I work in the retail computer business... I've worked for Compusa, Circuit City, and now I work for Gateway. When I worked at other stores, I sold all brands of computers and saw all brands get returned or brought in for service; I saw unhappy customers all day long. Of all the computers I've sold and worked with, the only one I would EVER buy is Gateway. I've never BOUGHT a computer before in my life. I've always built my own from scratch. But I'll be ordering my Gateway in a couple of weeks. They use ALL name brand components in the machines (e.g. Nvidia graphics, Western Digital hard drive, Toshiba DVD, 3Com modem, etc), and any Pentium III machine comes w/ a 3 year warranty STANDARD and lifetime free tech support. Before I worked on the sales floor at Gateway, I worked in the service dept. in the same store. I have never seen better service at any store I've ever worked. If it breaks, they fix it. Fast.

The systems are a little more expensive than pre-manufactured ones, but for the money I would spend going out and buying all the name brand stuff and putting it together myself, it really comes out about the same and you get the warranty. I've stayed with Gateway longer than any other place I've worked in this business for one reason: It's easy to sell a good product.

I'm not saying Dell isn't a good machine. Dell and Gateway are virtually the same as far as the actual product. Gateway uses better sound cards (Soundblaster, Dell uses Turtle Beach) and better CDRW... but for the most part, the quality of the product ia about the same. But because of the way Gateway is set up in the US, they are able to provide better support. They have the Country Stores where you can go in and ask questions, get software training if you need it, and there's a service center in every store where they do the work in house. You don't have to ship your system off anywhere. Plus, you can go in anytime just to ask questions or get upgrades. With Dell, if you have trouble getting through on their 800 number, or you don't wat to ship your PC to Austin, TX, well, you're out of luck. Gateway has Coutry Store locations in every state, more than one in most.

The most important thing is to get all the information you can about any company you're considering buying from. That's my info on Gateway and Dell. Maybe someone else knows something I don't. Hope I was helpful.

-Branwen-