Gateway Laptop with AMD Athlon X2 Dual-Core Processor

"I bought this computer after much research & reading customer reviews. I didn't want to spend more than $500.00 - so there are limited choices out there. I wasn't too keen on a Gateway - but I read all the fabulous reviews and decided to go for it. This is my first ever lap top and I am beyond thrilled with it's functionality. I have no complaints at all. I use the battery save feature - so it it dims the screen a little to extend the battery life. I love the numeric key pad to the right of the alphabet keys. Working on a pc all day has me trained for this type of keyboard - so I find it very useful. It boots up and is ready to go in a few short minutes. I also love the fact that this is eligible for the free windows 7 upgrade next month. I can't say enough good things about it. I play a lot of games on it and it is super fast. For the money - you can't go wrong!!! I LOVE this computer."

"Ok...with the much needed "back to school sales" in play for a laptop at this price point I will give some of the other reviewers the fact that it was likely rushed to market. It will take Gateway's customer service some time to catch up. Is that ideal? Well no, of course not. I'm sure Gateway would have hoped all their ducks were in a row before it hit the shelves but sometimes tough decisions have to be made in business. And there is a patch that will allow you to burn those recovery disks. It works because I just did it. Download the following: http://snipurl.com/0x205



I think the computer itself is a fabulous little deal! Seriously. The specs on it rival computers selling for several hundred dollars more. I am not a Gateway cheerleader. I build my own desktops and am not partial to any particular brand portable. I look for the best deal that suits my needs. My prior laptops include Gateway, HP, and Asus. In the past week I have purchased an HP for my daughter and (2) of the Gateway NV Series laptops...one for myself and one for another daughter.



I spent the evening removing the bloatware from all three. The Gateway had considerably less than the HP. I got the version of this computer with the AMD processor. I currently prefer Intel processors but the AMD version is the one that was readily available to me and the price was a little better. As I said, no real complaints. No electronic device is perfect...nor is any companies customer service. But, for the money my initial opinion is this will be a "go to" computer for many college students and budget minded individuals. Great for students as well as anyone with basic to moderate computing needs.



Other thoughts...seems odd having the AC jack on the left hand side. CD/DVD drive is a bit noisy but I have seen worse. Very nice apperance...will suit a diverse market. I am running the Windows 7 RC on one of my desktops and am encouraged by what I am seeing. I will definitely take the free upgrade and install when available. Be sure to visit Gateways website and register for the Windows 7 OS to be sent to you when released if you purchase between June 26, 2009 to January 31, 2010. It's free...and copies will be sent in the order they are requested.



Bottom line...if you have around $500 to spend this is a heck of a deal. If you have $800-$900 to spend you will get a computer with basically the same specs. so you could go with the Gateway NV Series and pocket the difference...or buy a digital camera...or some software...or go on a weekend get-a-way."

"Been looking for a laptop at this price w/these features - good amount of RAM, dual core, HDMI, number pad, light enough to tote around.

1 stuck pixel, but it's not too annoying, but it's like a little speck that can't be brushed away :( Other than that, the screen is decent - not the highest resolution, but good enough to work with.



Gets a little warm, but most laptops do. CPU temp is acceptable (under 50c just idling... haven't stressed it yet, but I imagine it doesn't go past 60c) and performance is fine. AMD processor is plenty for general use, and I don't care if an intel is marginally better, this one works well enough and doesn't disappoint - better than a lower end intel.



ATI (integrated) graphics seem better than the intel integrated graphics. Good compromise for price/performance, don't really need a dedicated GPU unless you want to really game - this one should play some games decently though. Besides, I have a desktop and 360 for games...



Surprised that there wasn't a ton of junk software - just a few things which some folks may or may not want. Personally, I removed some of the programs (Office trial, couple Acer/Gateway utilities I didn't want) and will install what I need. Took a little time to set up, which is normal with any computer.



Had to find its backup program to make restore discs, it wasn't immediately obvious - there is also software for doing file backups, which is nice, but I had to go through the start menu to find the "Recovery" program.

Burned recovery discs decently fast, but they each had to "Verify" which makes the process take a little longer. Burner is fast enough otherwise.



After removing a few programs I didn't want, tweaking Vista a bit, it's running pretty well - Windows 7 will probably run nicely on this, but I'm just going to wait for the upgrade as I'm already beta testing on another system...



Getting used to the keyboard, but I like it so far. Seems sturdy, and the flatness of the keys isn't bothersome. I really DO like that the keys aren't glossy - just matte finish with good response and firmness. The glossy keyboards/trackpads kind of annoy me personally, this one has what I consider fairly "normal" keys/trackpad. ...Typed this review on it :)



One thing I did change was the mouse buttons - seems easier to use them "flipped" as its one big rocker type bar and it seems like they could've split it better or just used two normal buttons. Don't really care though, it's a minor thing considering what you get for the price. The mouse button bar looks neat, just isn't as functionally nice as two normal buttons.



Changed trackpad sensitivity - as other reviews say, it's a little touchy. There are options to change this though, and it works a little better now. Just have to go into the settings and adjust as desired. Feels smooth, not glossy, so it has a good tactile feel for a trackpad.



Seriously considered another model at the store, but this one has better integrated graphics, enough RAM, enough storage, nice screen (aside from the one stuck pixel, which I can deal with I guess), enough features, and a better price. Can't go wrong getting one of these - has enough going for it that it's well worth the asking price. Sure, other models may have a couple more things that this one lacks (eSATA, ExpressCard), but if you can get by without those, or don't need them, this is a great little laptop.



Battery life is not awesome, but it's enough to work for awhile and do what you need. Would really like to be able to buy an extended battery, but there aren't any available (yet?) - hopefully they'll come out with one. If not, oh well. LED backlight on LCD screen is bright - decent viewing angles, decent color (probably not the best color range, but I haven't checked/tested/researched what it's supposed to be), fair resolution, nicer than my old old old laptop!



In summary - if you need really long battery life, you might consider another model or wait to see if they'll release an extended life one. No eSATA or ExpressCard - depends on if you'll need such ports... most people probably won't need these unless you're looking for pro-audio peripherals or a super fast interface for an external drive (USB 2.0 is still decently fast for external hard drive...).

Speaking of audio, it took awhile to find out how to disable all the "enhancements" that are turned on by default - VERY annoying, but better once disabled. Will have to buy a USB interface to record - most laptops no longer have "Line Input" ports - guess they're either cutting costs, people didn't use 'em, who knows. Will get better recording quality with an external interface anyway. Will probably use recording for dubbing vinyl and/or song ideas in project studio type of setup... Plenty of hard drive space for recording :D



...If you just want a good laptop that handles modern software well, handles media (including High Definition video) smoothly, and works well all around without hassle, this is a good deal. Heck, it's a very good deal overall.



Go check one out at a store if you can - all these reviews may be helpful, but seeing it up close is always a selling point!"

"Ok how much cheaper is Gateway going to get, did not even have the laptop 30 days, and have had to take it back to Best Buy 2 times to get Hard Drive replacements, and a new BIOS chip.



Gateway Tech Support is horrible to say the least, Thank GOD for BestBuy supporting their customers better than the computer manufactures!



There are more drivers for this thing on the Gateway support site than most normal people can figure out. It seems that there no two of them the same cause Gateway has once again thrown a miss mash of whatever parts are the cheapest for them to get at the time into a shell, and then shipped it out to be sold.



I remember years ago when their desktops were the worst thing on earth, and now it appears they are doing it again with their Laptops.



I should have spent the $20 more and got the HP...Last time i bought a laptop it was an HP, had it for 6 months, and the hard drive failed. Called HP and they shipped me a brand new hard drive overnight. Thats what i call Service.



Gateway wants you to ship them the laptop, they will ship it back once they have fixed, or replaced the defunked components, Oh and by the way you as the customer pay for shipping both ways.



Gateway i can promise you this. I will never ever buy another one of your products ever again. There is a reason they are so cheap, and when it comes to computers you get exactly what you pay for, so do yourselves a favor. Pay a little more, and get an HP or Sony, or Toshiba."

"So when I got this laptop, I did not read the reviews on the Bestbuy website but checked it after... heck I'm kinda a techie and can figure out my way around this. Anyway I after checking the reviews, I saw that some people are having issues with the blank screen, so I hoped that it would not happen to the laptop that I was just bought... but it did :( So I looked at the event viewer and found this issue plaguing some computers and not only this laptop and found a fix for it... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/KB950375



Well what I did was basically just disable the User Access Control for Vista (google it) and just that... the blank screen has not come back again so far.(Did not have to do the fix on the MSFT website) I did uninstall the Norton that come with this laptop because it slows it down... I also update it to the newest updates from Microsoft and it's running a jiffy... no force restarts, blank screens, frozen screens.



The touchpad has it's own quirks... it has gesture that you will make the page zoom in/out and people have inadvertently use that gesture... double click on the touchpad icon on the taskbar to see the settings. The click bar, I'm not a fan of, but I rarely use it anyway because you can click on the using the touchpad.



All in all it's a good laptop for the price, might need to change some settings so it can be useful for you."

"I spent hours looking for a good affordable laptop, both online and at stores. I decided to go with best-buy because it has a pretty reputable name (unlike Fry's). First time I tried to shut it down it spent about an hour doing windows updates and then it shut down without having finished the updates. When i turned it on, a message of a bad "shut-down" appeared but it started perfectly nonetheless. I wasted 2 DVDS trying to burn the back-up discs (wouldn't verify) but after closing all other applications it did the burn perfectly. I have not had any other issues since then, besides getting hot on you lap and when you charge it and use it at the same time. I really like the display, sound, and overall design of this laptop. The heat-sensitive keys of volume, network, and key-lock are fingerprint magnets but I like them and clean-up well. As other reviews state the touch-pad and clicker go crazy at times, but in my opinion you just have to get used to its sensitivity (I did it and I'm not complaining!). Graphics are decent at gaming and video-watching. Windows Vista, enough said ( I come from using Macs) can't wait for the upgrade which this laptop qualifies for. The main purpose I bought this laptop was for word processing, e-mail, and online courses and I know its going to do great (with Firefox of course). You cannot beat this laptop at this price range. The memory (both RAM and HD), web-cam and other features make this a great laptop. This is it, stop looking AND GO GET THIS LAPTOP!! NOW!!!!"

"I havent had this computer for long, but it has been wonderful so far! i wanted a computer that could be used for school (i start college next semester) but also for playing world of warcraft. so far, the computer has served its purpose seamlessly. i no longer glitch while playing warcraft!! i downloaded everything i wanted to put onto my computer (including world of warcraft) in less than three hours.



this computer has a VERY nice keyboard, plus the number-lock keys which my previous laptop did not have. i actually really like the touch pad a lot, and have had no problems with the mouse jumping around like some people in other reviews have. there are not two divided buttons for "right" and "left" clicking, but a long solid bar. it doesnt bother me at all because it is still very easy to use (and still clicks right and left, just in case you were wondering :P).

the screen is beautiful. it has many different settings with you can change the brightness to help reserve battery power. some people had complained about the battery life, but i wonder if they kept it plugged in for the FULL amount of time for the computer to charge. it took mine over 5 hours to charge completely for the first time. (the light that is red when you first plug it in turns blue once fully charged)

for the people who complained about there being so much "junk" installed on the computer, my local Best Buy offered me an optimization feature which cost $40 and they delete all the excess "junk".

its very fast when opening programs. it even surprised me that i could easily listen to music or watch youtube videos while i downloaded all of the things my laptop must have.



the ONLY thing i dont like about this laptop is Windows Vista, but like i said above, it came with a free Windows 7 upgrade which i am very excited about.

my local Best Buy employees said that they have a lot of trouble keeping this laptop in stock, so if you're buying in store, call ahead. i got the last one at my Best Buy! the employees were wonderful and very helpful. they answered all my questions, including the stupid ones!



so to sum up:

i love this computer. it is not the fastest or best computer in the world, but its definitely the best for the price. you cant beat the price (trust me, i checked!!). its fast, sleek, and all around awesome.

its amazing, you should buy one too :D"

"This is my first laptop, and after a month of shopping, I believe I've made the right choice. This is the only laptop I could find for under $500 that had at least 2.0 Ghz processor, 4GB memory, and a Nvidia or Ati GPU. I found an Acer that had a Geforce 9100 (which is marginally better than the Radeon HD 3200), but that one had less CPU speed and memory. Since my $500 laptop had no chance of being a high-end gaming machine anyway, I gave this Gateway a go.



Now, I gave Vista a chance. But it's slow, and it took forever to slog through getting the unneeded software and make it run decently. I was initially very discouraged and wanted to blame the computer for having a slow processor. A couple days later, I put Windows 7 on it. It's like night and day. It feels like someone pulled Vista out of the tar pit and made it even more user-friendly. Now my laptop feels like a normal computer. While I run W7 through it's paces, I still have Vista waiting on another partition just in case, thanks to the big hard drive. Setting up dual-boot was easy.



I didn't know quite what to expect as far a as notebook CPUs go, but even now, the mere 2.1 Ghz speed doesn't allow for a whole lot of multitasking. It might have something to do with running 32-bit apps in a 64-bit OS, but admittedly, I wouldn't know. There are times when I just need to let it 'sit' while one of my 3-4 processes finishes up. Not a big deal. Apparently this is the most CPU power you can get in this price range.



Internet is lightning fast. My wireless connection can still get past 1MB/sec on downloads. Web pages pop up almost instantaneously. Arguably as good as on my desktop PC. (I'm on Road Runner Turbo)



The graphics are merely ok, but about as good as you can get for the price. I can play Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl on medium/low settings at native resolution. Still pretty nice.



Personally, I love the keyboard. The big, wide keys are hard to miss, and I'm often a sloppy typist, so it's very pleasing.



My only gripe so far is that in Windows 7, the touch-sensitive volume controls don't seem to work. Must be a driver issue. I'm sure I'll figure it out.



In summation, I didn't know you could get a decent laptop for this cheap, and it really is a steal."

"Started up great right out of the box. With 4GB RAM, it handles any software I've thrown at it. It's a great computer for a college student, a business, for entertainment, etc. It does it all.



The pros and cons:

The display is very nice. LED, not LCD. The rest of the reviews already tell you how great this is. The audio is just okay. I turned off the Dolby feature... Wearing headphones that passively block ambient noise, I can hear slight chirping and whistling from the audio decoder, but when music or movies are playing, it's not noticeable. This may be normal, but I'm an audiophile, so I notice things like that.



Vista is a pig with the memory. Just after startup, it's already using 45% of the 4GB on board. I'm glad I didn't go with a 2GB or 3GB laptop running Vista. Windows 7 comes out soon though, and from what I'm told, pigging out will be a thing of the past... Let's hope so. I'll be getting my free copy of 7 in the mail.



Keyboard took some getting used to, but once I did (1 week), I type pretty fast again, and it actually feels more comfortable than my other Toshiba machine. Touchpad is different. I can't say it's bad though. It may be a little sensitive, but that's adjustable. Webcam works okay - I appear a little washed out colorwise, but it's not bad. It's just a cell-phone quality camera. Microphone is clear, and works well with Skype or any other internet phone software... As long as the fan can breathe, it runs cool too. Battery life out of the box is 2:45 or so, which isn't bad considering some of the other models/brands out there. Decent speakers, but don't plan on them being the source of music at a party or anything.



Overall, you're not going to find a cheaper computer with as much hardware built in and ready to go as this computer. For the price, this was all in all the best computer on the market two weeks ago. Being forced to upgrade to Vista from XP (kicking all the way!), this was the best computer to make the transition for me. I would buy another one if I needed to."

"First off, for all the negative reviews on the screens blacking out, I would chalk that up to a bad batch maybe.... Had mine for a good three weeks now, and haven't had a hiccup, a freeze up, or a black screen.....Bought this laptop as a backup to the main pc, as the family is constantly on the main pc whenever I want to use it!!! Now I use this laptop more than my main pc....It boots up very quickly and runs several programs at once without any performance issues.. I do a lot of downloading and its fast and efficient with downloads and plays HD video from 720p to full 1080p files without issue...The only negatives I have are the keyboard keys are flat and take some getting used too, for accurate key punching...Also I bought a tracball mouse and disabled the mouse pad on the unit itself....I simply didnt like using the bar on the mouse pad instead of actual mouse buttons, and the external trackball mouse allows greater flexibilty with laptop placement overall......Other than that, I highly recommend this laptop for anyone looking for a general use machine...I haven't tested it on gaming, but I assume it will run most games ok, due to the decent graphics card it comes with and other reviews I've read on gaming performance.....The wireless perfomance is great and I am able to download 7-10gig files without disconnection most of the time.....Hard wired ethernet performance has been flawless!! The build quality is great and is the same if not better than my wifes laptop that was almost twice the price, and in fact, this one is actually better overall now.. The speakers are not the loudest, but then what do you expect from laptop speakers anyway?This machine does have dolby sound processing and with headphones, the surround sound is very convincing and the bass output is outstanding...One last thing is that it DOES NOT have built in bluetooth capability, but thats not a big deal...So again, grab one of these incredible machines while you can!!"