GW2K or Dell?

[Steve Hooley]

 This is the experience we've had - the Gateways are different inside with
each batch, as they use whatever hard drives, motherboards, nic cards, etc,
they have in stock. So far this has been favorable and we've had good
results and fast service, but a local paper company tells us their first
batch was great and the second was crummy; there WAS no third. However,
we're awaiting 105 Dells right now so I'll know soon enough how they compare!
>
>Since no one else has yet made this point, I thought I'd throw in 2 cents
>here. It is more important to buy good components than to buy a company
>name (although I'd definitely count the warranty and support for
>something). It would be best if the purchasing agent were aware of the
>attributes of the motherboards, the BIOS and the chipsets as well as the
>quality and compatibility of all the other components used in the systems.
>
>The big name systems' components vary by the week and I've noticed that
>quality-of-support and reliability survey results change by the month. I
>suppose that a good reason to buy from one company might be to insure
>consistency of your equipment in order to simplify support, but, I hate to
>tell you, the only consistency may be among each _batch_ that you buy.
>Don't expect the [Gateway] computers that you buy in January to be
>consistent with the ones you buy in March even if they have the same
>processors. I've found that systems with the same model name may come with
>different motherboards and that the ones that the PC magazines test may not
>contain the same components as the ones you buy.
> 
 
*+============================*
|   Stephen S. Hooley         |   
|   Technical Specialist      |   
|    Henderson Library        |   
|    Systems Department       |  
| Georgia Southern University |
|      Statesboro, GA 30460   |  My Mars Probe and private worlds
|                             |  http://www2.gasou.edu/facstaff/hooleyss
+=============================+
        Back up my hard drive?  How do I put it in reverse?