Gateway M-152XL Review

Unfortunately no it does not, due to the larger resolution though I am able to run my screen on full dim and save battery life.

 

Are Gateways reliable? My friend is trying to deter me from getting this because he doesn't trust Gateways.

 

I've never owned a gateway pc, so i can tell you if it'll hold up for several years, but I can tell you that this notebook has extremely solid build construction. And as far as the hardware goes, an intel t8300 is an intel t8300 regardless of what notebook its in, same goes for the memory or hard drive. Don't listen to your friend, if you're thinking about buying one, buy it, you wont be disappointed, just remember to undervolt your cpu

 

adca14: any info on the M-6851 / M-6850FX?
I'm wanting one of those = $799 at Costco. If they had them in-stores, I woulda' bought one yesterday.

Can't seem to find much feedback on the M-6851, though.

T

 

sorry for the late reply, the M-6851 is the same laptop except for the processor which is a t5550, which I I'm pretty sure is a merom-based processor. The hard drive is a 250gb disk spinning at 5400rpm, instead of the 160gb disk @7200rpm found in my laptop. If you don't need penryn, the M-6851 is a great buy, I have another laptop with a t5500 processor and it plays back 1080p content beautifully. So this laptop can playback 1080p video and then some. As for the M-6850FX, it has the same processor, but has a 320gb hard drive, and 1 less gig of memory. They both have 15.4'' screens as well as the same graphics card. Between the M-6851 and the M-6850FX, if the price difference isn't alot, i'd go with the M-6850FX, its got all the features of the M-6851 plus a fingerprint reader that i use it all the time. The build quality is gonna be good so don't worry either of them falling apart. Hope I was helpful.

 

Mmmm....no - I think a little quick research was in order...
The following all use the same mainboard, according to Gateway:
M-152XL
M-153XL
M-6850FX
M-6851

Links:
M-152XL Component List

M-153XL Component List

M-6850FX Component List

M-6851 Component List

All show P/N:4006270R as the mainboard.

Differences are in the color/casings, and config (CPU/RAM/HD), kb's, LCD's

Would not be cost-effective for Gateway to make those 4 with different mainboards - they just config them differently, ie, M-152/153XL have BT, M-6851 does not.

BTW, I'd love some info on that BT module if you guys can take a peek inside while upgrading...


Thanks for the response, though - I did order the M-6851, as copper coloring does nothing for me. I got it at costco.com for the $799, so I'll do a review when it arrives. The M-152XL/M-153XL have the fingerprint reader, but according to Gateway's site, the M-6850FX/M-6851 do not.

That one looks REALLY annoying, anyway - someone here at work has a lappie with the reader between the buttons, and it drove me insane!


T

 

By the way, did you see this?

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.a...33962&Type=PE&Category=Comp&Gad=0&dcaid=15889

 

Not bad, but X3100 integrated video.
The ones we are talking about, have the ATI HD2600 with 512M DDR3.

Not TOO bad, but man - at nearly $600, there is ALOT available in that price range, and brand new to boot!

T

 

its refurbished actually
http://www.frys.com/product/5641791
isnt a bad alternative

 

My bad, the t5550 is indeed a socket P processor, For the price you paid for it, I'd go ahead and buy a t8300 or other penryn chip and that thing will scream, anyways enjoy your new notebook!

 

That was my point exactly - there is A TON of NEW lappies below the $600 pricepoint, so buying that one as a refurb in the mid $500's wasn't worth it.

T

 

I wonder if people wouldn't care so much how much a laptop weighs if they lifted weights instead of / or in addition to a game controller.

 

Heh - I'm used to carrying around 4-5lb latitude D-series laptops...
By the time I'm done stuffing the bag (psu, 3 external USB drives, cables, etc..) it's easily 10-15lbs. I can just IMAGINE starting with a 17" 12-15lb laptop, like an M1730, or Gateway P-6860FX/P7811FX!

T

 

yah, my 8 yr old satellitte is a tank. know what you mean.

 

Just wanted to tell you guys about the experience I had with the laptop for the past four months.

After about four months of owning this laptop, I will be dumping it come Thanksgiving. Initially, I was ecstatic about the laptop because it was new and amazingly fast, but I have seen way too many flaws with the laptop. This laptop just runs way too hot even if it's on battery power and my left hand is virtually roasting off right now (all the ultra hot potatoes (T8300 and HD 2600) are just sitting right below my left hand). I am only doing very minor Microsoft Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, but the HD 2600 gets really hot anyway. The fan is always on, and when I take my laptop to class, there is a burning smell that emanates out of my laptop. I get fairly poor battery life (about an ACTUAL 1 hour and 30 minutes on Power Saver (remember Vista is not the best battery time estimator)) with minimum brightness and wifi on. I get schooled by everyone elses laptop for battery life. The screen is bright alright, but Gateway decided to cut corners and put in a very poor quality and low resolution Samsung screen (probably the cheapest they could find). I also found that when you shutdown or reboot sometimes, it takes up to twenty minutes to reboot or shutdown. Why? Because when Windows is finished shutting down and gives the power off command to the computer, this computer takes its sweet time shutting down. The screen just blanks, but you can still hear the fan running and all the status and indicator lights are still on. The glossy palmrests look great when photographed new, but they are just a supermagnet for fingerprints and palm marks. The webcam is awful, but at least the microphone is pretty good.

Come November, I will be going all out and order the Alienware Area 51 m9750. Battery life is going to be in the toilet, but at least I know that for the price I'm paying, that Alienware isn't going to be cutting as many corners that Gateway has with this laptop. I really expected Gateway to be an amazing since I am still using the sytem I bought from them 10 years ago, but the landscape for computers was very different back then (and they weren't bought out by Acer).

Take what you want from my experience with the laptop for the past four months. Overall, if you are just browsing the web or doing simple tasks that don't require you have multiple windows open, this laptop will provide more than enough muscle power to get you through your work, but if you need to work with multiple windows open at the same time and on the same screen, like I do, this laptop is not really for you, since WXGA (1280x800) is definitely not going to be a high enough of a resolution. The HD 2600 eats power like there's no tomorrow (even when it's on Power Saver mode), so make sure, if you do decide to get the laptop, to get a 9-cell battery for extended battery life. In conclusion, this laptop is an outstanding value that can't be beat, but this laptop is just not for me IMHO.

 

I agree that the laptop can get hot, but compared to temperatures some people post about the M1530? It seems to be similar.

I dont know what is wrong with your battery - I have gotten 2 hours 30 min+ (I say plus cause I didnt drain it to 0%) on power saver. And it wasnt even on lowest brightness.

I also have no idea what you are talking about when you say burning smell? Maybe you should have gateway look at your laptop.

I have also noticed that sometimes it takes a long time to shutdown (the black screen you mention), but not 20 mins, if you were being serious about that.

So ya, this laptop has its cons, the main one that the left palm rest can get pretty hot. But at the time I bought this and for the price, it was a good deal.

 

Well, I should have said that it the twenty minutes only happened once. I was sure that Windows was on the shutdown screen when I went into the shower. I came back about fifteen minutes later, and the laptop was still going because the lights were still on, but the screen was black an no amount of pressing buttons or touching the mousepad did any good. I agree that it was a good deal, but the screen resolution still sucks and is still too low of a resolution so that I can have multiple windows showing on the screen at the same time. I guess I am spoiled by using the 21" screen on my desktop. The burning smell always comes from the laptop...I think maybe it's getting too hot, but since its about a month or so before I will get an Alienware system, what the heck; just burn the **** thing to hell for all I care. How do you get the 2 hours and 30 minutes +? Vista doesn't even say that even if it's on full charge! I like this laptop, but for all its flaws (especially its screen), I am still going to go ahead and order the Alienware system.

 

Well if you plan on selling the laptop, or even if you dont, protect your investment and get your money's worth man. You are still on warranty - if it seems like something is burning, send it into gateway. The most it will cost you is a week or two of your time.

I think something might be wrong with your battery (or maybe its the system?). Vista pretty accurately (altho not 100%) displays how much time is left on my battery. I dont know what to tell you...I just got 2.5+ hours. It was on power saver.

You are right the screen is probably the biggest con, but what can you do? Lol.

 

Yeah. I guess I'll have Gateway check it out, but once my Alienware arrives, I'll retire my Gateway, probably forever. I'm going to guess that they will find nothing wrong with the laptop and send it back to me. I look at my battery gauge and it is now only 2 hours when I have it on power saver and my keyboard is not as responsive as it was before (when I type, some keys are missing and I have to go back and deliberately key them HARD again). Yesterday my optical drive broke for some reason or another. Now Vista can't find it so it is either broken or some loose power connection and doesn'
t make that funny sound when I power on my laptop. This laptop idles at a very hot 80 degrees C and my fan always runs. Never seems to cut off once its been running for a while. Oh well, this laptop wasn't really meant to last (I've had it for only six months). And now I know why Gateway charged less than Dell for a comparable laptop.

But holy cow, on my new Alienware, all I'm looking forward to is a bigger screen. A nice 17" 1920x1200 WUXGA screen! That's going to be quite a few steps up from the 1280x800 constant side-scrolling (yuck for Adobe Acrobat files) grainy Samsung I'm used to by now.

To all the future possible owners of M-152XL or M-153XL (they're the same except M-153XL has more memory and a bigger hard drive), I would definitely recommend this laptop to anyone who wants a powerhouse on a budget. It is a great machine, but I'm just the picky-choosy customer that only some company like Alienware can satisfy (and charge helluva premium, too).

I know I can order Sager or Dell or whatever and save money, but when someone else is paying for it, who cares.