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Gateway: Gamer's Nightmare by Joseph Greppo |
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The following is a true story. The facts have not been altered to protect the guilty. If you have the stomach, grab your box of kleenex and read on... 4/3/99 I decided I was fed up with the usual "upgrade this, patch that, get driver for this" routine. We all go through it. I had had it with my older system that went from 166 to 200 mhz. I had a hapless 2.5 gig drive, integrated sound and video. That was three years ago. Then I saw an article at COMBATSIM.COM™, another piece on gaming systems. The PERFORMANCE 500 had just come out. I thought..."Hmmm, this could be it." I began seeing the commercials everyone else was seeing at the time, so I went to a Gateway store. I looked around and didn't have to look very hard. If you have ever been to one of these Barns you'll know exactly what I am talking about..... You know, from the outside you see the familiar black and white cattle spots? The Bull is In I walked in and just to my left was the PERFORMANCE 500 with its Boston Acoustics Media Theatre Speaker system. This is a great speaker system, so it made an impression. Sadly.... it's the only thing GATEWAY did right. I am Mr. Consumer. I wear a sign that says, "Lie to me." I walked in and their policy is not to disrupt the potential buyer. Give them time to look, and let them ask the sales person for guidance once they have a question. I will call this salesman Johnny Smooth. Yes, we have all been down that road too. Bear in mind I am fed up with pulling teeth out of my aging system. I am tired of rebuilding and if I am going to buy something resonably decent it might as well be SNAKEWAY. They slithered their way into my pocket; I must have been nuts. It must have been all that Charm in the barn. For some reason I didn't smell the bull. Not yet anyway. Johnny Smooth asked me, "Can I Help you"? Now about this time I was reading a short about GATEWAY and sales, something to the effect of ... "We'll never ask until you do." |
 In otherwords they are supposed to leave you alone until you have a question that starts them off on a rant. Okay, I smiled and overlooked it. "Yes Mr.Johnny, you suuuure can. I am looking for a fast Machine, one that is easily upgradeable." Have It Your Way? "I want it in a full tower, I want a good sound system for my simulators and I want it now." You should have seen Johnny's face. Big smile, big grin and not much of a speech for him today. I was ready to buy. I was in a hurry and had to have the latest and the greatest. The purchase was made on 4/3/99. Johnny was a happy man. I bought their premier system; it came with PC 100 SDRAM, all 128 Megs.
One year of free Snakeway Internet service was included, and the standard service plan. Oh, and Boston Acoustics OEM Media Theatre Sound - speakers and subwoofer. But add $115 for that option. I lay out my money. Sub total 2703.00, shipping 95.00. "Don't you have them here?" I asked. Johnny Smooth said, "Oh nooooooo they come from the factory. These are just displays." Go to Part II: The Nightmare Begins
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Copyright © 1997 - 2000 COMBATSIM.COM, INC. All Rights Reserved. Last Updated August 23rd, 1999 |
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