Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!cunixf.cc.columbia.edu!cunixb.cc.columbia.edu!stone From: stone@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Glenn Stone) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware Subject: Gateway2000 (summary) Message-ID: <1991Apr8.222529.17391@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> Date: 8 Apr 91 22:25:29 GMT Sender: usenet@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (The Network News) Reply-To: stone@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Glenn Stone) Organization: Columbia University Lines: 363 Nntp-Posting-Host: cunixb.cc.columbia.edu This is a summary of responses about Gateway2000 computers. One person informed me that a summary had been posted before, but I'm posting this anyway because there is a lot of interest in these systems. Raymond Chen sent me a list of postings on this topic, which I have included in part at the end of this summary. Gateway2000 systems enjoy a generally good reputation among owners. The two areas which draw some fire are the hard disks and access to tech support, although most like the support once they get through. I asked two of the people who had hard disk trouble what kind of disks they were; both were Seagates. The first response is the only horror story. Glenn Stone ------------------------------------------------------- From: bt garner OK, here's my horror story regarding Gateway2K. ... . I purchased a 386/20 Machine from them about 1.5 years ago, and quite frankly the first year was hell. The machine was supposed to have come equipped with an 80Meg hard drive, it didOB not. They had placed a 40Meg drive in it (all the documentation, and even the "official system verification checklist" had it marked as an 80, I wonder how many people got ripped off that way?). After dealing with their Tech Support line (several calls to *convince* them that it was THEIR error), I was promised a replacement drive (which was supposed to have been formatted and partitioned at the factory) which was defective. Again sever calls to tech support to get another 80M drive out. It took about 10 days from the time I received my computer til the time I got it up and running... ...my 1.44M floopy drive would only recognize 720K floppies ...I had the wrong type of disk drive. A replacement came, same problem... ...they sheepishly admitted that my motherboard was an old model that couldn't handle 1.44Meg floppies. A replacement mother board was send that had defective memory chips...finally a third mother board was send out. This one had another problem (I still don't know what it was). I finally took the memory chips out of the third board and put them in the second one, ...So, during the first year, my computer was down for about 20% of the time ...Now, with this in mind, I will say one thing, since I have gotten (finally) the system that I paid for, and got it all set up (correctly), I have had no problems with it. However, I would refuse to do any further business with Gateway2000, and as an independant consultant (recommending systems and software) I would NEVER, under ANY condition recommend Gateway. From: Neil Greene I am a happy owner of several of Gateways machines, towers and desktop models (25 and 33MHz machines) and have had no problems with them. We did have a problem with a bad hard disk, but Gateway shipped us a new one in 2 days time and I installed it that very day. There service technicians have been very helpful even during over the phone conversations, walking you thru every troubleshooting possibility. From: TPMONAI@MARS.LERC.NASA.GOV I know of 12 people here at Analex, NASA LeRC and Boeing Computer Services who have bought Gateway 2000s in the last two years. I bought mine last month. Everyone I know is very happy with Gateway. My Gateway worked fine, right out of the box, as did everyone elses. From: eda@persoft.com (Ed Almasy) I, and six of my co-workers/friends have purchased Gateway 2000 386 systems, and as far as I'm aware nobody has any complaints. From: ebker@software.org (Keith Ebker) I currently own 2 Gateway 2000 machines. My oldest one is a 15 month old 386SX system with SVGA, 65 meg hard drive, both floppies, Crystal Scan monitor w/512k and 4 megs RAM. My newest is their 386/33 cache system with 8 megs RAM, 200 Meg hard drive, both floppies, Crystal Scan SVGA (non-interlaced) with 1 meg video memory, MS mouse, and their 2400 baud internal modem. I have been *very* pleased with these Gateway machines and with Gateway in general. I have had _NO_ problems with the machines. My only complaint is that sometimes it takes awhile to get through to tech support, BUT they have great tech support hours and have been able to answer all of my problems/questions. If you do order their machines (and I recommend that you do) just add two-three days to their delivery date. From my experience, and that of my friends, they are usually optimistic by about two days!!! From: Mark Kern I have a Gateway 386 system, and I am one of those users who "love" it. I've had no problems, and my salesperson was both knowledgable and curtious. I called several computer companies, and most representatives were incorrect on some basic terminology, or down-right liars. For instance, Zeos insisited that there was no such thing as a trinitron tube (like the Sony I'm using now), and tried to sell me their monitor, which they said would be just what I wanted. When I asked if it was non-interlaced, they fed me some baloney that I would never be able to tell the difference. When I said I could, they didn't believe me. There is one problem with Gateway, technical phone support. It can take a long time to get through to them, but they have always been good about calling me back. This is one aspect that Gateway really needs to work on. BTW, the problem I had was not with the computer, it was with a virus I had. Even though it was not a hardware problem, Gateway told me exactly what to do and helped me get the software I needed to solve the problem. P.S. In the Zeos case, I called several times to different reps, all were marginal to incompetant. If you don't get Gateway, definitely don't get Zeos. From: n-dillier@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu About 11 months ago, my wife and I bought a 386/33 loaded to their (then) standard specs. They delivered it within the period they specified; however, internal delays were caused by the lack of the standard monitor. In order to ship on time, Gateway upgraded the monitor from whichever crystalscan model it was to the NEC 3D. Whereas this monitor was an optional upgrade for $100 extra, we were not charged. The computer worked right out of the box, with no hassles. Some months later, however, we started to get a "disk cache shadow ram error." Since it was no big deal, I basically ignored it. For several months. However, the realization that our one-year warranty was about to expire made me decide to take care of it. Dealing with Gateway's service people meant dealing with pleasant, informed technicians. The tech I spoke to decided that the cause was either the hard drive controller card itself, or the motherboard; we first tried swapping out the controller with one they sent fedex. No go. So an on-site motherboard swap was authorized using a TRW technician. Everything went smoothly. End of problem. It took about 4 days to receive the motherboard and make arrangements through TRW. Since this problem concerned a home-use, non-business machine which was functional throughout the period until the technician arrived, I don't know if the total response time would be less for a computer in a critical business application. In all, I have been EXTREMELY pleased and very satisfied with the company. I have had little need for their service reps; our computer is quite reliable. In talking with a tech rep about math coprocessors, however, I learned that the Cyrix chips are incompatible with the motherboards/roms they use. I suspect that calling Gateway while contemplating add-ons will help avoid costly mistakes. I have no hesitations in recommending this company to anyone. If we buy another dos box, it will certainly be through them. I just hope they move to an EISA bus system by the time we are in the market again. From: rgreen@cs.widener.edu (Randy Greenspon) I currently own a Gateway 386/25. I have owned it for a year without any problems. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them, I do recomend Gateway to people. From: kabra437@pallas.athenanet.com (Ken Abrams) This, like lots of other questions, has been asked and answered 100 times on the net in the last 6 months alone (and has been summarized at least 20 times too). The summary of the summaries is that the responses seem to run about 100 to 1 in favor of Gateway. There have been a few negative comments but VERY few, both in sheer numbers and in relation to the number of negatives expressed by owners of other well known clones. Go for it! (Yes, I am a satisfied Gateway owner). From: dlm@dlogics.dlogics.com (DAVE MAUSNER) I bought a gateway2000 386sx in the standard config of the time (a year ago): 2Mb + 65Mb + 2 flops. Today the same machine is $200 cheaper and you get 4Mb, and faster, smaller HD (40Mb). Anyway, can I use a 4-letter word? I l*ve my 386sx. You cannot beat the package for performance/price ratio. The Tatung OEM monitor ("Crystal Scan") gives good video, IMHO; the OEM VGAWonder board is a reliable, if controversial, choice. I only had to call the service hotline once, to obtain PROM config settings that were not doc'ed in the DTK motherboard manual.If you don't use the machine as a punching-bag it will doubtless run until the dawn of the next century. My office buys these machines, my friends buy them; I recommend them. Don't hesitate just because a net-bozo flames out. From: "Olynyk, Roman J." I got the 386-25 Mhz Gateway last November and am very satisfied with the hardware. The hardware has had no problems. QAPLUS diagnostic software that came with the system benchmarks its performance as quite high, better than an IBM PS/2 model 80. The Diamond Speedstar super VGA graphics card with 1M memory allows me to do all the graphics I desire. A co-worker, who got the same machine I did, had monitor problems last month. Gateway sent a service rep to his home, and he replaced the power supply, graphics card and monitor -- the shotgun approach to fixing an unknown problem, but a nice touch. From: gould@pilot.njin.net (Brian Jay Gould) Our office has about a half dozen Gateway 2000s from SX16 to DX33. We have had a few problems with the hardware in the early days, but everything was resolved to our satisfaction. From: dag@persoft.com (Daniel A. Glasser) I have a Gateway-2000, (33 MHz 386) and am pretty happy with it. From: "T.C. Zhao" Well, I bought a Gateway 386 about one year ago (33Mhz, ATI 1024, 150M HD, 4M RAM) and NEVER had ANY problem with this machine. I am extremely satisfied with the machine. From: raymond@math.berkeley.edu (Raymond Chen) S: Computer, Gateway 2000 R: MHS108@psuvm.psu.edu (Mark Solsman) 9 Apr 90 >There [sic] salespeople are fantastic! R: yjkim@milton.acs.washington.edu (Yong Kim) 7 Apr 90 >Their salespeople don't seem to be great, but their computers are good. R: keegan-edward@cs.yale.edu (Edward Keegan) 9 May 90 >PC Resource magazine rates the Gateway as a best buy in the May 1990 issue. R: kens@hplsla.HP.COM (Ken Snyder) 27 Jun 90 >about a gazillion people have bought Gateways and 99.9153% of them are >happy customers. I am included in this group. R: torkil@psivax.UUCP (Torkil Hammer) 20 Jul 90 >It is great. Telephone service is difficult to get, like with all mail >order places. R: verket@venice.SEDD.TRW.COM (Paul Verket) 24 Jul 90 >We bought a 33MHz 386 ... and it has worked very well. My only complaints >were a case that was sloppily put together and an off brand of hard disk. R: fs@uwasa.fi (Filip Sawicki) [summary] 24 Jul 90 >In all of [the replies] opinions were absolutely positive. >[Though a common complaint was that some troubleshooting was necessary, > but technical support was very helpful.] R: jsims@vuse.vanderbilt.edu (J. Robert Sims) R: kens@hplsla.HP.COM (Ken Snyder) 16 Oct 90 >Gateway is THE most customer oriented mail order company I've ever >dealt with. They have bent over backwards >and done things for me that I consider to be above and beyond the call. R: gould@pilot.njin.net (Brian Jay Gould) [positive] 19 Oct 90 >Very few problems. Tech support is above average. R: lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Greg Lee) 6 Nov 90 >Aside from the fact that it is not working right now, I have some minor >reservations about the system. R: dve@mace.cc.purdue.edu 7 Nov 90 >I'm having very bad luck with Gateway 2000. R: bicker@cbnewsi.att.com (Brian Kohn) 7 Nov 90 >Most of the comments, including my own, have been overwhelmingly positive. R: brian@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Brian Hoffman) 7 Nov 90 >I received about 20 responses from satisfied Gateway 2000 customers and >only one are two negative reviews. R: ESR@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU (Ed Russell) 7 Nov 90 >September 25 issue of PC Magazine [contains a survey of Gateway owners] S: Re: Gateway 2000 [another positive vote] R: rmf@bpdsun1.uucp (Rob Finley) 9 Nov 90 >I recommend them. The other's aren't necessarily worth the extra cost. R: draper@buster.cps.msu.edu (Patrick J Draper) >[a friend] Gateway Fed Ex'd a new monitor the next morning at their cost. >He didn't even have to return the defective monitor first. R: tdtyl@hubcap.clemson.edu (theodore d taylor) 11 Dec 90 >I am quite impressed with one exception: >Occasionally I get a HDD failure on startup. >Technical support is great, though it may take some time to get through. R: afzal@cui.unige.ch (Afzal Ballim) 12 Dec 90 >I think the Gateway is a great machine, and would thorougly >recommend it to anyone. R: tedyoung@panix.uucp (Ted Young) 15 Dec 90 >Although they advertise on-site repair along with overnite >replacement parts, they neglect to say that it can take 4 days for it to >get out the door! >you can bet Gateway2000 won't be getting my recommendation. R: clong@remus.rutgers.edu (Chris Long) 16 Dec 90 >I've had absolutely no problems with them, and ditto for most of the >people I've talked to. Q: csran@warwick.ac.uk (Mr S J Russell) 28 Nov 90 R: ekman@wdl1.wdl.loral.com (Donald Ekman) >I would certainly buy again from them. R: uunet!hub.ucsb.edu!6500boo%ucsbuxa (William Bushing) >Based on what I've seen and heard, I don't think you can go wrong with Gateway. R: uunet!waii.COM!rob (Rob Freyder) >A Great Machine. Go for it. R: uunet!iti.org!john (John Sauter) >I am really pleased with the product and the prices. R: uunet!bighorn.uswest.com!rml (Robert Lund) >I have been very satisfied with their system and service. R: joec@Morgan.COM (Joe Collins) 28 Jan 91 >So far I am quite happy. R: arc@reef.cis.ufl.edu (Anthony Cherry) [summary posted] 5 Feb 91 >I'll be glad to offer further help if anyone needs it, just mail me R: jin@spdcc.COM (Jerry Natowitz) 6 Feb 91 >I love it. I feel that Gateway gives you about the best bang for the buck. >Though I feel they are getting sloppy. I did not receive all the manuals, etc. R: neil@ms.uky.edu (Neil Greene) 24 Feb 91 >I have contacted this company several times, concerning parts, and each time, >new parts have arrived over night. R: kaufman@eecs.nwu.edu (Michael Kaufman) 3 Mar 91 >Almost everyone (~20 people) I know that has purchased a Gateway computer >has been sorry in the long run. I would strongly advise against Gateway. R: 6500boo%ucsbuxa@hub.ucsb.edu (William Bushing) 3 Mar 91 >I'm not in the least bit disappointed. R: philhowr@unix.cie.rpi.edu (Bob Philhower) 3 Mar 91 >I have mixed feelings. Their tech support lines are always busy; once you >get through, they are helpful and send out replacement parts before you send >back the old one. R: labraham@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Lisbi Abraham) 3 Mar 91 >I bought a Gateway 386sx and I love it. I've gotten great service from them. >The only problem is that when you call for service, you end up waiting a lot. R: pbanerji@libserv1.ic.sunysb.edu (Pratip K Banerji) 4 Mar 91 >I haven't had a problem with them. Great machines, a wonderful repair policy, >and great customer support. R: psm@manta.nosc.mil (Scot Mcintosh) 4 Mar 91 >I bought one of their 486/25 systems and consider it to be a phenomenal deal. R: bollard@hpspkla.spk.hp.com (Lee M. Bollard) 4 Mar 91 >Gateway is a good company with a good product. The only problem is >getting ahold of tech support. They normally have to call you back >(which they DO). They are very helpful and federal express the parts if >replacements are needed. R: smsmith@hpuxa.acs.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) 4 Mar 91 >You can't go wrong with Gateway. R: wjyoung@vela.acs.oakland.edu (Bill Young) 4 Mar 91 >I have had no problems at all. They are a very good company. R: OOGLA@VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU 5 Mar 91 >They have lifetime toll-free tech support (it does get busy sometimes, taking >as long as 20mins, but they will call you back if you don't want to wait). >And if anything breaks on your system, they will send you a replacement >NEXT DAY AIR with only a credit card number (in case you don't mail the >defective part back to them). R: horstman@mathcs.sjsu.edu (Cay Horstmann) 8 Mar 91 >I have had some pretty depressing problems with my Gateway 2000 system. >The motherboard and the tape drive both broke, 6 months or so after the >warranty expired. They weren't helpful, and it was an expensive mess to >fix. There were a number of other problems with the machine too. R: jc58+@andrew.cmu.edu (Johnny J. Chin) 9 Mar 91 >DO NOT BUY THEM! ... I have heard from too many people that they are CHEAP, >in price as well as quality. Many of them had problems with right out of the >box. My friends, said that they will never buy one from them again. R: wk0x+@andrew.cmu.edu (William Stephen Kish) 9 Mar 91 >I have a Gateway 2000 i486. The only problem was solved via FedEx. >Their service is outstanding. I have never had ANY compatibility problems. >I use DOS, Windows, and Mach. I recommend Gateway 2000 without hesitation. R: v053qgzj@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (David M Snyderman) 10 Mar 91 >The quality for the buck is unmatched, but tech support is tremendously >overloaded. Buy them if you don't expect to need a lot of tech service. >All of the components seem to be of high quality. R: gcook@horus.cem.msu.EDU (Greg Cook) 10 Mar 91 >My Gateway has been up and running for two years without a hitch. R: klf1305@chensun1.tamu.edu (Kelly L. Fergason) 10 Mar 91 >I am in a classroom with 19 Gateway 2000 386-20's. Except for one thing, >I believe we got a very good deal. (Faulty hard drive.) R: am42+@andrew.cmu.edu (Alexander Paul Morris) 10 Mar 91 >Most people I know (and myself) have been very pleased with Gateway. >A shipping error was corrected via FedEx. R: neil@ms.uky.edu (Neil Greene) 10 Mar 91 >I am pleased with Gateways service and machines. R: horstman@mathcs.sjsu.edu (Cay Horstmann) 10 Mar 91 >The consensus seems to be that Gateway has been cutting a lot of corners, >cheap parts, less than professional assembly... R: bicker@cbnewsi.att.com 11 Mar 91 >It has performed flawlessly, except under Windows, when it hangs >sporadically while running my BBS. But that might be my BBS' fault. R: eda@persoft.com (Ed Almasy) 12 Mar 91 >Of the seven friends that have Gateway 2000 computers, >NONE of them have had ANY problems. R: horstman@mathcs.sjsu.edu (Cay Horstmann) 14 Mar 91 >Count mine against as well. Some of us Gateway users had grief, in my case >expensive grief. Once the warranty is over, there is little Gateway will do. >When something fails [after one year], that is your problem, not theirs. >In all fairness, that is typical in the business. R: casey@gauss.llnl.gov (Casey Leedom) [summary posted] 14 Mar 91 R: bobf@intermec.UUCP (Bob Folline) 14 Mar 91 >They guarantee that if for any reason you are dissatisfied within 30 days >of purchase you can return the unit for a full refund. The only thing it >will cost you is the shipping. R: mmshah@athena.mit.edu (Milan M Shah) 15 Mar 91 >I had a sour experience with Gateway myself, way back in summer 1988. >I told the tech I was fed up. They refunded my money with no trouble, but it >did cost me shipping. >My opinion of Gateway: They are a screwdriver technology company, and I >believe they change their vendors more often than their proverbial underwear. >However, their honesty and their understanding that to stay in business they >must make sure that customers are satisfied and must not, under any >circumstances, be antagonized, has gone quite a long ways to build a >reputation. >So, if you buy from them, you will probably end up with a 'cheap' machine, >but chances are very high that you will not get burnt, money wise. R: stephenc@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Stephen Chung) 16 Mar 91 >I have a Gateway 25MHz 386 and there is *ABSOLUTELY NOTHING* that I >am not satisfied with. It did not give me any problems at all. R: kodiak@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Bryan Nehl) 16 Mar 91 >We have 4 386 gateways at our site. The two that are older >386-20's we have had lots of problems with. Basically *everthing* has >been replaced in these machines at least once. But the two new ones that >are 386-25's have been running perfectly with no problems at all. From >looking at them I think the new machines are a lot nicer quality machine.