Gateway computer with AMD Quad processor worth buying at $549?
Ed T asked:
I’ve received conflicting opinions of Gateway and that Windows Vista is also a pain so I am hesitant on this purchase. There must also be a reason why this computer is $250-$350 cheaper than the competition (HP).
I’ve received conflicting opinions of Gateway and that Windows Vista is also a pain so I am hesitant on this purchase. There must also be a reason why this computer is $250-$350 cheaper than the competition (HP).
But what does the competition have in it? Likely an Intel chip and maybe a video card? Also look at the included software. Most likely both have MS Works, but if one has Word it would cost more. Does one have more RAM and a bigger hard drive? The AMD chip is likely less expensive than the intel. It would also be slower, but if you’re not playing newer games, you don’t need anything fancy. I assume the cheap Gateway doesn’t have a video card. I would see what a cheap 256 mb video card would cost and add that to the cost of the machine to determine what you should pay. A comp. w/o a video card will run much slower than it needs to due to shared memory.
Gateway if a fine computer company. With HP you are paying extra just for the name. Two computers could have the exact same parts, down to the nuts and bolts, and you would pay, on average, $200.00 more just for the HP name. Same goes with Dell.
This system is a good system for this price. In fact, it is excellent. Hopefully it has three (3) gigabytes of RAM.
About Vista, Vista is a really good OS. Don’t listen to the killjoys who don’t understand that this is the best OS Microsoft has ever developed. It is a very secure platform, and had only 1/3 of the issue out of the gate that XP did the first year is was released to the public. It is far more secure, and very difficult to crash. I wish they hadn’t changed some of the names, but once I got use to these I found out how much more fun Vista is, and how much more attractive, plus it is simply very solid. The ease of configuration of networks and other options which use to be a real pain in the behind are now nearly flawlessly simple to complete.
User Account Control takes some getting use too, but it is worth all the nagging prompts for peace of mind knowing that some rogue program or website isn’t getting in here. The dark screen which appears with UAC is actually a seperate process which creates a layer of protection between the item asking for permission and the system. If something does it in, you are alerted, and it cannot affect the system because it is basically held within that layer process. It is worth getting use to and not shutting off.
I have been running Vista Ultimate for four months now, upgraded to SP1, and my XP machine sits next to it, and I seldom ever turn it on any longer. It is going out into the living room for guests, our Xbox, and our other entertainment devices to hook up to with the T.V.
Go ahead and purchase this. You could also look at the Toshiba brand. It was once not such a great manufacturer for computers, but has really done well lately.
First off, Vista is wonderful(as long as you get Service Pack 1), and I would not purchase a Gateway if it was 99% off(for lots of reasons)…. Here, this is an awesome computer(I have 2)…
Feel free to customize it to your specifications!