Scored a new Gateway (imagine that) 14.1" Ultra Slim laptop-- 12th gen
core i7, 512 GB SSD, 8 GB memory, touch screen, Win 11 Home at Micro
Center for just under $300 bucks.

My initial impression was wow, what a great deal. But it turned out I
should have paid more attention to the consistent "Cons" in the online
reviews.

It was on the heavy side, the right shift key was only half-sized, the
nice sized touch pad was a real dog and zero support was available on
Gateway's (owned by Acer these days) website where I hoped to download
an updated touch pad driver. "Drivers and Manuals" download link said
"Coming Soon". Sheesh!

On its first boot out of the box, I got a blue screen saying there was a
problem loading the system and the computer would be restarted. It was,
and it booted normally. Unfortunately, about 20% of subsequent cold
boots yielded the same error message and reboot.

I figured a total wipe and reset to factory specs ought to clear the
problems out. But any combination of the several reset protocols yielded
a different blue screen saying there was a problem on the reset and no
changes were made.

I ran all the recommended trouble-shoot/fixes-- most were command line
stuff- but no joy.

I hadn't really loaded much personal stuff on yet but I manually deleted
as much of it as I could and returned it to the store today.

The tech support guys there (who I know) said they would use their
professional equipment to wipe any remaining personal data, then
reset/restore. I'm pretty confident they'll do that.

Too bad. It was a slick, attractive, black, zippy little machine. But I
think I learned my lessons about 1. second guessing critical online
reviews and 2. only buying machine manufactured by the big established
manufacturers. Ain't never had a bad Dell or HP!

--
I'm at the age where not finding good parking at an event is enough to
make me go home

On 10/13/23 07:29 PM, this is what Capt'n Butler wrote:
> Scored a new Gateway (imagine that) 14.1" Ultra Slim laptop-- 12th gen core i7, 512 GB SSD, 8 GB memory, touch screen,
> Win 11 Home at Micro Center for just under $300 bucks.
>
> My initial impression was wow, what a great deal. But it turned out I should have paid more attention to the consistent
> "Cons" in the online reviews.
>
> It was on the heavy side, the right shift key was only half-sized, the nice sized touch pad was a real dog and zero
> support was available on Gateway's (owned by Acer these days) website where I hoped to download an updated touch pad
> driver. "Drivers and Manuals" download link said "Coming Soon". Sheesh!
>
> On its first boot out of the box, I got a blue screen saying there was a problem loading the system and the computer
> would be restarted. It was, and it booted normally. Unfortunately, about 20% of subsequent cold boots yielded the same
> error message and reboot.
>
> I figured a total wipe and reset to factory specs ought to clear the problems out. But any combination of the several
> reset protocols yielded a different blue screen saying there was a problem on the reset and no changes were made.
>
> I ran all the recommended trouble-shoot/fixes-- most were command line stuff- but no joy.
>
> I hadn't really loaded much personal stuff on yet but I manually deleted as much of it as I could and returned it to the
> store today.
>
> The tech support guys there (who I know) said they would use their professional equipment to wipe any remaining personal
> data, then reset/restore. I'm pretty confident they'll do that.
>
> Too bad. It was a slick, attractive, black, zippy little machine.  But I think I learned my lessons about 1. second
> guessing critical online reviews and 2. only buying machine manufactured by the big established manufacturers. Ain't
> never had a bad Dell or HP!
>
>
Our new HP laptop keyboard died after 4 mos. It's in the shop waiting for parts.
--
Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon
Al

On 10/13/23 10:24 PM, this is what Big Al wrote:
> On 10/13/23 07:29 PM, this is what Capt'n Butler wrote:
>> Scored a new Gateway (imagine that) 14.1" Ultra Slim laptop-- 12th gen core i7, 512 GB SSD, 8 GB memory, touch screen,
>> Win 11 Home at Micro Center for just under $300 bucks.
>>
>> My initial impression was wow, what a great deal. But it turned out I should have paid more attention to the
>> consistent "Cons" in the online reviews.
>>
>> It was on the heavy side, the right shift key was only half-sized, the nice sized touch pad was a real dog and zero
>> support was available on Gateway's (owned by Acer these days) website where I hoped to download an updated touch pad
>> driver. "Drivers and Manuals" download link said "Coming Soon". Sheesh!
>>
>> On its first boot out of the box, I got a blue screen saying there was a problem loading the system and the computer
>> would be restarted. It was, and it booted normally. Unfortunately, about 20% of subsequent cold boots yielded the same
>> error message and reboot.
>>
>> I figured a total wipe and reset to factory specs ought to clear the problems out. But any combination of the several
>> reset protocols yielded a different blue screen saying there was a problem on the reset and no changes were made.
>>
>> I ran all the recommended trouble-shoot/fixes-- most were command line stuff- but no joy.
>>
>> I hadn't really loaded much personal stuff on yet but I manually deleted as much of it as I could and returned it to
>> the store today.
>>
>> The tech support guys there (who I know) said they would use their professional equipment to wipe any remaining
>> personal data, then reset/restore. I'm pretty confident they'll do that.
>>
>> Too bad. It was a slick, attractive, black, zippy little machine.  But I think I learned my lessons about 1. second
>> guessing critical online reviews and 2. only buying machine manufactured by the big established manufacturers. Ain't
>> never had a bad Dell or HP!
>>
>>
> Our new HP laptop keyboard died after 4 mos.  It's in the shop waiting for parts.
Micro Center at that too.
--
Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon
Al