6500boo@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (William Bushing) (11/23/90)
A little over a week ago I ordered a 33 MHz 386 from Gateway with the Maxtor 200 Mb IDE, dual TEAC floppies, Diamond SpeedSTAR and NEC 3D for $3,595. At that time their base configuration was $3,495 which my rep "dropped" to $3,395 (+ $200 for NEC 3D). Over the past week I've heard reports of a price drop to $3,295 for the standard configuration. When I called my rep, she failed to respond to my messages (despite being very prompt when I was asking for info PRIOR to closing the deal). Of course I understand all this... including the price drop. I'm just interested in hearing from anyone else who has ordered or been quoted a price on the standard configuration that's less than $3,495. I realize that if I waited long enough I could end up getting the system for a pittance (once the 686's are out!) so I'm just curious what bottom-line prices other Gateway reps are offering. Happy Turkey Day to all... Bill Bushing
daly@ecs.umass.edu (11/26/90)
In article <7358@hub.ucsb.edu>, 6500boo@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (William Bushing) writes: > A little over a week ago I ordered a 33 MHz 386 from Gateway > with the Maxtor 200 Mb IDE, dual TEAC floppies, Diamond > SpeedSTAR and NEC 3D for $3,595. At that time their base > configuration was $3,495 which my rep "dropped" to $3,395 > (+ $200 for NEC 3D). > > Over the past week I've heard reports of a price drop to > $3,295 for the standard configuration. When I called my > rep, she failed to respond to my messages (despite being > very prompt when I was asking for info PRIOR to closing > the deal). Of course I understand all this... including > the price drop. I'm just interested in hearing from anyone > else who has ordered or been quoted a price on the standard > configuration that's less than $3,495. > > I realize that if I waited long enough I could end up getting > the system for a pittance (once the 686's are out!) so I'm > just curious what bottom-line prices other Gateway reps are > offering. > > Happy Turkey Day to all... > > Bill Bushing On Friday after Thanksgiving, I called Gateway 2000 about their 33MHz setup for the first time. The sales rep quoted me a price of $3295 for the advertised config, only that the ATI 512K VGA Wonder+ was replaced by a Diamond Super-something-or-other with 1MB RAM, capable of 1024x768x256. Everything else, 200 MB IDE drive, monitor, ram, etc was the same. He stated that the video card change was because of the greater amount of video memory on the new card. Since I don't need 200MB anywhere in the near future, I asked about a substitution a a smaller drive for a lower price, and was told a similar config, but with a 80 MB IDE (17ms) instead of the 200MB one was available for $2895 (The 110MB drive setup cost $3295, same as 200MB setup) Wow! $2895 was the price of the 25MHz system in the adds. The sales rep stated that this was the "Turkey Special". (I hope that this is because of its proximity to Thanksgiving, and not because of the stupidity of the customer who buys it). I thanked the rep, and went off to do more research. I called back later, but all salespersons had left for the day, so I called the next day and got a different rep (the first wasn't in). I mentioned the price I was quoted on Thursday, and the salesperson said "I don't know if those prices are still available today --- I'll check with my manager" He came back on the line and said they were, but I had best order that day if I wanted to get the system at that price. Some of the other price quotes varied between the two salesmen - the first said $100 extra for a tower case, and $75 for shipping (he also said cache was exp. to 256K) The second said $150 extra for the tower case, and $95 for shipping (and the cache was fixed at 64K) Well, it seemed too good a deal to pass up 33MHz system for only $2895, so I ordered it. And the salesman threw in a game card for free. I guess I'll find out if it was worth it when it arrives. I wonder if this was some kind of attempt to manipulate the customers, but most likely, it was just what they said, a one-day special, but with them nice enough to extend the sale for me. I suppose I can call on Monday and see what their prices are like. My advice to people looking to buy this system from Gateway 2000, if the price has gone back up again, is probably to wait the month until Christmas, if you can, and see if they have a "Santa Special" or something, if you really need to save that extra money. It seems that I was just lucky enough to call on the right day. Good luck, all Bryon Daly, ECE grad student at large daly@ecs.umass.edu ---- I tried to speak for my employers, but they told me to shut up!
crane@ics.uci.edu (Steven Crane) (12/04/90)
In article <11530.27505ec7@ecs.umass.edu> daly@ecs.umass.edu writes: >In article <7358@hub.ucsb.edu>, 6500boo@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (William Bushing) writes: >> A little over a week ago I ordered a 33 MHz 386 from Gateway [...] >> At that time their base >> configuration was $3,495 which my rep "dropped" to $3,395 [...] >> >> Over the past week I've heard reports of a price drop to >> $3,295 for the standard configuration. [...] > > On Friday after Thanksgiving, I called Gateway 2000 about their 33MHz setup >for the first time. The sales rep quoted me a price of $3295 for the >advertised config, [...] >It seems that I was just lucky enough to call on the right day. > Gee, I got 'em on a good day too! :-) I also just ordered (on Fri. Nov 30) a 33MHz 386 from Gateway. My rep gave me the same line about a one day special ($3,295) for the std config (IDE drive -- the ESDI was still at $3,495). He also told me they have a "price protection plan" which guarantees I get any lower prices between now and 30 days after I receive the machine (minus the $150 he knocked off my config). I went with Gateway because of their good reputation. But let's keep an eye on them and keep each other informed. I intend to call them periodically and ask random reps (other than mine) what their latest price is. I intend to hold them to their promises. I purchased with a credit card. That might help. (That is, assuming I get the credit limit increase I need :-). - Steven N. Crane (crane@ics.uci.edu)