Customer Reviews

Gateway FX6803-35 Desktop - Black

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is my third Gateway computer since 1994 (I keep them a long time) and the first with most of the bells and whistles in the box. It is a great looking machine, but more than that, it performs. Set up was easy and right out of the box it was ready to go to work. I'm still adapting me to Win 7, but only had to replace my very old speakers, all the other peripherials plugged and played. Great machine, great value.

Ive never had a gateway before this is my first high performance desktop.
The computer it's self has a very nice look and the red LED lights can be turned off.
It is also very quiet and runs pretty cool even under a heavy load.
The board on this computer unfortunately does not support overclocking.

The computer DESTROYS any modern game out right now.
It scores almost flawlessly under the most graphics intense game Crysis on maximum settings.

The computer comes with a gateway mouse and keyboard which in my opinion rank lower than crummy knock offs available at the black market. Gateway must have spent less than 10 cents on both keyboard and mouse combined to manufacture.

pros:
Gaming power
Swapable bays
1.5 tb HD
runs quiet and cool

cons:
crummy mouse and keyboard
no overclocking capabilities
HUGE amount for trial-ware and gateway junk installed
customer service reputation is horrible

The specs on this FX6803 are pretty awesome. Unfortunately, the unit never lived up to performance expectations. It did have problems out of the box, however, I chalked it up to the Windows/Gateway bloat-ware installed on the PC. I had planned to wipe it out and start over. However, the Windows Experience Index (WEI) indicated a 7.9 across the board except the disk drives (5.9). So, I explored replacing the primary drive and this is where I became more disappointed.

Frame of reference: a ten year old Dell Dimension 8200. Good in its day and has never had a single issue as it continues to run strong. The case requires no tools to open it and most components such as disk drives conveniently slide out on rails; again no tools required. The new Gateway FX believe it or not uses bolts everywhere. When exploring the disk drive, it took well over 2 hours from the time I started until I got it back together (and that's on a work bench). It became apparent why there aren't many of these around and why they are so expensive; they are difficult to built. In this day and age, there is no excuse for building these components using 1980s manufacturing techniques. Had there been some thought to the build, this could have been a very nice rig.

Now with that said, the consumer aspect of the case is very nice. It looks nice and is functional (although big). Despite how the components are bolted together, the components in themselves are good quality.

Bottom Line: I would have kept the unit and rebuilt the software had the inner hardware components not been such a pain to deal with. I had planned to replace the SATA drive with an OCZ SSD Revo Drive. Unfortunately, it simply wasn't worth the hassle when considering I had just paid fourteen hundred for the unit.

Once again, Amazon was incredibly great to deal with and that's why I continue to buy from them - fantastic company who has my loyalty. Thanks Amazon.

It was great at first, but over time (4 months) the thing got slower, started to crash, and the keyboard secondary functions and some USB ports quit working. Finally, it started reporting that my copy of Windows was not genuine. Tech support is the usual experience talking with someone in Bangalore who is flipping through a book of helpful phrases and suggestions. They wanted me to reload Windows from the rescue disk. (If you have one of these computers, make your rescue disk NOW) During that process, it reported that my hardware was not compatible with Windows. Upon restart, it failed to boot. Can't even get safe mode or C prompt. Now Bangalore says to send it to Texas. That is 38 pounds via UPS - about $50 out of MY pocket. Now I am without a computer for who knows how long, and if it comes back, I will have to reload everything. Not the experience I paid $1500 for in December. BTW, if you get the Square Trade warranty, it is USELESS for the first year. For your $165 you get a person who tells you to send the computer back to Gateway. Update: It was a bad HD. They put in a new one, reloaded Windows plus all of the bloatware, and sent it back. Turn around time not bad - maybe 12 days. Note: If you DO send them your original computer box, you won't get it back.

This computer is the best machine that I have ever had. I have had HP computers forever. Until recently I was very satisfied. But HP outsourced its tec support. I had a very bad experience the first time I tried to use them. After that I could not get any satisfaction from them. I even went to a local shop to get it fixed. So when I needed a new computer [not a HP] I did a lot of research. I was looking for a fast machine and the Gateway won. No problem in set up. I would recommend this system to anyone.