Dell or Gateway?

[ugottabayou]

Well I'll be getting a laptop for a grad. present (I know its in May and a ways away, but I'm just seein what's out there).

I've been looking at Dell and Gateway's 17" laptops. I like the Dell for its cheaper pricing with more options, but I saw the Gateway's shell is aluminum?.. and not plastic. This seems like it would be quite a bit stronger.

What do you guys have/like.

[gojk]

If brand is the only thing you are looking at, def go with Dell. Gateway hardly exists anymore.

[Kaleigh]

i have a dell and im pretty happy with it.. but i dropped my laptop and messed up the HD.. well i called the next day.. and they sent me a new HD he day after that.. but you have to send the old one back to them.. They use refurbished parts for their computers..

[Latemodel32]

I have a Dell no problems at all a few people i know have gateways and have nothing BUT problems

id stay away froom gateway. they are going under and there customer service blows

[suck my pipe]

dont know about laptops but i love my HP desktop.

[Guy400]

This isn't going to be of much help to you but I hate my Dell D610 that was issued by my company. I previously had an IBM Thinkpad and it was bulletproof. It's flown off the passenger seat when doing an emergency stop, it literally tumbled down my basement steps when I was reaching for the door knob and the bag was unzipped. The strap slid off my should down to my elbow. I twisted somehow to try and catch it but I just made matter worse and the laptop came out of the bag and cartwheeled down the steps. I picked it up and turned it on and it never missed a beat. Our company moved away from the IBM's and I now have my D610. While it's faster than my IBM it has nothing else on it. Everytime I undock it my damn screen settings change because I run dual monitors at work and every morning I've got to set it all back up again. The PITA part is I leave my desk and go to various meetings/conference calls about 5 times a day so I'm constantly changing screen settings. On top of that day-to-day issue this thing crashed on me after 2 months and it's never been abused like the IBM. Then there's the random USB chime where it loses/finds my USB keyboard and mouse about every 2 days. I hate this thing but the price is right so I can't complain too much.

[clutch22]

**Comment removed**

Don't post crap like that again. --Guy400

[quads14589]

dell we have 4 dell computers

[orca0294]

Go with dell out of those 2 but like the guy up above said IBM are great computers also.

[MOFO]

Originally posted by Guy400
This isn't going to be of much help to you but I hate my Dell D610 that was issued by my company. I previously had an IBM Thinkpad and it was bulletproof. It's flown off the passenger seat when doing an emergency stop, it literally tumbled down my basement steps when I was reaching for the door knob and the bag was unzipped. The strap slid off my should down to my elbow. I twisted somehow to try and catch it but I just made matter worse and the laptop came out of the bag and cartwheeled down the steps. I picked it up and turned it on and it never missed a beat. Our company moved away from the IBM's and I now have my D610. While it's faster than my IBM it has nothing else on it. Everytime I undock it my damn screen settings change because I run dual monitors at work and every morning I've got to set it all back up again. The PITA part is I leave my desk and go to various meetings/conference calls about 5 times a day so I'm constantly changing screen settings. On top of that day-to-day issue this thing crashed on me after 2 months and it's never been abused like the IBM. Then there's the random USB chime where it loses/finds my USB keyboard and mouse about every 2 days. I hate this thing but the price is right so I can't complain too much.

I'm with Guy on this as I work for the same company. To put it simply... the IBM's were work horses, the DELL's are not. I've had my D610 for about 8 months now. So far my motherboard has been replaced, the video display was replaced and my swivel hinge is wearing out. I use this laptop just about everyday for 6-10 hours a day (easily). At the current wear rate, I would expect to get maybe another 6-8 months out of it before it simply wears out. The plastic is becoming way more "flimsy" and the coloring of the plastic is wearing off....

[Hyperwarrior22]

Im on a dell inspiron E1705

Best laptop ive ever owned and ive owned quite a few

[Guy400]

Originally posted by MOFO
The plastic is becoming way more "flimsy" and the coloring of the plastic is wearing off.... It's funny you should say that because I use an external keyboard and mouse 95% of the time. Every weekend I run 7 different queries and put it altogether in one big spreadsheet at home and I use the laptops keyboard and pencil eraser mouse to do it. It takes me about 3 hours but it's just normal Excel formatting procedures. Already my left mouse button below the space bar has the paint worn off and some drab yellowy-white plastic is showing through. Then my Enter, Shift, Space and several home row keys are getting shiny like they've been severely buffed. That's maybe with 100 hours on that keyboard altogether. My IBM went 1-1/2 years with the same type of work and not a hint of an issue.

One good thing I will say about this Dell, the built-in speakers are better than my IBM's were.

anything but gateway, they are definetly one of the worst companies out there right now...i'd go with dell or IBM for a laptop, for a desktop i would just go with dell or make your own...

i have a micronpc t2000 that I got for $700 refurbished fro mthe company with a 2 year warranty. The same laptop from dell was $2200 when I bought mine. look on ebay whenever you do get a laptop

[initall]

IBM/Lenovo is the best made laptop.

I like Toshiba, that is what i have

[gbcap]

DELL over Gategay anyday! i hate gatway. they are horrible and work like crap. customer service is worthless and the computers are overpriced.

[jesshamner]

I have a dell inspiron 710m and I love it. The only think I don't like is that it runs hot as do many dell laptops. Not sure why. My girlfriend has a gateway. It is a very nice machine and it is the thinnest and lightest I have seen in its class. Its a little more powerful than mine but it provides long lasting efficient power management. I like both companies. Toshiba makes a very nice laptop alos. And if you can afford it, Sony Vaios are really nice. Its hard to be Dell's value though. If you're traveling a lot or you're planning on taking your laptop to class or whatever, let me advise against a 17 inch. The biggest you want is a 15 inch and for me, that's pushing it. My 710m is a 12" widescreen. Its ultraportable but I can still see the screen.

[250RXCrider]

Originally posted by ugottabayou
Well I'll be getting a laptop for a grad. present (I know its in May and a ways away, but I'm just seein what's out there).

I've been looking at Dell and Gateway's 17" laptops. I like the Dell for its cheaper pricing with more options, but I saw the Gateway's shell is aluminum?.. and not plastic. This seems like it would be quite a bit stronger.

What do you guys have/like.

I would not pick a Gateway because it has an aluminum shell. The aluminum maybe slightly stronger but it is not going to offer any further protection for the internal parts of your laptop. Just think of like if you put an egg inside an alumium box and dropped it you will still have a scambled egg. If you are looking for a stronger laptop consider ones that are desgined for the inside out to withstand the daily grind that a mobile laptop will endure. If the laptop is never going to leave your desk then it should not make a difference:)