Gateway M-6816 Review - DEAD

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by Jerry Jackson

The Gateway M-series notebooks provide multimedia performance in a sleek, stylish design. Packing Intel Core 2 Duo processors, plenty of RAM and large-capacity hard drives these budget notebooks are certainly attractive to many consumers looking for a portable multimedia center for bringing movies, music and digital photos on the go. But do the latest notebooks from Gateway offer more than good looks? Let's take a closer look.

Our Gateway M-6816 ($949.99) review unit features the following specifications:

• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5250 (1.5GHz)
• 15.4&quot; Ultrabright WXGA TFT LCD
• 2GB DDR2 system RAM
• 160GB PATA HDD (5400rpm)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (up to 384MB shared)
• DVD+-RW SuperMulti dual layer drive
• 10/100 Ethernet
• Wireless LAN: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• 5-in-1 memory card reader
• ExpressCard 54 slot
• 6-cell Li-Ion battery (2400mAh)
• Dimensions: 1.1 - 1.5&quot; (H) x 14.00&quot; (W) x 10.00&quot; (D)
• Weight: 6.29 lbs
• Warranty: One Year Parts and Labor Limited Warranty

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Build and Design

The M-6816 features a striking all-new design with a &quot;graphic-inlay premium finish,&quot; that looks quite similar to the Imprint Finish on the latest generation of HP notebooks. That said, Gateway's choice of dark spots which gradually fade away is much more subtle than anything we've seen in HP's Imprint Finish. The M-6816 appears durable, with an eye-catching design thanks in no small part to the thick plastics and metal accents. Integrated above the notebook's keyboard is a brushed-metal multimedia control panel, featuring smooth-cut keys in a &quot;tooth&quot; pattern and a touch-sensitive volume adjustment.

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The lid hinge feels surprisingly solid for a consumer notebook in this price range and the rounded edges of the notebook make for a much cleaner and thinner overall appearance. To be perfectly honest, the only potentially negative issue about the build and design is the choice of glossy plastics/coatings on the screen lid and palm rests. The glossy plastic is a magnet for fingerprints (as you can see in our photos).

Screen

Although the 1280x800 resolution display on the M-6816 is far from high definition, the screen provides rich colors, superb clarity and good brightness. There were absolutely no problems with the screen on our review unit: the refresh rate seems excellent when videos or games with fast motion are displayed and there are no stuck pixels. As is common with glossy screens, colors and contrast are quite good and both images and video &quot;pop&quot; off the screen. Brightness is good but not quite as impressive as some of the screens we've seen in the last year. For example, at maximum brightness there is enough light coming from the screen to make for an enjoyable viewing experience ... but not enough light to cause eye strain.

Horizontal viewing angles are average and the backlight brightness remains even across the screen while viewing at extreme horizontal angles. There is some minor color inversion when you view the screen from sharp vertical angles (such as standing above the notebook or looking up at the screen from the floor. Of course, as with any glossy screen reflection from room lights can become a problem ... depending on the room and the lights.

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Webcam

The integrated 1.3 megapixel webcam on the M-6816 is a nice feature with mixed performance. The pre-installed Gateway Web Camera software makes it quick and easy to capture still images or live video using the built-in webcam. The video frame rate was good enough to capture smooth motion but colors came out a bit green under our florescent office lighting. Overall, the webcam is perfectly capable for online video chat or business video conference calls.

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One negative web camera-related issue that kept &quot;popping up&quot; during review was the &quot;pop up&quot; Gateway Web Camera control interface. While it was nice to have quick access to the web camera controls, every time the mouse pointer came close to the left side of the screen the annoying pop up control panel would appear ... making it difficult to select items on the Windows desktop.

Keyboard, Touchpad and Other Input Buttons

The keyboard on the M-6816 was a welcome improvement over most keyboards we see on consumer notebooks. The keys have a good texture with excellent cushion and travel. The keys aren't as silent in operation as those found on more expensive business class notebooks, but there was minimal &quot;clack&quot; while typing. Gateway also includes dedicated page up, page down, home, and end keys. Of special note is the fact that the keyboard has almost no flex across the board. Even with significant pressure applied, the keyboard on the M-6816 remained quite firm.

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The touchpad was responsive with a nice texture and felt durable. The scroll section of the touchpad is clearly marked and immediately responsive for page scrolling. The touchpad buttons have deep, cushioned feedback and responded well to normal pressure. That said, the touchpad buttons did make loud &quot;clicks&quot; when pressed ... which may prove annoying to some users (or office coworkers).

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As mentioned previously, the media buttons on the M-6816 are integrated above the notebook's keyboard in a brushed-metal multimedia control panel. The media buttons are actually located under the smooth-cut &quot;tooth&quot; pattern in the metal and respond instantly to light pressure. These buttons allow you to instantly start Windows Media Player, watch a DVD, listen to a CD or music file, or control iTunes with ease. A touch-sensitive volume adjustment is located to the right of the media buttons and lights up with blue LED back lighting when pressed.

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Performance and Benchmarks

Gateway chose to offer the M-series in a range of configurations based around the Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 (1.5GHz) processor. While the T5250 with its 2MB of L2 cache and 667MHz frontside bus provides excellent performance for an entry-level consumer notebook, it would have been nice to have faster (Core 2 Duo &quot;Santa Rosa&quot processors with twice the cache and 800MHz frontside bus as an option for people who need faster multimedia encoding or image editing.

The Intel X3100 integrated graphics with up to 384MB of dynamically allocated shared memory provides enough video horsepower for an average consumer machine. The primary benefit of integrated graphics is extended battery life and reduced heat. However, many 15.4&quot; notebooks in the same price range are offering entry-level dedicated graphics cards. For example, a similarly configured HP dv6500t is available for $918.99 with nVidia GeForce 8400M GS graphics ... which provides at least twice the video/graphics performance compared to the Intel X3100 chipset.

In any case, the M-6816 is an everyday consumer notebook and not a &quot;gaming machine&quot; so the lack of dedicated graphics isn't a deal killer. In fact, the reduced weight and heat as well as increased battery life should be considered as reasons for wanting integrated graphics.

One odd specification related to performance is Gateway's use of older PATA hard drives in the M-series notebooks. Although these older drives don't severely limit everyday performance in any way, it's odd that Gateway chose PATA drives over the SATA type hard drives seen in most current notebooks. In any case, the hard drive did not cause any issues with our synthetic benchmark tests, as seen below.

Super Pi comparison results:

Notebook	Time
Gateway M-6816 (1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250)	1m 24s
LG R500 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	1m 00s
HP dv2500t (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 58s
Dell Inspiron 1420 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500)	0m 54s
Sony VAIO FZ (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 59s
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 58s
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	1m 01s
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 59s
HP dv2500t (1.80GHz Intel 7100)	1m 09s
Lenovo ThinkPad T61 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T7300)	0m 59s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo T7200)	1m 03s
Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287 (1.73 GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T5300)	1m 24s
Toshiba Satellite A205 (1.66GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 34s
HP Compaq 6515b (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52)	2m 05s
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T2400)	0m 59s
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 02s

PCMark05 comparison results:

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Gateway M-6816 (1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, Intel X3100)	3,480 PCMarks
LG R500 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS 256MB)	4,702 PCMarks
HP dv2500t (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	4,522 PCMarks
Dell Inspiron 1420 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	4,925 PCMarks
Sony VAIO FZ (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,377 PCMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	4,591 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,987 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)	4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400)	3,646 PCMarks

3DMark05 comparison results:

Notebook	3D Mark 05 Results
Gateway M-6816 (1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, Intel X3100)	784 3DMarks
LG R500 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS 256MB)	4,752 3DMarks
HP dv2500t (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	2,157 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 1420 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	2,840 3DMarks
Sony VAIO FZ (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	910 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	3,116 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6510b (2.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, Intel X3100)	916 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6515b (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52, ATI x1270)	871 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	2,013 3D Marks
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	1,791 3D Marks
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)	4,236 3DMarks
Alienware Aurora M-7700(AMD Dual Core FX-60, ATI X1600 256MB)	7,078 3D Marks
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,092 3D Marks
Dell XPS M1210 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia Go 7400 256MB)	2,090 3D Marks

3DMark06 comparison results:

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
Gateway M-6816 (1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250, Intel X3100)	529 3DMarks
LG R500 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS 256MB)	2,776 3DMarks
HP dv2500t (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,055 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 1420 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,329 3DMarks
Sony VAIO FZ (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	532 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,408 3DMarks
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU)	1,069 3DMarks
Asus F3sv-A1 (Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	2,344 3DMarks
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB	2,183 3DMarks
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 1526 (1.66 Core Duo, nVidia 7600Go 256 MB)	2,144 3DMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700 256MB)	1,831 3DMarks
Asus A6J (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)	1,819 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	827 3DMarks

HDTune results:

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Input and Output Ports

Overall, Gateway includes the standard fanfare of ports on the M-6816. If anything can be considered lacking in this section it is the limited number of USB ports. Most notebooks in the 15.4&quot; notebook class provide four or more USB ports for connecting accessories and external drives. Gateway only provides three USB ports. The rest of the port selection includes:

Front view: Microphone in and headphone out jacks. (view large image)

Right side view: Optical drive and a single USB port. (view large image)

Left side view: Ethernet, two USB ports, heat exhaust, 5-in-1 card reader, ExpressCard 54 slot and wireless on/off switch. (view large image)

Rear view: Modem jack, Kensington lock slot, VGA out, and DC power jack. (view large image)

Audio

The built-in speakers on the M-6816 are average for a consumer 15.4&quot; notebook, and by that I mean to say the speakers are not particularly impressive. Both of the small speakers located above the keyboard produce a &quot;tin can&quot; sound quality with plenty of highs, some reasonable mid range and absolutely no bass. On the bright side, the speakers are located in a good position to direct sound up and toward the user. The sound quality is perfectly fine for Windows alert sounds and website music. Unfortunately, anyone listening to music files or viewing movies on this notebook will want to use headphones or external speakers for superior sound quality.

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On that note it's worthwhile to mention that the audio out port on the M-6816 is located on the front directly below the touchpad buttons. This is a great location for a headphone connection but is less than ideal for using external speakers. The audio output was clean (there was no static or cracking in the sound coming from the headphone jack).

Heat and Noise

The M-6816 does an excellent job of controlling both internal heat and noise. The cooling fan was rarely louder than a whisper even on the high setting. The massive copper heatsink visible through the air vent on the left side of the notebook likely contributes to the M-6816's ability to keep temperatures under control. CPU temperatures peaked at no more than 52 degrees Celsius during benchmarks and hard drive temperatures averaged less than 40 degrees Celsius. The palm rests never became too hot during our tests and the left palm rest spiked at no more than 92 degrees Fahrenheit. The bottom of the notebook remained reasonably cool ... never exceeding the upper 90s. The hottest temperature reading we took during our review was the fan exhaust temperature during benchmarking, which reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit in our office (77 degrees room temperature). Bottom line, the M-6816 stays cool.

The top view with Fahrenheit temperature readings. (view large image)

The bottom view with Fahrenheit temperature readings. (view large image)

Battery

Battery life on the M-6816 with the standard 6-cell battery was only average. With the screen brightness set to full, wireless on, and Vista power settings set to &quot;Balanced,&quot; the Gateway powered down in just more than two and a half hours (2 hours and 18 minutes). With power management set to &quot;Power Saver&quot; and screen at half brightness the battery lasted 3 hours and 2 minutes while browsing the web. We hoped the M-6816 would do better in terms of battery life thanks to the integrated graphics, but this wasn't the case.

Conclusion

The Gateway M-6816 is a solid consumer notebook with plenty of power for everyday use. The quality 15.4&quot; glossy display, durable build, sizable hard drive, and reasonably cool temperatures help make the M-6816 a real value. The Core 2 Duo processor and solid 2GB of RAM mean this Gateway has enough performance to keep the average user quite happy ... as long as you don't care about playing the latest video games.

Bottom line, the Gateway M-6816 is an excellent value in the 15.4&quot; consumer notebook class. That said, for a little bit more money you can find similar notebooks with dedicated graphics cards for reasonable gaming performance.

Pros:

• Good performance for everyday use
• Nice screen
• Solid, stylish construction
• Minimal heat and noise

Cons:

• Glossy plastics around screen and on palm rests are prone to fingerprints
• Only three USB ports ... unacceptable on a 15.4&quot; notebook
• Annoying pop-up web camera control panel

 

Nice review,

Gateway seems to make a living off copying other companies designs. This case obviously being HPs dv2x00-dv9x00 series. Has anyone seen their new "Imac" Gateway yet?

http://www.slashgear.com/gateway-one-sleek-all-in-one-desktop-267627.php

 

I had the exact same thoughts about both this Gateway notebook and the new Gateway One.

 

Good review, thanks!

Agreed with above regarding Gateway copying off other's designs. That Gateway One desktop reminds me less of a new iMac but more of the 20th Anniversary Macintosh from 1997.

As for the notebook being reviewed here, it seems like a very good notebook overall, even though it only has integrated graphics and 3 USB ports. Otherwise, Gateway seemed to do a very job with the execution of the design. I really like the "pinstripe" going around the notebook, and the build quality (especially the keyboard) is another plus. The only thing I don't like style-wise is the inlaid pattern. It reminds me of an old photocopier.

Overall, I've always felt that Gateway was a very underrated brand. If I HAD to choose a notebook with integrated graphics (Man I hope I never have to go through that!), I would definitely choose this Gateway. Or maybe an HP Compaq 6710b. Probably the HP, but this Gateway would come in at a very close second.

 

The funny thing is, Gateway laptops used to look pretty nice until they came out with this tacky design... oh well.

I'm not a big fan of the iGateway or whatever they call it either.

 

Probably a sketchy idea buying from Gateway right now because of the Acer takeover which means they are probably moving to China. They do make good notebooks though i'm impressed with their business lineup (which I had to settle for as I couldn't afford a D620, nc8430, or T60 at the time).

 

Not to be confrontational or anything, but I don't agree with the assessment that quality automatically goes down if a Chinese company has something to do with ownership of a company. Lenovo was bought out and they've made some improvements to ThinkPads since taking over and there's a lot of examples of high-quality Chinese products. Examples of bad quality control too of course (lead paint toys) but you can't just make a blanket statement.

Anyway, thanks for the review Jerry. I think it's good Gateway is at least still trying with design here and frankly it's more original looking than some of the new Inspiron designs. And for under $1,000 with a Core 2 Duo, there's not much to complain in terms of price.

 

I don't think quality will go down, but I'm pretty sure that customer service will. Acer has reputedly the worst customer service of any company, though I've never actually had to deal with them.

And yes, Gateway makes a living from ripping off the designs of other companies. Not just the notebooks and the AIO, but their older line of desktops looked suspiciously like the competing Dell Dimensions, except with dark silver casing instead of white.

 

I should have been more specific, I was more referring to merger issues that might lead to customer service mixups, longer repair times, etc. The quality of the notebooks themselves shouldn't change in anyway I wouldn't think. I.e. when ATi moved from toronto to silicon valley they had production time issues, might be something similar for gateway as they go from memphis to china.

 

so they're still going with the black and white cow design.

 

Actually, its a carbon fiber-look plastic on the palmrests, the keyboard surround is silver, and the lid and LCD bezel are a glossy black. Nothing is black and white....I guess the Logo is still the same box with cow markings, except rendered in silver and chrome.

 

I bought this laptop for $800 about a month ago. With the features it has I thought it was a good deal. Airman is correct it does look like very similar to a couple of the HP models. The media controls above the keyboard looks like they were taken from a Motorola Razr cellphone. With the metal accent the fingerprint magnet finish is very attractive. I think the review understated how poor the battery life is. For me that has been the biggest disappointment. There are a few models from other manufacturers with similar hardware that come with 9 cell batteries. These days a PATA hard drive on a $1000 laptop is rare. I suspect the battery and the hard drive are where Gateway is able to cut costs. Overall the performance is decent and the HDD doesn't seem to affect the user experience. The M-6816 is actually faster than every desktop computer I've owned except my current one.

 

I personally think it looks nicer than HP's dv6500t.

Too bad you can't get a custom order with more horsepower. An 8600GT, WXGA+ or WSXGA screen, and a T7300 for less than $1500 would make the thing sweet.

There's where Dell's Inspiron has it beat. The Dell's are still butt-ugly IMO though.

 

Maybe not a an 8600GT but there is a configurable version of the M-6816 with ATi graphics, a 7200 rpm HDD, T7300 and..."According to Gateway, it will have a 1,920-by-1,200 option by October 4 for an as-yet-undetermined price." There is a review here.

 

Neat! Would make this machine a viable option for those who normally dismiss Gateway on their way to Dell/HP.

 

hi guys, kinda in a pickle n was wondering if anyone can help..... just bought myself the GATEWAY MT6915b as it said that it was bluetooth enabled, but i cant find how i get access to it at all?!?!?!?!?!?! ive looked absolutely everywhere to try and find it but it is nowhere to be seen ... does this mean that i have to go out and buy some sort of bluetooth device to connect to it - even though there is a bluetooth stamp on the no.6 key on the keyboard? so confused!!!! if this is the case then gateway are cheeky little monkeys for saying that it has bluetooth if it doesnt!!
ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!!
thanks guys xx

 

What are you trying to connect to? A bluetooth phone, mouse....what?

On my asus I can enable bluetooth by going to the control panel, and then clicking on Bluetooth devices. There's also an Icon in the system tray for turning bluetooth on and off.

 

Looks like a decent budget machine. A possible trend at the moment points to budget manufacturers upping their game whilst the top ones flail a bit?

Are gateway available in the UK? I think I'd buy one.

 

Make sure that you turn on the wireless feature by turn the switch on the left hand side to ON position.

You will have blue tooth feature then. Don't need to buy a secondary device.