Which is better: Gateway or Dell?

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

After going to Circus City and Best Buy-sexual I have relegated to the fact I must buy my computer via the net/phone. Since the reviews on http://www.cnet.com/ are very Dell biased I figured I would come here where honesty and uncensored opinions reign.

 

I need to get a new PC so I can finally build my wormhole so all of your advice will be much appreciated. Basically, I want a computer where I can download the Library of Congress, burn and make data/music CDs, make DVDs and do high end gaming. The new Sims are coming this September!

 

PEACE

VDN

[ready182]

Dude, get a Dell. Seriously!

[+ deej]

Given the choice between the two, I'd choose Dell. I've used Dell almost exclusively the last 10 years with few problems and great service when there WAS a problem.

 

I keep reading about persistent problems with Gateway & service, but I don't know if they're true because honestly nobody I know uses them.

 

But don't give up entirely on retail. I bought a HP/Compaq desktop last year at Costco and it was an absolute steal. Good solid machine.

 

The thing about buying ANY computer at Costco (or Best Buy or Circuit City for that matter) is that you need to ABSOLUTELY know what you need and what features are important to you. The not-shaving-yet salespeople will otherwise convince you to buy the machine they get the best commission on.

 

Last time I bought a PC (on behalf of a friend) at Best Buy, I had to threaten to walk out of the store before the saleskid would stop the jargon/pitch and let me buy the damn machine I wanted. I've been in the IT industry since that kid was in diapers and I knew his spiel was BS, but I had to be damn forceful to get the machine that was best match for my friend's requirements.

 

It's a lot like buying a car. Know in advance what you want and what's inviolate, and what you're willing to negotiate over and DON'T let the saleskid change your resolve.

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

ready182, thank you for your direct, if not piffy advice.

 

Deej,

 

Thank you for your advice and I value it knowing you know about this stuff.

 

>Last time I bought a PC (on behalf of a friend) at Best Buy, I

>had to threaten to walk out of the store before the saleskid

>would stop the jargon/pitch and let me buy the damn machine I

>wanted. I've been in the IT industry since that kid was in

>diapers and I knew his spiel was BS, but I had to be damn

>forceful to get the machine that was best match for my

>friend's requirements.

>

>It's a lot like buying a car. Know in advance what you want

>and what's inviolate, and what you're willing to negotiate

>over and DON'T let the saleskid change your resolve.

 

Now, in regards to what you are saying about sales people, would I be more or least likely to run into this phenomenon with a Dell salesperson on the phone as apposed to a sales person at, for example, CompUSA or a Best Buy.

 

THANKS A GIG!

VDN

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Michael Dell's company makes a GREAT machine~

 

I would seriously consider going with a Dell, as their pricing is almost unbeatable and the quality of product is quite good.

 

I'm actually just about to start looking for a new laptop and the 600m (by Dell) is just about perfect for my usage: Email, porn, more email and some blogging. For those out there who are customization freaks, you can also snap on new covers for some of Dell's laptops for a creative new look. Snazzy indeed

 

Now, if price is a huge issue, i'd recommend looking at the down & dirty deals on TigerDirect:

 

http://www.TigerDirect.com

 

 

Warmest Always,

 

 

Benjamin Nicholas

[OneFinger]

Quite frankly, I'm not a big fan of either Dell or Gateway. Both have a reputation for making it difficult (if not impossible) to upgrade your system WITHOUT going back to them. One common trick is to hardwire components onto the motherboard so you can't use "plug and play" components.

 

That said, for the past 5 years the companies where I worked have exclusively used Dell products. During that time I've worked at several locations, including construction sites, and have personally used 5 desk models and 3 laptops. In general, the reliability of the Dell product is good and I've had relatively few problems. A friend owns a Dell laptop and claims their service is great. He had some problems and they sent a tech to his home and completely rebuilt his laptop at no cost to him!

 

A common problem several of us have had with our Dell laptops has been cooling fan failure which subsequently fried the hard drive. I've been told by our IT people that the fans in Dell laptops are undersized and prone to failure.

 

My main concern with Gateway is the stability of the company. In my area, Gateway stores were big and plentiful a few years ago. Then they suddenly disappeared and I "thought" Gateway went out of business.

 

About 8 months ago Gateway stores started cropping up again. Now, they've started closing again and rumors of bankruptcy have resurfaced. The last thing you want is a product from a company that is either severely downsized or out of business.

[Rick Munroe]

>I've used

>Dell almost exclusively the last 10 years with few problems

>and great service when there WAS a problem.

 

That was true a couple of years ago but in recent times, their tech support has been completely outsourced to India, and unless you want to sit and wait while somebody who barely speaks English flips through a manual looking for the answer to what he thinks you said your problem is, I would no longer call their service "great."

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

Heckfire Rick, i've been outsourcing all of my email responses & telephone calls for years to customer service agents in Mumbai~

 

... Although, guys always thought it was strange that my email reply explicity stated i would only participate in sexual happenings as long as my face & head were completely covered at all times.

 

 

Seriously though, outsourcing is killing the USA's customer service industry. Over 2/3 of all Fortune 500 companies are now outsourcing to India. Although great for them (at pennies on the dollar for the companies), it's doing jack squat for our unemployment rate.

 

The rate may be at a low right now, but if things keep getting outsourced, it may not last that way for long.

 

ARGH. Sorry for hijacking this thread into a more political atmosphere. We now return you to our regularly scheduled sexually-explicit programming...

 

Warmest,

 

 

Benjamin Nicholas

[+ deej]

>>I've used

>>Dell almost exclusively the last 10 years with few problems

>>and great service when there WAS a problem.

>

>That was true a couple of years ago but in recent times, their

>tech support has been completely outsourced to India

 

Actually, Dell was one of the first to try off-shoring and they were one of the first to pull it back after DISMAL customer response.

[+ deej]

>I'm actually just about to start looking for a new laptop and

>the 600m (by Dell) is just about perfect for my usage

 

Dell laptops have always been great. My production machine (i.e. the one I make my living from) has been a Dell for the last 5 years.

 

Be wary of those "snap on colors". It sounds like a cool idea but it can make the machine feel a little flimsy because you have removable parts right where you rest your hands and would like stability.

 

But here's a little-known factoid about Dell laptops: spend the extra bucks for a Latitude instead of an Inspiron. The Latitude is their "business" line and the Inspiron is their "cheap" line. The difference is the Latitude comes with a guaranteed set of parts/peripherals. The Inspiron comes with whatever parts/peripherals were cheapest the day the machine was built (which can make replacement parts dicey -- they may or may not work with what's already there).

 

And, as always, YMMV.

[+ deej]

>Now, in regards to what you are saying about sales people,

>would I be more or least likely to run into this phenomenon

>with a Dell salesperson on the phone as apposed to a sales

>person at, for example, CompUSA or a Best Buy.

 

Same deal whether in a store or on an 800-number. Know what you're after and accept nothing less. Either way, they have a carefully crafted sales script that's designed to get more money out of your pocket.

 

It's actually just like hiring escorts. Know what you want and how to ask for it. ;-) At any point in the sales process, saying "yes" or "no" is up to you.

[bigguyinpasadena]

I agree with DEEJ all the way here-know what you want and don't let them talk you into anything more or less.

And the clerks at Dell(make sure you call during normal biz hours or you will speak to Ranjistan or Bahpur)will try to upsell you.

If you can afford it-just look at the catalog and buy the most machine you can afford.Buying a cheaper system will end up costing more than the more expensive system by the time you add what you want to a "base"system.

I had a great experience with Dell-a horrible experience with HPdirect.

And pop for a bigger drive and a bigger screen then what you think you will need-I love my new flat panel moniter takes much less space and has great graphics.

[Guest JustStarting]

Ok just to confound the issue:

 

Apple powerbook or ibook

 

No viruses/no worms/ no crashes--it just works!

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

Hello Benji,

 

>Seriously though, outsourcing is killing the USA's customer

>service industry. Over 2/3 of all Fortune 500 companies are

>now outsourcing to India. Although great for them (at pennies

>on the dollar for the companies), it's doing jack squat for

>our unemployment rate.

 

 

I don't know what news show I was watching but they were talking about the very topic you discussed above. I always knew jobs have gone from USA to other countries in a physical sense BUT it was an eye opener for me to learn "phone-based customer service" has also gone out of our boarders. I found it odd and shocking that when I call customer service for my Road Runner Internet I am talking to some dude in Canada. I also found it odd that when I would call for other types of customer service and I found I was talking to someone half way across the globe. I assumed I would be talking to someone in this country as the product I purchased was purchased here in USA.

 

Since this is text and you can't hear the sound of my voice I don't want you to think I am being imperialistic about this. The issue is not the person who is delivering customer service BUT where they are located. It is very odd indeed.

 

I have to say though, and I know I may get some flack, BUT when I do call Road Runner for customer service I ALWAYS get stellar results. The general customer service industry in USA can take a few lessons from foreign countries.

[ValleyDwellerNorth]

thank you ALL!

 

Thank you all for your time in helping me. I believe I will be calling Dell. I was able navigate with more ease through the Dell site than the Gateway site. I have also used Dell at work and I have had little to no problems. I also feel cows should be treated better.

 

As my way of thanking you, here is some ass.

 

http://wwwinternal.matventures.com/12am/page540/3.jpg

[Rick Munroe]

>... Although, guys always thought it was strange that my

>email reply explicity stated i would only participate in

>sexual happenings as long as my face & head were completely

>covered at all times.

 

OK, confess: how big is your Aussie Burka collection?

[Guest rohale]

RE: thank you ALL!

 

>Thank you all for your time in helping me. I believe I will

>be calling Dell. I was able navigate with more ease through

>the Dell site than the Gateway site. I have also used Dell at

>work and I have had little to no problems. I also feel cows

>should be treated better.

>

>As my way of thanking you, here is some ass.

>

 

 

I feel like Joey Lawrence from " Blossom ". WOW, what a pic, what a man, what a guy, this is intended to not just the guy in the pic, but U2, I dont know who you are but dude you're awesome. It's cool that you're going thru DELL. At work we use Compaq PC's and I'm really not that impressed, come to think of it they really suck. When I'm traveling for work or personal travel, I always carry a Dell Lap-Top. These are great to use, I've had very little very little problems with these.

 

To change topics for a second. A few posts mentioned losing jobs to India thru the means of outsourcing. It's not just U.S companies, but now the Brits, French, Germans are also experiencing companies going to India. A few weeks back, I was watching 60 Minutes ( Sunday Version ). I think it might have been Ed Bradley who traveled to India to talk to the locals about why they are operators or programmers for various western companies. To my suprise the answer was simple, the hardest workers in the world are from Asia, they may not have the best educational system, that bragging right is here in the U.S. The best educated are coming out of India, Pakistan and China. They are being employed as computer programmers in countries like Germany and Portugal. Why? the answer they are fast workers. They are willing to learn the western way of life, due to the fact that they see America and Britain as a way out of that poverty they they have to live in everyday. More importantly, they can't do it without learnging English and they are desperate. Off course cheap labor is the main source of why so many companies want to do business in India and China.

 

Veteran news journalist Brian Hanrahan did a fantastic piece for a British Television Programme called " Panorama " for BBC 1. He like CBS Ed Bradley traveled to India to learn about these young college graduates and why they are phone operators instead of being doctors or engineers. He found out that right now the biggest job market worldwide is in computers and customer service operators. Everytime a new company opens in New Dehli, there are about 3000 positions to be filled. The applicants total in the number of 600,000. That's an awful lot of people. The same situation is just beginning in China. Think about this, India and China alone make up just over 2 billion people on the face of the earth. These two nations are bent upon being the two most economic dominant powers in the next twenty years. Right now these countries are making overtures to western companies to open up facilities in cities like New Dehli, Calcutta, Madrass, Bombay and Bejing. By offering incentives such as profit sharing with little tax. These two countries are being smart. Being in adject poverty they have nothing to lose. Welcome to the harsh reality of OUTSOURCING.

 

Rohale

[+ BenjaminNicholas]

LMAO. Gay Boys meet Bollywood?

 

I can almost see the design-hybrid advertisement now... "They're totally covering you up, but they're the sexiest new thing for today's hip gay male!!!"

 

Hell, at least with the whole sarong craze, you could opt to go commando underneath and enjoy the fringe benefits.

 

Warmest,

 

 

Benjamin Nicholas

[Rick Munroe]

>I can almost see the design-hybrid advertisement now...

>"They're totally covering you up, but they're the sexiest new

>thing for today's hip gay male!!!"

 

Hey, with the extra-long T-shirts and super-baggy pants the boyz are wearing these days, that isn't too far from reality (except for the sexy part...personally, I want to see more skin...like in your bikini avatar). :9

[FourAces]

>>I've used

>>Dell almost exclusively the last 10 years with few problems

>>and great service when there WAS a problem.

>

>That was true a couple of years ago but in recent times, their

>tech support has been completely outsourced to India,

 

I cannot deal with outsourcing support to countries where English is barely spoken and/or extremely hard to understand.

 

I recently called Dell tech support and had a horrific experience. The guy from India would spell every word phonectically.

 

"Thaaat ezzz F like fox O like other U like uncle," SCREAM!

 

But considering that many large tech companies are doing this there really is little alternative.

 

As for Gateway I briefly owned one and had too many problems for a new computer. I finally returned it for a full refund. A friend of mine always purchased Gateway and always had problems. After I convinced him to try both Dell and HP he hasn't returned to Gateway since.

 

RT

[Guest zipperzone]

>It's a lot like buying a car. Know in advance what you want

>and what's inviolate, and what you're willing to negotiate

>over and DON'T let the saleskid change your resolve.

 

That's easy to say but harder to do when they are SOOOOOOOOOO cute, and standing so close to you..........

[HooBoy]

When I crossed over to the DARK SIDE after being a MacIntosh evangelist, I ran with the DELL Dudes and never had a problem. Then, I had a laptop stolen in Hong Kong, DELL was not available immediately and I was forced into IBM. Unfortunately, I only had that one for about a month before it met with disaster in France and I switched to Toshiba because that was all the store had that fit my needs.

 

I liked the Toshiba 5200 series so much, I bought an identical one a few months later. Now, less than a year later, neither of them work and I am on my first Sony Vaio, which I had to buy in Europe, with Euros, ultimately costing me far too much.

 

To answer your question, I think Gateway looks too rural. DELL. (plus if you do not live in Texas, I do not think you pay taxes on it.)

[MichiganMan]

My new Dell laptop is the biggest piece of crap I've ever owned. Slow as dirt....my Compaq laptop which is about 4 years old using Windows 98 runs faster!!!

[+ Billsboy4]

I have always liked Dell's product, but in 2 recent experiences with Dell's tech support and customer care have changed my mind. Trying to deal with them is aggravating. It seems like no one in either area knows their jobs and are difficult to understand. It took me a week of calling to return something. I even tried emailing them and they wouldn't help me because my area code didn't match their information, even though it hadn't changed. Very frustrating.

[Will]

There are a few people in this world whose word I take to be absolute truth, and deej is one of them. I know he is right, for instance, about the differences between Dell and Gateway, and I know he is right that you have to know what you want before you go shopping.

 

However, in order to know what you want, you have to know what all those damned numbers and strings of letters and other things mean. I don't. And there seems to be no place to find out. Therefore, shopping for a computer is a little like talking sports: it's fine for the guys who know the language, but not for those who don't.

 

Thus, I repeat a question someone else just asked: What's wrong with Mac laptops? At work I have a Mac and at home (where I am now) I have a Dell laptop. I have to say that for the technologically challenged like me, the Mac is a whole hell of a lot easier to use. I know that there are downsides, but I just don't know what they are.

 

Deej, if you have the time and inclination, would you be so kind as to enlighten the uninitiated?