I went to a gateway store. It was a pretty bad experience. The machines were locked down and you couldn't use them. The sales people were the same kind you'd find at CompUSA (unknowledgable and myth spreading).
Sony is a little better, as they at least try to put some interesting design into their stores.
Yeah, I almost feel compelled to follow any salesperson I see at one of those stores who's helping an affable but uninformed person just so that I can correct all the false statements they're told after the salesperson goes away. It's amazing to me that people hire most of those people to represent their stores and companies. Most big box retail electronics stores are really shoddy shopping experiences.
Sony is a little better, as they at least try to put some interesting design into their stores.