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Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2003 2:14 pm
by der Moench
Bumping for my own reference as I go through the purchasing process, but also ...
Originally posted by Weasel
...2. Don't want to go thru Gateway, Dell or any company like that.
Why is this Weasel? I am looking at Gateway now. And I currently own one - seems OK.
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2003 5:08 pm
by Mr Flibble
Originally posted by der Moench
Why is this Weasel? I am looking at Gateway now. And I currently own one - seems OK.
The problem comes in if you need support from them. I have several nightmare stories of trying to get hardware support from Dell and Acer.
Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2003 5:48 pm
by KidD01
Originally posted by Mr Flibble
The problem comes in if you need support from them. I have several nightmare stories of trying to get hardware support from Dell and Acer.
You can add Compaq to your list, Flibs. I have numerous client using them and got almost same case as you do.
Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2003 7:41 am
by der Moench
OK, so some of the big companies have poor support services. Do we know that this build your own place (the one Weasel linked to) is any better? Do we have any places where we know the service is excellent? I guess I'm of the opinion that bad news travels fast, and sometimes gives a distorted view. A few people complain loudly enough, and it is enough to overshadow an OK service department.
Thanks for the info! 
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:42 am
by smass
One more comment about Gateway. If you are near a big city in the US - Gateway has many "Country Stores" where they sell and display the systems - they also have a service department in each store - where you can bring the PC in for in-warranty and out-of-warranty repairs.
I have heard that Gateway is beginning to close some of these stores - but if you have one near you it can be helpful if you have a major problem.
That being said - tech support is going to be very hit and miss with any of the big names - due to costs they are moving much of their support services to other vendors - the legendary Gateway support of the mid and late nineties is gone along with their big profits. It is really a matter of expectation - computers are not like radios or tvs - they have problems - 98% of which are software related . (
having managed a Gateway store a few years ago - I would add that 95% of these problems are caused by the user). Expecting a computer company to provide instantaneous expert tech support to every one of the 10,000 people a day that call with all manner of inane issues is just not realistic.
Anyway - some are better than others - Alienware and some of the high end builders have better support - but you are going to pay for it with higher prices.
Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2003 5:10 pm
by der Moench
@smass: I'm in Minneapolis, MN, and there are some Gateway stores here. Hopefully, I won't need them. As for the 99% of problems created by the user ... well, I'm no computer expert, but I haven't ever managed to screw up my system that badly.