I used to work at Gateway, yeah the express service plan is a joke. Even better was the enterprise service plan for businesses. Nothing like the support service industry to put the squeeze on your dollar at the very moment you need them most. Personally for pro use I would go with dell, if you are a novice computer user and want to be talked to and walked through everything imaginable, and have your computer come stock with a manifold of memory hogging relativly useless applications than by all means go gateway.
I have one of each and mechanically they are about equal. However, the tech support is where Dell shines and gateway sucks. Ditto the comment about Gateway coming with useless crap pre-installed.
I've bought one box from IBM (wayyyyy back when - a 16 mhz PS/2 Model 70 - and it still runs, BTW) and one from Gateway (this POS died long ago). Since then, I've built all mine. I strongly encourage your BIL to study up and build his own system. The actual physical assembly is only slightly harder than setting up a current entertainment system. If you've ever replaced a card in your system by yourself, that's about half the job. Well, mebbe a third. The hard part is picking the parts, and getting the best deals on them. Fortunately, one can get mountains of advice on the web. However, that's not for everybody. Some folks dunno the difference between a flat screwdriver and a Phillip's. So, to respond to the original question, I would discourage anybody from buying a Gateway computer. Gateway uses the cheapest parts they can pull out of the dumpster. Go Dell, man. Go Dell.
The last two computers I have bought have been Gateway. One is a PIII laptop I have had for almost three years and the other is a P4 I have had for about a year and a half. AT the time I purchased them, Gateway had much better deals than DELL for what I was looking for. What little tech support I have needed has been fine. My brothers both have Dells, and I don't see much difference. I would buy the one that has the best deal for what I wanted.
Dell's prices for memory are absurd. Way overpriced. And if you want to buy more forget it look for another vendor. Just price out mem with an outside vendor and you will see how $$$ they charge. On WS its ridiculous. mktsurf
DELLs rule...Take it from a pebble. F. PeBBLe ps Guy Above Me, you can just buy memory upgrades elsewhere.
for the posts everyone...the good ole EliteTrader posters came through with a lot better opinions than I had (me being biased with build-your-owns...) oh oh....am starting to get into a habit where I check with this board before I make certain moves...
I've supported different turnkey computer manufacturers and I've been recommending anyone who's looking for one to get a Dell.