My "deal of the year" is the Acer with the 54 rebates. I got the lappy PLUS free plus made $610. This is a close second though as it wasn't as much work. I got the $50 GC yesterday and the extra $30 coupon today. P.S. I clean installed XP and put in 2 GB RAM and this this is reall humming

wesbc said:ccieid10t said:Anybody have any recommendation on a DVD burner for this laptop?

I'd recommend going with an external unless you really need one to take with you on the road. You'll end up spending too much $$$.

Good idea. Might as well use the digital coupon so won't cost me as much.

I got 30 digital coupon for 3 laptops. =(

flwrpowr said:I received my $50 gift card yesterday. I got my lappy at B&M, so tomorrow I'm going to call BB customer service and ask, very very nicely for a $30 coupon just like "my brothers" got!!!

Am unaware of any B&M purchasers who received the digital coupon, which is good only for on-line purchases.

Here's hoping you pull it off and become the first!!!

Anyone else got the $50 GC in mail yet? I was promised a $50 GC on the phone around the same time everyone was calling in, but haven't received it...

mikeywl said:I called that Sunday, and received the GC in the mail the next week on Monday.
I got my $50 GC last week I think... it took more than a week to get here, but at least I got it

I'm gonna install Win XP tonight, anyone tried these XP Drivers listed here in the QS? I've downloaded the files, apparently the compilation includes Audio, chipset, media card reader, modem, NIC and Wifi drivers, and Graphics drivers link from Intel is separate. I hope it works, will post my update here later.

BassKozz said:optimist01 said:mikeywl said:I called that Sunday, and received the GC in the mail the next week on Monday.
I got my $50 GC last week I think... it took more than a week to get here, but at least I got it

I'm gonna install Win XP tonight, anyone tried these XP Drivers listed here in the QS? I've downloaded the files, apparently the compilation includes Audio, chipset, media card reader, modem, NIC and Wifi drivers, and Graphics drivers link from Intel is separate. I hope it works, will post my update here later.
Congrats on getting $30, I got a measly $30
As far as XP install goes, just make sure you slip stream the SATA controller drivers, and you should be fine

Thanks, you must be feeling jealous of my $50 GCO (like I'm feeling jealous of $50+30 ) j/k
I'm now trying to install XP and ran into the SATA drivers issue... I don't have an external floppy, so googling up a little bit and I think the best solution (I don't have a floppy drive) is to use nLite to make a cutomized copy of XP and add SATA drivers (and other stuff like SP2 and other drivers). Anyone know a better/easier/quicker solution?

I couldn't find the SATA drivers on Gateway.com by searching for "SATA driver ml6230", then I spent some 10 minutes talking to a Gateway Tech Support Rep trying to explain him that I know what a hard drive is and what I need are the SATA hard drive's drivers for Windows XP. Apparently the concept of drivers for a hard drive was new for him and he thought I didn't know what a hard drive is... He supposedly emailed me the driver, haven't got it in about 10 minutes, but I found the drivers by giving the laptop's serial number on Gateway.com.

Here is the direct dload link:
ftp://ftp.Gateway.com/pub/hardware_support/drivers/win_vista/harddrive/D20035-001-001.exe
Info page:
http://support.Gateway.com/support/drivers/getFile.asp?id=20974&uid=176757554

Edit:
Wow, the nLite is an amazing tool! I first came across their website quite a few years ago but never bothered to try it thanks to laziness I'm now compiling the ISO.