Why I chose to buy a Gateway Computer instead of a Dell Computer

...then regrettably ended up with a Dell anyway.

Gateway vs. Dell

Which should I buy???

Update 02/22/04 - Gateway inexplicably never delivered, despite taking my check over the phone-  I was never notified, and  no reason why was ever given. My new computer just never showed up. And now I am getting around to writing up my experience with Dell. So now I'm in Dell Hell, having spent incrementally more money as I navigated my way through Dell's website, having to add more and more software and service options:

XP Pro

MS Office Professional

just so I'd have have Excel and word, never mind Access... and, believing friends who told me what great support Dell offered, I signed up for Express service, thinking there'd be someone there to answer my questions, piling on more extra charges.

The net effect is I bent over and took it up the rear from the folks at Dell, and when I got my computer, I had a few very basic questions about the taskbar settings and importing email folders from my old computer. All software support people at Dell I talked to were able to do little more than Google my problems, as I'd already tried unsuccessfully to do for find myself. They appeared to have absolutely no experience at all with the XP Pro operating system! 

I saw no advantage, for my purposes, to having Windows XP over Windows 98, in fact, the Start > Find option that worked so well with Windows 98 was replaced by the Start > Search option (That, I might add, opens very, very slowly), takes longer to search all the files, and does not appear to search them all like the Windows 98 Find option did. I've often visited websites, then attempted to find a file, and while windows 98 easily found them in temporary internet files, not only does XP Pro not find the same files, but the XP Pro temporary internet folder file is not even accessible using windows explorer like it was with Windows 98.

To make matters far worse, Windows XP Pro insists on complicating things unnecessarily by dragging me into an unnecessary, bizarre internet search when all I wanted is to be able to FIND MY OWN GODDAM FILES ON MY OWN PIECE OF SHIT DELL COMPUTER.

CONCLUSION:

Next time I buy a new computer, I'll probably rely on a good reliable discount place like Tiger Computer, and install a bandit Windows operating system. I attempted to purchase the appropriate software from Dell, but got stuck with an inferior operating system, and non-functional customer service whose only suggestion to my questions has been consistently to sell me more dell products - software support, or a second hard drive..

What did I want? When I ordered my new computer, I just wanted to be able to continue what I was doing, namely using my computer as I had been without having to take the time to learn anything new, and although I have nothing against progress, I would have expected XP Pro to perform as good as or better then Windows 98.

12/31/02, 11:20 AM:

I call Dell, hoping to ask a real live person a few basic questions not on their website (a long winded FAQ might have helped- what if I want a second hard drive, like Gateway offers as an option on their website? What if I want a 750 Meg Zip Drive instead of 250 like Gateway offers for the same price??

But with Dell, all I get, after listening to a recorded message that is obviously running too slow- sounds like Satan made the recording - (Are they using a TAPE RECORDING??? When they sell digital things that are supposed to do the job??? I hafta wonder) - But after obediently listening to Satan, I press "T  O  O  W   H   A  A" and wait to talk to someone in sales. And I wait. And I wait.

I am not even given a clue as to how long my wait will be. I am not even given the courtesy of a live person answering who can at least tell me they are short staffed, sorry, and offer to call ME back or to give me an email address to email my questions to*.

 NO, I am left holding, and holding, and cluelessly holding.

 So, I give Gateway a call. Lo and behold, I get a live person pretty quickly. (I wonder if they would have had the courtesy to use a system that lets the hapless caller know the expected wait time??

I get quick answers to the simple questions I had. Although Dell was recommended by knowledgeable folks as being the better computer, I will judge by my own experience instead. 

*Most certainly they want to avoid an endless barrage of emails that would bog down their system, but you'd think they would offer some way to help their callers.