Tablet PC University

I am no longer maintaining this blog, but thought I'd leave it up for a while for posterity.

If you believe what you read in the online forums, Gateway technical support is terrible. But I have had to experiences that have been just fine. The down side is... I've needed tech support twice. Both were because of problems with the stylus on my CX2618 Tablet PC.

I noticed that I was having difficulty writing on the screen. (Apparently, this is where some techs have said, "You mean you were trying to write on the screen with a pen?" or some such...) I had to press very hard in InkArt to get any lines to appear, and I thought, "This can't be right." Then I noticed the pen skipping when trying to write notes in Journal or OneNote. Namely, the first part of a stroke would not appear. For example, a "d" might appear as as "a," or an "h" as an "n." Finally, I discovered that if I held the stylus with the right-click button facing the screen, it worked fine, but if I rotated the barrel of the stylus 180 degrees, the skipping would occur.

I was at a conference and staying in a hotel with wi-fi, and I chose to use Gateway's real-time tech support chat. I explained the situation to the tech, and indicated that yes, I did clean the screen. I really only had to say just about what I have said here, and the tech ordered a replacement stylus. Unfortunately, that is when the wi-fi dropped out. I was able to reconnect with tech support, and when I got a new connection, the tech I got the second time was able to reconnect me immediately with the original tech. I did lose the log of the session, though, so I don't remember the tech's name. If I did, I would report it. He was very helpful.

I recieved the stylus in about 3 days via UPS. However, it was worse than the original. It skipped in all orientations. This time I chose to use email for support. Here is the message I sent:

And this is the response I received from Art (Badge GWPE226, Online Customer Support Team, Gateway)


And this time, I got a good one. I think they really are having quality control problems with these styli. But I also know of people who have been using them for a while with no problems. I plan to purchase a spare--I notice Best Buy is now selling these also, so I'll have to decide if I want to buy from them or Gateway.

I am even happier with my Tablet now. Look what I did with Ink Art and my new stylus! My three-year-old would be proud.

Tracy Hooten has posted a nice review of her first impressions of the Gateway tablet, including photos. Shame on me for not putting the link here sooner. I'll be posting the next installment in my review soon.