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Gateway vs. Apple

In reply to ladrums1000 which company in the world would say their product was utter trash in a report!!! Why do Apple only test their product with Biotech programs? Like I would ever use that when writing an email to my wife!! And do I have to learn the programing language then write the software myself just to get the performance?

In reply to iTurd: It was probably created on an Mac!!
 
If there's one computer personality I hate more than that Dell guy, it's that frelling cow, and that thing is uglier than Janet Reno in a lace and leather nightgown, but they sure as hell are getting a lot of attention over it. This is a little different than the EMachines iMac ripoff a couple years ago and that ugly triangle shaped thingie a couple months ago. The difference is that Gateway is going to market this thing until they file for bankruptsy. The tests may be rigged and it may not have the versatility of the iMac, but that $999 base price looks pretty tempting if I'm going for a cheap space saving all-in-one computer. I've written off the EMachines and that triangle thingie when they came out because there wasn't a lot of hoopla around it, but this POS Gateway is a little different in that respect. I just hope Apple can retaliate if this Profile4 takes off like it shouldn't but with a good marketing scheme, I'm a bit skeptical. :(
 
Look at the specs for the new gateway. Let me do a side by side:

Apple============GateWay
700 MHz G4---------------Celeron 1.7
256k L2--------------------128k L2
128MB SDRAM------------128MB DDR SDRAM
40GB UltraATA------------20GB UltraATA
No Floppy Drive-----------.00144 GB Floppy Drive ;-)
24x CD-RW-----------------24x CDR
Mac OS X 10.2-------------WinXP home
1299 999
15" TFT----------------------15" Flat Panel

I would rather have the mac, than the crippled celeron
 
Profool - Interesting tidbits

I went on gateway's website to check how could they acheive to build a machine that cheap... here is what I found under the carpet.

It starts at $999... compared to $1200 for an imac... $300 not too shabby but...

theres seem to be some key components missing... I click on customize to make it up to par...

I want the hard drive to be upped to 40 Gigs, just like the imac base model.
Kaching!!! +$50

I also want the ability to be able to burn CDs, just like on the imac base model (CD-RW)
Kaching!!! + $80

I might also want to add the "not included" 56k modem
Kaching!!! + $30

Well, afeter adding the missing accessories, it's still cheaper than an imac at $1,184.00 by about $100 but I would'nt have popped a gasket over it. Sure my imac don't have a 1.44" diskette drive but dang, I haven't felt the need for one in about 5 years. Do these still exists???

Also, my imac comes with a COMPLETE and stable OS.

Here are some fine prints from Gateway's site concerning the installed OS:

"Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition: Windows® XP Home Edition is a consumer operating system and does not support peer to peer networking of more than five computers, domain authentication, Encrypted File System or remote system management."

Dang!

I bet that if I teared the guts out of the imac just like a Profool, I'll get it down to $999.

What's more, the way it's build, their "flat screen" looks more like a "fat screen to me". Remember when they first introduced the imac, Ive's said that they almost fell for the trap of designing a flatter version of the original imac with a flat screen in front and the guts attached behind the screen? I'm glad they avoided that ugly trap... too bad gateway walked right in.

And about ripping Apple's advertising, they should also try to steal the "think different" slogan.... naaaahhhh... Make that "Think Bull****"
 
Originally posted by User X
Has anyone ever seen a pc boot up to a running state in 18sec. I can't belive that. I have a pIII 850 dell latitude at work running Win 98 and It takes so long to boot up I turn it on and walk away for a while because I can't stand how slow it is. My 867 G4 at home boots up in half the time and it is even faster now with 10.2 . I know that there is a big difference between a pIII 850 and the 2.4gz P4 and maybee XP helps but that is unbelivable. Can anyone confirm this?

Gateway's lack of originallity will be there undoing. What will they come out with next...a pocket size MP3 player? There are too many crap PC makers out there and this is a desperate attempt by one of them to stay a float.

I think I am starting to take these things personally.
Click to expand...

it takes 20 seconds to boot up to a full working desktop in WinXP on my duron 700.
 
Cm'on, this isn't serious folks! Yes, I think Apple should be a bit concerned about the speed issue, don't we all want faster iMacs? But still, directly from the gateway site, no DVD Burner option, so add $300-400 for an external, speakers, $25 option. 80GB drive $100 option. How quickly does this machine cost just as much as a 17" iMac? Even then, 17" widescreen? not available. Adjustable monitor? not available. OSX? Not available. iMovie? N/A. iDVD? N/A. etc....

I'm still happy to be a machead. 18 years of Mac-use and counting! (yup, 1984, 128k flamethrower!)
 
Guys, we should be more objective here. Sure, we all love the mac, but we can't let that bias our discussion if we really want to examine how these new ads will affect Apple's sales of the iMac. Personally, I think Gateway made a stupid mistake in targeting the iMac specifically--why target a platform that has 3.4% when you can go after Dell, HP, or IBM? This is evidence that Gateway's management is smoking some good **** and they're running the company while they're high. The new ads could actually prop up sales for the mac, since it does seem pretty obvious that the mac is the better product when compared to that profile 4. Then again, Apple can't afford to lose sales to anyone, so the situation is dicey at best.

Here's to hoping that the new Gateway ad campaign backfires! :cool:
 
I am not entirely sure how this is news. I told you guys this a couple of days ago.

I don't think that this will hurt Apple at all. In fact, I think the extra FREE exposure will be good.

Besides people who are going to buy a Mac are going to buy a Mac regardless of what crap Gateway puts out. They want a stable, reliable alternative to the throw away garbage that is produced by the other computer manufactures.
 
firewire?

Does it have built-in firewire? Is that even an option?

This won't hurt Apple's marketshare... it is competition for the back-to-school-crowd though. But if Junior is given a choice between the
$1999 Gateway and the $1999 iMac... which on is he gonna choose?

The $999 Profile isn't cheaper... it's UNDER equipped.
 
I didn't know that PC's could boot that fast. I guess I have a real piece of crap Dell laptop.I am sure it would help if you had a 10,000RPM hard drive (don't know how fast the HD is in this thing). Maybee XP would help but the company won't put the money into it. I wonder how fast the new G4's boot in 10.2. I am going to time my quicksilver when I get home. Any body got a boot up time for there machine?
 
On the topic of boot times, my Digital Audio 667 boots in 45sec timed. From a cold start. 10.1.4. Anyone else care to share?
 
Guy, I have to tell you that I'm sold...

I just put my 4-days-old DP867 Mhz PowerMac on ebay, and I'm off to CompUSA to place my order for my new GateWay.

yeah, right.
 
Early Reviews:

Here is a longer, more complete review from Cnet:

http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-1018-405-20262327.html?tag=rev-rev

Extract: "High but awkward style - While the iMac appears light and playful, the Profile 4, which is covered in a matte-black finish and silver accents, feels ponderous and clumsy, like a big bottle of 1980 vintage Drakkar Noir. Good luck finding any matching furniture at IKEA."

It's reted at this point 7/10 by CNet and 36% by users. The imac did 8/10, with a Editor's choice label and a 93% user opinion :)

Interesting Note:

Remember that weird 180+ fps quake 3 from the profool benchmark Pdf? Well, CNet only acheived 59 fps on the Profool they tested... Interesting.

I'm keeping an eye on PCMagazine, they rated the imac 5/5... let's see hoe the Profool does.
 
I think Gateway is wrong in trying to do this. Not only will they piss off Apple Legal, but they may also hurt profile sales by comparing hte profile to the iMac in a TV ad, where looks count. Consumers will look at both machines and see that the iMac looks like it was actually designed by someone, and the Gateway looks like a piece of trash. The kind of people who are buying an iMac or a Profile care about how their computers look, and the iMac looks better on TV and in person. For most consumers, the Gateway ads will actually make them mre likely to buy an iMac.

At least that's what I hope will happen.
 
Re: Early Reviews:

Originally posted by srobert
Interesting Note:

Remember that weird 180+ fps quake 3 from the profool benchmark Pdf? Well, CNet only acheived 59 fps on the Profool they tested... Interesting.
Click to expand...

Another interesting bit is the apps they use for web page and PDF loading. I know they tested on 10.1.4, but on Jaguar here are my impressions.

First, OS X doesn't even come with Adobe Acrobat. Someone made the comment that OS X is built on PDF, and the Gateway beat it. Well, adobe has its own rendering engine. OS X come with its own tools for examining (and creating!) PDFs. The problem could lie in the Acrobat application, not the computers. They should have benchmarked creating PDFs...oh, wait...XP doesn't come with the ability to do so.

Second, under Jaguar, IE is probably the slowest of the four I've used. OmniWeb, Mozilla, and Chimera all beat it hands down in load times and rendering. Again, Gateway's dominance could have nothing to do with the hardware.

This is the problem with benchmarking. So much is dependant on software. Others have pointed out flaws in the 3D tests. The fact that Gateway selected these tests really makes me wonder. I'd be interested to see the rest of the benchmarks, esp some more "raw" tests.

Taft
 
Originally posted by User X
Has anyone ever seen a pc boot up to a running state in 18sec. I can't belive that. I have a pIII 850 dell latitude at work running Win 98 and It takes so long to boot up I turn it on and walk away for a while because I can't stand how slow it is. My 867 G4 at home boots up in half the time and it is even faster now with 10.2 . I know that there is a big difference between a pIII 850 and the 2.4gz P4 and maybee XP helps but that is unbelivable. Can anyone confirm this?

Gateway's lack of originallity will be there undoing. What will they come out with next...a pocket size MP3 player? There are too many crap PC makers out there and this is a desperate attempt by one of them to stay a float.

I think I am starting to take these things personally.
Click to expand...

Yes, my XP Pro Gateway tower does boot quicker by far, than my Cube, 9.X or 10.1.5 (I haven't got my Jag copy yet :) ).

If you got "customize" the Profile 4 SE on Gateway's site to match the middle iMac, (include the next cpu upgrade too), it comes out to 1500$, same as the iMac.

What is going to attract buyers, especially corporations is you can get MS Word standard, and the Office for a low additonal cost. Most if not all government contracts we deal with require word, excel document format, and it is a industry wide standard, due I will admit to the flood of the software from MS into the market. This won't change anytime soon.

Apple has an oppurtunity here to really make a great impression. Ignore Gateway, the testing was as lame as Apple testing the Xserve using Photoshop. Apple sould bundle WordPerfect Suite or MS Office on all mid-level machines, and as a additional cost item on all lower end machines. Also, offer either WordPerfect or MS Office, give the buyer a choice.

Then do independant testing of thier own in real world applications, such as Photoshop filters, Word search and replace, Web Browser scrolling and large file copying. Not to mention the mp3 ripping, quicktime movie compling etc.

These will sell well, I doubt we will buy them, and we buy all Gateways, have for years, Apple has to do nothing but take the high road here, and just keep making soild machines at a reasonable price.

my 2 bits, thanks folks :]
 
Originally posted by topicolo
Guys, we should be more objective here. Sure, we all love the mac, but we can't let that bias our discussion if we really want to examine how these new ads will affect Apple's sales of the iMac. Personally, I think Gateway made a stupid mistake in targeting the iMac specifically--why target a platform that has 3.4% when you can go after Dell, HP, or IBM? This is evidence that Gateway's management is smoking some good **** and they're running the company while they're high. The new ads could actually prop up sales for the mac, since it does seem pretty obvious that the mac is the better product when compared to that profile 4. Then again, Apple can't afford to lose sales to anyone, so the situation is dicey at best.

Here's to hoping that the new Gateway ad campaign backfires! :cool:
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more, it is bizarre that they are targeting a specific model:rolleyes: I have never seen a computer maker do this before, has anyone here seen it?

I rarely see a Mac ad, the switch ones, and there was only one I saw, I muted, (they lame ads also). Apple must target larger population areas.

The Gateway ones though, I bet my TV will be muted most of the time.

I almost got throw out of a Gateway store for opening a display model case while it was being used...heh...but thats another story
:D
 
Here Here ejb190, right on! Apple should do something about those ads pronto. I will keep my eye out for em, I can here a lawsuit right now- Apple sues Gateway for misinformation in ad campaign!!


Lets start a grass roots campaign by posting that eairlier picture on Gateway stores all around the nation!!!!!!
 
Originally posted by Macmaniac
Here Here ejb190, right on! Apple should do something about those ads pronto. I will keep my eye out for em, I can here a lawsuit right now- Apple sues Gateway for misinformation in ad campaign!!


Lets start a grass roots campaign by posting that eairlier picture on Gateway stores all around the nation!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Goto law school first and then talk about law suits. There isn't one here.
Not a legit one anyways.

I think this helps Apple since people will want to go compare the iMac now.
Goatway doesn't have the easy to use apps as Apple does. Sure if I want to run 100 different variants of porn downloading software the PC is for me.
No I don't do biotech either. I do do email and my Mac does it just fine.

Goatway just added to Apples ad campaign. Maybe someone paid off a goatway executive to run such a stupid self defeating ad. The whole thing with computers now is people are not looking for the fastest and greatest. They want a computer that does what they need to and does it in an easy way.

Selling a computer on speed is not as big as it used to be. Especially since Intel themselves ran into a Mhz wall with their high end Itanium processor that they are not talking much about now.
 
srobert, you crack me up!

srobert, that was an extremely funny post - I actually laughed out loud!

Your analysis was right on to boot. Let's not even mention that the Profool (that's great, did you coin that?) doesn't include any iApp-like applications. What a POS. And if the screen doesn't move, it just downright sucks. Even if does, there's no way that it moves like my iMac's. This feature alone convinced me to buy this thing.


- daytona63
 
Originally posted by User X
I didn't know that PC's could boot that fast. I guess I have a real piece of crap Dell laptop.I am sure it would help if you had a 10,000RPM hard drive (don't know how fast the HD is in this thing). Maybee XP would help but the company won't put the money into it. I wonder how fast the new G4's boot in 10.2. I am going to time my quicksilver when I get home. Any body got a boot up time for there machine?
Click to expand...

Nah, I just have a 7200rpm hard drive. It is faster than a normal 4200rpm to 5400rpm laptop drive, but it's mainly XP. Microsoft actually did make improvenets to the startup times in XP and it's actually pretty good. If you use the hibernate function, it'll copy all of the contents of your ram to your hard drive and start up again using the ram contents, making startup even faster. The ugliness of the OS negates all of that good startup stuff tho.
 
According to their information, set screen resolutions to 1024x768 on all the computers. The 17" iMac native resolution is 1440x900. This may have been one reason why the 17" iMac performed so slowly (that and the fact they weren't using Jaguar). Afterall, it has a Geforce 4 instead of a Geforce 2.
 
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