have we all had it with lousy offshore phone tech support,..

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

I'm sure that each of us has had some experience (usually
bad) with a tech support phone call to your favorite
equipment manufacturer. More than likely, the "tech" at the
other end of the line will have an accent think enough to
cut with a butcher knife. In most cases, these "dolts" will
put you through lots of useless paces while trying to
impress you with their mastery of the language and it
quickly becomes obvious that their diagnostic skills rank
somewhere along with my dog.
Major equipment manufacturers are increasingly transfering
their phone tech support to offshore locations in the belief
that lower labor costs will help their bottom line. but
considering the number of customers who judge the quality of
the company by the quality of phone support (just read the
numbers of posts in this n.g. which state that , because of
"lousy phone support", an otherwise loyal customer refuse to
recommend its products or will go elsewhere when it's time
to purchase again.)
Making these kinds of decisions to farm offshore is a
beancounter mentality. definitely not a sales or marketing
mentality. Let's hope that some of these companies like
HP/Compaq, Dell, Gateway, & Acer begin to recognize what
damage these offshore support facilities create to long-term
company health. Anyone with me here? You might do as I
often do. When calling for phone support, A heavy accent
on the other end is enough to cause me to hang up the phone
& seek answers elsewhere. If enough of us do this, they
just might get the message.
-----Expertise is not self-proclaimed. It is an honor awarded by your peers-----
MB

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

Araknid wrote:
> I'm sure that each of us has had some experience (usually
> bad) with a tech support phone call to your favorite
> equipment manufacturer. More than likely, the "tech" at the
> other end of the line will have an accent think enough to
> cut with a butcher knife. In most cases, these "dolts" will
> put you through lots of useless paces while trying to
> impress you with their mastery of the language and it
> quickly becomes obvious that their diagnostic skills rank
> somewhere along with my dog.
> Major equipment manufacturers are increasingly transfering
> their phone tech support to offshore locations in the belief
> that lower labor costs will help their bottom line. but
> considering the number of customers who judge the quality of
> the company by the quality of phone support (just read the
> numbers of posts in this n.g. which state that , because of
> "lousy phone support", an otherwise loyal customer refuse to
> recommend its products or will go elsewhere when it's time
> to purchase again.)
> Making these kinds of decisions to farm offshore is a
> beancounter mentality. definitely not a sales or marketing
> mentality. Let's hope that some of these companies like
> HP/Compaq, Dell, Gateway, & Acer begin to recognize what
> damage these offshore support facilities create to long-term
> company health. Anyone with me here? You might do as I
> often do. When calling for phone support, A heavy accent
> on the other end is enough to cause me to hang up the phone
> & seek answers elsewhere. If enough of us do this, they
> just might get the message.
> -----Expertise is not self-proclaimed. It is an honor awarded by
> your peers----- MB

Your point is well taken, but moot. GW is no longer a major player and
is dwindling in importance. Soon, there will be no one to call for
support.

Q

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

>
> Your point is well taken, but moot. GW is no longer a major player and
> is dwindling in importance. Soon, there will be no one to call for
> support.


If you are unlucky enough to have a Gateway and need support, first
and foremost, you need to tell them you are a business customer. You
should ave done that when you bought it. You still can now.

The difference is you will get a foreigner in Ft. lauderdale rather
than a foreigner in India.

The other thing is that when you bought a Gateway, unless it was so
long ago that you probably aren't using it anymore in the first place,
you knew you were buying from a vendor with big issues.

 

[shooter]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

On Sat, 28 May 2005 18:56:17 GMT, ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net
(Ben Myers) wrote:

>Don't insult eMachines by calling them Taiwanese! Its computer are/were built
>in Korea!

I guess the best thing to do is just use the word "Asia" when we talk
about everything for sale in America now. Slop it together in Asia,
throw your American Name/Logo on it and sell it in Wall Mart or
Orifice De'pot or drop shipped via Gateway.

>Nobody will have Ted to kick around any more. He resigned from the Gateway
>board the other day to go off and count his millions, and maybe to get involved
>in some new business venture.

Well, all you got to do is what Nic and others said, latch onto some
cheap junk made in Asia and have your American name stamped on it and
market it to the mindless hoards as if it were made in America, by
Americans and supported by Americans. Maybe Plasma TV's?????

>I recently did a memory upgrade on a newish Gateway P4 box. I was impressed by
>the quality of workmanship and parts inside. Really no major dropoff in product
>quality here. Just tech support from another planet... Ben Myers

Even if Gateway's Taiwanese friends did slip up and build a good one,
you still have the Proprietary Design to contend with if certain
replacements/upgrades are warranted. I mean if you can't do as simple
a thing as replacing a blown PS with any number of available PS's on
the market......

Funny story for you that I read on another NG about Ted. This comes
from a guy that worked in the dealership where Ted's car comes
from.... I think it was a Jag..... Anyway, his car had ignition
problems and had to have some ignition module replaced. Problem was,
the ignition module's connector was proprietary so he could not use
any of the workable modules from other manufactures but had to wait a
week for the module with the proprietary connector to be shipped from
overseas. They said he raised hell about the wait....

Ain't Life Grand?

Regards,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

The sale of shitty computers is a multiple-faceted problem, and to
blame Gateway alone is inaccurate.

The buyers are, generally, stupid in several respects-they buy on
purchase price alone, don't understand the tradeoffs involved, and
refuse to use good sense in specifying, installing, and maintaining
their hardware. On the other hand the vendors respond to these problems
with their own agenda in mind: they cut costs to the absolute minimum,
ignore all previous standards as far as possible (and refuse to
document the rest), and pander to customer ignorance at every turn, all
to maximize their profits in the only quarter that counts: this one.

Consider well-built products, and why they are well built. They always
have certain things in common: relatively high (but not extreme) build
cost, solid conservative engineering, a general refusal to pander to
fashion but usually a certain style of their own, rarely being ugly.
Most importantly, they are designed at arm's length from marketing and
sales and have user bases consisting of above-average people.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

All the name brand computer manufacturers are creating issues for themselves
with telephone tech support and any support or repair under warranty. It's not
just Gateway.

After having a number of largely positive experiences with Dell doing repairs of
their systems under warranty for my clients, I had a real doozy of an experience
yesterday. Not only was Dell's support person obviously in India and reading
from a script, but the company to whom they contract the repairs (Banctec) had
me talking with a person in India (or Bangladesh or Pakistan or whereever) to
arrange an appointment for a tech to show up and repair a computer that I was
obvious very capable of repairing. Finally, I replaced the power supply in the
damned thing with a new PS from a new Dell I had in stock and put the computer
back into service. This is a lot better for my client than waiting for a
service person to arrive next Wednesday, at a time to be determined, forcing me
to hang around here all day rather than being at my clients' locations making
money.

Frankly, my client threw away money on a 3-year extended warranty, given the
level of service provided. And my client would have had an impossible time
dealing with Dell directly, which is why I do it.

From this and other experiences, I consistently recommend that people do NOT buy
extended warranties for desktop systems. They are not worth the money. A
notebook computer is another matter. Sometimes the warranty is worth it, given
the fragile nature of notebooks... Ben Myers

On 28 May 2005 08:50:53 -0700, calcerise@hotmail.com wrote:

>
>>
>> Your point is well taken, but moot. GW is no longer a major player and
>> is dwindling in importance. Soon, there will be no one to call for
>> support.
>
>
> If you are unlucky enough to have a Gateway and need support, first
>and foremost, you need to tell them you are a business customer. You
>should ave done that when you bought it. You still can now.
>
> The difference is you will get a foreigner in Ft. lauderdale rather
>than a foreigner in India.
>
> The other thing is that when you bought a Gateway, unless it was so
>long ago that you probably aren't using it anymore in the first place,
>you knew you were buying from a vendor with big issues.
>

 

[shooter]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

On Sat, 28 May 2005 21:34:44 GMT, ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net
(Ben Myers) wrote:

>That's what I've seen in the last year or so of fixing or refurbing these
>beasts... Ben Myers

I don't see how you keep from pulling your hair out Ben. BTW, I
assume you offer quality built, locally supported White Boxes to your
community. Got a business web site for us to see your work?

Regards,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

That reminds me. I am running XP Home on 512 meg of mem. Will an
additional 512 give me the added performance to justify the $116
crucial price for a 512 stick of DDR PC2100?

Thanks... NIK

*** Email Address is a spam trap... Do Not Use ***



Ben Myers wrote:
> I still have 90% of my hair even though I can't persuade people from buying the
> cheap junk sold in stores and elsewhere. I build no more than a half dozen
> white boxes a year. The money is to be made cleaning up messes made by other
> people, either the manufacturers or the computer owners themselves with poor
> decisions.
>
> Small networks are not as plug-and-play as everyone pretends they are. Wifi has
> its tricky elements. People need Cat 5 runs between office cubes and patch
> panels. Hard drives crash, and I replace them even under warranty, because
> clients quickly learn to value their data. Adware, spyware and other varmints
> regularly inhabit computers. Stores and name brand mfrs (e.g. Dell) regularly
> sell low-ball computer setups. This past week, I sold and installed 5 memory
> upgrades to P4 XP systems which had been delivered with only 256MB. My clients
> considered me a miracle worker for figuring out how to speed up their systems so
> much.
>
> I can get white boxes assembled from my local distributor for $25 over the price
> of the individual parts, but everyone in my area is so enamored by Dell or the
> latest sale at Circuit City, that the selling cycle is not worth the time to
> sell a white box. My cardiologist has eMachines garbage running his office,
> less reliable than my ticker and circulatory system. Go figure. I go with the
> flow... Ben Myers
>
> On Sat, 28 May 2005 22:53:29 -0400, Shooter <fhasfdjh@AlkjdaF@com> wrote:
>
> >On Sat, 28 May 2005 21:34:44 GMT, ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net
> >(Ben Myers) wrote:
> >
> >>That's what I've seen in the last year or so of fixing or refurbing these
> >>beasts... Ben Myers
> >
> >I don't see how you keep from pulling your hair out Ben. BTW, I
> >assume you offer quality built, locally supported White Boxes to your
> >community. Got a business web site for us to see your work?
> >
> >Regards,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

I still have 90% of my hair even though I can't persuade people from buying the
cheap junk sold in stores and elsewhere. I build no more than a half dozen
white boxes a year. The money is to be made cleaning up messes made by other
people, either the manufacturers or the computer owners themselves with poor
decisions.

Small networks are not as plug-and-play as everyone pretends they are. Wifi has
its tricky elements. People need Cat 5 runs between office cubes and patch
panels. Hard drives crash, and I replace them even under warranty, because
clients quickly learn to value their data. Adware, spyware and other varmints
regularly inhabit computers. Stores and name brand mfrs (e.g. Dell) regularly
sell low-ball computer setups. This past week, I sold and installed 5 memory
upgrades to P4 XP systems which had been delivered with only 256MB. My clients
considered me a miracle worker for figuring out how to speed up their systems so
much.

I can get white boxes assembled from my local distributor for $25 over the price
of the individual parts, but everyone in my area is so enamored by Dell or the
latest sale at Circuit City, that the selling cycle is not worth the time to
sell a white box. My cardiologist has eMachines garbage running his office,
less reliable than my ticker and circulatory system. Go figure. I go with the
flow... Ben Myers

On Sat, 28 May 2005 22:53:29 -0400, Shooter <fhasfdjh@AlkjdaF@com> wrote:

>On Sat, 28 May 2005 21:34:44 GMT, ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net
>(Ben Myers) wrote:
>
>>That's what I've seen in the last year or so of fixing or refurbing these
>>beasts... Ben Myers
>
>I don't see how you keep from pulling your hair out Ben. BTW, I
>assume you offer quality built, locally supported White Boxes to your
>community. Got a business web site for us to see your work?
>
>Regards,

 

[shooter]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

On 29 May 2005 09:59:45 -0700, health_wellness@solution4u.com wrote:

>That reminds me. I am running XP Home on 512 meg of mem. Will an
>additional 512 give me the added performance to justify the $116
>crucial price for a 512 stick of DDR PC2100?

I went to 1024 from 512 and didn't really see all that much difference
on my XPHome setup. I may be wrong but doesn't it really depend on
how and what stuff you got going on your system such as stuff running
in the background all the time?

Regards,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

My Mistake. I have too many numbers down here on my pad and wrote the
wrong one down. The 512 stick I looked at at Crucial was $52.99.
Again, do you think the extra performance, if any at all, going from
512 to 1024 will justify the $53 expenditure.

Thanks.... NIK



Justin Thompson wrote:
> On 29 May 2005 09:59:45 -0700, health_wellness@solution4u.com wrote:
>
> >That reminds me. I am running XP Home on 512 meg of mem. Will an
> >additional 512 give me the added performance to justify the $116
> >crucial price for a 512 stick of DDR PC2100?
> >
> >Thanks... NIK
> >
>
> Where you getting the $116 for 512MB stick?
>
> Crucial is selling in US 512MB sticks of DDR2100 for between $53 and
> $68
>
> go to http://www.crucial.com/
>
> and check prices, $116 sounds extortionate
>
> Cheers

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

It probably does depending how much stuff you got running in the
background. I have NAV 2005, Zone Alarm Pro and some of Nero's auto
detect utilities running in the background. And any of you NAV haters
out there, I hear you and sympathize with you but I have never had any
problems with it and like it so forget trying to convert me for now.
Maybe later....

NIK


Shooter wrote:
> On 29 May 2005 09:59:45 -0700, health_wellness@solution4u.com wrote:
>
> >That reminds me. I am running XP Home on 512 meg of mem. Will an
> >additional 512 give me the added performance to justify the $116
> >crucial price for a 512 stick of DDR PC2100?
>
> I went to 1024 from 512 and didn't really see all that much difference
> on my XPHome setup. I may be wrong but doesn't it really depend on
> how and what stuff you got going on your system such as stuff running
> in the background all the time?
>
> Regards,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

Only if you are experiencing paging otherwise you're wasting your money.

<health_wellness@solution4u.com> wrote in message
news:1117418702.959041.212590@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> My Mistake. I have too many numbers down here on my pad and wrote the
> wrong one down. The 512 stick I looked at at Crucial was $52.99.
> Again, do you think the extra performance, if any at all, going from
> 512 to 1024 will justify the $53 expenditure.
>
> Thanks.... NIK
>
>
>
> Justin Thompson wrote:
> > On 29 May 2005 09:59:45 -0700, health_wellness@solution4u.com wrote:
> >
> > >That reminds me. I am running XP Home on 512 meg of mem. Will an
> > >additional 512 give me the added performance to justify the $116
> > >crucial price for a 512 stick of DDR PC2100?
> > >
> > >Thanks... NIK
> > >
> >
> > Where you getting the $116 for 512MB stick?
> >
> > Crucial is selling in US 512MB sticks of DDR2100 for between $53 and
> > $68
> >
> > go to http://www.crucial.com/
> >
> > and check prices, $116 sounds extortionate
> >
> > Cheers
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

$116 is way overpriced... Ben Myers

On 29 May 2005 09:59:45 -0700, health_wellness@solution4u.com wrote:

>That reminds me. I am running XP Home on 512 meg of mem. Will an
>additional 512 give me the added performance to justify the $116
>crucial price for a 512 stick of DDR PC2100?
>
>Thanks... NIK
>
>*** Email Address is a spam trap... Do Not Use ***
>
>
>
>Ben Myers wrote:
>> I still have 90% of my hair even though I can't persuade people from buying the
>> cheap junk sold in stores and elsewhere. I build no more than a half dozen
>> white boxes a year. The money is to be made cleaning up messes made by other
>> people, either the manufacturers or the computer owners themselves with poor
>> decisions.
>>
>> Small networks are not as plug-and-play as everyone pretends they are. Wifi has
>> its tricky elements. People need Cat 5 runs between office cubes and patch
>> panels. Hard drives crash, and I replace them even under warranty, because
>> clients quickly learn to value their data. Adware, spyware and other varmints
>> regularly inhabit computers. Stores and name brand mfrs (e.g. Dell) regularly
>> sell low-ball computer setups. This past week, I sold and installed 5 memory
>> upgrades to P4 XP systems which had been delivered with only 256MB. My clients
>> considered me a miracle worker for figuring out how to speed up their systems so
>> much.
>>
>> I can get white boxes assembled from my local distributor for $25 over the price
>> of the individual parts, but everyone in my area is so enamored by Dell or the
>> latest sale at Circuit City, that the selling cycle is not worth the time to
>> sell a white box. My cardiologist has eMachines garbage running his office,
>> less reliable than my ticker and circulatory system. Go figure. I go with the
>> flow... Ben Myers
>>
>> On Sat, 28 May 2005 22:53:29 -0400, Shooter <fhasfdjh@AlkjdaF@com> wrote:
>>
>> >On Sat, 28 May 2005 21:34:44 GMT, ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net
>> >(Ben Myers) wrote:
>> >
>> >>That's what I've seen in the last year or so of fixing or refurbing these
>> >>beasts... Ben Myers
>> >
>> >I don't see how you keep from pulling your hair out Ben. BTW, I
>> >assume you offer quality built, locally supported White Boxes to your
>> >community. Got a business web site for us to see your work?
>> >
>> >Regards,
>

 

[shooter]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

On 29 May 2005 19:14:38 -0700, health_wellness@solution4u.com wrote:

> And any of you NAV haters
>out there, I hear you and sympathize with you but I have never had any
>problems with it and like it so forget trying to convert me for now.

I'm still running the 2003 version and lover it but I would never
upgrade to any of their versions after 2003. I consider the 2003
version the last one that was worth a spit. I assume they will stop
supporting 2003 at some point to force hold outs like me to shell out
for a new version at which time I will be heading to another brand
that doesn't support that godless activation scheme old Pud Nucker
Bill Gates and his horde of clones came up with.

Regards,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

On 29 May 2005 09:59:45 -0700, health_wellness@solution4u.com wrote:

>That reminds me. I am running XP Home on 512 meg of mem. Will an
>additional 512 give me the added performance to justify the $116
>crucial price for a 512 stick of DDR PC2100?
>
>Thanks... NIK
>

Where you getting the $116 for 512MB stick?

Crucial is selling in US 512MB sticks of DDR2100 for between $53 and
$68

go to http://www.crucial.com/

and check prices, $116 sounds extortionate

Cheers

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

Time to play devil's advocate. Sometimes it helps to look at things from a
sheep's (consumer's) point of view too. $399 systems are disposable.

Even if a system has a lifespan of just one year before any one major
component does a nosedive, where's the incentive to repair or even upgrade
when you can purchase a new system for $399? And while the components may
not be cutting edge in performance (not to mention the quality aspect),
these disposables more or less keep up with the trends in terms of
requirements to run software, peripheral connectivity, etc.

In this respect, computers have joined the electronic fray. 20 years ago, it
might have been economical to repair a motherboard or component device. I
knew plenty of people who re-aligned floppy drive heads (rather than replace
a then costly floppy drive). Since that time, it's been more economical to
replace parts on a component level rather than fix the component.

As much as you or I might loathe these systems, they have mass market
appeal. In economic terms, that's all that matters. It's completely
conceivable within the next 10 years these disposable units will completely
dominate the marketplace. Video, sound, and network functionallity are
already commonly integrated into the motherboards and it will make little
sense to replace motherboards, CPUs, and dare I say eventually even Hard
drives on these systems, without seriously considering purchase of a new
system.

I'm sure there will always be a niche market for quality, customizable white
box units. But simple economics will separate the purists from the sheep,
and when all is said and done, even some who consider themselves purists
will be tempted to join the flock.

 

[shooter]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

On Mon, 30 May 2005 05:42:03 -0500, "pengulin" <rr@spokanne.net>
wrote:

>Time to play devil's advocate. Sometimes it helps to look at things from a
>sheep's (consumer's) point of view too. $399 systems are disposable.

Without quoting all that you said..... I must say that I agree with
everything you said. There will always be a market for the cheap
throw-a-way end of the spectrum.

And that's sad in a way even though we see it in all product lines,
some more than others. Look at it this way. It took time and
resources to manufacture and assemble everything to make the product.
That's the use of earth's resources and man's resources (time and
labor, cheap as that may be). Then, at some time in the product's
"SHORT" life, it is thrown into a land fill along with all the energy
and resources that went into it, gone forever. They call that built
in obsolescence.

The whole world has become a throw-a-way species. Of all species, man
is the only one that seems to do it. Now who is the smartest species
on earth I might ask? Without getting into a political debate here,
let me add that we have also gotten to a point where we even
throw-a-way our unborn.

I'm not a bible thumper for one or economist for the other by any such
means but such waste must have some cosmic repercussions of some sort
down the road. That's way I guess I still got and old IBM 8088 with 5
1/4 drives around here somewhere....

In closing though and a final thought.... You will find that these
Taiwanese boxes, built for GW, Dell, Compaq, EMachine, etc. are highly
proprietary and not conducive to upgrades by readily available parts
on the market. On the other hand, my white box can be upgraded for
some time to come or until they change stuff so drastically that it
will not fit or is not compatible. By that, I still think that I get
by cheaper in the long run keeping up with technology than those that
have to throw away and buy new. In other words, John doe is forced to
throw his $399 piece of Taiwanese junk away and buy a new $399 piece
of Taiwanese junk in order to upgrade this, that or the other.
Usually, all I have to do is replace the specific part needing to be
upgraded.

I still stand behind the saying that... going for quality may cost a
bit more in the short run but be cheaper in the long run. But then,
I'm also a pack rat.... Having nothing to do with computers but a way
of mind set.... I still own and drive the 1968 Camaro I bought my
first year in the military.

Regards,

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

Sorry but I don't understand. Please explain "Paging".

Thanks,

NIK

*** My email is a spam trap... do not use ***



snert wrote:
> Only if you are experiencing paging otherwise you're wasting your money.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

First let me say that what follows is not a flame, blast at you
personally or any such ill-mannered thing. I just disagree....

If you went the $299 route then you got an OEM version of XP which,
unlike the retail version, M$ will not allow activation on any other
machine but the one it was installed on from Taiwan unlike with White
Boxes and Retail versions of XP which can be transferred to and
activated on another machine if removed from the prior machine.
Upgrading. Probably a mute point since all GW, Dell and EMachine OEM
copies of XP are Bios locked to that specific machine anyway. Also M$
does not support OEM versions of XP. M$ sends you back to the OEM for
OS support. That's in India by the way.

What we are trying to get across here is that these $299 systems from
Taiwan are throw-a-way systems. I think we all agree on that. That's
fine if you got the $299 every time you want to upgrade since that
means a new system when dealing with most proprietary built OEMs from
Taiwan. With the White Box, you only have to deal with the component
specific to the upgrade instead of having to replace the whole $299
system. As Shooter said, cheaper in the long run to invest a little
more in the short run. And you get an extra added bonus with the White
Box. The guy that built your computer will most likely be the one
giving you your support not some 3rd world flunky half way around the
globe that doesn't speak-en-zee the language.

BTW, I just upgraded my PS from a 300W to 400W. I was able to choose
from all sorts of suppliers because the PS and MB connector is industry
standard instead of some proprietary OEM concoction.

Again, I agree with Shooter and can confirm from my own experiences
that its cheaper in the long run to invest a little more in the short
run.

I agree wholeheartedly with you on one point though my friend.... You
said "trusty Win98SE". That is exactly how I feel about 98SE. I loved
that version and hate the fact that M$ will shortly be dropping its
support for it. Make sure you get a copy of all the updates/upgrades
for 98SE from the M$ download site before you can't get/find them
anymore.

With Respect,

NIK

*** Email Address is a Spam Trap, Do Not Use ***





Charles Hawtrey wrote:
> In article <1117323537.588585.196930@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> calcerise@hotmail.com says...
> > The sale of shitty computers is a multiple-faceted problem, and to
> > blame Gateway alone is inaccurate.
>
> Yes, multi-faceted problem. Let me just throw one more facet into the
> mix:
>
> Early this year I finally had enough of trusty Win98SE and decided to
> upgrade to XP. My options were, buy a copy of XP for a hundred-and-
> something dollars (don't remember the exact cost at the time) and go
> through the hassle of installing it myself -- or buy a new eMachines
> with XP preloaded for $299. Guess which one I did?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

My desktop systems are all conglomerations of parts some almost if not
over ten years old. I have IBM AT era keyboards, early 1.44 floppy
drives, Adaptec 2940 SCSI cards. A case and PS can last a long time,
the case until standards change.

And I always format and reload a system as soon as I get it. I have
learned the hard way it saves time in the long run.

The fast turnover of PC systems is actually slowing down somewhat, as
the software is maturing, unless you are a hardcore gamer or are using
it as a server or serious workstation. And it's irresponsible to just
throw out a computer. I always pull the boards and if nothing is
salvageable, I give the boards to a recycler and the chassis goes for
scrap metal. I tend to salvage the fans and IEC connectors out of dead
supplies as well as sometimes the caps.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

In article <1117323537.588585.196930@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
calcerise@hotmail.com says...
> The sale of shitty computers is a multiple-faceted problem, and to
> blame Gateway alone is inaccurate.

Yes, multi-faceted problem. Let me just throw one more facet into the
mix:

Early this year I finally had enough of trusty Win98SE and decided to
upgrade to XP. My options were, buy a copy of XP for a hundred-and-
something dollars (don't remember the exact cost at the time) and go
through the hassle of installing it myself -- or buy a new eMachines
with XP preloaded for $299. Guess which one I did?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.gateway2000 (More info?)

Some good reading...

http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm


<health_wellness@solution4u.com> wrote in message
news:1117502902.559571.96140@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Sorry but I don't understand. Please explain "Paging".
>
> Thanks,
>
> NIK
>
> *** My email is a spam trap... do not use ***
>
>
>
> snert wrote:
> > Only if you are experiencing paging otherwise you're wasting your money.
>