Comments on: Acer seizes opening with Gateway

The Taiwanese PC maker has been growing fast. With Gateway, it gets a bigger foothold on U.S. soil.

[lingsun]

Could be interesting. It's not a merger of weak companies.

Acer has been growing. It will be interesting to see if they can rejuvenate Gateway and eMachines.

[Seaspray0]

What I think of my gateway

It's a gateway notebook purchased last year. I'm happy with it. The hardware specs .vs. price was similar to other makers if not slightly favorable for the class it was in. It was on sale at the time which did give it an edge on price. My two main reasons for choosing it (what made it different to me from the others):

1. It was not loaded with crapware. What I saved on price, I used to paid the extra for XP professional on it (for me a need) so I'm not sure if the multimedia edition would have been different. It did come with Office Professional, DVD playing software, CD burning software, an app to help schedule backups or restore, but not much else. Overall, good job on app choices for me and not loaded garbage I didn't want.

2. It came with a restore DVD. Many of the computer makers are dropping the inclusion of this useful item. If you purchase a computer that doesn't come this way, see if you can get it for a small charge (usually around $10). It's worth having. From past experience, this disk is well worth having.

Perhaps these two reasons are not high on your priority list, but that's fine. I'm just letting you know the deciding factor for me and that I haven't had any issues with mine. Do your own comparisons, and look at what's important to you... price/performance/quality... then make your own choice. All I ask is you atleast consider it before making your choice.

[thomasboy234]

I totally agree Gateway Is the The Best and In my opinion will always be the best!

[skerns]

Why Gateway utimately failed

I own two Gateway computers, both several years old. They're still in service. An associate of mine is using his fifth or sixth Gateway. Quality components are one of the reasons for Gateway's early success. If you had a problem, which didn't happen very often, it was taken care of immediately. That changed dramtically after the companies downturn. Their customer service and tech support went completely south.

A couple of years ago, the machine still well under warranty, I called Gateway for a replacement floppy drive. and was told that I would need to format the hard drive and reinstall Windows to "prove" to them that my floppy drive was defective. Needless to say, I protested such a radical step for a low level issue.

I later called their corporate offices to discuss this (and other) customer service/tech support issues. I was flatly told that the Vice President of Customer Support did not speak with customers.

Bzzzt! Wrong answer. I very slowly and carefully told the person on the phone to please give the VP a message for me.

"I will no longer purchase or recommend Gateway products to anyone. I make purchase decisions and recommendations on a daily basis, and a company that cannot or will not speak to a loyal customer no longer deserves that loyalty or respect. I will, from now on purchase and recommend Dell".

I really expected a call from someone, but it never came. So apparently, I was right.

Gateway was once a great company, that helped make the PC industry great. Soon, they will be a footnote in the history of computing, and they did it to themselves.

[gghartman]

agree

i totally agree with skerns article. dell is a much better machine anyway. gateway like you say will end up quote "being a footnote in the history of computers". they are done for.

[thomasboy234]

I am Currently Using A Gateway operating system and within a year your opinion will be Vice Versa.You will one day learn a good computer Gateway and Acer are the best.My friend has been through two Dells and a friends of my aunt's can't even use his anymore.

[cedaredge]

eMachines

eMachines has ALWAYS been known as a brand to stay away from.

[oxtail01]

Only the beginning

Gobble up the small guys and increase market share. The next logical move will be for Lenova and Acer to merge, creating a dominant global PC company. With the highest growth expected to come from markets outside of US, especially Asia, I think this would be a move that hastens further weakening of Dell.