[Hogfan2502]

I'm about to order an new computer and I like to be able to customize and build my own to fit my wants and needs. There are just so many companies and options out there. I am a teacher so i get 12% off of Dell and 8% off of Gateway. Thats why i'm trying to decide between those two. What do you guys suggest? Please any feedback is good feedback on the two. Even if you have a diff. company to suggest i would love to check them out so just let me know.Thanks

[Mills]

Build your own using sites like Newegg. Just a little bit of research and know how will save you more than your 8-12% off while being able to customize all of your needs easily while having a little bit of fun.Also, if you still plan on buying a computer I have had better experiences with Dell for the most part between Gateway and Dell but take a look into Acer because they have some good deals with AMD processors. (AMD processors for the most part tend to be cheaper than intel)

[AuroraDizon]

Imo Dell is overpriced and there customer service calls for migrane medication.Gateway on the other hand has offered me excellent customer support when I need it. Also their quality but reasonable priced items is why I have a Gateway laptop myself right now. I'd never buy a Dell..Of course this is my own opinion you can read others opinions on http://www.notebookreview.com/

[NastyNass]

Well it all depends on what you wanna do with your pc, and with dell you can costomize it online to what you like . I know you can costomize on gateway but you can't do very much of it. I would go for the dell becuase im not a fan of gateway. If you can I would check out HP they have a few good things out there. i had a HP and i was pretty happy with it. If you really wanna save money you can build your own pc buying stuff on newegg and you and search videos and websites on how to build your own pc thats how i learned how to build mine and i save about 500 bucks because i built my own. hope that helped a little.

[satrn]

AbsPC's will beat either of their prices and have better support and options for the dollar than either of them and will use amd/intel whatever you like and only put the software you want on it.

[spike]

Dell uses PROPRIETARY HARDWARE, motherboards and power supply's, if you EVER plan on upgrades or customization, BEWARE!!!

[rgreen4]

Dell has this nice ad out offering 23% off in celebration of their 23rd anniversiary. I went through their setup, and it took about 15 screens to get to the end. I printed out the setup, and then went onto the HP website and went through the setup of a similar machine. HP was $50 higher on a $1,500 laptop!Dell harddrives on their laptops are under the keyboard, HP is acessable by removing two small screws and a plate on the underside.Their desktops have some proprietary items, and so does Gateway, at least in the past.Rolling your own desktop does have the distinct advantage of you knowing exactly what is in the machine and it won't have any bloatware. Newegg offers OEM versions of software. If you purchase a motherboard, processer, memory and a hard drive, you can get the OEM version of Vista Home Premium for $112. The upgrade version is $150. The downside is that the OEM version cannot be moved to another machine after installation. But you can only activate any of the versions on one machine at a time. If you don't plan on changing systems in any time soon, that is not a disadvantage.

[spike]

If it is a laptop you are looking for, try Acer, or IBM, but,...... if it is a desktop, as I said stay away from Dell, if you plan on ANY upgrades, I have yet to see a gateway, that was not a common ATX setup, while they have had some components made especially for them, those parts were NOT a special form factor, in other words, an off the shelf replacement part would work with out modifications.

[StormX2]

id say get a dell XPS machine, there specialized techsupport / service and never worry about a thing.everyone you ask will have a I Love Dell, or I Love Gateway! or i Love HPand most people will say I LOVE BUILDING MY OWN! lolpersonally, il say, build yourown, if you cannot, then buy a dell.

[Knifeblade]

www.cyberpowerpc.comwww.ibuypower.comA couple lesser known, but rather good sytem builders.

[retiredoldman]

ABSPC is actually owned by Newegg:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeweggIf you want to build your own system (which can be problematic if you don't know a lot about computer hardware), Newegg is one of the highest-ranked online retailers listed on the ResellerRatings.com website.If you want a custom-built system, which will allow you to avoid proprietary (JUNK) hardware, you should do some research at the www.resellerratings.com website.One company has ALWAYS been highly rated by ResellerRatings for their excellent customer service and support; they will build a computer based on YOUR needs, without the bloatware you get from the cookie-cutter builders, such as Dell, HP, Gateway, Compaq, and others...http://www.resellerratings.com/store/EnvisionComputerSolutionsECSPCECSCheck the website, and if you have any questions, give them a call...http://www.ecspc.bizA friend of mine ordered his first custom-built system from Envision while I was out of the country a few years ago, and he has NEVER had a problem with it. He tells me he's now an Envision customer for life... The components and build quality are first-rate, so if you want a new system WITHOUT the "off-shore" tech support headaches provided by Dell et al., I urge you to consider buying from Envision. They're located in Salina, Kansas, and I consider them to be the best computer retailer in the US, if not the world...Good luck, let us know what you decide to do...

[Cosmo]

[quote name='Knifeblade']www.cyberpowerpc.com> > > > www.ibuypower.com> > > > A couple lesser known, but rather good sytem builders.Stay away from cyberpowerpc. They've turned into a lemon company. A lot of users have had bad experiences with that company.

[Knifeblade]

Seriously, cyberpower?

[AuroraDizon]

Yea try searching the forum for it. A lot of people have had a lot of really horrible problems with cyberpower pc from this forum. From getting the wrong order, to having to struggle with tech support to get something messed up replaced but in the end just getting massively screwed in the end.Here are some of the threads:http://forums.pcworld.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4673http://forums.pcworld.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5996

[rgreen4]

After reading the posts, I am wondering why no one ever contacted the credit card companies. Especially if a Gold or better card was used. The credit card companies have the BIG HAMMER.I used to build my own machines, but the last one I built the materials all came from Treasure Chest (old timers will realize how far back that is), never really had that much in the way of problems. I went to custom ordered then, still pretty much got what I wanted anyway, and got the benefit of technical support (HP). Now that I have found this forum, my next desktop may be another PIP (Parts-Is-Parts). When I was building them before, it seemed like there were about 50-60 motherboards out there, now it seems that there are 500-600.Once you get the motherboard selected, the rest is pretty easy. It helps if the company you buy the mobo and CPU and memory from will integrate them for you. TC did that and took a lot of the worry out of it. I built 10-12 systems that way and only had one board go bad. I still have two of the systems. Hogfan2502 - the biggest thing in building you own is to take your time and READ THE MANUAL. Don't force anything. Most of it is common sense and paying attention to where you connect the wires. If you order your materials from someone like Newegg, pay attention to the reviews. If it is a new product and there are no reveiws, look for a similar item from the same manufacturer. If you look at a product and there are a reasonable number of reveiws, but there are no real satisfied customers and most are average or below average in their assessment, look for another manufacturer/model. While there will always be some who are disgruntled, there should also be some who are thrilled. Newegg uses "eggs" instead of other sites "stars", but the standards are similar. If its rated below 4, read thouroughly the reviews. Some are downgraded just because they expected the features of a $100 case for $25. And if you current computer is not hopelessly out of date, a simple remodeling might be in order. Depending on the motherboard/CPU combination, you might just order a new style case, additional memory, larger drives and maybe a DVD R/RW instead of a CD/R/DVD Rom or what ever is in your machine. That may be more cost effective - again depending on you existing CPU.

[coastie65]

I bought an e-machines ( made by Gateway ) in October. I didn't wait for the warantee to expire before tearing into this thing. I went from 1 to 2 gigs on the memory, installed an nvidia geforce 7600 gs PCI-E card, Antec Basiq 500w atx PS, and swapped out the 805 Pentium D for a 945 Pentium D. Total cost from initial purchase of the computer thru the mods, about $875. Although this thing has a LGA 775 socket, it won't take a C2D processor so I went with the biggest Pentium D that it would take. There is a place in Houston, AxionTech that build their own for sale , in various configurations. Their prices and customer service is good. Their overall rating is 9.85 out of 10. I bought the processor from them for $179 new, in a factory sealed boxed w/ fan and heat sink. ThePS was $58.95 new. The next rig I buy, I'll make sure I can build it up a little more than I could with this one, although, this one will probably do all I want it to do. Getting back to the original question, in my humble opinion, I would go for Gateway over Dell. On second thought, I would go for anything over Dell. coastie65

[retiredoldman]

I'll stand by what I said previously about Envision being the best custom-builder in the country...Feel free to compare the ratings for yourself:http://www.resellerratings.com/store/AxionTech6http://www.resellerratings.com/store/EnvisionComputerSolutionsECSPC_ECSResellerRatings.com allows customers to rank the sites they do business with, which I consider the best way to find out which companies to avoid (like TigerDirect), and which ones deserve our business...Keep in mind that getting support from the big companies (Dell, HP, Gateway, etc.) is not a pleasant experience (they don't call it "Dell Hell" just because it rhymes)... I've dealt with ALL of those companies over the years, trying to get warranties honored for my clients, which was ALWAYS a waste of time...AVOID the problems; buy the system YOU want, not one sitting on a shelf that someone will try to sell you because they get a larger commision by making a SUCKER out of you... The Envision warranty is as good as you will find, and you won't be calling someone in India, who speaks their own bastardized version of English, which sounds like gibberish to American ears... Besides that, you'll be keeping one more tech-support job in the US; Envision doesn't use ANY third-party / offshore companies to provide support. They build the systems in-house, and they back them up...

[coastie65]

Hey Retired, I haven't checked envision yet. Guess I'll have to have a look see. I was only marginaly happy with the custom builds at AxionTech. They were alright I guess, They just didn't really fire me up much. I do like AxionTech's prices and service though. I'll prowlaround envision a bit as I'll probably be looking for a monitor down the road. coastie65

[retiredoldman]

Best of luck to you on this, coastie65; a monitor is a monitor regardless of where you buy it, but I can personally vouch for the build quality and support provided by Envision... As I've mentioned previously, a friend bought a custom-built system from Envision a few years ago. He wanted a particular case, which they didn't stock, but they got the case and built his system with no delay in shipping or delivery. I've always built my own systems, because I'm very picky about the quality of the hardware, and I'm very impressed with Envision. I do hope you'll consider them if you want an excellent computer custom-built for you, without the headaches you'd get dealing with the proprietary hardware some of the big system builders use...

[coastie65]

Hey retired, yeah, like I said, I wasn't real impressed with AxionTech's builds. If I decide down the road to go for a custom build, I'll definately look into envision. As for the monitor thing, my graphics card has DVI capability and my monitor doesn't. It is a LCD 19" WS, but only analog. I don't know what if any difference it would make. I would just like to know I can use my DVI output. coastie65