Gateway - FX Edition Laptop with Intel® Centrino® 2 Processor Technology

I got this and fell in love with the screen when I opened it up. Running at 1920 1200 resolution it looked great, till my brother noticed a light spot in the screen. When viewed from the side it has a light spot about three by three inches big. I tried to ignore it at first but it drives me nuts! I'd return it, but there sold out at the Best Buy near me. Other then that it's a really cool computer. Runs all my games on full without a problem. If it wasn't for that dang spot.....

Excellent processer as well as the graphics card. Good HD Screen For the games. Best gaming laptop that Best Buy offers. Best Bang For Ur Buck

I was lucky because: - Bought the last one in the store - Was about to buy an asus with half the video memory of a light video card, half the hard drive space with slower read write times, a smaller screen and lower resolution and an older cpu model for $700. - For roughly $350 more I got a high end can handle anything you throw at it video card at 1GB, a larger hard drive space with faster read/write times, a larger screen and more a recent cpu model, which will run cooler and save more battery life - Gateway made a mistake in labeling this as a WXGA screen; my screen has a WUXGA 1900 x 1200 screen. While screen resolution is a personal preference, I tend to use it so that I can view multiple applications side by side when I'm working (word on one half of my screen, excel on the other half) without sacrificing the amount of data I can see at one time. What does all this mean? - You CANNOT get something similarly built like this at this price point. Alienware (dell), VoodooPC, Asus or any of the boutique laptop stores like xoticpc or xtremenotebooks do carry laptops with these internals but at the cost of $1000 or more. If you look under gaming laptops here on bestbuy.com you can compare it with the other laptops they have and take a look at how much more it costs for those models compared to this. - I never have to worry about making the minimum requirements for any application/software I buy as this can handle anything I throw at it. It's future proof...for at least 6 months. I am using the laptop for occasional gaming (CnC3, Company of Heroes, etc) and work. The keys are responsive and good. Keyboard has no flex. Numeric pad doesn't feel squished in and I can type pretty accurately and normally without having to give myself carpal tunnel or relearn a new layout. While Vista is a resource hog, this laptop handles it, running symantec, burning a dvd, encodes in itunes without slow downs or lock ups (to see actual benchmark numbers go to notebookreview.com). While I wouldn't recommend this to everyone, if your just looking for a laptop to use at home (work while in bed or go room to room) and want good if not the best your money can buy at a lower cost than what everyone else is selling, then this is your laptop. Specifically, if your about to spend $600-$800 dollars on a laptop, I would try to find the extra couple of hundred dollars to get this as your not going to get something like this at this price point for a while (ok maybe 6 months). This is my first gateway pc so I don't know what the build quality is since I've only owned it for a couple of days, but I'm not taking it out of the house that much and I got the extra warranty they offer so that I have peace of mind when I use this. While I don't believe this should be a problem now, when I purchased this laptop it took me going to three stores to find it in stock. This is either due to low initial supply delivery or everyone is rushing out to get one.

This is a great buy for a "Gaming" notebook, especially for the price. The Vista Experience Numbers are: Processor - 5.2 Memory (RAM) - 5.9 Graphics - 5.9 Gaming Graphics - 5.9 Primary HD - 5.7 Overall - 5.2. That's outstanding for a notebook priced under $1200 especially when you add that the monitor is not WXGA (1440 x 900) as it says on BB website and on the box, but it the much higher WUXGA (1920 x 1200) which is just a bit higher than "true HD". As of this date, you can not register the Gateway Model P-7805u on line since it has a 22 alphanumeric serial number and Gateway hasn't re-programmed the site to accept 22 alphanumeric length Serial Numbers. However, you can register using their 800 number. You will have essentially the same problem when you try to look up your exact model on the Gateway site - the P-7805u isn't listed in their pull-down menus. Their Techs tell me the current driver downloads for this model can be found here: http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?param=p-78&st=kw A more detailed "spec" page for the P-78 series is here: http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/2009/PSeries/P-78/P-78sp24.shtml (Note that the specifications only show the Nvidia® GeForce® 9800M GTS with 512 MB GDDR3 , however I can verify that Vista reports it with 1 G GDDR3 RAM.) Of interest is the fact that this unit is upgradeable to faster Core 2 Duo processors and Intel® Extreme Edition processors (Quad Core). It will also take Up to 8 GB DDR3 800 MHz/1066 MHz memory when the 4 Gs become available, can accept a Blu-Ray drive in place of the DVD drive, and will take a second HD. It's good to know that it has this growth potential. Otherwise, I am in agreement with what the other 4-5 star reviewers have posted so far. For a "gamer" who absolutely must have a notebook PC and is on a tight budget, the Gateway P 7805u FX Notebook will certainly get them "into the game" and it has enough capability and future expandability to keep them in the game for awhile, in my opinion. Even if one isn't on such a tight budget, you get plenty of bang for the buck here, rivaling notebook systems costing hundreds of dollars more.

For the money this laptop is probably the best deal out there with the features involved. The 1 gig 9800M GTS video is a quite surprising addition for a laptop at this price point, and it does actually get some amazing framerates in games (Crysis set on High settings, and being put out through HDMI to a 1080p HDTV was simply amazing, and got a consistent 30FPS. Excelent Sound quality out too). For all those World of Warcraft Players out there. I have it set at 1920x1200 with the 8x oversampling all settings Maxed, and in crowded areas of Northrend and Dalaran I've not dropped below 30FPS, and with the oversampling droped down to 1x or 2x it goes even higher. While the box advertised a 1440x900 display, the display model and one I purchased included a 1920x1200 display, and this coupled with the video card give Photoshop CS4 all the room and horsepower it needs to run quite smoothly. Every Adobe production app I have thrown at it so far runs great. This Laptop is a great desktop replacement. The lack of bluetooth can be easily fixed with a simple plugin and forget Bluetooth adaptor, however it does take up one of the 3 USB ports. (as a graphic designer it came in handy with the bluetooth table input I use, and makes setting up a bluetooth keyboard and mouse quite easy.) A SD card can be plugged in to the SD card slot and is only exposed by 1/16", and works pretty good with ReadyBoost for a little extra performance boost. While not the best for an extended road warrior, this thing is a dream for occasional LAN parties, and gaming as mentioned before, and has great WiFi response. The keyboard layout is a bit awkward first, but after a while of use it seems to work just fine. Make sure to check your laptop bag first as the battery protruded about 1 inch behind. Many backpack style or sleeve style cases will not hold this laptop. The power brick for this laptop is a good bit heavier than the standard brick and larger too. The laptop itself is about 9.8 pounds alone. The Laptop can accommodate 2 hard drives, but only has one 320GB 7200RPM(!!) hard drive. This is great if one is needing to expand storage in the future. The DVD is also easily replaceable for a upgrade to blu-ray or other drives later. Overall it's a fantastic Laptop, and would recommend it without hesitation

I'd like to start by saying this is not only my first laptop, but my first PC that is actually capable of doing anything besides slowly going on the internet. That being said, this laptop is a beast. I bought it primarily for gaming, but overall I needed an upgrade from my 8 year old desktop. First I'll start with Windows Ratings: Processor - 5.2 RAM - 5.9 Graphics - 5.9 Gaming Graphics - 5.9 Primary HDD - 5.8 17" screen runs at 1440x900 max. Viewing from either side does not skew the image much, but viewing from above or below does. I have no dead pixels. The picture and color is great. 320GB HDD runs at 7200RPM, similar to most desktops. Out of the box the HDD has 286GB free. I'm already down to 90GB free, so I'll probably get another HDD, which is good because there is an open slot. Bloatware seemed to be at a minimum. Core 2 Duo is running at 2.26Ghz. I believe this is enough to do most things out there, but I feel this one of the only areas the computer lacks in. 4GB DDR3 is fantastic. Now the most important thing, the 9800M GTS equipped with 1GB GDDR3. Not only is this a fantastic card, but it comes with a full GB of video memory. You should be able to play any game you want on this machine, I have. Here are some of the games I've played, and some comments/average FPS's gotten using the program FRAPS. (All games played at 1440x900 resolution. Also, most games had no AA.) Crysis at High Settings - stuck between 15 and 25 Age of Empires III/Warchiefs at Highest Settings - ranged between 40 and 100, but stuck between 45 and 75 (High AA) Fallout 3 at High Settings - between 45 and 60 (draw distances turned up too. Low AA) Oblivion at Highest Settings - between 45 and 60 World in Conflict at Highest Settings - between 20 and 30 Demigod at Highest Settings - solid 30 (low AA) Sims 3 at Highest Settings - Varied significantly. In Life mode zoomed in to a moderate degree, 60-80. Zoomed all the way out without viewing the whole city, 20-30. City view, back up to 70~. Unreal Tournament 3 at Highest Settings - Solid 60 Dead Space at Highest Settings - Solid 30 Red Alert at Highest Settings - 20 to 30 World of Warcraft at Highest Settings - 50 to 60 (shadows turned down to low, and I haven't been into any large cities, just started! ^_^) All of these games look great on this laptop. A big reason why I bought the laptop is for Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2. I have no doubt this laptop will play them no problem. As for everything else: the full keyboard works great and the keys seemed well placed. I thought I would be against a touch pad, but it works well for internet use. I haven't used wireless yet, so I cannot comment. Speakers work well enough. Volume control on the keyboard is a nice touch. HDMI hookups will hopefully be used soon and the DVI hook up is a great addition. There are three USB inputs. I can see how this wouldn't be enough, but I use a USB splitter. I cannot say much about the battery life because I keep it plugged almost all of the time. There is a noticeable change in gaming quality when unplugged though. The battery also sticks out a little in the back, but it does not get in my way any. The laptop does produce a fair amount of heat, but only after doing some gaming. I would not put it on my lap for too long, or on anything but a hard surface where the air can properly flow. It hasn't gotten hot enough to do me or the computer harm, however. The side fan will sometimes do some kind of pulse speeding up, where it speeds up for a second or two every 5 seconds. This can get annoying, but it usually does it when the computer is going through heavy use. The laptop surfaces also get smudged and dotted with dust very easily though. As far as I know, most laptops suffer from this and it is only cosmetic. That wraps up my review for this wonderful laptop. This is a great desktop replacement and a great gaming PC. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone. For what this PC has in it, the price is a steal. I've shopped around for desktops and laptops. I decided I'll wait for next generation desktops and that this was the best laptop for the price. Thanks Gateway and Bestbuy.

Awesome Laptop, definitely the best bang for the buck right now… Trust me, I’ve done some extensive research as I usually don’t spend this much money on a computer but because it’s a laptop you just will have to pay a premium for the same performance as a fast desktop. However- that is what it is, a desktop replacement and it has the power to do just that. Gateway’s old version of this model had the 1920x1200 screen but this new model has been downgraded 1440x900 but as you might have read, Gateway shipped a lot of these units with the higher resolution display to Bestbuy (sold exclusively by BB). There are many websites that deals with this topic and how to get one with the higher resolution yet there’s no exact science to it (except for the first shipped units with low batch numbers) but it still can be of help to you. I was lucky enough to get one with the higher resolution and that by itself makes the value of this unit jump up a few notches, but even with the lower resolution this computer is a real beaut. Do take into consideration that when you get a higher resolution- EVERYTHING looks a LOT smaller and many people have reported having trouble seeing things, but of course you can adjust it to your preference. It’s great when you work with graphics and editing- to get that bigger workspace though. I have not put this laptop through any high-end gaming tests, so far only Battlefield 2 (kinda outdated so of course it runs it on max settings), Far Cry (first game) and Ghost Recon; Advanced War Fighter. They all run on max and smooth like butter. Photoshop CS4 (with its new features) and Painter 11 runs like a dream. Not too much bloatware and you can easily uninstall unwanted stuff. It has all the ports you need, plug it into a HD Tv or Monitor (VGA as well). It has eSATA, FireWire . No Bluetooth, but that’s not something I would need. Cons? Well it takes a bit to get used to Vista (as I’ve worked with XP for years) but the computer has enough RAM and power to run Vista 64-bit very smooth. Sure, you will run into software and drivers sometimes not being compatible but in most cases nowadays there is support for it. Sure, it’s heavy, but that is to be expected for a machine like this. Battery will not brake any records but again, it’s a lot of power in this machine and you can adjust settings when you just want to do light work that doesn’t require a lot of processing power. This will add some time. One thing that I don’t like is the placement of the power plug, its next to the battery which pokes out in the back (being in the way sometimes when the cord comes from the right side) and it’s a flimsy connection which comes loose very easily. Grease magnet sure! But it looks very nice- get a cloth and don’t stick your hands into Frito’s before you play with it. These are minor flaws that really are no big deals. Some people have said that the backup disc won’t burn correctly, but I had no problems. Just be careful- choose a good media (don’t buy some cheap cheapo brand for an important disc like that) and make sure you’re following the correct steps. Overall- if you’re even thinking about it- GET IT, you can’t go wrong with this for under $1500

I was a bit sceptical about buying a laptop made by Gateway as my experience with them in the past has been nothing but trouble. However this was over seven years ago and I decided to believe that they have improved over time. It seems that Gateway has really pulled there act together and now makes reasonable products. The big selling point for this laptop is the 9800 GTS Graphics Card with 1GB Memory. This is one of the best Graphics Cards out in the current market and will permit this laptop to play any game currently with no speed issues and even do so while playing at the highest settings. It's an excellent Card and it is what you're paying for in this laptop. The 4GB of memory is DDR3. That is a nice bonus since most laptop still sell with DDR2. With this much memory multitasking and gaming will have a hard time slowing this laptop down. It also makes the heavy using Vista Operating System. I was a bit scared about the operating system that came with this laptop. Vista Home Premium 64-bit. I've heard so many horror stories about Vista that I wondered why it was that every computer came standard with an OS that was glitchy and non-user friendly? After a few days I can say that Vista is ok. It has alot of bells and whistles. It is very fancy but at the cost of navigation ease it can be frustrating. Vista changes alot of simple things such as searching files, navigation, and quite a bit more. However it doesn't remove these features just changes them. Be sure to try Vista with an open mind and be sure to play around with it to make sure you you're familiar with it's setup and you should find it's usable. The Processor is a P8400 with a speed of 2.26 GHz and 3mb Cache. The small Cache size on this Processor is low for a gaming laptop and could have used a stronger processor. Thankfully you can upgrade the Processor to give it the boost you need. You can also upgrade the RAM and Hard Drive((There is a second unused Hard Drive slot that you can use without replacing the original Hard Drive.)) The screen an astonishing 17". For a laptop that's crazy to say the least. It has 1440 x 900 resolution. For this size of a screen it's more than enoough to get you a clear picture. For an average user you won't be dissapointed. If you're a hard core gamer that wants the best screen resolution possible this one may dissapoint you. Also, because of the massize screen this laptop is fairly large and heavy. This won't be an issue if you're not on the go every day but it is a bit too large for anyone looking to take this with them to school or meetings. If size isn't a problem then this is a minor thing for you to consider. Overall the Gateway FX 7805u is a great value. It's not the best of the best but if you take the specs of this computer and try to get another laptop with the same specs you will be spending a fair more money to match what this laptop is able to do. ((Roughly $400 more or even more depending on brand)) So if you want a good priced laptop for gaming and don't mind size and weight then this one is for you. If you want a gaming laptop but need it to be super portable try a small laptop as this one is large and heavy. Hope this overview helps you decide on whether or not you might like to try this laptop out.