To be specific, they only outsourced some. We had to routinely escalate calls to the real Gateway support center in certain cases.

They were an excellent machine for the consumer back in the day. In the event of a hard drive failure, the OS was easily reloaded with the supplied CD-ROMs – the consumer didn’t need to do anything other than a few swaps. The addition of Go-Back even gave them the ability to restore the system in the event that an update or install crashed the system.

Quality went down once they purchased e-machines. Instead of using the facilities to manufacture Gateway computer, they manufactured e-machines with the Gateway logo. Naturally enough, businesses were purchasing the cheapest computers they could – along with the on-site warranty. The warranty was well worth the price you paid: Those computers would die at least once a year. When you factor in my price for on-site service, I estimate they lost twice the cost of each computer with each one they sold.

Near the end I found manufacturing defects that should have been addressed at the factory. Cables installed upside down. CPU heatsinks that warped the motherboard because the mounts were shorter than the standoffs.

I had several customers that got angry of the length of time it took for us to come out and fix their computer, while I thought we were coming out next day. What I found is that Gateway was suffering supply problems. When you consider that they would only ship a completed motherboard assembly, it might take 6 months for them to ship parts because one part was unavailable. (And that part could be something you could remove from the old assembly!) And then the computer would die a week after I left.

I saw the final nail in their coffin when I tried to return their parts to them. Both FedEx and UPS refused to accept packages with their return label. They weren’t paying their bills. It’s no wonder that they had supply issues.

Interesting, I didn’t know they’d outsourced the tech support. Insider info like that is always fascinating. I never encountered the power button flaw you speak of but I’m also not surprised.

I used to drive by one of their retail locations on my way to work every morning. I never went in. I remember pundits saying that about the Apple stores and agreeing with them. I got that one wrong.

Like you said, I believe they value engineered their components. One example was them shipping Ensoniq sound cards that I recall being just a little bit off. Different part numbers, drivers, etc. from what you would find in other brands or at retail.

I think their retail stores are what finally did them in. I remember when the first Apple retail stores opened pundits declaring that Gateway failed in retail and so would Apple.