Reason #19568 Why I hate Gateways

[Kenteth420]

I think Gateway is a good company but when people spend $600 for a complete system what they get is a $600 system, Gateway's highend systems are quality but you have to pay for it. There phone support has a lot of halfwits working them but if you get someone who doesnt know what there talking about do what everyone else does and hang up and call back. As for the desktop systems that look like books if the modem dies get a new pci modem and clip the metal on the card and any pci card will fit in the system, you can also buy new driver and os cd's for $25. If your too incompetant or getting drivers is too dificult for you to figure out then go to one of the 300+ Gateway stores and they will download the drivers for you, free of charge.

[Vette]

I think you should re-read the e-mail message from Gateway tech support. THEY said the only drivers avaliable for that model on their website was for the monitor. That customer brought his computer into my shop and I wasn't going to tell him he needs a new modem, video card, sound card just because he neeed the drivers and he has a cheap sorry a** computer. The website asks you for a serial number so you can download the correct drivers for that particular model....only problem was it showed several different manufacturers for the components and even more drivers. I'm NOT going to download all of them and do a trial and error installation until I find the right one. And as far as going to the nearest Grateway store to have them download the drivers for me........I live 240 miles from the nearest one. It would be incompetent do as thier first two tech I made e-mail contact with suggested. If any of their three techs i delt with would have mentioned you could buy a recovery CD from them I would have ordered one, but if you would have read the message, they won't ship software for a computer that's more than 30 days old.

[Hippie_Tech]

I had a similar problem with a Compaq Presario laptop. I had to get a new hard drive installed because the original drive had committed suicide. The customer wanted a clean install without any of the extra software and second partition. I got the OS installed and started installing the drivers for video, modem, etc. I got to the sound driver and there isn't any listed for this model. I tried looking for similar models to see if they have the sound card listed. Nothing!
I called Compaq tech support and he wants to send me to the fee-based line. Screw that!
A friend of mine decides he wants to raise a little heck, so he calls and gives them a big speech about being an ASE (Compaq's term for network specialist) and the tech points him to an FTP site for a specific file. Wrong file!
I ended up having to tear the machine apart (almost literally at this point) to find the sound chip mounted underneath the PCMCIA card slot. It's an Analog Devices SoundMax chip. No problem, I'll just download the appropriate drivers from Analog Devices. Wrong again!
Analog Devices doesn't have the driver for that particular chip posted on their website. I'll have to download the driver from the OEM company's website. AAARRRGGGHHH!!!
After several hours searching for the file on the FTP site for Compaq, I got the sound drivers I needed. Thanks for all the help, Compaq.

[spinning]

It's been a log time since I have posted here, but I was bored today and thought I'd go find some good laughs at tech tales.

My comments are about the bashing that major computer makers are taking here. While I will totally agree that the consumer level computers that these companies is usually total crap. There is light in the tunnel.

Compaq and HP both have lines of computers rated for "business" use (IE: Compaq Deskpro). These systems come in all flavors and options. They are far superior to the Office Depot brand of Pavillions and Presarios. The software is much cleaner and free of adware and other junk. Since I don't get my kicks from building clone systems for family and friends (only myself), I generally recommend that they buy these upgraded business class systems. The warrantys are usually for 3 years. The drivers are generally very easy to find and the components are better quality.

I have worked and repaired many systems from Compaq, Gateway, HP and various clones. While the cheap systems are well... cheap. These higher end systems will usually last the lifetime of the warranty, and at that point its usually time to buy a new system.

If you must recommend a brand to someone, make sure they buy these higher end systems. If they can't afford it, maybe they should hold back on buying a computer. I compare it to buying a KIA (car), when maybe you should wait and buy a [insert you favorite car here]. No offense to Kia owners intended.

[Darksteel]

I'm actually on a gw right now and I hate it. Half the stuff in it has been replaced because it died or sucked. The only original things in the whole thing are the mobo, processor, sound card, and modem. When I went to put in our new hdd, I had a hell of a time getting the drivers working. We also upgraded to win 98 se at the time too. The damn resoration cd wouldn't install any drivers, or it would and they didn't work. I ended up having to format the hdd, install win 95, install the sound and vid drivers, then upgrade to 98se. And the usb still didn't work. Really, I don't understand why the drivers on gw's OWN restoration cd didn't work for the usb that came with the comp. oh well. thats why I'm building my own comp soon.