Seeing how my Toshiba Notebook, will cost me $530-600 to fix, even under warranty, I thought might as well pay another 600 and buy a new system… So I decided to go with the Gateway M320X… I used online help was able to get a system built with a sales rep cheaper than what it would cost, if I built it using their website... Funny how that works...

Decided to order it and the price came to $1239.93 with shipping and taxes…. Even less than what I paid for my Damn Toshiba…

Here is the system Specs:

Maybe I should have asked what you guys think of Gateway, before I ordered it? Either way I have ample to change or cancel my order…

So what do you guys think? Good Buy, or I just got burned?

My AC adaptor for my Gateway notebook suddenly went out. Having been stupid enough to purchase an extended warranty from Circuit City that was described as covering everything, I went to Circuit City (keep with me, this is about the Gateway warranty, not the CC warranty). CC told me that yes, the AC adaptor is covered, but that they don't keep replacement parts in house, so I would have to BUY a new AC adaptor for 85 bucks, then call the CC number for a replacement AC adaptor to be sent to me, then I could return the CC adaptor within 30 days. I was mad enough at that, as I have no guarantee that I'll even get the replacement in 30 days, so I'll be trooping back to CC to return it before 30 days is up, and buying a new one to return if I don't have a replacement by then.

OK. So, I call CC immediately to get the replacement. They tell me that it looks like I'm still within the manufacturer's warranty, so they refer me to Gateway. Though the CC extended warranty is supposed to begin on the date of purchase, it doesn't cover this particular part until the manufacturer's warranty runs out. Thus, I paid for a 2 year warranty, but really only have a 1 year for some parts, since the manufacturer's warranty is for a year.

OK. So I call Gateway. They tell me that they will be happy to send me a new AC adaptor, but they want the old one. They will send me a new one out right away, BUT to be sure I return the old one, THEY WILL NEED TO PUT A HOLD OF $75 ON MY CREDIT CARD, I will have 10 days for them to receive the old adaptor, and if they don't get it in that time, I'll be charged for the item. I was like, WHAT???? So now at a minimum, I have to pay for delivery confirmation so that I can prove they get it in 10 days . . . .

I asked them if I could just return the damaged one and ask for a replacement rather than have them put a hold on my card. The answer: NO. THAT IS THEIR POLICY. Do I feel like I have a warranty? NO. Given all of the trouble it sounds like people have been having being sent replacement parts, I really don't want what could be an indefinite hold placed on my card. Or, if they fail to send the item to me promptly, will I end up getting charged because their system considers me to have been late returning it? Who knows?

Didn't the Dell battery recall have similar terms?

OT a bit here. Are you talking about manufacturer's warranty? How is it not covered?

If you had charged the purchase, maybe you can try the credit card route. I had an issue with my laptop a while ago and it turned out to be a motherboard problem. My purchase was covered under the extended warranty from Bank One Visa. I followed the procedures and filed the claim and eventually got a check ($900+) from the credit card company.

This is a pathetically small amount. To run Vista smoothly, you should get a minimum of 2GB of RAM. I went over to http://www.crucial.com/ and 2GB from them cost $170.

It might be cheaper to have Gateway toss 2GB in at the factory.

Gateways are perfectly fine laptops overall.

It might be worthwhile checking if Acer now owns Gateway and if this means the Gateway machines are made by Acer. Then check on the available models for any stories on the reliability and other features of the Gateway (and possibly Acer counterpart) models.

Horrible quality, after years of perfect quality toshiba's I figured I'd try something else for a chance, bought a Gateway, the thing didn't even last 3 months! Back to Toshiba again...

I can't speak for Gateway notebooks but i've had a Gateway desktop for 5 years. The thing won't die. We have an Acer notebook that seems to work just fine although it doesn't run Vista.

Acer owns Gateway. Personally for that amount of money I would keep looking.

Um, it wasn't a pathetically small amount in February 2005, which is the date of the first post.

For some reason, the second poster decided to dig this old chestnut up from three years ago.

(Costco has a Gateway model in stores for $700 with some pretty decent specs - and yes, it has 2GB of RAM, among other things.)