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Gateway 4520GZ Laptop (1.50 GHz Pentium M (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive) | List Price: $1,399.99
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Platform: Windows XP Home Edition
Brand: Gateway
Binding: Personal Computers
Good notebook crippled by terrible support [Posted on 2004-09-07]
The 4520gz and 4525gz notebooks are truly nice. Very light and thin, easy to read, keyboard and pointer are ergonomic, does not generate excess heat, and the battery seems to last 5+ hours.
The bad side is that the support for the notebooks is essentially non-existent and nobody except an expert should buy these products. The first bad sign is that gateway's site suggests that "For personalized support enter your serial number", but it will not accept the serial numbers from this product. When you go to the FAQ it will answer silly questions like how to change the battery but has no information on substantial subjects such as wireless configuration. (The Intel wireless software as installed out of the box complains that it is misconfigured.) There is almost no other information except for these useless FAQs. You can search but the search includes sources such as the Microsoft knowledge base and the search engine does not allow much filtering, so any search seems to end up with hundreds to thousands of results, of which one or two might be relevant. Gateway will gladly charge you for answers - the only free contact you have is with a sales rep. They provide bad free information and charge for answers - this is not a company I'd choose to deal with and I regret not checking this before purchasing.
Net: Avoid these products until Gateway decides to better support them. Check for yourself -- go to the gateway site, look up this product by its model number, and try to find information on something like wireless operations.
Excellent laptop, but.... [Posted on 2004-09-13]
I wasn't even in the neighborhood for a new laptop since I already had, but I saw this in Best Buy for a terrific price and couldn't resist.
I have to lug a computer to and from classes everyday. It only weighs 5.5 pounds and is really thin. Decent power to boot and integrated wireless G. It's got a huge hard drive.
...but...it's support is absolutely horrendous. I had problems with it since I took it out of the box. You don't get Gateway help, you get eMachines help since this is nothing more than a rebadged eMachines. You have to call a non-800 number to get service. I sent it in for repairs and they didnt fix it, so I sent it back. My laptop has not worked most of the month I've had it. And the customer service locked and kindness or the such. I'm dependent on this computer and they take just over a week from first contact until the computer ships back. I can't last that long without it. Luckily I had a backup, but what about those who don't.
I felt safe buying because the sales ad said "Backed by Award Winning Gateway Customer Care"...um...no its not. A bold faced lie. A great deal...just check it as soon as you get it home and make sure its ok...if not, return it ASAP.
Superb Quality Notebook [Posted on 2004-10-24]
I have not had my notebook for very long, but it is already exceeding all my expectations. It is very lightweight and easily fits into almost any bag, which is excellent for anyone using this as a notebook for school. It also has a pretty nice sized screen for its size. I haven't had to resort to customer support, so I can't say what the quality of their service is. But everything else about this computer is wonderful. It has a huge hard drive and the centrino technology gives you built-in wireless capabilities, so you can tap into wireless without a card virtually anyone wireless networks are available. I'm telling you, you will have lots of fun with the advanced technologies this computer provides. Every computer will have its setbacks, and depending on how often you think you may need to get in touch with customer support, I think the benefits of this computer far outweigh that one setback!!!
a little bang for a lot of buck [Posted on 2005-02-23]
I happen to be one of those consumers that reads every possible review and opinion of a product prior to making a purchase. With that said, most of my toys and business tools are terrific.
I had decided on a Dell laptop, and then at the last minute, I made a huge mistake. I opened the Sunday paper and I was seduced by the low price point of the Gateway. On the surface, it looks great.... excellent styling, good performance, decent screen.
Tapping away at a keyboard will eventually show wear and tear. But, this piece of junk started wearing down in month three. The space bar has lost most of its coating, the hinge started to crack and I was rethinking my decision.
Just as all of the other comments. I tried to log in and report the problem. Unfortunately, Gateway didn't recognize my serial number. So, I sat on ignore at Gateway customer support for a few hours and they told me that they do not even like the Best Buy program and they don't support them. I am positive that an Indian call center would not give a rude response like that.
I then returned it to Best Buy and they scolded me for not buying the $250 protection plan. Well, I ponied up the $25 dollars for shipping and I said goodbye to my only computer.
Three weeks later, the "Geek Squad" website says that my computer is still being repaired and no other information is available.
To sum up a long and boring story, I must say: "Avoid this piece of dung."
Fool me twice...shame on me... [Posted on 2006-05-06]
It *seemed* as robust as the other offerings, and it was such a great deal. Sure, the LCD on a previous Solo stopped displaying the left 15% of the screen, and sure, another had the backlight drop out - but things just happen, right? Gateway surely solved those types of issues, right? Right?
Not quite. The laptop is good - when it's running. I now have it sitting on a desk, plugged into another monitor so I can see to type - backlight is out. I can't move it much, since the DC jack didn't stand up to the strain of being plugged and unplugged - it's now wrapped on the motherboard with duct tape to hold the contacts together.
It's my own fault really, I knew better.
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