New Computer Frustration - HELP!! Please : )

[4theloveofdisney]

I have received wonderful computer advice from you all previously and so...I'm back with another question. : )

I just bought a new computer a little less than a month ago. For the money we spent (over $1000) and for all the bells and whistles it has (dual core AMD 64 Anthalon X2, a ton of memory, etc. ) we're having trouble.

For starters, it gave me a blue screen and stated it was starting a physical dump the second time I turned it on. (I was told that this was okay one time and one time only so we let that go.) It's slow to run DVD's and we have a media package. I can't pull up certain websites or surf. I get kicked out of AOL, and the computer sometimes freezes up. The page that I'm on will freeze or the screen saver will freeze.

It had done two more "physical dumps" in the past week so I called Gateway and gave them the error codes which I was told are serious. They are mailing me disks to clean everything off of the computer and start over.

My question is should I trust this or just take this thing back to Best Buy where I bought it and demand another one?

I had a Gateway in the past and loved it. I am not so sure this time around. Thanks for any advice.

 

[wnissen]

Dear 4theloveofdisney,
You got a lemon. Unless you have been visiting bad websites or installing lots of "free" software that is actually spyware, there is no excuse for a new computer to be blue-screening. You can try wiping the contents of the computer, but if that doesn't fix it, they need to start replacing parts. I doubt at this point you can return it without paying a restocking fee, but you might consider that if you don't get satisfaction from Gateway. The dirty secret of computers is that, unlike buying a Lexus or BMW, more expensive computers often have more problems, not fewer. About the only exception to this is the Macintosh. Good luck.

Walt

 

[4theloveofdisney]

Dear 4theloveofdisney,
You got a lemon. Unless you have been visiting bad websites or installing lots of "free" software that is actually spyware, there is no excuse for a new computer to be blue-screening. You can try wiping the contents of the computer, but if that doesn't fix it, they need to start replacing parts. I doubt at this point you can return it without paying a restocking fee, but you might consider that if you don't get satisfaction from Gateway. The dirty secret of computers is that, unlike buying a Lexus or BMW, more expensive computers often have more problems, not fewer. About the only exception to this is the Macintosh. Good luck.

Walt

Thanks Walt for that information. :::sigh::: We haven't been downloading anything from anywhere and in fact installed antivirus/firewall/spyware when we bought it so I would know if spyware was the problem. So basically I guess I should have bought the Toyota instead of the Luxus. Geesh - you can't win for anything anymore.

Thanks again!