My Gateway is crap

[WorkHorse]

OK, it's a few years old (probably just past the warranty date--haven't checked yet). Started having little problems a few weeks ago--pressing any key after booting with non-system disk in floppy drive wouldn't reboot, got a couple BSOD (which has never happened before). Then when I started the PC it just showed the monitor test. I happened onto the idea that if I put a floppy in the drive when I boot, and kick it out before the non-system disk error it would boot without the monitor test??? Now all I get is an "out of frequency" error??? I've tried different monitors and it's the PC, not the monitor. Gateway tech support has given me all kinds of "solutions" but none of them work. The only way I can post this now is by booting Windows in "safe mode", which means I can barely see what I'm doing right now and I'm not really sure how it let me get on the Internet.

So, I have great parts--monitor, speakers, etc. Should I buy a stripped down quality Dell and parse out the Gateway components to the new Dell? How cheap can I get a stipped down new PC (and what would be the add on cost for windows XP and Office XP)?

[JungleMan]

Uhh, build your own PC, and use some parts from the Gateway...

[Jethro]

If ya rip into the Dell you will void the warranty, which is about the only advantage to buying a Dell....

[Arawn]

Actually, when I did tech support for Dell, they would still technically cover it. But they may/will ask you to take out any 3rd party hardware.

[Guv]

If you do not want to build your own system, go to a clone maker. Stay away from Dell, Gateway, and the other name brands.

BTW: I have built my own and had clone makers do it for me. For a normal sort of a system, you do not save a lot of money by building it yourself unless you spend a lot of time shopping for the best prices. It is fun to do the first two or three times, but gets boring by the time you have built your fourth system. I built my most recent system myself because I wanted three hard disks (the clone maker wanted extra due to this), and I had gotten a good on a graphics card not available from my local clone maker.

The name brand people design to make production more efficient at the expense of other considerations. They often build what I call unbalanced systems, catering to buyers who only know about CPU speed and hard disk size. I have friends who got systems that seemed cheap to them, but had a large 5400 RPM disk (instead of 7200 RPM), a second best graphics card, and 128MB of memory. The faster CPU was slowed down by the slow disk, graphics card, and lack of memory.

Also, Dell (and I think Gateway) do not mention the price of shipping your system via UPS until the last minute.

If you ever want to upgrade one of the name brand systems you are liklely to have a problem. If still under warranty, you void your warranty if you open the box to do it yourself. If they do it for you, they charge a lot and you have to ship your box back to them to get it done.

Your local clone maker will build a good system designed for your usage. It will be easy to upgrade. If you do not want to upgrade it yourself, just take the box to him and they will do it reasonably, sometimes on a while you wait basis.

If you need to have a Dell or Gateway fixed, you have to send them the box and do without it for a week or two. The local clone maker can fix it in a day or maybe while you wait.

[Emo]

Originally posted by Jethro
If ya rip into the Dell you will void the warranty, which is about the only advantage to buying a Dell....

The only reason I bought a Compaq was beacuse of the warranty

-Emo