Tuesday
I tried to access the Gateway site again, and got the same slow response and browser crashes. Finally feeling the jolting effects of the morning’s caffeine rush, I decided to try to access the site using Internet Explorer 4. Voila, the pages loaded quickly and faster than you can say Crazy Eddie, the bargain I’d been looking for appeared before me. The G6-333 with Home Essentials (do I get a kitchen table, too?) has everything we wanted, and throws in a 17-inch monitor, Microsoft Encarta, Works, and Money, plus a free upgrade to Windows 98 for $,364. Can this be true?
The details on the DVD-ROM drive, however, were incomplete, and the specifications didn’t list any USB ports, so I called up Gateway sales. “Al” told me, yes, USB ports are there, and that the DVD-ROM was a Toshiba second-generation model. He said the system does include an MPEG- playback card — so hold all calls, we’ve got a winner here! The only trade-off from the HP 880 is a smaller hard drive — only 6.4 GB instead of 8 GB, but the three-year warranty more than makes up for that.
I called Kristen, who gave me the OK, then I called back Al, (who, sensing the kill, had given me his direct line) and did the deal. He said the PC would be shipped within seven days, just in time for my trip to Pennsylvania to help them set it up and also buy a color printer.
(By the way, the last time I checked, the Gateway site still had problems with the 3.0 version browsers. I think it’s a problem with frames, which I’m sure is costing them some business.)
So there you have it. Mission accomplished. Did I wander through a bunch of computer mega stores? No, because I get very frustrated by the fact that I know more about the products than the salespeople, and we both usually walk away aggravated.
Did I flip through pages and pages of build-to-order vendors in the latest PC rags? Uh-uh. Could I have saved another 100 bucks or two by going off the rack? Maybe, but I don’t want to be responsible for the cries of frustrated - and 3-year-olds because mommy says the computer won’t work. I’m comfortable with the deal I got, and look forward to playing games with the kiddies when I’m in town next week. Don’t worry: If something’s wrong, you (and Gateway) will be hearing from me.
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