lever@linus.UUCP (Mark J. Lever) (02/11/89)
I need some help from the net. I have been contemplating the purchase of a computer for some time now and have seen ads for the Gateway 2000 computers in many of the magazines. I read the review of affordable 386s in the October issue of BYTE that put Gateway on top despite some shortcomings (I have read subsequently that they have corrected the 16 MHz part problem though). Their prices seem outstanding and the quality and performance are probably not far behind but before I can shell out $4,000.00 for anything I need to hear from someone who already has. Therefore, I would like to hear from someone who has bought the 386 VGA configuration in particular (although I welcome input from those of you who have purchased 286 configurations as well). Questions like How does it perform (SI rating,...)? , How well built is it? , How's the keyboard? , How's the documentation? , What about the graphics adapter? , Do they have a list of components/prices that you can mix and match to make up a system? , ... , the general questions. Thanx in advance, Mark Lever UUCP: lever@linus.uucp
dlp@gistdev.UUCP (02/14/89)
=> Written 3:27 pm Feb 10, 1989 by linus.UUCP!lever
= >/* ---------- "Gateway 2000 386 VGA Experience" ---------- */
=> I need some help from the net. I have been contemplating the purchase
=> of a computer for some time now and have seen ads for the Gateway 2000
=> computers in many of the magazines. I read the review of affordable
=> 386s in the October issue of BYTE that put Gateway on top despite some
=> shortcomings (I have read subsequently that they have corrected the 16
=> MHz part problem though). Their prices seem outstanding and the
=> quality and performance are probably not far behind but before I can
=> shell out $4,000.00 for anything I need to hear from someone who
=> already has.
I have a '386 VGA from Gateway 2000, and now that we've ironed out a few
problems, I'm happy with it. I got the 20MHz with 4M of 100ns SRAM,
80M Seagate, a Paradise Plus 16 VGA card and Samsung multisync monitor,
101-key so-called 'enhanced' keyset with switchable ctrl/capslock key.
Total cost was $4592 including shipping (and the 4m memory). I've heard
they now ship NEC multisync monitors instead.
The problems were:
1. The keyset they sent originally failed diagnostics after about two
hours of use, leaving the whole system unusable until it was replaced.
UPS took three weeks to ship the replacement keyset 200 miles, and the
second keyset Gateway sent (via next-day air) was not the switchable
type, so I ended up paying shipping to return 3 keysets to them. (Not
much money, and they are paying for all phone calls, so we're even.)
2. They sent it with a short monitor cable, so I am constrained to place
the tower back by the wall and the monitor at the edge of the desk, not
in the convenient locations they should be. Gateway wants another $10
plus shipping for a monitor extension cable that I expected to be part
of any reasonable tower configuration. I'll probably buy it locally just
to spite them.
3. Gateway originally sent a Vega VGA card (an 8-bitter) installed, along
with the documentation for both the Vega and the Paradise cards. When I
complained about not getting the card I ordered, they sent the Paradise 16
and said I could try them both and send back the one I didn't want. (Two
guesses which one I returned.)
4. I had to low-level format and mark the bad sectors on the hard disk for
myself, which eliminated intermittent "hard disk failure" errors I got the
first day. I have had no disk problems since.
Other than that, I've been very pleased with the whole system. I used it
at the office for 6 weeks and finally took it home. The Samsung monitor
performs flawlessly, the disk is fast and quiet, it looks good, runs fast,
(not going to quote any numbers, since "your mileage may vary" anyway),
and does everything I want it to do.
* * * * * * * *
Dirk Pellett (217) 352-1165
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