ejeffrie's Full Review: Gateway DX4300-03 Desktop PC (PT.G830X.003)
WHY DID I BUY THE GATEWAY 4300-03?
I wanted to buy a desktop PC that is powerful enough that can run virtualization software and at the same time it is powerful enough to do video editing and for playing PC games. If you dont know what virtualization is, I will tell you about it.
Let say you run Windows Vista operating system on your PC and you want Windows 2003 server runs on the same machine at the same time. What virtualization software does is, it will let you run Windows 2003 Server on top of your current Windows Vista Operating System at the same time on one PC. Virtualization requires a lot of resources from the PC like CPU power, a lot of memory and hard drive space.
I was about to buy computer parts from Newegg.com to build my own PC but I couldn't believe myself when I saw the price of the Gateway DX4300-03 went down from $799 to $649 at our local Best Buy, I have been monitoring the price of the Gateway 4300-03 for quite sometimes. When I first saw it at Best Buy; Best Buy was selling it for $799 and 3 months later the Gateway DX4300-03 finally went down to $649! I work as a Web Analyst for the IRS and I buy a computer at least once a year because I do a lot of computer work and new experiment on computers. I was extremely happy to be able buy this Powerful PC for only $649! It was going to cost me more to build my own computer if I buy the parts from Newegg.com
Well let's get back to the topic and let me tell you my experience using this computer.
WHAT DO I LIKE ABOUT THE GATEWAY DX4300-03?
I don't understand why the other reviewer gave 1 star to this machine because this is my 2nd Gateway machine and I like Gateway computers because Gateway tend to offer more stuff on their computers at low price!
The only problem that about Gateway is I learned not to rely on Gateway tech support because they stink! I tried to call them to ask simple questions and every time I called they were unable to help me and I ended up fixing the problem myself.
Since I am a Web Analyst and also a computer technician, I usually fix all the computer problems myself, unless it is a serious hardware failure that is under warranty, I usually refrain from calling the Gateway tech support.
Anyway, these are the reasons why I love the DX4300-03:
1. It was very easy to set up.
To me, I thought the computer was very easy to set up. Everything was working perfectly right out of the box. I can see why a lot of people are frustrated with this computer, because Windows Vista operating system is different than Windows XP, it is more difficult to set up the Internet connection on Vista and it is easier to do on XP machine.
The computer does come with bunch of trial software and the first thing I did basically was to uninstall all the trials software like MS Office trial, Norton Anti Virus Crap, and the other CRAP trial software. Why can't they sell computers without all of these trial software, because it takes at least 30 to 40 minutes to uninstall.
This machine comes with GRAPHICAL instructions, you don't have to read a manual to set it up, you just have to follow the instructions where to plug the mouse, keyboard and so on. This instruction is put together for people with limited computer experience. I know where the mouse and keyboard supposed to be connected!
2. It comes with 8 GB DD2 memory which is plenty
I can't believe it that the computer comes with 8GB DDR 2 memory. I can run Windows 2003 Server on top of the Vista Operating System by using a VMware without chocking the system resources and I am extremely pleased with the result because it runs pretty fast!
I can run software like Photoshop, InDesign, and Dreamweaver at the same time again without chocking the system resources. I am very impressed with the system perfomance.
3. It comes with AMD Quad Core Phenom X4 9750 / 2.4 GHz 64 Bit CPU
The Quad Core CPU performance is amazing! It can handle pretty much my graphic design and video editing works. I love to play flight simulator and I run the F-16 4.0 flight simulator on this machine and I am extremely happy with the result because the game loads very fast!
4. It comes with 1 terabyte ATA 7200 rpm hard drive
Now I have a lot of hard drive space to store my music MP3 files, movies, video works, and other things. I love the fact that it comes with 7200 RPM hard drive and not 5400 RPM hard drive because the 7200 hard drive makes everything runs faster!
5. It comes with Independent ATI Radeon HD 4650 Video Graphic Cards with 1 GB Video Memory
Now this is the big deal! When I saw this video graphic card included in the machine, I pretty much made up my mind to buy the Gateway 4300-03 because usually computer companies try to sell you PC with integrated video graphic card. I hate buying HP computers because most of them come with integrated graphic cards which have very low performance level.
I runs a lot of 3D video games on and the quality is superb! My F-16 flight simulator looks so good on my 42" inch Panasonic Plasma HDTV. I connected this PC to my HDTV through an HDMI connection.
I like to Play Civilization 4 and I can max the resolution and maximize the CIV 4 graphic output to the MAX by using the Radeon 4650 video card! CIV 4 looks awesome on my 42" Panasonic 1080p HDTV.
6. It comes with 3 different graphic ouputs! (VGA, DVI and HDMI)
I never saw this features before on a PC, the DX4300 will let you output the video graphic through DVI, VGA and HDMI outputs! You can choose the one you like! I am very impressed about this because most PC comes with only 1 or 2 different outputs.
7. It comes with 8 USB ports and 1 Firewire port
This is unbelievable! There are actually 8 USB ports on this PC. 2 in the front, 2 on the top, and 4 in the back.
They let you connect 8 USB devices at the same time!!!! I had to buy USB expansion hub before because my old PC ran out of USB ports, but with the Gateway 4300-03, there are plenty of USB ports, so I don't have to use my USB hub anymore.
I am glad this computer comes with 1 firewire port because I have an external firewire hard drive. Now I can connect my external hard drive to this machine.
8. It comes with different memory flash reader.
Now this is another feature I love about this machine. There is a built-in xD, MicroSD, SD/MMC, CF and MS memory card reader, so again I don't have to use my USB memory card reader anymore because everything is built-in on the machine! After I am done taking photos on my digital camera, I can just stick the flash memory to the reader and upload the photos to the machine.
9. It comes with DVD-RW burner!
Do you remember how painful it was to burn your files to a regular CD because it takes a lot of CDs to backup your important files?
I love the fact that this machine comes with a DVD-RW burner, so I can create a DVD backup for my photos, videos and work files. A DVD can store up to 4.7 GB of files while a regular CD is only 720 MB.
10. It comes with HDMI output.
I know that I already mentioned the different video outputs on this machine, but the HDMI video output is the major factor that affects my buying decision because I have a Panasonic 42" 1080p HDTV that I want to connect to this computer. The HDMI video output let view the 1920x1080 video resolution on my HDTV. The VGA video output can only go up to 1280x800 video resolution.
11. It comes with built-in wireless WIFI adapter
Now this is a good deal! I was shocked when I saw it, I didn't read the specs at Best Buy but when I opened the box at home I saw that this computer comes with a built-in wireless G WIFI adapter! There is a little WIFI antenna that comes with the machine that you are supposed to connect to the WIFI adapter card. I was about to buy a USB WIFI wireless adapter and now I don't have to buy one because this machine comes with a built-in WIFI wireless adapter!
12. The price is right for this machine.
If you try to build your own computer, an AMD Quad Core CPU and motherboard will at least cost you $200+, a Radeo 4650 card costs around $90 to $120, 8 GB memory costs $150, computer case $30-$50, 1 TB hard drive costs $99, DVD-RW burner costs $35, plus you have to take at least 3 to 6 hours to build your own computer which is pain the butt and probably more hours if something goes wrong.
I am glad that I bought this machine instead of trying to put together my own PC this time. It saved me a lot of time and money, so I am extremely grateful to be able to have this PC now!
WHAT IS IT THAT I DON'T LIKE ABOUT THIS MACHINE?
This is a dream machine and it comes with a cheap cable keyboard and mouse!!! I was expecting a wireless keyboard and mouse but I got a cheap POS cable mouse and keyboard. Thank goodness that I have Logitech Bluetooth mouse and Rocketfish bluetooth keyboard (Read my review on IOGEAR Bluetooth adapter)
Gateway tech support is pretty much useless, unless the hardware is broken and it is under warranty and I want Gateway to replace it, I will not call the tech support.
The machine comes with a lot of CRAP Trial software! I hate it because it took me at least an hour to uninstall the trial software.
WILL I RECOMMEND THE GATEWAY DX4300-03?
My answer is "Yes!" If you like to do video editing, play video games and work on graphics on Photoshop or InDesign, this PC is perfect and go ahead and buy it. If you only want to use your PC to check emails and Web site, don't buy it because you don't need this powerful PC to check emails and view Web site.
I will say that setting up this computer will be an adventure if you have limited computer experience, but come on, you can learn it! It is not that difficult to learn!
FINAL WORDS
With all the features like AMD Phenom Quad Core Processor, 8 GB memory, Radeon 4650 with 1 Video RAM, 1 TB hard drive and other cool features for $649, this computer is the DEAL of the YEAR! The Gateway 4300-03 really meets my expectation and I am extremely please that I was able to buy this dream machine for less!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 649 Operating System: Windows Processor: Other Processor speed: over 1000 RAM: More than 256 Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
This desktop features built-in wireless networking, so you can easily connect to the Internet without cables. The AMD Phenom X4 quad-core processor de...More at Best Buy ®
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