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Gateway Computer Reviews

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This file is filled with individuals' opinions and experiences with the Gateway, which sells a wide line of computers and products. The most recent experiences are at the beginning of this file.

If you have bought a computer from them and have not yet made your contribution to this list, simply fill out this review form about your experiences with this company and your review will be added to the top of this file. Thank you and good luck!

Other Experiences with Gateway Computers (Most recent first):

We purchased a GATEWAY digital camera for our son and his family for Christmas (2003) directly from Gateway. After he opened it, installed the battery and allowed it to charge, they noticed the LCD view finder was discolored. Further more after he uploaded the pic's, everyone had those "red eyes" including our grandbaby. After three calls of 30 minutes to tech support and being holding forever I needed to hang up twice. The third time after nearly thirty minutes I got DISCONNECTED! When I told them I wanted to return it, they told me, "It's been over fifteen days since you purchased it so you can't...". I've been a dedicated Gateway customer for over seven years, referred them to people, praised their service but did that even matter? NO! THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS ONE BIT! They've lost me as a customer even though I'd just purchased a new system for my elderly mother 12/04/03.

Bruce Walz
www.bruceswebsite.com

Last year my fiancee and I did some comparative computer shopping before we made the investment. My city had a Gateway Country Store, so we stopped in. An hour later we left with an order for what I thought would be an appropriate machine for our needs. As far as technology goes, we are neophiles. We shelled out for the extended 3 year warrenty. Any problems and I could just drop her off on my way to work. As megaconglomerates go, Gateway is a mother******. The store was closed due to corporate cut backs. My warrenty should still be good, right? If I want service for my tower, company reps tell me i can either drive 230 mile round trip to the nearest Gateway or pay for shipping my tower to them. Gateway bent me over good. I prepaid for the damn services and the company will not cover me to take my tower somewhere locally. It is bull. This is the last gateway product I will ever own. Their customer services sucks! Somewhere a CEO is throwing a 4 million dollar party for his wife and using my $$s to do it.

I have a Gateway G6 Pentium Pro 200 and want to upgrade my bios because I have one problem: I have an scsi Western 9G WDE9150-0050 U160 drive with a LSIU160 controller card, but can not use the other IDE drive.
Shall I upgrade my BIOS. I still have the original one: 1.00.08CS1T
Thanks

need more memory &about 80 GB

I never bought a computer before, but had no poblems with ibm or even micron =, but ever since i bought a gateway i have had problems, it would crash and make loud sounds from my tower. I called gateway and they would do nothing to help me, even though my cpu was still under warranty they wouldn't even take it back to see what was wrong. They just would say you probably got a virus and that is your problem, so sorry your warranty does not cover that. Then there would be a thank you anyway and bye bye. What jerks, so hears my advice, dont buy a Gateway, their customer service sucks, there product sucks, and they are way to expensive. If you want a great computer, purchase one at Best Buy, there services are great, prices are even better and there rebates and promotions that they run are perfect. Tell them that i sent you my name is Juan Murillo from winona mn


thanks so much for listening

Juan Murillo

I bought my first Gateway back in 1995. Since then I bought three additional systems from them. I know that Dell is supposed to be the flagship of systems, but I had no major complaints with Gateway. So, when I needed a laptop, loyal customer that I am, I went to Gateway.

Something has gone seriously wrong with this company. It has been three weeks since I placed the order for a standard configuration. I have made more than a dozen calls to Customer Service, and not once have they delivered on what they promised. Their famous phrases are: "Don't Worry." "No Problem." "It'll be there tomorrow."

I asked to speak with a supervisor, who jammed my phone line with electronic tones (hurts your ears). When I asked if she was doing that, she laughed and said, "No, Ma'am."

I finally checked with UPS. Turns out that Gateway does not build computers in the USA anymore. Gateway Customer Service claims that UPS is assuring them that the computer will be delivered tomorrow (same story for the past three days.) UPS says they made no such promise to Gateway. The computers are coming from China and have to clear customs. UPS will not offer any delivery dates until the packages clear US customs. So, Gateway Customer Service is knowingly and intentionally lying to customers.

Recent articles in Iowa newspapers report that Gateway is closing US plants and laying off US workers then shipping their jobs to China and India . . .

I'm heading off to do some more research on Dell. If they are building their systems here in the USA, they will be getting a new customer very soon . . . So sorry to see the direction that Gateway has chosen . . .

Pierre from Paris, France
Date - Thursday, October 23, 2003 at 06:45:21 (EDT)

I have a G6-300 and need to reset the CMOS.

Does anyone have a manual for this desktop ?

THX

Ryan 133* from MS USA
Date - Monday, October 20, 2003 at 03:48:35 (EDT)

I work for an outsource company that provides "technical support" for GW. I can't stand them... we're encouraged to sell more than support. We're punished if our calls last over 18 minutes. We can only support about half of what we (the techs) want to. We have to get permission for EVERYTHING from formatting a computer (there's now a 26 question list to go by) to stepping out for a bathroom break. Most of us feel our jobs are unrewarding, stressfull, and a dead end. I personally have commented to management that I would feel more job security working for Burger King. You people think you hate calling us... try looking at it from our point of view: The REAL techs that know their stuff are punished for fixing "too much" and selling too little. Gateway is always listening to us. We can't do half the things you want us to, mostly because of that damnable warranty that YOU accepted when you bought the system... you REALLY should've read that one a bit closer. Lastly, we work for 1/2 the national average pay rate for the job and their trying to fix that by moving more of our jobs to India.

Please, next time you buy a computer, just get it from one of the neighborhood kids. It's a better way.

Ryan
Gateway Tech Support

princess mitchell from san deigo, CA USA
Date - Thursday, October 09, 2003 at 15:07:00 (EDT)

I am interest to buying a gatway, on a 95 window.

Susan Macedo from LAKEPORT, CA USA
Date - Friday, September 26, 2003 at 07:20:25 (EDT)

In May, 2001 I purchased a Gateway Performance 1400 PC. According to the sales staff in their Santa Rosa store, this system was supposed to scream at lightening fast speeds! I had the monitor upgraded to their 19", 18" viewable screen, and the system was equiped with 1.4 Ghz, 128MB Ram (not enough), 40 GB hard drive, 32MB Nvidia GeoForce2 MX graphics, 8x4x32x CD Recordable/rewriteable drive, 16x48x DVD-ROM Drive, Sound Blaster Live PCI sound card, Boston Acoustics Digital speakers w/subwoofer, 56k PCI voice modem, Linksys PCI 10/100 ethernet card, Windows Millenium Edition operating system, Multifunction keyboard, PS/2 wheel mouse, modem microphone, 250 watt power supply, and the standard 3.5 floppy drive. In addition to all the above hardware, I purchased additional software bundles including Learning 2000, Rand McNally Explore America DVD, Quicken 2001, MS Works Suite 2001 DVD, Kid Builder 5-8, and Click Radio. This system was sold to me under the pretense that in 6 months it would not be obsolete! I was very leary about that being the case. They charged me $2,529.00 out the door, which was paid in cash!

The first time the system crashed, I leaned heavily on my education as a computer programmer to restore my system, however Gateway has intertwined their own additional steps need to correctly restore the software on their systems, and I had to go online and work with a technician who ended up not being able to assist me, which then forced me to call customer service technicial support and keep them on the phone for several hours walking me through the entire process. My two years are up, and I have just recently discovered that in order to be allowed to trade my system in for credit toward the new latest and greatest system, I had to have saved all of the original packaging materials, boxes, literature, etc. Like that happened! But my "Super Computer" has recently crashed once again, and now my Restoration disks have scratches on them and the process of restoring the software comes to a screeching hault halfway into installing the Operating System from Disk #2. I've e-mailed Gateway asking for another set of restoration disks, and even offering to purchase them. I was just told in another e-mail from Gateway, that they cannot re-issue the set of disks to me, but that they are always sending updates to their customers. Funny that I've never received any updates in the mail over the past 2+years, huh? They can accommodate me and send me the Restoration Disk #1 free of charge, however a $35.00 shipping and handling fee will apply. What a bunch of crap!!

BEWARE!!! DO NOT GO AND SPEND $2,530.00 ON A SYSTEM THAT WILL BE DEAD, WITH NO HOPES OF EVER BEING RECOVERED IN ONLY 2 YEARS AND 4 MONTHS AFTER SPENDING THAT LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY. I WOULD NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER GATEWAY AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE. I WOULD MUCH RATHER SPEND THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY AND TAKE A COURSE ON BUILDING COMPUTER SYSTEMS SO I COULD BUILD MY OWN WITH EITHER THE SAME OR BETTER COMPONENTS AS THE GATEWAY FOR UNDER $600.00.

THEIR SOLUTION TO MY SCRATCHED OPERATING SYSTEM DISK IS SENDING ME TO THEIR WEB SITE VIA A LINK THAT TAKES ME TO A PLACE THAT HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH MY PROBLEM. I'VE SPENT UNCOUNTABLE HOURS SEARCHING THEIR WEB SITE FOR THE ANSWERS I NEED, TO NO AVAIL, AND WOULD THROW THIS DAMN CPU OUT THE CAR WINDOW INTO THEIR STORE FRONT WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD IF ONLY THE STORE WASN'T AN HOUR AND A HALF DRIVE AWAY FROM MY HOME. (DUAL PANE WINDOWS ARE A STEP UP FROM THE ONE'S INSTALLED IN THEIR BUILDING!) HOW'S ABOUT THEY GET THE SAME REAMING FROM THE CUSTOMERS THEY'VE STUCK IT TO?

SkiP from Galeton, PA USA
Date - Saturday, September 20, 2003 at 23:36:56 (EDT)

I had a brand new Gateway about a year but it had alot of bugs so sold it and went computerless for a while!! Then i fixed a computer for a guy and in return he gave me a Gateway P5-133. I had a computer with a burnt board but a good processor which was 166mhz. I put it in the P5-133 and I have been using this old thing for 9 months bug free. I would like to know if I could upgrade the processor further if you have any info for me please e-mail me at skipdogg420@yahoo.com thanx!

Leo Madatian from Capistrano Beach, CA USA
Date - Sunday, September 14, 2003 at 15:00:04 (EDT)

I used to like Gateway, I have 5 of my own. I am a self taught PC tech and repair and sell computers. But I can't fix the fucking thing without a Technical Repair Manual, (witch I have no problem getting from other PC Manufacturs including fouren Manufactures)My conclusion is that Gateway is greedy and want's you to pay them to fix there fucking Machines even if you know how to fix them yourself.
I know that all PC Manufactures are greedy fucking basterds but Gateway has succeded in acheving the top position.

DIANA from VANCOUVER, WA USA
Date - Monday, August 25, 2003 at 22:40:04 (EDT)

I HAVE THE GATEWAY 2000 e-3000 SERIES WITH THEIR 2000 CRYSTALSCAN 17 INCH MONITOR AND THEY HAVE REFUSED TO PROVIDE ME WITH THE DRIVER OR APPLICATION CDS FOR EITHER THE TOWER OR THE MONITOR AND I AM MAD. THEY WILL PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE TOWER AS LIMITED AS IT IS. BUT REFUSE TO GIVE TECH SUPPORT FOR THE DARN MONITOR WHICH IS STUCK ON THE 'PINCUSHION' DISPLAY SETTING SO MY SCREEN HAS ROUNDED CORNERS AND CUTS OFF MY VIEW. ANYONE WITH THE USER GUIDES AND OR THE OEM APPLICATION AND OR DRIVER CDS FOR THESE PLEASE RESPOND,,,,,,,,

bruce from USA
Date - Monday, August 25, 2003 at 16:53:33 (EDT)

Bought a Solo 9300 laptop two years ago. After taking out my battery, I am getting an "error 211 Keyboard not found" error. WTF?? This is a showstopper, and a KNOWN ISSUE with previous Solos. How many times do they need to get it right??

Scott Fitzgerald from Qld, N/A Austria

Date - Thursday, July 10, 2003 at 21:34:16 (EDT)

Gateway E-3200 PII350 Mhz
I just bought 2 of these 2nd hand and went to gateways site to look for updates and fixes etc and it says to enter the serial numbers, i do and it says that they are invalid is that coz there to old,

im a trainee in computer (hardware) specialist and i cant find out how to overclock these :-( but there is no jumpers on the board!?
DOES NE ONE NO HOW TO OVERCLOCK THESE

Chaddz from Marion, IA USA
Date - Tuesday, June 17, 2003 at 07:19:41 (EDT)

As a computer service technician, my work brings me in to contact with many many different types of computer systems. Out of all the computer systems I have had to repair, gateway is one of the most common. Older gateways were actually built fairly well, however the newer models have cheapened up so much its amazing they survive the end of the first year (many actually dont). The biggest thing i run in to ALOT on these systems is CPU failures, and here is why. Gateways do not use CPU fans on many of there systems. Instead they put a large aluminum heatsink on the CPU and duct air from the power supply fan over the processor heat sink. The air from the power supply is already quite warm from cooling the power supply and the 80mm fan inside the power supply is several inches in some cases from the CPU, therefore airflow over the CPU is inadaquate. This will cause the CPU to overheat (why gateways are notorious for lockups freezes, unexplained errors, and stuff). Eventually this design will cause the CPU to fail from Thermal Stress. I mean come on gateway?? a 5 dollar fan would stop this problem and result in a more reliable machine!!. On gateways defense however I will point out that every major OEM PC manufacturer (dell, sony, compaq/hp, etc.) has cheapened thier systems so much over the last several years that it has reduced the quality and reliability of the machine, however they still want a pretty penny to buy one. For this reason every computer system of my own is handbuilt, using Asus or Gigabyte Mainboards, AMD AthlonXP processors, Kingston Value Ram, Creative Sound Cards, and other components that are matched togehter and of high quality, and the kicker is this system doesnt cost much more and in many cases is cheaper than a comparable OEM. Gateway, Dell, Compaq/hp, and the rest of the mass produced name brand PC's in my professional opinion are as disposable as a Bic lighter... once it breaks, throw it away and buy a new one, its easier and cheaper (especially on systems over a year old).


Anyhow, enuf ranting, if you have a gateway and havent had problems with it, you have been really lucky, however eventually your luck will run out.

Chad

Protistman from USA
Date - Thursday, June 12, 2003 at 01:52:08 (EDT)

I have a huge fatty case that came with a computer just like the guy below me bought. I think it is cool because it was meant for an at-form factor mobo, but with a very slight modification, i converted it to an atx case. Also I bought a used 21 inch monitor that is gateway(its a hitachi with the GW logo on it) and i love it like a brother!
IF you dont like gatewayt, good for you, cuz their computers are uber expensive compaired to what you could order off the internet and put togeather yourself, so.... yay computer crap....jeeze, im such a nerd...

Oliver Agwahim from Port Harcourt, Africa
Date - Monday, June 09, 2003 at 20:13:30 (EDT)

I recently bought a used gateway computer with the following specification:

P5-120
Serial number: 4343179
Lot Number: 4343174
Mfg Date: 2/02/96
Fcc Id: HWYALI 51000T
LR 91264
E143540
lISTED 8L82

I have been trying to get the users manual for the product to enable work on it as a computer technician but I have been unable to get a copy of it. I have some hours going through gateway website looking for info on the product to know avail.

Please if somebody have an idea on how I could lay my hand on the manual please do email it to me or give instruction on where to get it.

My email address is agwashim@vmail.net

Cheers,

Oliver Agwashim.

Karl Miles from Aurora, CO USA
Date - Monday, June 09, 2003 at 13:09:48 (EDT)

Since owning my Gateway laptop, the harddrive failed (they replaced it), the floppy drive failed (out of warranty), the mouse failed (out of warranty), and now the display goes psychedelic and locks up.

Pretty much every peripheral of this computer has failed within two years of buying it; only the American-made Intel processor is still working. Gateway and the others don't manufacture computers, they assemble them from parts made by the lowest bidder of any country.

David Bramley from Osaka, Japan
Date - Friday, May 30, 2003 at 23:31:47 (EDT)

I bought a Gateway P4D-66 with monitor from Gateway in 1994 and was not very impressed. I had it shipped from USA to Japan. The monitor didn't work. When I phoned them they had me ship it back to USA and sent another one which also didn'T work, from which they concluded it must be the video card that was at fault. So they sent a video card and finally I could get a picture on the monitor. However it was not possible to adjust the width or height of the image so the only way to see the whole image on the monitor was to adjust it to a resoilution of 1280X768. This made everything quite small! After about five years the second monitor suddenly packed up and stopped working forever.

Gateway support was not very useful. They rarly answered my questions properly or gave me any useful advice. Sometimes they did not reply to emails at all. Now the P4D-66 seems to be obsolete. I cannot find any information about it. I still have that CPU, and it still works, although I don't use it anymore. I spent so much time and money on it that I am reluctant to throw it away. I want to at least use the case and build something more useful out of it if parts are available.

Admittedly this is information from 10 years ago, and it is possible that Gateway service has improved. They opened a large store here in Osaka, Japan, which did not last very long at all. It has now been replaced with a large Japanese owned superstore which is much more successful. Maybe that says something about their quality.
Dave

cph from USA
Date - Thursday, May 29, 2003 at 23:31:20 (EDT)

i would never buy a gateway again. the buy back offer is a joke! i told four different people what i wanted to do and got four totaly different computer setups. it's all about money,they will tell you what you want to hear and sell you anything.

bobbyw.perkins from henderson, NC USA
Date - Monday, May 26, 2003 at 07:41:37 (EDT)

none

Edward England from Kingwood, TX USA
Driver Downloads for Solo 9100 Laptop
Date - Saturday, May 10, 2003 at 01:59:55 (EDT)

My brother-in-law gave me his old Solo 9100 laptop when the hard drive went out while he was working, and he went and bought a new laptop the same day.

The webpage I listed, http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/output.asp?ref=step&curPlatform=Portable&curSystem=Solo+9100&curOS=undefined&curCommodity=undefined

lists all the drivers available for the Solo 9100 for different operating systems; XP is not included, but I run XP home edition and everything on the Laptop worked fine after installing XP, other than the tv-out; it remains to only work under windows 98 for me.

Shealene Shafer from Springfield , OR USA
Date - Saturday, May 03, 2003 at 16:36:18 (EDT)

I have a Gateway Essential 400, purchased in 1999. The problems I have had with this computer system I would call minimal and just routine user maintance. I have had some software conflicts which is a normal(but unfortunate) part of using so many different programs. I am overall very happy with this system. It has never crashed on me, and all the drives and components are in good working order. I haven't even replaced the mouse yet. I wonder after reading the responses on this board what the users expectations are in a computer company. Some of them sound like you think a computer is going to work 100% all the time after you take it from the box. Users with minimal experience using computers would have different expectations. Not, so they need maintance just like a car, bike, ect. For those people who have had the hardware go out piece after piece close together within the first couple of years, then I understand your frustration with being mad. I guess I am just fortunate here.

The negative side and the part I would like to see Gateway improve upon is their customer service. Out of convience I have used their online support help (talk to a tech online) and each time they would get a piece of what I was asking for and start to see me automated responses, some of which were very off course. They need to actually listen to what the customer is asking or having problems with, then go from there. I would get rid of those automated responses.I would actually have to agree with the gal who posted a while back about needing those two customer ID numbers, and or serial numbers when you call them. Without those you are up the creek without a paddle. Gateway used to have an option on their site to look those up for you online...what happened? Their customer service can definitly improve.

Sevn Jurgenson from USA
Date - Monday, April 28, 2003 at 23:59:37 (EDT)

My statement is this, all of you people who complain about how bad your computers from anyplace suck is because none of you really know how they work, how to use them, and how to fix them. I can guarentee that most of you that bash tech support never worked in cusotmer service, let alone try to explain to a person that AOL is not the Internet. Oh yeah there is no suck thing as the ANY KEY, its a statement, press any key, meaning the "Q" key the "8" key, or the "Enter" key. I am sorry that Im coming off as an ass, but for pete's sake, if you have never working in the computer field before you cannot talk. Do you know that the amount of computing power that went into the Lunar Module was the equlivent of your generic Texas Instruments $2.00 calculator. A computer is a expensive, complex stupid box, its what the user does that makes it stupid. How many of you try to download music off the internet, and inadvertently catch a virus, well shouldn't you not be downloading illegal copyrighted music and have to call tech support to say, "Well while I was on AOL I must have gotten a virus!"

Negative, you were doing something that you were not sure of what you were doing , but Sally at work said that you can get the Original Soundtrack From Beaches for free, so might as well try to download it then,.......

If before you go to the store and bought a computer I recommend doing your homework. Would you go out and buy a car with little or no knowledge of how to drive it, have the salesmen drop it off and them complain to them that you hit a tree trying to get out of the driveway and its their fault so they should fix it. It puts a little perspective on the situation doesnt it.

Oh by the way I have a Gateway G6-300 with Windows 2003 Server Beta running on it and its fine, also its plugged into my Satellite Dish so I can watch TV in my office while I fix my co-workers home computers at my home office because little Johnny was trying to do his homework and download the entire 8 Mile Soundtrack and it just stopped working.

Play it safe dont buy a computer unless you know how to work it, how it runs, what is involved in its architecure and design, and for the love of God, when you are doing something that you are not sure of, you should always go with your first instinct.

This is dedicated to all the computer nerds like myself that get shit on everyday at work because Aunt Emily tried to email picutres of the family cookout to one of your users and it was a virus that made the company lose $20,000 dolllars and hour due to loss of productivity and the blame lies on your sholders.

Baby Boomers stick with what you know about electronics, the calculator!

Dan C from Madison, NJ USA
Date - Saturday, April 05, 2003 at 16:13:03 (EST)

Oh my god, What a gigantic piece of garbage, the g6-300. i picked one up from a friend used to replace a compaq laptop ive been using thats in 40 parts, this thing is garbage. for starters, irq steering on this thing likes to share 9 alot. i get scsi card, video, tvtuner, a sound card, and 2 motherboard things on IRQ 9! it drives me insane, espcialy since i put a geforce 4 in it which likes irq 9 all to its self, plus the case is horrible. you cant upgrade in this thing. the 2 5 1/4th bays are both diffeent sizes. let alone one is about half a centemeter taller. if you want to put a bigfoot quantam drive and a cd burner in it, forget it. there are 3 hard disk bays which you must dissassemble the *WHOLE* system to get to. plus they are mounted in such a way that if you had an ide drive a scsi drive, and an scsi drive accessable form the outside of the case you would have a very hard time wiring it.
the microprocessor fan cover is garbage, it doesnt do anything.
and theres no fan built into the back, the case is rounded, looks like shit, and is just that right shade of white that makes any other device look like crap when placed inside. if you get one of these, the only part worth it inside is the hd, take it out and run the rest over with your car.

Rodger W. Smith Jr. from St. Johnsville, ND USA
Date - Saturday, April 05, 2003 at 03:09:11 (EST)

I currently have been renting a gateway notebook. That I have been renting from Rentway. Unfortionaly I have to return it because they want 56.98 weekly. I was looking at the total price after my last payment. And they want 5000.00 for the notebook. And I known I could get a notebook cheaper.

Brandino Florentino from USA
Date - Thursday, April 03, 2003 at 17:57:29 (EST)

Well I have bought a system from Gateway but I also work for them. The only reason why I bought a system from them is because I know my computers and the case was the best part of it. :) I bought a system as stripped down as they come and purchased everything else from other places for the best quality at the cheapest prices. (www.pricewatch.com) Anyways, the computer works like a champ but working for them sucks the man donkey balls. I have worked in customer service for them and I am currently working in the service center. The way they treat the employees is amazing becuase they chew them up and spit them out and still expect us to work 110% for them. Like that will happen!! The most I give them is 10% since the company blows and cant even make a decent computer. The owner believes so much in this company that he has gone to extreme measures to keep it alive. Normally when a company tries to cut costs and downsize they do that but no not gateway. Gateway likes to cut costs where they dont need to be cut and downsize stores but bring out 10 new products for items that wont sell for crap and even if they do sell people bring them back anyways. I understand they want to be the best computer company out on the market but from my experience that time has ended and this company needs to end. The service manager for my area is a complete moron. I do and know more about his job then he does and he cant even process a simple order. The most enticing part of gateway isnt the tech support or the managers or even the fact that you can bring the system into the store to get it repaired; It is the design of the case. The parts inside of it can just be spit on and thrown in the trash because they suck. If you brought your system into the store to get repaired you will most likely end up getting a refurbished part or a part that was sent back to the factory because it was bad but they send it back out anyways. The way they work it is if you have a bad part they will ship it off back to the factory and order a replacement. Well the replacement is most likely bad becuase a good 90% of the time it has been in someone elses system. Overall this company can blow me for all I care. I have had so much crap happen to me working here with not just customers complaining but the fact that the higher up's cant even process a w4 correctly. I file 0 on my w4 but some how end up getting a 2!!! I mean what the crap is that. Gateway's standards on parts and management sucks and I cant believe those people even have a degree in business since they dont even have common sense. I think my work is done here.

In conclusion, DO NOT BUY A GATEWAY AND DONT REFER ANYONE!!! Let them go down being the crappy computer company that they are.

(To angry to worry about punctuation, spelling, and what not) Hope this helps you make a right decision and go with Dell.

Tony Pacelli from USA
Date - Saturday, March 15, 2003 at 19:50:38 (EST)

I wouldn't buy another Gateway computer with your money. Why you ask ? Let me explain. A little over 3 yrs. ago, we were shopping for a new computer, after careful comsideration, we settled on a Gateway performance500. In the first 2 yrs. we had to replace the following:
1 dvd-cd rom drive, 1 floppy drive, 1 hard drive, 2 keyboards, 3 mouses ( finally bought an off the shelf mouse, works great), and 4, thats right, 4 17" color monitors. Customer service doesn't see this as a real problem, as a matter of fact I was told by a supervisor that the 18mos. we got out of our most recent unit was perfectly acceptable. Needless to say they refuse to replace this latest bad monitor. I got a number of sympathetic "oh, thats terrible, let me put you through to my supervisor), and after a equal number of somewhat spirited discussions we arrived at this.
First I was told they could give me a 50$ check towards a non-Gateway monitor, then was told by someone else Gateway strives for customer satisfaction and could arrange for "paid service" on my monitor at the not so local Gateway country, at said Gateway country I was told they don't do that, didn't know anything about it, and paid actually meant I had to pay myself, tech support just made the call for me, but thanks for comming to Gateway country.
After talking to yet another supervisor, I was told what they could do for a valued customer was give me 70$ off a new 17" monitor valued at 189$, thats right, to buy a 5th model just like the previous 4, (The local Staples has a NEC 17" monitor with 3 yrs parts and labor for 139$). I could go on and on about some other Gateway adventures, but suffice it to say, I wouldn't buy anther Gateway computer with your money - BUY A DELL !!!

J. Naga from Honolulu, IN USA
Date - Saturday, February 08, 2003 at 01:01:22 (EST)

Found out why I am having problems with CD recordings. Gateway decided to use the HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8481B in its piece of crap computer. This drive is not listed on the Windows XP Hardware Compatibility List. I guess you get what you pay for. So if you wan CHEAP, buy Gateway and don't expect too much!!!

Jamie Macdonald from London, Other
Date - Sunday, February 02, 2003 at 17:41:07 (EST)

i think Gateway are top. I have had my 500Mhz PIII since 1999 as it's been awesome. On top of that on the rare occasions where I have totally stuck the supprt line in Europe has been excellent (and free). Even better, when my hard drive lockedup a few months ago they sent me a replacement for free within 5 days, awesome, and all wothout any extended warrantees.

I have recomended Gateway to 5 friends who all love their PC's.

My gripes:If I upgrade to XP (which I have) Gateway say they will no longer support me. Gateway pulled out of Europe 2 years ago which was a real shame. Why on earth did they ship with Windows Me (it is dreadful).

HANS D.SAWMADAL from BANJUL, N/A Africa
Date - Thursday, January 30, 2003 at 06:26:08 (EST)

I WANT TO BY LABTOP BY CREDIT CARD AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

PLEASE CONTACT ME SOON.

TEL:00220782995

J. Naga from Honolulu, HI USA
Date - Wednesday, January 29, 2003 at 13:37:04 (EST)

DON'T buy Gateway!!!! I cannot even make audio CD's of my favorite songs to listen in my car stereo without playback problems. Tried tech support and got the run around- "It is the programs you are using", "It is a hardware driver issue", "It is Windows XP, we do not support Windows XP", "It is your car stereo that is causing the problem". I checked all these things, I even formatted the hard drive and reloaded XP and the Gateway Drivers, with no success. However, my old CD's play fine in my cart stereo. Only the CD's made on the Gateway have the problem. So Gateway finally sent me another CDRW drive, didn't work. Now they say that is as far as their support will go. If it is not the CDRW drive then it is not their responsibility. How do you like that! I wish I had come across this site before I bought this piece of crap.

DUDE! I should have bought a DELL!!!

Alison from Mason, OH USA
Date - Monday, January 20, 2003 at 17:38:37 (EST)

Wow! Where can I even begin with my piece of crap Gateway! In the last 2 years my computer has crashed twice! I've spent countless & hopeless hours on the phone with their incompetent customer service (whom do not speak English very well). The whole experience has been an absolute nightmare.

I have heard that someone out there people do have good luck with their systems & I'm very happy for them. But my experience has been very sad to say the least. I will never buy a Gateway again.

Wendell McDavid from Kingsport, TN USA
Date - Sunday, January 12, 2003 at 11:20:43 (EST)

My problem is not with Gateway but the AnyKey keyboard. It has started malfunctioning and I need to know how to get it repaired.
Send any info to wensome@chartertn.net
Thank you.

Isaac Gonzalez from orlando, -fl USA
Date - Tuesday, January 07, 2003 at 22:38:49 (EST)

Gateways just fucking suck!!!

George Campbell from USA
Date - Saturday, January 04, 2003 at 01:29:04 (EST)

I am quite surprised at the number of negative remarks I found here. I purchased my Gateway Essential 450 over three years ago and have had no problems with it that werent fixable with a little research and patience. I purchased my computer from a Gateway Country Store. I told them what I wanted to use it for and what I wanted to pay. Within twenty minutes I had signed on the dotted line and three days later my computer was at my home and plugged in.
I have had one hard drive fail, but that was not a major event due to the fact that I was in need of a larger hard drive anyway. I have since expanded my memory, and thanks to the Gateway rep at the store I bought my computer from, found it at the best price possible, albeit wasn't from Gateway.
I have also never had a problem with Gateway tech support, as I never have needed them. I have had no problem with any extended warranties because I never buy them.
It seems to me that the people doing the loudest moaning about Gateway are the ones you deal with everyday, the lazy, uneducated, egotistical, MY ME MINE type, who want everything perfect and handed to them on a silver platter.
My only complaint, was that I chose to go for the smallest monthly payment I could get and that resulted in having to finance my computer through MBNA at a very high interest rate, and this also turned out to be a minor complaint because after a few on time payments MBNA was willing to negotiate and lower the percentage rate.
I have had three full years of enjoyment from my Gateway and recommend them to anyone looking for a quality product at a reasonable price. If you want a certain computer NOW you will most assuredly be paying MORE MONEY for LESS POWER than you would if you wait for another year, BUT then again you wont have a computer for another year.
As for the Tech Support end of things, anyone who bitches about how BAD the support people are, should try doing the same job for awhile, while having to deal with IDIOTS who dont know ROM from RAM. Also the best Tech support available is found in knowledgable friends who live close by, not on the other end of a telephone line.

I SAY BRAVO TO GATEWAY AND WILL CONTINUE TO USE THEIR PRODUCTS.

Tou from USA
Date - Saturday, December 28, 2002 at 04:09:27 (EST)

Good.Ok.

Tony King-Kilburn from OH USA
Date - Thursday, December 26, 2002 at 17:48:52 (EST)

Bought a Gateway Solo 5150 fully loaded in Nov 99, LS-120 drive, DVD player, biggest HD and the most RAM that would fit, worked real good for the first year, Then it started to lock up and not work at all. This is after spending hours on the "tech" Support line with someone that really didnt care or know how to help me. The video output has never worked on it. Well I made the call to have it sent in to be repaired, They fixed it , to the tune of more then the price that I paid for it, over $3,000.00. then with in about 4 months a screw came loose and burnt out the mother board. Tried for the next year to get them to fix it and then it got to the point that the tech suport stopped e-mailing me back, I kept all of the e-mails from them to show the dates and to remind me how they work. So now I paid over 6 grand for a laptop that wont work and they wont fix it. So I will never ever do business again with them. DONT EVER BUY ONE.

t.k.das from alexandria, USA
Date - Friday, December 20, 2002 at 10:32:44 (EST)

nil

Ivan Gentry from USA
Date - Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 13:57:59 (EST)

I ordered a computer as a Christmas present from them on 11/22/02. I received it a few days later. As it was a present I did not open the box. About 7-10 days after I received the computer (12/10/02) I received a call from Gateway customer service. They said they had shipped me the wrong computer. The woman said they would ship the correct computer to me the next day and then make arrangements for me to ship the wrong computer back to them.

On 12/14/02 I had seen no new computer so I thought I would give Gateway a call. I was informed that no computer had been shipped. But that they would be shipping it on 12/16/02 and the expected arrival date was 12/17/02. Well guess what? Tuesay, 12/17/02 came and went with no computer. I called them on the afternoon of the 17th and was told that my computer was still "in production".

I was furious. I informed the idiot I was talking to of this. She said they were "guaranteeing" receipt of my computer by 12/24/02. I said I had ordered this computer 5-6 weeks in advance so I could ensure it would be in by Christmas. Her response was, "I see."

Robert Lester from USA
Date - Friday, November 29, 2002 at 13:27:06 (EST)

I have two Gateway computers on my desk with the same problem: They won't boot up at all. The cooling fan runs but nothing else happens. The owners of these computers are so frustrated with Gateway that they refuse to try to get them to make any more repairs.

I did some research and inspected both machines. It is obvious that both power supplies have failed. Gateway used a cheap 90 watt ATX power supply that cannot handle the electrical load of all the internal components they installed. When the 5 volt section fails, the computer will not work, even though everything else appears to be normal.

As for the two machines, Gateway stalled until the warranty expired on one and would not sell us the replacement parts. The other is still under warranty but Gateway charged the owner $125 for service last time and is presently demanding a $75/hour fee for troubleshooting and "software diagnostic and repair service". If I can find the parts, I can make these simple repairs myself and save my friends a bundle.

My ex also has a Gateway. When her CDROM drive failed, Gateway gave her the runaround. Their customer service people have little or no technical background and their system is designed to hand you from person to person without actually fixing your problem. We are still waiting for a technician to "contact" her to set up a service call. Three weeks and counting.

It may cost a few bucks more, but Dells are worth every penny.

J. Mathiesen from United Kingdom
Date - Monday, November 25, 2002 at 01:15:47 (EST)

Purchased a G6-450 (P2 450mmx) in January 1998.

I'll be straight and say the first 18 months of use saw no real problems outside the stock Microbog Win98 stuff throwing occasional irrational wobblers.

I am a pauper and utilised a `Gateway, Your ware' financial package provided with Chartered Trust.

Anyway, my `deal' so to speak is with the abandonment by Gateway of all its UK customers in 2000. AND the fact that Gateway failed to inform me of the forthcoming intel P3 which turned up a matter of six months after I purchased the P2. Since then my existing Gateway `your ware' deal proved to be nothing more than a brief money maker for Gateway and means of getting rid of thier old stock in a hurry. As of mid 2000 they left me with my outstanding debt (no problem there) and a perfect payment record with no means of upgrading (problem), exchanging or reselling my now old hardware. The main attraction for me was the Gateway offer of trading back in my older hardware as and when needed. Can't do that now very well unless I move to the US.

The computer minus the various parts I've added is now not worth the sum of the Value Added Tax paid on the total price. Sure computer depreciation drops like a lead balloon into a bottomless pit, but with no means of extending/exchanging the system the entire deal was an almost total loss. The only brief exeption being the short time my work production was competitive.

The name Gateway leaves me with a bitter taste and is worth nothing more than being labelled `corporate thieves'.

Thanks a bunch.

Jeff Paine from USA
Date - Thursday, November 07, 2002 at 20:09:29 (EST)

Just want to let everyone know what happened to my parents Gateway computer.
Two nights ago in the middle of the night they heard 2 loud noises in the middle of the night followed by smoke coming out of there 2 year old Gateway. It was a good thing the computer was in there bedroom or they may no longer have a house. They quickly unplugged the computer and eliminated any potential disaster.
I called Gateway the following morning as a courtesy to them to let them know that there may be a problem and was quickly told that they were sorry and the computer warranty had expired. I wasn't looking for anything just trying to eliminate any future problems for someone that may not be so lucky. The girl said she would document our file, I asked if a supervisor could call us so we could explain it to him and was told they "would return our call if we were lucky". We were not "lucky" and never heard from anyone.
In conclusion I guess they really don't care about what happens after the computer is sold.

Michael Garrett from Albuquerque, NM USA
Date - Thursday, August 29, 2002 at 16:15:14 (EDT)

In June 2000 I purchased a Gateway Select 1000 (1 GHz Athlon) with 128MB RAM, 40GB hard drive. Three days after it arrived, Windows 98 SE would not boot up. The hard drive would grind away but never start Windows. So I took it to the service center and the guy said it would take a week to fix because they had to send it somewhere for repairs. At the counter, I noticed 4 other CPU's just like mine sitting on the floor (not a good sign). A week later, I get it back and the guy said they had to replace the hard drive. Two weeks later the computer crashes again with the same problem. Of course by now, I couldn't return it for a refund because the 3 week return period had expired. I was so mad, I decided I could fix the problem better than Gateway. So I re-installed Windows. Everything worked fine for about a month, then the same boot up problem. This time, the re-installation CD would not work, so I had to reformat the hard drive and install Windows 98 again. Everything worked fine for about 2 months, but alas, another crash. After this crash I thought maybe there was a power glitch problem, so I bought a surge protector. Nope, didn't work! Now I thought maybe the hard drive had a data retention problem. So I bought a brand new Maxtor 40 GB hard drive. Sorry, wrong again! At this point, a year had passed since I bought my piece of junk computer. After formatting the hard drive and installing Windows 98 SE this time, I decided to try running the Windows defragmentation program. The disk defragmentor froze and started grinding the hard drive! An error popped up saying the hard drive was not accessible. This was bad. Simply installing Gateway's Windows 98 defragmented the hard drive so badly, Windows couldn't fix it! In a last ditch effort, I ran out and bought Norton Works. The Norton disk defragmentor said the DISK WAS 99% FRAGMENTED!!! Norton sorted out the hard drive with no problem. After this, my computer has never had this crash again. I leave Norton system monitor running all the time and only have occassional problems, like a corupted autoexec.bat file which is backed up anyway.

If you get a Gateway, buy Norton Works to go with it. You will be much better off.

Michael

Chris McCoy from Wynne, AR USA
Date - Saturday, August 10, 2002 at 11:35:46 (EDT)

good customer support.

CJ from Santa Rosa, CA USA
Date - Friday, August 09, 2002 at 19:14:21 (EDT)

I have a GATEWAY2000 #mon017006AAWW CRYSTALSCAN17 MONITOR, also known as a(MAGDX17F),FCC ID#AWDX17F.

When I boot up my computer the screen scrambles until Windows boots and loads the drivers at (1024X768) only.

This means I can not see anything in the bios setup screen.

Once windows has loaded the drivers, I can shut down in MSDOS mode and everything is visible. I have tried different cards and the best result that I got was with a Jaton 8Mb Pci adapter, but the monitor and the computer must be powered up simultaneously.

Gateway will not give me any support, and I have not been able to find a service manual.

Cat Commucations from seattle, WA USA
Date - Tuesday, August 06, 2002 at 08:45:57 (EDT)

I was browsing through the list and saw a few comments on --'How great Gateway is".
Well, dudes..you never bought a USED Gateway.
Oh my God. First......if you buy a USED Gateway, you need two things done ASAP :: 1) Get something called a CLIENT ID from the seller.
If he does not have one .... then walk away from the sale. AND 2) Have the Orginal Owner contact Gateway and transfer the Ownership of the computer.
Gateway computers are like Cars.....you have to transfer the 'title of ownership' threw the DMV.

WHy? Custmor surport---or lack of. If you dont have thier Client ID Number--you WILL BE TREATED LIKE SHIT.
Let me repeat that again: If you dont have this Client ID Number, You will be treated like shit. Serial numbers will NOT work. They wont even try to look it up.

Gateway, flat out ,does NOT want to deal with a used computer market. It's a ploy designed for people to buy new systems. Brought a New Machine--then your treated like gold. Got a used one??? Tuff.

Here's my story---or how it started:
I run a small computer shop. Been in the business way back when programming was done on punch cards. A custmor comes in with a Gateway Solo 9100 Laptop. P233mhz...14 inch screen..trident 4 meg viedo card....DVD/CD player...128 megs of ram....5 gig Hard drive.
Not bad for a portible box with a dead battery.
His Bios password is messedup and he cant get into his logon.
Call Gateway. Forget about trying to get help from them. Okay....use lots of techie tricks and plain luck to crack the bios log on. Get lucky. Now...the DVD player doest work exactly right. A couple other problems as well. THe laptop comes back into my shop.
This tyme, we wipe the drive and re-install Win 98SE.
Big mistake. Huge mistake.
Now..we got dozens of unknown things asking for drivers.
Goto thier website. Spend hours looking for thier tech surport and downloads section. Find a FEW things.
Okay--now we got less Unhappy-unknown devices wanting drivers.
Call tech surport up on the phone. Get lots of rude people telling us without a client ID, we can not get any kind of surport. Period.

The custmor, at this stage , is so unhappy...and we have to bill him for the work done....he tells us to stuff the system up our a**es and he leaves. Yes..he left...now--we go threw hassles of trying to forward the bill to the guy and/or place a lien sale on his laptop.

That was like...4 years ago. In that tyme, I have gone to the Gateway store many,many tymes, trying to get some tech surport. Made hundreds of calls to Gateway. Yes....Hundreds. I finialy was able to BRIBE one of the techs to copy off a CD for a 9100. It was surpost to be a SYSTEM RESTORATION CD.....designed to bring the entire thing back to factory stock new. Cost me pizza, $20 and beer. Well....it wasn't. Instead , the cd he burned me had one folder and some drivers.....yes.....we did find the long lost DVD driver that is not on ANYWHERE on ther Gateway site and a DVD Player program secifily written for the 9100 called C-Cube DVD. No other DVD software player will work. Period........ok...so after 4 years, we now have SOME abilitly to kinda-play DVD's.

If anyone has one of these SYSTEM RESTORATION CD's for a Solo 9100..please contact me.
kcat_inco@hotmail.com

Ok....now we get E-bay. Buying a battery, some covers and a few other things....Laptop is looking good. Because of E-Bay's policy AGAINST software......asking for and trying to get a Restore CD is treated the same as pushing drugs. Ebay doesnt have a WANTED section......and some of the cd being offered is a copy of a copy of a copy for $35 bucks and up. I find that totally unacceptible.
I am forced to find sellers of Solo 9100's and ask them in email if they have these Restore CD's. SO far, one guy--after first telling me to screw off...changed his mind and burned me one....but it not a restore cd..it's just a folder of a few drivers. Another guy hooked me up--with the wrong CD

I can go on further, you get the idea. Gateway surport for USED systems is not worth the costs, hassles or bu**sh**.

Buy a used Toshiba instead. A 2400CT has duel keyboard and mouse, sound, mics jacks, 2 pcmcia, serial, printer and even..get this....SCSII.

Beyound that...have fun...i ,personaly plan to release my 4 year collection of gateway solo 9100 drivers on a news-group....hopefully spreading them to the needy.

Debbie Lutz from Kalamazoo, MI USA
Date - Thursday, July 25, 2002 at 12:19:58 (EDT)

A few months back in, march I think, I was having trouble with my gateway computer so I took it into the gateway store in portage. Well, the person at the front desk was rude with me and told me that they have been really busy and I would be better off taking it to the gateway store in mishawaka indiana (about 65 miles away) because they were not as backed up as the store in portage was. I had to have my computer fixed because my husband has been ill and i needed to stay in contact with his sister in florida. so i took it to the gateway store in mishawaka. when I got there, I was asked why I brought it all the way from kalamazoo when there is a store right there so i told them what the portage guys said and they checked it in. when I got home my husband said that gateway called and said that my computer was ready for pick up. THEY TOLD ME 3 to 5 DAYS, but i was happy it was done so the next day i went back to indiana to pick my system up. the person that checked my system in was not there and one of the techs was working the front desk. I asked him what was wrong with the computer and he explained that there were a couple files missing and not letting windows start. he also took the time to show me how to add and remove programs so that this would not happen again. He was really nice but had no name tag on so i don't know who he was but he was tall and had long curly dark hair. Well in june I was having more problems with my computer so i called the gateway store in portage to check to see if they were still as busy as they were back in march and should i just go ahead and take it to indiana again. WELL the response I got was snotty and rude so I asked to talk to a manager. The guy that picked up the phone was named jason something, i told him about how rude the other person was and how well i was treated at the indiana store and was wondering if i should go ahead and just drive down there again. this is when he started getting snippy with me, and said that I can take it where ever i wanted to. i said that i would just go ahead and take it to the gateway store in mishawaka again and asked if he knew who the guy might be that helped me out down there before. he said that he can not give out that type of information but i was welcome to bring the system into the portage gateway store. i told him that i did not like the attitude of the people there and that i would rather deal with the tech that helped me in mishawaka. that is when he got really mad and told me to "fuc* off" and don't worry about taking it to the guy in indiana that helped me before because he no longer works for gateway. i can see why a nice person like that would not fit in with a bunch of snotty and rude people like i have seen at the gateway stores. I wish i knew his name and where he works now so i could have him work on my computer. i gave away my gateway and got a new computer from best buy. I WILL NOT EVER DEAL WITH GATEWAY AGAIN!

Lothar Detering from Trinittatis, Germany
Date - Saturday, July 20, 2002 at 20:32:48 (EDT)

Bought a Gateway 2000 P5-120 in 1995.
Memory was upgraded to 64MB soon after.
Ensoniq sound card made trouble at the end of the warrenty period.
Replacement was done by Gateway without any problems.
Meanwhile the COM1, COM2 and LPT1 failed due to bad weather conditions. A wizard blow the power unit.
Added a serial/parallel ISA-card on IRQ 5.
Now refreshed the system with add-ons: 10BaseT, ISDN, Yamaha sound card, additional 2GB harddisk, 40x CD-ROM.
The refresh made the system files smaller and the P5-120 is running with Windows 98 now using the old Office Professional for educational purpose.
Hope that the machine will stay after its 10th birthday.

Phil Dias from USA
Date - Friday, July 19, 2002 at 18:25:28 (EDT)

I cannot understand the many complaints on this page. I have had three computers from Gateway, one of which is four years old, and all operate perfectly! I have also upgraded my newest one which more RAM and a CD-Burner, and had no problems. Once, I did have to call Gateway techinical support because I was having trouble with my mouse. THIS MOUSE WAS NOT A GATEWAY MOUSE. IT WAS A NEW MOUSE WITH A SCROLL WHEEL I BOUGHT FROM STAPLES. THE GATEWAY MOUSE, OTHER THAN LACKING A SCROLL, WAS FINE. The technician walked me through, step by step, to solve the problem. QUICKLY, ACCURATELY, AND POLITELY! A public school in my area recently bought brand-new Gateway computers, and I have heard that they, too, all 300 of them, are working perfectly. i HIGHLY RECOMMEND a GATEWAY computer to anyone!!!!!!

Justin from Iowa City, IA USA
Date - Friday, May 31, 2002 at 19:25:06 (EDT)

I own an older PII Gateway model E-3200 and it's something I haven't regret gotten... just having problems with another one of my upgrades for the new-to-date games... it's has 350 mhz. It has been nice upgrading with the 3 dimm slots so I was able to pull it from the 64 to 352 with some higher powered spares. I also like the 3 pci and 1 isa.


Anywhoo, particularily it seems weak on Wolfenstein. A game that has a huge drain on the system specs, it skips a bit in the game when I'm out in the open field or theres lots of people/computer shooting, when I'm in closed enviroments, staring at the ground, or staring in space it runs flawlessly... I recently got a Xtasy 64mb Geforce4 mx420, in hopes itd resolve the lag issue in the (out in the open) lag issue, but it didn't. :( So I was wondering if I need to overclock my cpu or perhaps get a better proccessor?



Heres what http://www.pcexaminer.com/pcexaminer/yourcomputer_summary_results.asp gave my computer results as

CPU (Processor) 350MHz Intel Pentium(R) II Processor
Video card NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420
64MB Memory
Nvidia chipset
Memory 352MB
Hard disk space Total free disk space: 2868MB (About 2.9GB)
Operating System: Windows 98 (Second Edition, Build 2222)
Network Card: PPP Adapter.


Thanks, Appreciate any help
Justin Bell

Shawn Hescock from La Grande, OR USA
Date - Friday, May 24, 2002 at 22:09:33 (EDT)

I got a Gateway 2000 P5-133 a while back, it had a pemtium 133 in it and I wan't to upgrade it to a pentium 166. I got one from my student tech teacher and put it in, it fit and every thing but I can't find the jumper settings for it so it will recodnize my 166. I have looked all over the internet and even asked some computer shops around my area, they didn't help to much. My computer has a socket 5, and just in case you need it here is my fcc id # llwyalp5100t. (I don't know if it is ll or ii or 11.)

Thank you very much,
Shawn Hescock.

P.S. How much is one of your pentium II mother boards, my parents fryed their computer and we need a new mother board.

Shirley Stewart from Jacksonville, TX USA
Date - Sunday, May 05, 2002 at 15:35:18 (EDT)

I am enclosing a letter I wrote to Gateway on May 5th, 2002 concerning my Gateway computer. This explains my problems:

Re: Gateway Desktop/Tower PC
Operating system: Windows ME
Sold to: Dale L Stewart
Same address
Order date 12-11-00
Ship date 12-12-00
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing this letter to let you know about some serious problems I had with my computer from the day I purchased it.
I have tried to do everything I know to fix this problem. I have used on-line support, I have used technical support, and I have used customer service. I have notes on every person I have talked to, the dates I talked to them, where they were and the advice they gave me. I would like to know what your procedure is for escalating a complaint to a higher level. I believe I have given the company ample opportunity to resolve my problem and now I require some positive action.
Everyone has been very helpful and courteous and has gone out of their way to get my computer to working properly. If necessary I can furnish you with all the information I have recorded plus some, and the dates and the results. I am on my second keyboard, my second printer, and I have done go-back many times, plus I have restored my system, after 5 tries, my System Restoration Kit that came with my computer is no good. I was on the phone off and on for 4 days trying to get my system back up. I also thought I had a three year warranty, and was even told to verify this, which I did and they confirmed I had a 3 year warranty-Wrong, I do not!!!! I did not push any of this because I thought I did have this 3-year warranty and since I had had trouble from the first I really thought we would be able to fix whatever is wrong.
All I want is a decent purchase. I use my computer a lot and if it worked properly I would use my Photo programs more. This is one of the main reasons we purchased the computer we did. Please confirm, in writing, that you have received this letter and advised me on what procedure to take. Also, I would appreciate you looking at my records so you will know what I have been through.
One other thing I would like to mention is that I am a computer teacher at a elementary school and I take a lot of courses on line, plus workshops, and I give a lot of advice regarding computers. I hope that I can report that we were able to resolve this problem amicably. I will let it be known how this is handle.

Sincerely,
Shirley Stewart

Their response was that they had called twice with no answer (I have an answering machine and there was no message, I also have caller ID and no Gateway # appeared)so I was to call customer service to help me. If you will read my letter, you will see I have dealt with this
18 months. Anyone have any suggestions how to slove this dilema?
I use my computer alot and have lots of problems. Any help at all would be appreciated.

I do want to note, I did not call customer service. At this time of year, I don't have time to be on the phone for three or four days. Been there, done that! Thank you for any help. Shirley Stewart

Mrs.Lee Jones from Lumberton, NC USA
Date - Saturday, April 13, 2002 at 14:57:09 (EDT)

My mother baught our2000 computer last year an not even a week we started having problems,she tried to contack the office,about the billing she is a woman of 59 an she told them she got her check on the 3rd, of the month they said they would bill her then, an lied.an started billing about the 28th.of every month with late charges every mounth.
so she will be paing twice for it ?.....needless to say the computer has had numurous erros,frezzing windows....she tried to call them with no aveil..what is a person to do,they don't give the customer the respect an help sometimes one needs...you can't have good customers if you dont run a good bisness, by not meeting the needs of the customer an my mother has good credit an ''not missed one'' payment..people of her age an credit shouldn't have to go through this.that is one way to louse good paing costomers......

R.C. from WA USA
Date - Tuesday, April 02, 2002 at 16:48:43 (EST)

Own a Gateway Solo 2500, tried to buy some upgrade parts from gateway, most things I wanted were unavailable, and the few things that were available were entirely inflated prices, also information seemed like it might be bad, I want to Upgrade the CPU gateway tech said it is not possible and that it has never been possible to do a CPU upgrade on a solo 2500...its currently a PII 233mhz is it possible to upgrade? and if so how is it done? I have seen the PII 300mhz proc for this laptop for sale at several on line locations, and even seen an add for a solo 2500 running at over 400mzh (i forget the exact speed, just remember that it seemed fast compared to mine) anyway, so far i am not overly impressed with gateway, and on the other hand i am not against them, I would have to say tho, if you are buying into a company that will continue to service or support you in any real way 2 years or more down the road you may have to look else where, if you are looking for a fairly solid unit and your savvy to work on your own stuff especially after its a couple years old then its good enuff. just my $0.02 on the subject, good luck with your woes.

barbara smith from stuttgart, AR USA
Date - Tuesday, April 02, 2002 at 03:11:06 (EST)

would like to purchs a notebook but can't aeem to get it must at mit my creit is messed up aim welling to my monthly payments please help me thank u

Gateway suckz from somewhere, AR USA
Date - Wednesday, March 27, 2002 at 16:12:45 (EST)

everyone at gateway chokes on a big black penis, hahahaha!

Sally Meakin from Hillsborough, CA USA
Date - Wednesday, February 27, 2002 at 19:37:53 (EST)

I received a new home Gateway computer and monitor January 7, 2002, which immediately displayed serious performance problems - it often took 20 minutes for the desktop to appear after the computer was turned on; it froze often; sometimes the only way to turn the computer off was to unplug it. After spending hours with tech support on January 25, the same day I was to leave for a two-week trip abroad, the technician had me "write zeros to the drive", which I gather is tantamount to removing the brain. The computer was certainly brain-dead as a result. I asked the technician to note I was going out of the country and would be back February 8.

On February 9 and 10, I again spent hours with tech support, making several phone calls, helping Gateway troubleshoot the problem, etc. By now I couldn't download applications, sound stopped coming out of the speakers, the computer froze often, etc. After I felt my time and effort invested had become unreasonable, I requested a new computer. Four different Gateway representatives refused, saying they were not done troubleshooting yet.

Frustrated and with my patience exhausted, I asked for my money back. That was also refused by Gateway, saying my 30-day money back guarantee time was up. I told them I could easily prove I was 7,000 miles away from the computer for two weeks of that time; it didn't matter. I told them their technicians had instructed me to render the computer totally inoperable for two weeks of that time; that didn't matter either.

After more troubleshooting, including a home visit by a technician, Gateway finally agreed to send me a new computer (the hard drive appears to have been damaged on arrival), but by this time, I don't want anything to do with this company again.

I asked my credit card company to dispute the charges. Gateway said if the credit card company eventually sided with me, Gateway would turn me over to a collection agency. If the credit card company sided with Gateway, they may no longer offer to send me a new computer. In addition, they would no longer provide the lifetime technical support I'd paid for two years ago with another Gateway computer I have.

I've reluctantly agreed to a new computer, but I'll also be seeking legal advice, as I still would like a refund. If anybody has had a similar story, or could offer suggestions, I'd certainly be an interested listener.
Sally Meakin

Qais l-Tamimi from Al-Ain, Other
Date - Saturday, February 02, 2002 at 23:11:57 (EST)

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:
My name ia Qais M. R. Al-Tamimi, a former Ohio University graduate student (Ph.D.), and a citezen of the United Arab Emirates. Presently, I work for the UAE University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Mass Communication as an assistant professor.
Additionally, I purchased a Gateway2000 P6 Desktop computer from your company respectively. Order/Service number is: 0565929101, and Customer # is: 15622290. Actually, I lost the drive software and/or operating system drive, so please if you don't mind to either e-mail me one or send it to my below address at your earliest convenience:

Qais M. R. Al-Tamimi
United Arab Emirates University
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Mass Communication
P.O. Box 17771
Al-Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE
__________________________________________
PH: +971-3-7064724 (Office)
PH: +971-3-7679540 (Secretary)
PH: +971-50-6193680 (Mobile)
EM: QaisT@uaeu.ac.ae
__________________________________________

Thank you for your time and help.
Sincrely Yours:
Qais M. R. Al-Tamimi, Ph.D.
FX: +971-3-7671706

Scott Clark from woodhull, NY USA
Date - Saturday, December 29, 2001 at 20:16:07 (EST)

Gateway solo 9100 purchased 97' wdvd first ones out $4400 asked them about trade in or up only would go $270 for trade in. Yikes

Steve from London, United Kingdom
Date - Friday, December 14, 2001 at 17:56:43 (EST)

Hey,

Way, way back in 1996 I brought a Gateway2000 PC
with the following specification:

* Intel Pentium 133MHz Processor
* 16MB EDO RAM
* 2GB HD

Motherboard specification:
* BIOS: 1.00.01.CN0T
* Socket: ZIF 7
* Pins: 321
* Layout: 21x21 SPGA
* Volts: VRM
* CPUs: Pentium 75/90/100/120/133/150/166/200

I am going to upgrade the RAM to
128MB using 4 x 32MB EDO SIMMS
- Can I do that?

Also I want to upgrade the processor to a
Intel Pentium 200MHz but is that with or
without the MMX technology?
I've also heard of a Pentium 233MHz MMX
Socket 7 processor - Is there such thing?
- I thought that was a Pentium II ?
- Can I use it in my machine?

I want to upgrade my machine to the
maximum it can handle. Anyone help?

Thank you,
Steve
s_t_e_v_e_1981@yahoo.com

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