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Dell or Gateway.. your thoughts


Paully

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I'm looking for a basement level laptop for light, portable(non muic) projects. Have heard good and bad about Dell and Gateway (although my Gateway PC has been terrific). Narrowed down to these 2 models.

 

http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529596848.php

$449 base. Has IEEE bus.

 

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspn_1501?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

$499 base. No IEEE bus.

 

Firewire is not really a factor except for porting data to say an external drive.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

Best, Paul

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I have quite a few friends using Dell's that love them. I personally use HP/Compaq business notebooks and have had great luck with them. I helped a friend a Vostro 1500 and it felt pretty solid and snappy to me. For the price I haven't seen any other laptop compare with the amount of features they are offering by a long shot.

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I'm comfortable with Dells. Just am, on the strength of my first two and all the ones I've used at workplaces and campuses. In fairness, they're living a bit off of reputation these days, especially as their reputation was founded on ludicriously good support. "They've come back to the pack," but looking inside, I still think they use better and more standard components. IMO. Not that I look in a lot anymore.

 

I am, however, presently typing on a budget Gateway Celeron 1200 that has given me 5+ solid years of reliable business/Interent use and was even a decent dedicated Softsynth for a while 'til I go all of that happening on one machine. Good computer. Last legs now.

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Wasn't Gateway just bought out by Acer? I use a lot of Acer PC's at work becasuse they are easy to upgrade compared to many other PC's. I alwyas look for a flat front with standard CD/DVD drives above all else.

 

 

Yes, Gateway was purchased by Acer, the Gateway name will remain the face of Acer's operation in the USA consumer market. All Gateway's big-account business to government and education was sold to MPC. Both buyers are fully honoring all warranties, etc in the meantime.

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I'm looking for a basement level laptop for light, portable(non muic) projects. Have heard good and bad about Dell and Gateway (although my Gateway PC has been terrific). Narrowed down to these 2 models.



$449 base. Has IEEE bus.



$499 base. No IEEE bus.


Firewire is not really a factor except for porting data to say an external drive.


Any thoughts would be appreciated.


Best, Paul

 

 

They are all getting worked up in China. But I'll personally do Gateway.

 

AI

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Thanks for all the suggestions. From personal use I really like and trust the Gateway stuff, but it looks like they might have just lost a quick sale. Of the two choices linked in the OP, it seems that over night the Gateway's $150 rebate is gone, and it now costs $100 more than the Dell.

 

After some soul-searching, however, I think I might step up a notch and call to see what kind of price I can get on this

http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529664155.php . It has pretty much everything I'll need, including IEEE.

 

Best, Paul

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It has pretty much everything I'll need, including IEEE.


Best, Paul

 

Not to be a jerk but IEEE stands for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. They are the body responsible for setting operating standards ie: IEEE 1394 (Fire Wire) and IEEE 802.11a/b/g (Wi Fi). Just an FYI for ya' :).

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I've -- personally -- had very good luck with Dell. I've bought a laptop and a cheapo tower, both of which I like very much given the givens. I've also arranged purchases for a couple other people (one my mom) and they've been very happy, too (both laptops). All of them have been refurbs. With the laptops, I arranged for next day onsite service packages (for my mom I was able to get next day, onsite, drop and spill coverage, a real load off my mind). My laptop is now out of the 3 year service window, never had a problem; my mom's is only about 6 months old and she loves it; the third machine is probably nearing the end of its own 3 year service contract but I don't think the owner has ever contacted them. He's out of the area but I suspect I'd hear from him if he had to have it serviced.

 

 

Obviously, not everyone has the same happy experience with Dell. As always, it's a caveat emptor kinda world.

 

Also -- I've never bought one of their machines new -- but I could have got the new version of my refurb tower for not much more extra than the cost of the cheap 15" monitor they were packaging it with. [i elected to buy a 19" -- from the evil, despicable TigerDirect, a mistake I will NEVER make again -- which died about 13 months after I bought it. I replaced that with a nice LG 19" from Circuit City.]

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Not to be a jerk but IEEE stands for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. They are the body responsible for setting operating standards ie: IEEE 1394 (Fire Wire) and IEEE 802.11a/b/g (Wi Fi). Just an FYI for ya'
:)
.

 

Pronounced "Aiyeeee!" and properly shouted at the top of the lungs.

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Dell is teh sux0r. I had a bad experience buying a laptop from them (it sucked hardcore, I returned it and still was billed for part of it...wtf?) My friend also had a bad experience with a Dell laptop with the power connector losing contact.

 

I hate Dell with a vengeance. So go Gateway, because IT'S NOT DELL.

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jerk!
;)

 

Yeah, yeah... I know... I'm sorry...

 

FWIW, I have a Gateway P2 that's been running non-stop for about 8 years now. The thing is unbelievable. I'm using it as a simple storage/print server on my home network and it has never failed. If I recall, it was a refurb unit as well.

 

I've also been using a Gateway laptop for work for about a year now with no problems. Given the amount of travel I do and the number of times the TSA has had their mitts on it, this is a good laptop and I would have no problem recommending it.

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... IEEE stands for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers...

IEEE 1394 is the original PC name for Firewire(Mac) :thu: . Now pretty much everything's referred to as just Firewire.

 

After some back and forth with Gateway sales, I ordered this http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529664155.php . Should be here in a couple of weeks :lol: . Again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I'm just glad that no freakin' wanker said "buy a Mac"!

 

Best, Paul

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