Got a call from Gateway’s corporate office today with some guy giving me a tracking number.

This same guy said I’d get the computer Tuesday or Wednesday.

I was told this morning on the phone that it’d be tomorrow.

I chose not to say anything, this had better be a case of underpromise over deliver. But even if it isn’t, the computer is already on the way back to me, and nothing I could have said or done this afternoon would change it now that it is in transit.

I just want my computer back. Jon gave me a list of components for a dream system for video games that I’ll be giving a close look at, so that when May gets here, I’ll have a good idea of what kind of computer will be built.

Don’t buy Gateway.

was taken down. Even though there was nothing inflammatory or untrue about it, that much negativity doesn’t really need to be up.

Lesson #1: Take the laptop to a local person to get repaired.
If at all possible, do this. The local person will be more prompt, courteous, and explain in detail what is going on. Plus you’ll save on shipping costs.

Lesson #2: Gateway doesn’t give a damn about their customers, so don’t expect any decent treatment.
The computer is built by gateway, sold by gateway, and warrantied by gateway…but they don’t repair the computer. This way they can keep you guessing for a week while the computer is at some other company’s repair facility. And then when you call them on it, they say they’re in the same position that you are, dependent on emailing the company that is repairing the computer.

Lesson #3: If you DO have to deal with Gateway, DO NOT use fast shipping.
I fedexed my comp overnight last tuesday, so it arrived on Wednesday. I figured I’d have it back early this week(as has been the case every OTHER time I had to send the POS in). Nope, it took them over a week to even put it into the system for processing. I wasted $65 to get it there sooner, when I could have shipped it ground and been done with it.

Lesson #4: Don’t expect to get your money’s worth from the product.
This is the third time I’ve sent my computer in to get repaired, once for the sound card dying, once for the LCD screen dying, and now this time for the graphics card dying. I paid extra money for a three year warranty, but for a quality system there shouldn’t be a need to USE the three year warranty.

Lesson #5: Be prepared to take matters into your own hands.
Nothing happened on my computer until coincidentally I emailed the repair facility through their website. Then, lo and behold, things got started moving. Gateway’s response? Of course, because you dealt with the company itself rather than with us. Of course, Quanta was shut down from the 27th through the 3rd, so APPARENTLY I should cut them some slack. No. If a business shuts down for that long, and allows computer repairs to get backed up over a week, then Gateway should look towards another repair depot. Then the question remains why the hell I should deal with gateway at all.

Lesson #6: Don’t deal with Gateway computers.
This is perhaps the best lesson there is. The next computer will be a desktop that I build myself, complete with quality parts EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. That way, I know what has gone into the computer, and I’m not dealing with some cheaply made peice of crap that needs to be sent in every 9 months to get repaired.

I used to be able to recommend Gateway for people to buy computers from, because once upon a time they made quality machines(like the one I’m typing on now, a 5 and a half year old laptop that was only sent in once to get the fan repaired). Apparently no longer, and their tech support have become little more than “restart monkeys”.

This is what you get for dealing with a computer company that was started in south dakota I guess.

stay way from Gateway. They WILL rip you off.