CompuServe Messages

>> I applaud your keen and valid insight, and agree completely. << Well, I have the advantage of having worked with some really good systems builders and learned alot… and have built more than a few systems myself, but in the end as you point out, there is so much to know with regard to what works with what, and what works best etc. that unless you've really into it on a regular basis, its much better to go with someone who really knows their stuff… and it really is time consuming trying to keep up with it all, and really not worth the effort unless you enjoy it as a hobby or something… in which case I suggest finding a new hobby. <G> The truth is… any dealer that sells and supports on this forum, has very high visibility, and if the system isn't built correctly or there is a problem, we all get to hear about it… and as if that wasn't enough consider that graphic systems are typically state of the art and are shipped to places elsewhere… So alot has to be checked and tested to insure that the system works properly and has the right components. I give the dealers that are willing to do it alot of credit, because its tough and the potential fallout from a foul up is ever present… personally the only reason I can see that a dealer is willing to do it is for the prestige, because all else being equal, pricing has to be fairly competitive…. which isn't to suggest that people shouldn't shop around but shop on dealer reputation as much if not more so than on price… because its really hard to measure the value of a good dealer in dollar and cents… and it can be priceless… like the dealer that delivered your system when he said he would and as a result you got that rush job completed which meant a bigger project was awarded… because you were ready to go… maybe some people just expect that as a matter of course… but alot depends on how fast you need it etc… Or the dealer who spent 15 mins on the phone with you when you urgently needed to talk to him because you thought you lost your hard drive when it fact it was just the CMOS that got screwed up because someone accidently disconnected the battery… My advice is for people to think about what kind of a difference support like this could make to their operation… if it doesn't matter call Gateway and when you have problems, call them back, and if you're lucky you'll talk to a real human and after another half an hour… figure out how much time you've spent already just to discover, you've got a bad hard drive… and will have to send the whole system back… or maybe they'll ship you just the hard drive, but you'll have to replace it… then you find out it hasn't been formatted, so you either send it back or format it yourself… you've never done it so you have to call and again another delay… and then you find out its an EIDE and it won't configure on your system… you read the instructions and the pins are different than in the diagram… its endless… course you could get lucky too… Enough said, keep up the good work. John