HowToFixComputers.com

Smith · Guest

The last Gateway PC I bought was my "Performance 1400" (P4 1.4) back in
2001. I've been very happy with it and every Gateway before it. Well, I'd
like to retire this machine to my non-gaming machine as even with many
upgrades the games have finally passed it.

The question I have now is: Are the newer Gateways as easily upgradeable as
the older ones? Are the power supplys and cases still standard? Will I
have trouble just buying upgrade parts at local stores or online from non
Gateway sites? I know with Dells you sometimes do, I haven't bought from
Gateway in so long I wouldn't know if they'd have changed to that too. And
yes I know tech support is a problem with them, that's fine, it's like that
everywhere now, the days of free competent lifetime tech support and are
gone, I understand I'll have to fix it myself if it breaks pretty much.

The one I was looking at was this one:

http://gateway.com/products/GConfig/proddetails.asp?system_id=fx510x&seg=hm

Though I think I need to e-mail them, as it says "(2) PCI expansion slots
(filled), (1) PCI-E x1 expansion slot (available). (1) PCI-E x16 expansion
slot (available)" If that's true why would they up the price $300 from the
base model for a non PCI-E graphic card : \ That just doesn't make sense,
I'm hoping that graphic card is PCI-E and not standard PCI.

And does anyone know why they quit letting you customize your PC? If it
turns out the graphic card is standard PCI I was thinking about going with
an HP that I could customize. Any opinions on them and their upgrade
abilities? Or could you recommend a good site online for building a PC from
anyone else?

Thanks.

Enkidu · Guest

The computer market has become very tight since 2001 and Gateway and the
others merely rebadges computers made elsewhere. You are better off
finding a computer with the specs you want regardless of maker, because
one is no longer buying the old Gateway quality.

If you are willing to do your own tech. support, you might as well build
your own. Take you time and overspend on the power supply, and you'll
do fine.

E

Smith wrote:

BillW50 · Guest

Enkidu wrote:

Ben Myers · Guest

Right! Now way, no how can I buy all the parts and Windows XP software to build
a desktop/tower computer for less than the name brands sell for. They have
volume buying discounts, and there is no way an individual person or independent
reseller can compete on the basis of price. Product quality is a horse of
another color for many name brands or product lines (e.g. HP-Compaq Presario,
eMachines, HP Pavilion to name some of the junkola sold). And notebooks are
another story, built to spec for the name brand companies by contract
electronics manufacturers, with little interchangability of parts among brands
except for hard drives, CPUs, and memory... Ben Myers

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 16:24:16 -0500, "BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote:

Ben Myers · Guest

In response to your questions...

Gateway desktop/tower computers are built almost completely from standard parts.
The exceptions are obvious. I serviced a small footprint Gateway desktop
recently, and it had a non-standard sized power supply to fit in the smaller
space. But the motherboard was a standard microATX P4 board with standard
ATX-12v power connector and normally space jumper blocks and front panel
connectors. The hard drive, CD-RW drive, and floppy drive were also standard
without any fancy sculpted front bezels found on other brands.

Dell is another story, but since you don't seem to want a Dell, I'll skip most
of it. Suffice it to say that Dell, like any other name brand, uses standard
off-the-shelf CPUs, memory, hard drives, CD/DVD drives, floppy diskette drives,
add-in cards (PCI, AGP, PCI-E). And like any other name brand, you sometimes
need a custom mounting bracket to add something to your system.

HP Pavilions and Compaq Presarios (made for HP, of course) use pretty standard
stuff, but the engineering of their cases is atrocious, not easy to service.
ANYTHING sold in a retail store comes pre-configured, so you end up spending the
bucks afterward to add things to "customize". If you want to order business
class computers (HP, Compaq, Lenovo, Dell) through a dealer, you can customize
them all you want, but probably pay a premium to do so.

I can't comment on how Gateway ships its systems with PCI-E and graphics.
Haven't seen one yet... Ben Myers

On Sat, 16 Sep 2006 08:39:29 -0400, "Smith" <noemailplz@cox.net> wrote:

Smith · Guest

Alright, thanks guys. I think I'm going to stick with Gateway. From what
was said HP is pretty much crap I guess and that was really the only other
one I was considering because I could customize it from the site.

I don't completely hate Dell, I guess it's their cases that actually drive
me crazy. I bought a dvd-rom for my brothers' Dell and I had to order
special brackets in order to install it, was a bit annoying. Also had a
spare power supply he wanted to use so he could upgrade his video card, but
I couldn't install it because the case required a non standard one. The
power supply went right in my Gateway no trouble though. That just killed
Dell for me, I want a system I can upgrade and work on with standard parts
and no roadblocks.

Thanks again.

"Ben Myers" <ben_myers_spam_me_not@charter.net> wrote in message
news:ni49h2l3n5q1ldrs55s3sd1avtkdfg71n3@4ax.com...

Ben Myers · Guest

All I can say in defense of Dell is that their systems have changed remarkably
from the often highly proprietary Pentium 3 (and early Pentium 4) days. Modern
Dell P4 systems have less proprietary content any more, but there remain
proprietary gotchas.

As far as power supplies and cases go, anything that is not the large boxy
standard ATX-12v (or BTX) form factor is proprietary, and this is true for all
brands of computers. ATX-12v power supplies with standard physical dimensions
even have some variation. Gateway used an ATX-12v power supply with an
external cooling fan sticking out about one inch from the metal housing. Try to
put that one in a standard ATX or microATX chassis! A few ATX-12v power
supplies still have the old external pass-through 110v connector so you can plug
a monitor into it, and some do not. The molded plastic surrounding the external
power connector takes different shapes from manufacturer to manufacturer, some
larger and some smaller. All of these variations in a so-called standard power
supply make the business of fitting a replacement power supply a little tricky,
but not impossible. As a reseller, I keep quite a few spare power supplies
around, so I can pick and choose one that fits the computer chassis, whether
Gateway, Dell, HPaq, or generic white box... Ben

On Tue, 26 Sep 2006 03:57:41 -0400, "Smith" <noemailplz@cox.net> wrote:

PC-Tech · Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 2:44 am Post subject: Re: Easily Upgradable?

Gateway is useing the BTX cases. I hear they are non standard. Thats just what i heard. Im all for building your own system. The older Dell's are really bad. You look at the Back of Dell Dimension 2400 and the back of a standard ATX case. Ha ha the mouse and printer port are reversed. Well i have seen a few 2400's or other older dell models with standard backs. Also the new BTX cases the I/O ports are on oppsite side. Why do they change things? thats just not normal. So like i said im for building your own. If i were going to buy a Laptop more than likely it would be Dell even though i don't like Dell.