troj@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu (11/15/89)
For the past few months I've been helping an acquaintance determine what sort of '386SX machine to purchase. He'd limited his choices down to Zeos, Austin, or Gateway 2000. After we both talked with the same salesman (Jeff Uhl), we decided that Gateway 2000 definitely has a system worth investigating... Advertised in the November 1989 issue of Byte was a 16 Mhz '386 for $2395. Loaded as follows: 2 megs (expandable to 8 megs on the motherboard) 40 meg 28 ms hard drive (they're switching it to a 68 meg for free) ATI VGA Wonder 256K (upgrade to 512K for $50) Keytronics keyboard Tatung color monitor (swap to NEC Multisynch 3D for $100) 1.2 meg 5.25" floppy 1.44 meg 3.5" floppy AMI BIOS DOS 3.3 or 4.01 Deskview/386 1 parallel, 2 serial ports 1 8-bit slot free (XT style) 3 16-bit slots free (AT style) 30-day money back guarantee 1 year warranty One thing to note, however, is that DOS 4.01 (possibly 3.3) comes pre-loaded on the hard drive. My guess is this mean that no manuals are included with the system. From my conversation with the salesman it sounds as if few, if any, parts of the package are etched in stone. Instead, they're willing to change things around at the buyer's request. Some changes cost money, some reduce the charge, some leave it alone. Any feedback on this? -Kevin Trojanowski troj@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu trojpg@uiamvs.bitnet
kens@hplsla.HP.COM (Ken Snyder) (11/16/89)
Kevin writes: > > One thing to note, however, is that DOS 4.01 (possibly 3.3) comes pre-loaded > on the hard drive. My guess is this mean that no manuals are included with > the system. DOS comes on the hard drive which is completely configured to whatever you specify (1 partition, 2...). You get the choice of DOS 3.3 or DOS 4.01. All the manuals and original diskettes (mine were even unopened) come with the system. > > From my conversation with the salesman it sounds as if few, if any, parts of > the package are etched in stone. Instead, they're willing to change things > around at the buyer's request. Some changes cost money, some reduce the > charge, some leave it alone. > You can configure whatever you'd like. I had them upgrade the video card ($50), the monitor ($100) and add cache ($250). I was also charged their current charges for these upgrades which were less than advertised. I'd like to comment on an earlier allegation that their tech hotline is less than responsive. While it is true you cannot usually (ever) get through directly to your assigned tech, once you have established contact and are working on a problem, they ask you to tell the operator to hand carry a message to them and they call you right back (as soon as the current call is over). I've used this technique and always had my call returned within 5 minutes. I have also set up specific times to be called and they have been very prompt. This contrasts with another company who always puts you on hold until a tech becomes free. I spent hours listening to their local radio station waiting for a tech. I prefer to be called back. Just a happy customer, Ken