Gateway Pondering A Pocket PC?

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-1000644.html">http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103_2-1000644.html</a><br /><br />Gateway is doing everything it can to get out from under the commodity PC business where top dogs Dell and HP reign supreme. In fact, Dell is doing the same by removing the "Computer" name from their official name, but that is another story. One of the areas Gateway may head is into the PDA business with a Pocket PC.<br /><br />"Also among the future business products demonstrated by the company were a PDA model that will most likely be based on Microsoft's Pocket PC software, a "convertible" tablet PC and a notebook with a 17-inch display and integrated numeric keyboard. A convertible notebook has a screen that opens, then rotates 180 degrees and folds back down to create a slatelike writing surface."<br /><br />So, who wants a Pocket PC that goes "Mooo" when it boots up? :D

[lurch]

So, who wants a Pocket PC that goes "Mooo" when it boots up? :D
Not me!!!

Not a big fan of Gateway.. if they faded away I wouldn't be too bothered.. 8)

[Foo Fighter]

I see nothing wrong with this. Gateway is a strong consumer brand name. Their presence in the PPC market (if the hardware is compelling) could be a watershed for this platform. More choice...is a good thing. And hey, who knows...they just might develop something that knocks our socks off! 0X

[James Fee]

I guess when your business is built on following Dell... :iamwithstupid:

And people are worried that PPC will become a commodity... :twisted:

[Ed Hansberry]

I see nothing wrong with this. Gateway is a strong consumer brand name. Their presence in the PPC market (if the hardware is compelling) could be a watershed for this platform.
I don't know about watershed, but it could definitely be good if the design was unique, and no, I don't mean white with black spots. :lol:

[Foo Fighter]

...but it could definitely be good if the design was unique, and no, I don't mean white with black spots. :lol:

Oh dear God! A horrible vision just flashed before my eyes; Holstien spotted handhelds. :microwave:

[Sslixtis]

I don't know about a Gateway PPC but anybody that has a Centrino with a 17" screen is ok with me! :lol: Now that is a trend I'd like to see! :mrgreen:

[bdegroodt]

Oh please! This company is as good as dead. A last ditch effort and a complete loss of focus on the business. Stick a fork in them and dig a hole! The only time I hear from them is either when they announce more store closings and lay offs coupled with excuses about missed earnings (While Dell reports more records.) or some new twist on their business plan (Remember the $3K plasma TV?).

[AKBishop]

I guess when your business is built on following Dell...

Their PCs are much better than Dells. I've rarely encountered a Dell laptop user who doesn't not have many issues with it. :onfire: Most of their laptops seem to be plauged with hardware failures. That's one thing that scares me away from purchasing Axims for people. My Gateway laptop on the other hand lasted me through 3 years of college where it spent it's entire life being banged around in a backpack and never getting a moments rest. (You'd be surprised how much performance you can get out of a Pentium 150MMX when you abuse it properly). I think I'm getting off topic now. :bangin:

I look forward to seeing more companies that will hopefully bring innovation to the market. The cookie cutter PPCs are getting tiresome.

[kagayaki1]

Apparently Gateway introduced 50 new items to their product line today. I agree with the NYTimes today that this might be a last ditch effort.

-Jason

[bdegroodt]

...I've rarely encountered a Dell laptop user who doesn't not have many issues with it.

I'm your huckleberry :D In fact, I'd argue that Dell is the only WIntel/PC producer that has a following akin to Apple's Mac Addicts. I'll never own another brand and I've used/owned IBM, Toshiba, Sony and HP.

I look forward to seeing more companies that will hopefully bring innovation to the market. The cookie cutter PPCs are getting tiresome.

Totally with you on this one. In fact, I think the funniest thing to see in a PPC review is the stack of PPCs next to/on top of each other. Not much of a difference in the lot.

[Ed Hansberry]

...I've rarely encountered a Dell laptop user who doesn't not have many issues with it.

I'm your huckleberry :D In fact, I'd argue that Dell is the only WIntel/PC producer that has a following akin to Apple's Mac Addicts. I'll never own another brand and I've used/owned IBM, Toshiba, Sony and HP.
Ditto. I am on my 4th Dell Latitude (the Inspirons are horrible IMHO) and the it just flat rocks. It will be a loooooooooooooong time before I even consider a non-Dell laptop.

[kagayaki1]

...I've rarely encountered a Dell laptop user who doesn't not have many issues with it.

I'm your huckleberry :D In fact, I'd argue that Dell is the only WIntel/PC producer that has a following akin to Apple's Mac Addicts. I'll never own another brand and I've used/owned IBM, Toshiba, Sony and HP.
Ditto. I am on my 4th Dell Latitude (the Inspirons are horrible IMHO) and the it just flat rocks. It will be a loooooooooooooong time before I even consider a non-Dell laptop.

I concur. I'm on my second Dell laptop, and it always does exactly what I need it to do. Contrary to what a lot of reviews have been saying the last couple years, I also still really enjoy Dell's customer service. They've been very helpful.

-Jason

[Foo Fighter]

(the Inspirons are horrible IMHO)

I'm glad you said that, because I was just about to jump on you. Can't say anything for the Latitude, since I've never owned one, but the Inspirons are a total POS (and I aint talkin PalmOS here). Cheap plastic chassis, subpar construction (some units I've seen are literally FALLING APART), a very low quality product. Latitiudes may be all that, but Inspiron is crap. I'll take a Sony Vaio (or PowerBook/iBook) over the UN-inspiron any day. :roll:

[foldedspace]

We recently purchased around 200 Gateway laptops. Unfortunately, none of them would work wirelessly, because they bios was incompatible with the Orinoco wireless cards that came installed from Gateway. And after we got that fixed after a struggle, half of the wireless cards were bad. So needless to say, I'm not real happy with them right now....but YRMV.

Kind of off topic, but the horror story of the day is that we are getting 900 Palm M515's in that need charging and configuring. I had tried to steer them towards Sony (it's Palm, but a little bit sexier), but they don't support Mac OS out of the box....sigh...

[Bob Anderson]

(the Inspirons are horrible IMHO)

I'm glad you said that, because I was just about to jump on you. Can't say anything for the Latitude, since I've never owned one, but the Inspirons are a total POS (and I aint talkin PalmOS here). Cheap plastic chassis, subpar construction (some units I've seen are literally FALLING APART), a very low quality product. Latitiudes may be all that, but Inspiron is crap. I'll take a Sony Vaio (or PowerBook/iBook) over the UN-inspiron any day. :roll:

First off, I'm glad to hear that Gateway might be entering the market!! Not because I want to buy one (my HP 5455 is doing just fine, thank you!) but because innovation and pricing are sure to improve with every additional PPC OEM.

Now... as for laptops... Having owned IBM, Compaq, and Dell laptops (and the Dell is an Inspiron) I have to say that for all around price/performance issues the Dell wins hands down! Compaq comes in second (I thought I'd never say it, and am only giving them 2nd place in my ranking because no service was ever required on the three I owned) and IBM dead last.

Of the laptops I've owned, both the IBM and the Dell needed service from time to time, and Dell's customer service is/was outstanding! And even with the hardware problem on the Inspiron, the price/performance ratio the Inspiron provides is simply in a league of it's own. This machine has been a great sidekick for 2 years now, and when I get a new one (very soon, I hope!) it will most likely be the Inspiron 8500.

And of course, the Compaq laptops I have owned never needed service, but were dogs performance wise and had buggy drivers that never really seemed to get addressed! The aggravations of a poorly performing machine are, IMHO, the death knell to the brand, in particular if the corresponding customer support is the pits as well.