I called Gateway...and WOW!
I have called them a few times in the past, always asking if they would ever sell AMD-based PCs. Obviously, the answer was "No". Actually. this wasn't just a "No," it was an emphatic "No". The next question I asked was if they would ever sell AMD-based PCs. Right after I asked those questions, they would go into a spoof about how they only sell Intel-based PCs and how it will stay that way. Why would their sales reps think otherwise? They had sold Intel-based PCs throughout the company's history.
When ZD Net broke the story about a month ago that Gateway would use AMD chips in their PCs, I thought it was time to give Gateway another call. The first time I called, I told the sales rep that I had read on the internet that Gateway was going to start using AMD chips in their PCs. The sales rep responded like I should be sent to a sanitarium. Right away he said you can't believe everything on the internet. I offered him to read it for himself and he did. After he read it, he said that they (the sales reps) are usually informed about what is going on with the company and that I should wait longer to see if it was true. I called again and the sales rep again assured me they sell nothing but Intel chips. After reading the article, he talked to his manager. Eventually, I spoke to his manager and was told the same thing - that they are usually informed ahead of time about new products. He also told me not to believe what I read on the internet.
Today, I decided to call again because there was actually an press release given out by the company. This is when things begin to get interesting. I called a few hours ago and, as usual, asked for a desktop for the home. I told the sales rep I read that Gateway was going to use AMD processors and he said yes, we now offer AMD-based PCs. He also said they were available now, and would be able to ship on Tuesday. Then I asked him the question. I asked him which processor I should get and he said to go with the AMD K6-2 because it is the best price-performance chip. This stunned me. Then I asked him if it was worth it to get the PII and he said that at the same MHz level the K6-2 and PII perform at the same level but that the K6-2 system would save me some money. This was enough from this guy (Trevor) so I ended the conversation.
Wanting to know if it was just this one guy who was an AMDite, I called again. I went to the same place as earlier and this time pretended like I was a PC beginner. I told the guy (John) that I was browsing their site and noticed they had PCs with two different company's chip in them. I asked him the difference and he said that the AMD chips were new for Gateway. He told me the K6-2 would give me the best for the money compared to the PII and PIII (he didn't mention Celeron). He said I could get a 450MHz K6-2 system and save $3-400 compared to a PX. I ended up talking to him about the different configurations and later ended the conversation.
I called one more time because I was still stunned at the answer I got the first two times. How could the company that was so faithful to Intel a month ago recommend AMD chips? Maybe because what they were telling me the truth - that the K6-2 was the better price-performance chip. ;) The third guy (Rainart) I got recieved the most drilling. Again, I pretended like I was a beginner who browsed their site and saw the diffent chips. I asked the guy which chip I should get and he asked me what kind of applications I was going to be running. I told him mainly web browsing and Microsoft Office. He told me the K6-2 would be the best choice becaue it performed as well as the Intel chips and cost less. I asked his why this was so and he gave he his theory which was I am buying Intel for the name. Then I asked him if I wanted the best performing chip which one I should get. He said that he and a few buddies compared a 450MHz K6-2 system to a 450MHZ PIII system and didn't notice a big difference. He also told me about 3D Now!, basically saying Intel has a think like it in the PIII but that 3D Now has been our longer. Since I hadn't heard the word Celeron much in either of the phone calls, I asked him about it. He said that for the applications I was going to be runing, I should still get a K6-2 system because it offered the better price-performance.
Call Gateway for yourself and report what kind of answers you get. I, and I am sure the rest of the thread, am very interested in the response you will get. (Don't call at the time of this posting because I think their offices may be closed now.) |
