Gateway M-152XL Review

im not 100% sure about the fingerprint reader, but for the bluetooth you will easily be able to find drivers from the bluetooth manufactures website. I think its WIDCOMM or something. The wireless will be the same too (mine actually came installed with a vista clean install)

 

Well like others I'm going away to college in the fall so I'm looking for a laptop that I can play my games(WOW,COD4,Steam,maybe AOC) and other older games as well (WC3, diablo) stuff like that. Was just wondering if you guys think that this computer will be a good match for me? Also when i read other reviews I saw them complaining about how if your screen was at an angle the picture wasn't that good, I don't know if that was true but just wondering?

 

i do wish it was matte but im not complaining about the screen, its pretty good imo. with any laptop you gotta find the angle that works for you

you should be good if you wanna play those games, even new ones like starcraft 2 and diablo 3.

 

Awesome, I forgot to add SC2 and Diablo3 but thats great this is computer will be able to handle them games as well, this laptop seems as though it will last me a long time . But do you know if this laptop could handle AOC, the only reason I ask is because its so graphic dependent, I don't know how well this video card will do.

 

well I have not personally tried AOC, but I did run a "can my laptop run it" type thing from a website, i dont remember what website it was, and my laptop passed easily. so take what u will from that. if you are worried about AOC you can get a 17 inch monster called the P6860FX at best buy for 1099, it comes with a 8800M GTS

 

My laptop has shipped and should be here by the end of the week. I can't wait!!

 

Has anyone found XP drivers for the Gateway M-152XL ?
I do not see any (well, just one) on the Gateway support web site.
I'm not ready to have XP pried out of my fingers just yet... so being able to get drivers for all the devices on the machine (except maybe a memory card reader slot) is a must-have in order for me to consider buying this model.
Thanks!
-Jay

 

I was also wondering if this laptop was upgradeable, and if so what parts are of what you know?

Also was wondering how long this computer will last tech wise, I'm hoping it will last me though college, but I know that is kind of difficult with tech always evolving quicker and quicker nowadays

 

quick question, since I'm gonna go to college in Dominican Republic, I need my laptop to run as cool as possible, so what is the lowest voltage people have gotten on their m-15sxls using rmclock?

 

Make sure you check into the undervolting thread. I plan on doing a full write up on my results with this laptop. I am also planning on opening her up to see if I can use silver on the CPU to aid in cooling as well.

 

Well I didn't have much to do so I undervolted the cpu, I'll get exact measurements later but the Voltages I got and are for me 100% stable are:
SuperLFM, I set it at 6.0x and .950V
6x .950V
7x .950V
8x .950V
9x .950V
10x .950V
11x .9625V (setting it at .950V made Orthos stop running b/c of hardware failure)
12x 1.0125V (setting it at 1.000V made Orthos stop running b/c of hardware failure as well)
13x (IDA) I don't use it, it's buggy.

I'll get exact temps later, i think it was a 10c drop however, RMClock however says that my cpu now idles at 8.9c!, and the fan is not heard at all even on 12x. Graphics card is set to max power savings and things such as the wireless card are off. Even though this notebook has a graphics card and a 7200 rpm drive, it runs so much cooler than my acer 5630 with a t5500, i have all multipliers on that laptop at .950V, and I idle at 38c. My only complaint with this notebook is the slot loading dvd drive, i always have to touch the disc to get it out.

 

does anyone have any suggestions on which cooling mat I should get? I think I'll be ordering this computer sometime over the weekend, so I'd like to order them around the same time.

 

After reading a ton of forums like this one, it looks like I'm probably going to be getting this. The only other one I'm thinking about is the Gateway M-6850FX, which is being sold at Best Buy for $899.99. I'm not a computer whiz at all, but they seem to be pretty comparable. What is your guys' opinion on the M-6850FX? Basically, I will be using this for college and playing WoW. Are there any other laptops in this price range I should seriously consider? Or maybe something cheaper that WoW will still play nicely on? (by nicely, I mean able to do battlegrounds/arena without gimping myself) Thanks in advance.

Oh...and Ackeron, Metrix/Alai here *HAI FIVE* . Somewhat surprised to randomly run across a guildy on this forum.

 

Ok, after more research, I found a coupon that will give me $350 off a Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop. Even with a 2 year warranty and accidental damage plan, it comes out to $1,063 (before taxes). Here are the specs:

-Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5850 (2.16GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
-3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
- 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8400M GS
-160GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) Free Fall Sensor

For just over $1,300 the Gateway's specs are as follows:
-Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor1 T8300 (2.40GHz, 800MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache)
-3072MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1-1024MB & 1-2048 MB module)
-160GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 8MB cache
-Intel® PM965 Chipset and ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 2600 Graphics with 512MB GDDR3 Dedicated Memory

My thoughts:

Pros:
-It's the size I was originally looking for (14.1"), since I'll be bringing it to school often.
-$250 less than the Gateway

Cons:
-Processor not quite as good as Gateway's
-Video Card not as good as Gateway's
-1 year less of a warranty

Since the only game I'll be playing is WoW, I think the Dell would be more than capable right? Bah...I can't make up my mind...

 

You will definitely feel a difference between the t5550 in the M-6850FX and the t8300 in the M-152XL. My gateway boots up so much faster and when playing back blu-ray films, its a no contest, my t5500 laptop can playback 1080p fine but, it does it under some stress. Photoshop, video editing, and encoding for me goes faster as well. I don't play games so I can't tell you how many more fps you'll get however. Also my laptop with a t5500 runs very hot compared to my gateway. I idle at around 9-15c on my gateway, and about 38-42c on my other laptop. But the M-6850FX does have double the hard drive capacity although the hard drive spins slower. If you can get the M-152XL go ahead, but the M-6850FX is no slouch, I just think that a 65nm merom cpu with a graphics card will run a little hot when gaming.

 

As adca14 mentioned, the M-152XL will be the fastest overall but the 6860 will have the best graphics followed by the M-152XL. As to whether or not that Dell's card will play WOW without problem, check the graphics section.

 

iv been wondering my self. you let me know what u chose okay? i should suggest trying the zalman, probably the safest bet.

 

are we talking about the same gateway here? i got hte M-152XL for 899, its selling for 999 at the website right now..

http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668030.php just unclick all the stuff at the top.

oh and apparently there is no blue one

 

Wait do they don't sell the blue one anymore? Thats the one that I was going to get

 

call them up and ask. they are probably clearing stock for a new model.

 

Weird, there was a blue one available just yesterday. But yeah, that's the one. I do uncheck everything so the base price is $999, but after adding a 3 year basic warranty and accidental damage plan (plus shipping and tax), it comes out just over $1300.

 

Is their any specific reason why you want the extended warranty? I'm not a warranty person myself and most things you run into you can research and solve your self for little or no cost.

 

The reason I wanted an extended warranty is because I'm going to be bringing it to school with me almost everyday for the next 2 years (going to UCSD as a junior transfer). I don't want to be constantly worried about dropping it or spilling something on it so I'd rather pay for the piece of mind.

As far as the Midnight Blue model is concerned, I just called them and after being on hold for about 8 minutes, the saleswoman confirmed that they are all out of blue, but that they have approximately 50 Garnet Red units in stock.

At this point, I'm kinda leaning toward the Dell now, primarily because of the fact that it's a 14.1 incher, and that I'll still be able to play WoW.

 

I'm not going to get the extended warranty because I talked to my insurance and I can cover my laptop for $30 a year and it covers everything you can think of. They said I'd just get a check to purchase another one if something went wrong.

 

What your homeowners insurance? I think my renters has something like that. I don't remember though. I might have to look into that.

Thanks

 

no, with homeowners its only covered very limited, this is something different. Also I'm thinking of ordering the red one since its the only one left, to anyone who has one how do you like the color?

 

if its not homeowner then which insurance is it. car???

 

Well...after calling Dell, I found out they have a special on the XPS M1330. Here's what you get for $1,299.99:

-XPS M1330, Intel Core 2 Duo T5750(2.0GHz, 667Mhz, 2M L2 Cache)
-3GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm
-128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, for XPS M1330
-250GB 5400RPM SATA HARD DRIVE
-Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy
-56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, for XPS M1330
-McAfee Security 9.0, 2-Year Subscription
-CompleteCare Accidental DamageProtection, Inspiron, 2Years
-LoJack Theft Recovery Softwarefor Laptops, 2 Year

If I use the Dell configuration tool, this exact setup would cost $1640. So basically I save $363.10 when you factor in tax.

 

Thanks for the WoW info I'm really glad this computer will handle it. Also I'm not sure what it would be under for the insurance, my mom called them up, and thats what she told me. Just call up your insurance and ask.

 

i would but i need to know what insurance lol. you said its not homeowners o_o
the only other insurance(s) i can think of is car, health and life. and those dont seem to be applicable.

 

It might have been homeowners like i said my parents called. So I'd try homeowners first and see if they have something similar first. Sorry for the confusion.

 

My laptop is in CA, should be here by this week.

 

when did you order it? i got mine exactly a week after i placed by order...but i live in AZ, which is a little closer but not by much.

 

I ordered it on the 2nd and it arrived today. 8 days during a holiday too. Great shipping time. I got it out of the box for a couple of minutes but had to get back to work. I have lots of plans for this bad boy!!

Stay tuned!

 

Mine should be here today !!!!!!!!

 

just in time too. i think they are outa stock now

 

Probably has to do with the release of the Montivina line. I am interested in the new line up from Gateway. The new line up from Lenovo has me considering a change.

 

is anyone else having trouble reading cd discs, It can't seems to read the first disc for wow, but can read all the others. I tested it with my brother's cds and its the same there too.

 

huh, I am not having any trouble reading discs, but it is loud sometimes.

 

Looks like the Gateway site now says "Coming Soon" for the M-152XL. If they do a refresh with Montivina at or around the same price point I am going to be sad.

 

Ya I noticed it too. I had some trouble installing SAS. Took me about 5 tries to install the whole thing. I'm not sure if it's the disc or the driver.

 

so I just got my 152XL. The guy at gateway was a real prick, and I almost regretted giving him the commission as soon as I hung up.

Now that I have the laptop, I actually wish I had bought it from someone else. This guy told me no new models were coming out, that there was only 1 152XL left in the whole world (i called him out on it and he was just a dick about that).

I just looked on the webpage, and now the M-153XL is out. What the hell gateway?

The only difference seems to be an extra gig of memory, but can't vista 32 bit only support 3 gigs anyway? Either way, the guy at gateway was a complete *******.

The slot loader is really really loud too when horizontal, but if i put the computer vertical it seems to get quieter. Does anyone else have this problem?

 

Did you use the discount code??

You must have had the same guy I had. I would call and cancel if I were you and order the new one from somebody else.

Differences seem to be an extra 1GB of ram (4GB total)
200 Gig HD instead of 120
draft n Wi-Fi card?
a new chipset for the ATI HD 2600?

An even better deal to but it might be a harder sell with the new Montivina line showing up all over. To upgrade to 4GB ram alone will cost $100. I am gonna call Gateway since I just bought my laptop last week and complain to see if I can get anything.

 

Quick question, has anyone opened their m-152xl yet, i don't have a screwdriver with a small enough head, and I don't want to use a steak knife like i had to on my old laptop to get to the cpu on my gateway. I'm contemplating buying a t9300 or t9500 in a month or two, so I just want to know if it would be a somewhat simple process.

 

Does anyone know if our CPU has been soldered in? Can we use Silver compound to aid in cooling?

 

I am a complete computer noob. I thought the M-152XL sounded great from all your reviews and such and am wondering if the Gateway® M-153XL is just as good? I noticed its a little more expensive but in my research I haven't found a laptop that was as universally liked as the M152xl. I honestly don't know if the new 153 will be as good and if anyone wants to help Id appreciate it.

 

I believe they are exactly the same except that the M-153XL has 4GB of RAM instead of 3GB on the 152 and a 200 Gig HDD rather than the 160 Gig HDD on the 152.

Still a great laptop at a great price. I would recommend it.

 

can this laptop run crysis on medium settings

 

Should be able to without even overclocking the GPU, for sure if you overclock the GPU. Check back a couple of pages as someone else already spoke about playing Crysis.

__EDIT__

Here you go

 

does this laptop have a higher screen resolution than 1200x800?