Hi,

I've been looking at the new Gateway 4530GZ notebook that's
exclusively sold at Best Buy. I spoke with a sales rep at Gateway.com
and they do not support this model (at least that's what the sales rep
said). I couldn't find it on the sight either. The notebook is
really new, though, but I couldn't find any mention of it on their
site.

The thing that concerns me is whether or not Gateway.com will provide
drivers for this notebook soon (or at all). The sales rep said "no",
but I don't know if I believe that. If Gateway.com doesn't provide
drivers and such, where would I ever get updated drivers?

I was looking at the notebook in the store and the price tag did say
that Gateway does provide 1 year parts and labor (which is normal), so
they have to provide drivers and hardware replacement, right? They
would have to.

Anyone know anything about this? I know that this is the first time
(I think) that Gateway has sold notebooks like this in the Best Buy
store, so I'm not sure how this will work.

Thanks for the help.

Ryan Cabanas

"Ryan Cabanas" <rcabanas@ncinternet.net> wrote in message
news:8e1a0594.0410312144.451f967a@posting.google.c om...
I cannot believe that this model is anything other than an existing
Gateway offering with a separate model number for Best Buy. You should
check the Gateway site thoroughly.

If you are truly interested in this laptop, go back to BB and ask to see
the written warranty information from the original box. Best Buy will,
of course, be unable to supply that so ask them to open a box and
provide the warranty information from there, and also to provide you
with their own purchase return/replacement policy. READ BOTH! BB has a
habit of telling people whatever they think will make the sale, so do
not take anything but paper for the answer to your support question and
do not purchase anything from them on their word alone.

Q

Quaoar wrote:

It's similar but not identical to an M320. It's not necessarily an existing
Gateway model though--there's nothing like a 7405GX on the Gateway site for
example, but if you look on the e-machines site you'll see where it came
from.

Gateway bought out e-machines earlier this year and is slowly replacing
e-machines in the retail channel with Gateway brand machines--they
obviously don't have those models fully integrated into their system
yet--their system for example won't accept the serial number off a 7405GX
yet--presumably they're working on that.

While I don't have time to compare word for word, the warranty that came in
the box with my M7405GX appears to be identical to the one posted on the
Gateway site with the exception that the one in the 7405GX is for "one year
from the date of purchase" while the one on the Gateway site is for "(i)
ninety (90) days; or (ii) for the period stated on your invoice".
Presumably other Gateway models sold at BestBuy come with the same.

I don't know what Gateway will do long term with regard to the retail
machines, but the M7405GX comes with a newer BIOS than the e-machines M6800
series, which can be reflashed onto the e-machines models (not officially,
but it works) and corrects several problems including a compatibility issue
with XP SP2, so there's some effort being made somewhere at Gateway in that
regard.

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

"J. Clarke" <jclarke@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:cm5tjh0182i@news3.newsguy.com...
| Quaoar wrote:
|
| >
| > "Ryan Cabanas" <rcabanas@ncinternet.net> wrote in message
| > news:8e1a0594.0410312144.451f967a@posting.google.c om...
| >> Hi,
| >>
| >> I've been looking at the new Gateway 4530GZ notebook that's
| >> exclusively sold at Best Buy. I spoke with a sales rep at Gateway.com
| >> and they do not support this model (at least that's what the sales rep
| >> said). I couldn't find it on the sight either. The notebook is
| >> really new, though, but I couldn't find any mention of it on their
| >> site.
| >>
| >> The thing that concerns me is whether or not Gateway.com will provide
| >> drivers for this notebook soon (or at all). The sales rep said "no",
| >> but I don't know if I believe that. If Gateway.com doesn't provide
| >> drivers and such, where would I ever get updated drivers?
| >>
| >> I was looking at the notebook in the store and the price tag did say
| >> that Gateway does provide 1 year parts and labor (which is normal), so
| >> they have to provide drivers and hardware replacement, right? They
| >> would have to.
| >>
| >> Anyone know anything about this? I know that this is the first time
| >> (I think) that Gateway has sold notebooks like this in the Best Buy
| >> store, so I'm not sure how this will work.
| >>
| >> Thanks for the help.
| >>
| >> Ryan Cabanas
| >
| > I cannot believe that this model is anything other than an existing
| > Gateway offering with a separate model number for Best Buy. You should
| > check the Gateway site thoroughly.
|
| It's similar but not identical to an M320. It's not necessarily an
existing
| Gateway model though--there's nothing like a 7405GX on the Gateway site
for
| example, but if you look on the e-machines site you'll see where it came
| from.
|
| Gateway bought out e-machines earlier this year and is slowly replacing
| e-machines in the retail channel with Gateway brand machines--they
| obviously don't have those models fully integrated into their system
| yet--their system for example won't accept the serial number off a 7405GX
| yet--presumably they're working on that.
|
| > If you are truly interested in this laptop, go back to BB and ask to see
| > the written warranty information from the original box. Best Buy will,
| > of course, be unable to supply that so ask them to open a box and
| > provide the warranty information from there, and also to provide you
| > with their own purchase return/replacement policy. READ BOTH! BB has a
| > habit of telling people whatever they think will make the sale, so do
| > not take anything but paper for the answer to your support question and
| > do not purchase anything from them on their word alone.
|
| While I don't have time to compare word for word, the warranty that came
in
| the box with my M7405GX appears to be identical to the one posted on the
| Gateway site with the exception that the one in the 7405GX is for "one
year
| from the date of purchase" while the one on the Gateway site is for "(i)
| ninety (90) days; or (ii) for the period stated on your invoice".
| Presumably other Gateway models sold at BestBuy come with the same.
|
| I don't know what Gateway will do long term with regard to the retail
| machines, but the M7405GX comes with a newer BIOS than the e-machines
M6800
| series, which can be reflashed onto the e-machines models (not officially,
| but it works) and corrects several problems including a compatibility
issue
| with XP SP2, so there's some effort being made somewhere at Gateway in
that
| regard.
|

The only eMachines BIOS that had SP2 problems was the original 0f02.p00 BIOS
in the m6805 and some of the m6807. All subsequent eMachines BIOSes had no
problems with SP2 of XP. 0f05.p00 (m6809 bios) 0f07.p00, NSF03 and NSF04 all
worked fine with SP2. The Gateway BIOS does implement a few other options in
BIOS not available in the m68xx series though.