have had different experiences and find, in general, most brands are equal. Like I said, every brand has its share of Lemons. The global warming accelerant, xps 1330, the HP dv5t and the whole Gateway T series, notwithstanding.

Now that you mention it, though. I guess I should have made it a little more clear that this is what I have found and may not necessarily be the opinion of others.

 

There were some terrible gateways.

The ones made by arima, the last generation before acer bought gateway, had terrible hinges.

That is the exact same series as this gateway i have right now. Their top end gaming laptop

The big difference is this one is made by foxxconn which also makes the macbook air.

Well actually arima made the alineware 9750. Both of those are small one model notebook makers that make good stuff.

But the gateways made by arima fell apart.

This new one is great it doesnt fall apart at all.

 

There were some terrible gateways.

The ones made by arima, the last generation before acer bought gateway, had terrible hinges.

That is the exact same series as this gateway i have right now. Their top end gaming laptop

The big difference is this one is made by foxxconn which also makes the macbook air.

Well actually arima made the alineware 9750. Both of those are small one model notebook makers that make good stuff.

But the gateways made by arima fell apart.

This new one is great it doesnt fall apart at all.

 

AFAK, all the Gateways are still made by Arima.

 

Dook has a good point about software. My fire breathing Everex for example could be a breath of fresh air with a BIOS change. If we could access the ACPI the fan could be set to operate at a low, quiet speed (instead of off) and life would be vastly improved. Someone decided, for battery life I assume, the fan should only be used to extinguish flames, never a good idea.

Another brilliant move was to hard code the IRQs for video and mini pci so either video crashed or wifi was lost ... no changing allowed. All software.

But I suppose when companies open up settings, for every person who improves their machine, another ten people wreck it so who knows.

It is my promise to self to make sure a new laptop is as open ended and upgradable and adjustable as possible to cover my butt from the OEM's bad decisions.

 

no

open your hard drive bay pull out the hard drive

it says fox conn right there. this model is made by foxconn


they mostly make notebooks for apple

 

Okiedoke. Like I said, as far as I know. And I'm gonna pass on yanking my hard drive at the moment. I'll just take your word for it. Thanks for the info.

 

I hear ya, I am aware that most producers use the same parts but, like stated earlier, at times the parts may not necessarily be faulty but the aesthetics may play a role or something of the such, and cause failure.

Like I said, I have no real reason to believe that Gateway is a bad company in the present, I just figured I'd ask. Though ironically I can't look at a Compaq seriously even though I'm well aware they're made by HP. Brand Name psychology

 

i actually liked compaq before they were purchased by hp, still got p3-600 256mb 10gb hdd that runs windows 2000 quite confidently for about 10 years now.