From: pastor@prc.unisys.com (Jon Pastor)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Gateway vs. Austin questions
Date: 4 Jan 93 19:13:18 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: not much...

>	Might try one of the ney Hyundai machines.  Nice quality, 
>	cheap, and allof the features (ATI Ultra Pro LB) that Gateway
>	is offering.

Be skeptical.  I called Hyundai, and the price for *comparable* systems was
significantly higher than Gateway (not to mention the fact that a lot of stuff
wasn't available yet on the Hyundai).

>	Furthermore, if you can afford it, go ahead and
>	get 16 megs on both systems.  

Um, why?  My 486DX33V pretty much flies with "only" 8MB.

>	So don't buy from either.  The Gateway monitor is so/so.  I found
>	better quality (flatter, darker-black screen, sharper) in a 
>	Sampo Alphascan 15.  (It doesn't support refresh rates as high,
>	tho).  My Nec monitor is even nicer.  If you can, go with the
>	Nec.  There are basically two things you're stuck with once
>	you buy your system--processor and monitor--always buy the best
>	that you can for both, because the cost of replacing them is 
>	much higher than for anything else (memory, storage, video card).

The Gateway 15" monitor is not razor sharp, but it's quite usable.  I'm
accustomed to a SUN SPARC 19" monochrome monitor, which lets me use 6-point
type easily, so I'm pretty demanding.  You could probably get a better monitor
for $200 or more extra; you could also get a CD-ROM, or a FAX/modem, or a tape
drive, or an upgrade to MS Office (includes Excel), or a sound card, or
one of many other goodies, for the same $200+ -- and after having used my
GW2000 15" monitor for a couple of weeks now, I'm glad I didn't spring for the
NEC or other more expensive monitor.

>2.  How does GUI acceleration compare to local bus implementations in terms
>    of overall Windows performance?  My family tends to be rather heavy
>    Windows users.  Another question:  how stable are the VESA local bus
>    standards, and do they really provide enough end-user benefit that they
>    will survive even for the presumed useful life of this machine?

I can't compare GUI acceleration to local bus for Windows, but I can tell you
that when I came back to work this morning and got on my SUN SPARCstation 2
running MIT X with 96MB of memory and a ton of swap, I found the video
performance a little sluggish compared to the LB ATI Ultra Pro on my Gateway
486DX33V.  That astonished me.

> >Are there any other mail-order companies I should be looking at?
>
> 	Zeos, Dell.  Dell, especially.  Also, take a look at the new
> 	systems from IBM and Compaq--they're not that bad.  And if you're
> 	looking at a non-LB ISA system, consider skipping the hassle of
> 	mail order altogether and buying local from a company like Accel--
> 	I can find better deals local on such generic systems than I can
> 	find in Computer Shopper.

I could not find a vendor that offered as much system for the money as
Gateway.  I wanted to; I had had an annoying experience with their sales staff
in the past, and knew that tech support was sluggish.  Zeos is a little better
than they used to be about advertising, but their featured systems are a
little (and sometimes more than a little) stripped down, and once you
configure one like the equivalent Gateway it costs a lot more.  Dell doesn't
even come close on price.  But check me on this: pick up Computer Shopper (or
drag it somewhere, if you can't lift it ;-) and browse.  As far as local
companies are concerned, I almost bought from a local company that has great
prices, but ... Gateway beat them in terms of features and price; once I added
all the stuff that came free (15" monitor, 8MB memory, 250MB hard drive,
Windows, WinWord) or cheap (TelePath FAX/modem for $195 including Crosstalk
and WinFax Pro, CMS Jumbo 250 tape drive for $195(!), MS Excel and PowerPoint
for $175) in the Gateway, there was no contest.

I'm not a rabid Gateway fan: they have their limitations, like cruddy order
tracking and long waits for tech support sometimes, but overall I've been
pleased with the equipment and the way it was set up.
Organization: Junior, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA