Gateway Parts - Is Gateway a good company to buy laptops from?

Is Gateway a good company to buy laptops from?

I'm in the market for a good laptop, and I saw this one of their gaming laptops at my local Best Buy, a Gateway M-6850FX. It's quite cheap, relatively, and the specs look great. Would it be a waste to buy one, in the long run? If so, what is a good laptop company to buy from? I'm going to college in the fall so I will definitely be carrying it around.

Public Comments

Keep in mind that any Gateway computer purchased at Best Buy is not the same as buying direct from Gateway. The warranty is different and the tech support line is not toll free. Found out the hard way.
DaveS is right.
The M6850-FX is indeed a good deal, and from everything I have read it has received great reviews. Be aware that it is heavy, runs hot and doesn't give a lot of battery life. But if you are looking for a semi-portable gaming laptop, it is indeed a bargain. As far as computer brands go, people tend to focus too much on it. The fact is that Dell, Gateway, HP, Toshiba, etc. all buy the same bargain-barrel parts from Malaysia and Taiwan anyway. If you like the case, specs, and get a decent warranty, go for it!
I have had two gateways, my latest one I got from TigerDirect a year ago as a refurbished unit and have had no problems. My last one I bought about 5 1/2 years ago and gave it to my Mom about 3 ago; it's still running just fine! Granted she just surfs, uses Office and emails, but it's perfect for her. Only thing that has had to be replaced is the keyboard as she wore out the lettering on the "M" key :-) I recommend Gateway because I haven't had any problems with them, but this is just my 2 cents. Cnet.com has good reviews of laptops so I always check there when I'm looking to buy.
Most gateways are refurbished , i have 2 of them myself and they run like a charm they are making there way to the 2 years bench. I would not recommend gateway's for gaming though. Laptop - Sony & Toshiba
Eh. It's okay, not great. Gateway is good enough for casual use, like home use. If you travel on business, you need something better. No, they don't all come from the same place. Dell's are better, so are HP.
Gateway is a fantastic company. I have bought 3 computers from them, all of which have worked perfectly. They use relatively well-built components and all of my computers have lasted a very long time with their stock setups. If it is cheap, like you say it is, buy it. ***Best Buy does not sell refurbished items online***
Get a HP dv9810 Only pay $750 for it and you will be happy oh and just to point out the obvious don't buy a laptop unless you have to travel with it...
Gateway was bought by Acer and from what I've heard thier quality is actually going up. Still, I always think you get what you pay for. A budget PC can last a long time if you are careful with it (don't bang it around too much in a book bag)and get a laptop cooling pad with a powered usb fan to keep it from overheating. Traditionally though Gateway isn't really known for gaming machines.
dont get gateway its kind of good put i like hp latops because its has good graphics and its cheap and its fast it has a cool look look at this i have hp pavilion dv9730us its so fast like lighting.i will give my computer pics: http://www.amazon.com/Pavilion-DV9730US-Entertainment-Processor-Radiance/dp/B0010S07MC
Gateways aren't bad...I just got a 6860 fx...The only gateway I would buy is the 6860...since its pretty much the only laptop you can get that has a geforce 8800 gts for under 2000. For 1350 (1250 on sale last week)....you can get a t8300 from newegg.com for 230 bucks and then you've got a laptop thats as good as any laptop sold (except the ones that are 3000+ that have 2 8800s.....oh yeah also if you get lucky and have enough skill you can even talk one of the tech support guys on the gateway online chat to send you a free battery because the "auto learning" feature is missing from the bios. Sorry that didn't really answer your question...but you might consider looking into getting a custom HP (if you know whrere to look you can find a coupon code online for 500 dollars off a laptop 1399 or more).. =)
laptops are not for gaming gateway is not that good, toshiba is good or else desktops here's a good website for that www.laptopquestions.co.uk
It's much better to either build it your self or pick out the parts and have someone build it for you, Gateway and any other brand like dell, or HP basically just makes the case, and the rest of there parts come from separate companies. Usually you can build a better machine for the same price. I'd suggest checking out www.cyberpowerpc.com if you want it pre-made. Just look up on how the hardware works and what parts fall into your price range. Another benefit to this is if you ever need to know the name or model of a certain part, its a lot easier to figure out if you use a custom, rather with a store built machine you would have to look a little.
it depends what you use it for if you use it for allot then you probably would like to go to a higher brand like dell or mac. slow
Gateway is a good brand but make sure you get a 2 or 3 year warranty just in case there are any damages and get and intel processer cause its better then AMD.
I was thiking to buy that same laptop but when i saw this site i changed my mind may be you will...... I never use gateway products that;s why i am thinkin again and again........ to before buy their products..... Which you were loking that has very lesss futures compare to this one ( on link) so i decided to buy from that RED one Intel T8300 in $999.00......It has just $100 more than that but gives you a boost........
i wouldn't recommend gateway i bought a gateway it was suppose to last 3 years but it died after one year it would not turn on at all so i ordered a dell inspiron 1525 much cheaper then the one i bought before form gateway the one i bought at gateway was 600 this one was 499
No. Gateway is not the best choice. If your looking for something with the best performance, go for an Apple. However, if your more on a budget, I would look at an HP or Sony. HP has very good deals on versatile laptops. They do everything from your basic needs to a business laptop to a gaming system. They are very reliable and very good. Sony is a little more expensive but also a good laptop. I would probably go with an HP from Best Buy or Circuit City. They hav very good deals. Good luck!!
well i have a hp and its a very good computer ive had it 4 about 3 to 4 years and its fast one thing about computers that you use for the Internet... make sure you do disk cleanups and a Disk Defragmenter and also get rid of your cookies... here how you get rid of your cookies... click on start.. go to control panel then click on Internet options when u get there look for Browsing history... click on Delete then at the bottom of the screen it pulls up click on delete all...on other computers you may have to delete your cookies alittle different... thats what makes you computer faster :) hope this helps some how...
hey l will suggest you go for hp they have good tech support at any time, dell is another good peice
Gateway is not different from any other the others (known brands - Dell, HP, Sony, etc. it has it upsides and downsides. Select the system that is best for you. Make sure you have the best warranty situation (as noted by the first two posters). If you are going for a refurbished go with a company that has been selling for a while (like tiger direct). They generally offer their own version of a warranty in house - which you have to pay for). www.tigerdirect.com
I bought a gateway laptop and desktop. The desktop is still running fine. The laptop hdd, manufactured by Western Digital, went defective 5 days after the computer warranty run out. I called gateway to see if they could at least change the hdd but they refuse to do anything even though I told them I will never buy Gateway again. Thus I would not recommend gateway. In any case, you need to weight the pros and cons before you invest your money in anything. Regardless of your choice, there will be associated risk. There is risk associated with Dell, HP, gateway or any other company for that matter. You may be lucky with gateway and everything turns out for the better. Now here are a few thoughts to consider: 1- If you need and plan on using customer support, then don't buy gateway unless you buy some store warranty with the system. Gateway customer support is mediocre at best. If you don't need their support, then go ahead and buy. 2- You should always do the following after buying any bran computer: A- run a memory checker to check the system memory. B- Run a hdd diagnostic software to check the entire hdd. C- Partition the hdd into several primary portion one for the operating system and programs and the others for data files. Good luck, Miki.