Why I threw in the towelIt is still under warranty. In-home service, no less! The tech has been here so often, we exchange Christmas cards!
Seriously, the reason I'm giving up on Gateway is the history with this machine. We have purchased six desktops and a laptop from them with great results. Until now. The hard drive has been replaced three times: The motherboard replaced twice: The power supply replaced once. And this power-down situation has been going on for three months. they replaced the CPU fan. That didn't fix it. They had me repair Windows. That didn't fix it.
The crowning defeat was yesterday, when I sent them an email asking if it could be the power supply causing the problem. I detailed all the additional peripherals I have added, such as the video card, audio card, 4-port RS-232 card, and USB devices, as well as the 3.4 Ghz motherboard they used to replace the original 2.6 Ghz motherboard! I asked specifically to have a PC designer or engineer look at whether or not a 250-watt power supply would handle this load. Their answer? "If the power supply didn't work, we wouldn't have shipped the unit". Game over.
If this were the first issue with them, I wouldn't be taking this approach. This is the eighth or ninth time I have had to request service from them for this one computer! The last time I called, the tech refused to get the supervisor on the phone! After spending an unproductive half-hour on the phone, I asked to speak to the supervisor and was told "it makes no difference - she'll tell you the same thing!"
I'll replace the power supply out of my own pocket, and simply will not do business again with the company. The only good thing about beating my head against the wall is that it feels so good when I stop hi hi!
73 Dave KB3MOW Danny Douglas wrote:
Dave, is it still under warranty? If not, it would be cheaper to take it to a local shop and have them check it - of course - if this new power supply doesnt fix the problem. I suspect it is NOT under warranty, or you would have been able to ask Gateway for another supply. FYI, we had over 500 Gateway computers at the college, from where I just retired a year and a half ago. We also had a few Dells, with assorted odd and ends hanging around. I even found some Commodore Vic 20 parts in the storeroom, while cleaning it out. We, and most of the colleges in Virginia use Gateway, because they are easy to work on, have extra quick service. At first, we had to answer the same old dumb questions. Is the unit turned on? Is it plugged into the wall, and the wall circuit tested? Blah Blah Blah. Until we convinced them we were NOT users, but were professinal computer people. A call to the regional sales staff, with a threat that we were looking at other companies, got us a different phone number for reporting problems. All I had to do was call, or send an email that a power supply wasnt working, a keyboard had gone bad on a desktop, etc. and they sent one that arrived the next day. That, of course is one of the problems with dealing with large companies like that. Most of their customers qualify for the "Dummies with Windows" title. So - they pretty much go by-the-book, asking questions and are afraid to skip one, no matter how much you sound like you know what you are doing. They really DO want to provide customer service: so that somone like you or me, doesnt get on a group like this one, and browbeat their good name. One lousy result with a phone calls, results in dozens of "tellings", while a good one hardly gets mentioned. Danny Douglas N7DCex WN5QMX ET2US WA5UKR ET3USA SV0WPP VS6DD N7DC/YV5 G5CTB all DX 2-6 years each . QSL LOTW-buro- direct As courtesy I upload to eQSL but if you use that - also pls upload to LOTW or hard card.moderator [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DXandTalk <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DXandTalk>----- Original Message ----- *From:* Dave Corio <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> *To:* digitalradio@yahoogroups.com <mailto:digitalradio@yahoogroups.com> *Sent:* Saturday, April 28, 2007 9:40 PM *Subject:* Re: [digitalradio] Re: Off-topic, but any help appreciated Thanks for the input, Jose, and nice to talk to you again! If I could, I would build one today. Unfortunately, this one is still under warranty - even after being repaired eight times! Also, the finances simply won't allow for it right now. Just ordered a 500-watt power supply for it that I think (hope!) will cure the problem. The only other alternative was to send the entire unit off to Gateway - an alternative I am unwilling to do. Tnx es 73 Dave KB3MOW Jose A. Amador wrote:Dave, I assembled my computer out of separately bought parts. I cannot reccomend a PSU brand, mine is a tower case with a 300 W noname brand made in China. My MB is a Gigabyte 8S661. I have had it for some more than a year without a hiccup. I bought an Intel P4 CPU @ 2.4 GHz. Another good option I made of cost vs. horsepower so far. I don't believe in Celerons, and the price vs performance curve was unreasonably steep for a 3.2 vs 2.4 for P4's at the end of 2005 for my resources. I would reccomend without hesitation an ASUS motherboard. I have had a couple of Asus motherboards, and the old 486 still works after more than 12 years. Maybe others may recommend other brands. Gigabyte and ASUS are proven compatible good ones for me. ASUS has a very good working relationship with Intel and that is another plus for them. 73, Jose, CO2JA --- Dave Corio wrote: > The power supply has been changed once already, but that was > changing a 250-watt for another 250-watt. I can't just get a generic > power supply, as Gateway has a proprietary mounting system that a > generic won't fit into without a lot of drilling. I'm going to order a > 450-watt unit from Gateway - at $65 plus shipping. This will also be my > last dealing with Gateway. This PC has been a lemon since day one, > having been repaired now eight times under warranty! > > Tnx es 73 > Dave > KB3MOW > > > jhaynesatalumni wrote: >> >> --- In digitalradio@yahoogroups.com <mailto:digitalradio%40yahoogroups.com> >> <mailto:digitalradio%40yahoogroups.com>, "N6CRR" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > >> > Spend $20 and swap out the power supply. I had a computer doing that >> > and it turned out to be that. Power supplies are cheap. >> > >> >> And cheap power supplies are often prodigious RF noise generators, even >> when the computer is off. Spend a little more and get a good quality >> power supply. And beware that Dell computers use the same power >> connector as others, but with a different pin arrangement. So you can't >> swap mother boards and power supplies between Dell and other brands. >> >> ---------------------------------------------------------- __________________________________________ V Conferencia Internacional de Energía Renovable, Ahorro de Energía y Educación Energética. 22 al 25 de mayo de 2007 Palacio de las Convenciones, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba http://www.cujae.edu.cu/eventos/cier <http://www.cujae.edu.cu/eventos/cier> Participe en Universidad 2008. 11 al 15 de febrero del 2008. Palacio de las Convenciones, Ciudad de la Habana, Cuba http://www.universidad2008.cu <http://www.universidad2008.cu> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message.Checked by AVG Free Edition. 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