Home Computer Buying Guide: Gateway
By Jonathan Berohn
With so many PCs out there, it’s hard to know where to start, especially with the constant changes in PC technology. What was cutting edge last week can be obsolete today. With that in mind, I’ll focus on the range of features and capabilities that various manufacturers offer so you can try to find the best PC to meet your needs.
Where to Shop
Let's start with Gateway . Gateway, like Dell, started out as a mail order house. Lately, though, they’ve greatly expanded what they offer and how you can get it. You can find Gateway products in many PC superstores...but no longer in Gateway’s own retail outlets. Gateway chose to close its retail stores in April 2004 as a money-saving measure.
Options
Obviously, what's really important when you’re buying a PC are the features. Before you even start looking, though, you should figure out what you want to use the PC for. If you’re an e-mail and word processor kind of user, a low-end machine will work fine. If you like to surf the net and view online multimedia, you’ll probably want a middle of the road machine. If you—or your kids—like the latest video games, you should look for a high end video card and plenty of video memory. If you happen to be into graphics and even serious home movie editing, look into some of the higher end machines with lots of memory and processing power.
Fortunately, Gateway offers PCs in all these categories and then some. Even more fortunately, they let you compare them side-by-side in this handy chart. You can click on the various links for complete descriptions of the various sytems. Since Gateway supplies its own hardware, you can also easily customize any PC to fit specific parameters you might have.
Prices
The other aspect to any PC decision is obviously price. Gateway has always offered good value for its product. You can find stuff for less, but the old adage you get what you pay for applies full force to computers. The comparison chart also helpfully breaks things down by price, and Gateway is always offering specials like free shipping, free memory, or $100 off selected models. All in all, Gateway offers a great combination of price and quality.
Plus, there aren't too many companies where you could go in looking for a PC and walk out with a flat screen plasma TV. That's cool.