Gateway P-6831FX User Review

lewdvig - great review! It along with reading this forum convinced me it was worth the buy...am posting this message with it right now.

I still can't believe how big this thing is and man does that battery look funny...but boy does she run sweet! I got that pcdecrapifier program to clean up the...well..crap...for no real reason other then I hate having crap.

Installed my GOW...looks every bit as good as my xbox360 (better in some cases) and with the HDMI output...this freaking thing looks amazing on my 50" pioneer!!!

Again, many thanks...the review was right on the money - look forward to finding out how your testing goes for the quad cores coming out this spring/summer.

Oh and yeah, it shows my CPU as DC T5550 @ 01.87 Ghz...even better ;-)

 

Oh - the Device Manager does show the CPU as duel T4550 @ 1.66 Ghz. Looks like a mis-read in the bios...

 

HDMI Sound does not work for me in both test or use. I followed the below instuctions but no good - only the PC speakers work.

Please help...

 

I'm sorry, why exactly shouldn't I format and install a clean copy of Vista?

 

For those looking for a sleeve for this computer, I purchased the one below and it fits nicely, even with the battery installed.

http://www.meritline.com/15-laptop-sleeve-445.html

 

Overall how long should I expect a laptop such as this to last, proper care ofcourse. I've read many great things about Gateway, but also a lot of bad things about both Gateway and Best Buy on warrenty and tech support.

 

Considering the powerhouse that is this laptop, does it really not get incredibly hot? I'm asking because my current laptop (Fujitsu-Siemens m1437g) gets SO hot+noisy when on full load - and its very uncomfortable.!

 

Actually it has an excellent cooling system, very well designed the highest my GPU goes is 68c.

 

Wow, thats not bad at all.... ! 68c when its blowing on all cylinders?
Does the chassis ever get warm, as in the palm area or the keyboard? Thats the problem I'm having with my current laptop, and is really something I'd like to avoid in the future.. !

 

Ita a pretty cool runner, my HDDs are the hottest, located up front in the middle but not bad, Gateway really did their homework.

 

hmmz this is not helping me i was already having a hard time deciding between a F8sp/sn M50 or a XPS1530 and now i also have this laptop although its bigger and all you cant just ignore it because of the price/performance ratio

 

Quick question

I cannot get my external view to fit the screen I lose the border all the way around and have try
Adjusting the TV (HDMI Connection)
Changing resolustions for display 1 and 2 the screen changes but not what i am loosing. it's still gone. On my HP I connect with the PC cable and set the desktop resolution 1024 and I am good to go. I have sound thru the HDMI but cannot change the look on Screen.

 

if your using the nvidia control panel there should be an option in there somewhere to resize the TV's desktop, mine was out of place too. its at the bottom somewhere and it only appears after you have set the dual display.

 

the price performance ratio is the best anywhere...and the fact that this laptop is upgradeable to insure that it will be at the top of the game for the next few years...

ive been looking around on all sorts of laptop websites trying to compare the price with similar specs. They are all at least 300 dollars more and NONE have a geforce 8800gts. hopefully ive helped.

 

I have this laptop and after reading the review, i saw that the forceware driver 169.28 was installed. The problem i have is i tried installing this driver and others from the nvidia website, but nothing will install. I get an error that tells me none of the drivers downloaded are compatible with my hardware. Is there any way around this? I cant get any driver from nivida to install on my system at all. I even tried in safemode. The only thing that works is the driver from the gateway website. Even with the most updated driver from gateway, i still get an error message from one of my games saying i need to update my driver. Please help if anyone has any info. Thank You

 

Nvidia drivers will not work for mobile video cards unless they are modified...he probably meant 169.28 driver from laptopvideo2go. ( http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16679). Make sure use the modded INF(there is a guide on Lv2go site or here)

 

What programs are you using to test your temperatures on this laptop? After playing Guild Wars (even a few minutes) my CPU spikes up to about about low-to-mid 70's (Celsius). Graphics card stays at about upper 50's low 60's. I'm using CPUID Hardware Monitor. The fan is usually constantly on at a high rev. The only other game I've tested (and have similar results with) is Psychonauts. I'm definitely concerned about these temperatures.

 

Hello! I am considering buying a high-end laptop to replace my current desktop (which turns 4 years old this november ) and did a Google search for something like "Crysis capable laptop" and found out about the Gateway P-6831FX. I knew of this site's reviews so I decided to find out if the site had one, and I found the review. The laptop sounds like exactly what I want, the only thing its missing is S-Video out (which isn't a deal breaker anyway). Here are my questions:

1.) I did an Ebay search for the laptop to see if I could find any used. http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...trt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=32&fsoo=2 shows that there are dozens up for auction, all mysteriously worded similarly and with the same pic. I checked out the finished auctions and saw that it wasn't uncommon for these laptops to end up being under $800, counting shipping. Do you think theres something fishing going on here? If I were to win one of these auctions, am I likely buying something stolen, damaged or otherwise different than a retail purchase? (besides price, obviously )

2.) Would there be any conflicts with this lappy installing Windows XP as soon as I bought it? Also would that likely improve the lappy's performance with gaming?

3.) Finally, I've never owned a laptop and was wondering if I were to connect a Gateway P-6831FX up to a monitor, keyboard and mouse would I be able to use it just like I would a desktop? Would the laptop being closed cause any issue or are there settings so you can operate it as a desktop?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

i just read the first one i saw for 800 and the only thing i can find based on the way its worded is that there is no OS on it. I don't know why taking vista off would knock off 400 bucks so im sure theres something else i didn't see, but if thats all they took then think its probably still worth the price.

the geforce 8800m gts is what has been setting this laptop aside from all others at the same price. its significantly better than the 8600m gts in all other equivalent laptops.

the laptop has bluetooth so it would support the mouse and keyboard and there is a vga output for a monitor so i don't see why it wouldn't act like a desktop if you wanted to do it that way. just set the monitor as the primary desktop and it should the laptop should close and work just fine. ive had this laptop since january and ive been satisfied since then, im still waiting to buy the t9300 c2d to really speed this thing up. im in no hurry for that though. don't need video editing for a few more months.

hope this helped

 

I'm looking for a "most bang for the buck, but still be close to high end/enthusiast" processor for this laptop. $250 is around what I'm willing to spend. I basically want the 8800 GT of the CPU world...

I usually play WoW and WC3 (DotA) but my friend got me into SupCom because I used to love playing Total Annihilation. We played a game, blew each other up, and now I'm hooked.

Problem is, this laptop doesn't like 3v3 (or 4v4s) on big maps like "Seton's Clutch". I am usually the one slowing down the rest of the players going -4 or -5 game speed. It's shameful and everyone tells me I need a better CPU or I shouldn't play.

Anyone know of some deals going on right now or soon (such as a new model making prices fall on old generations stuff, like the Puma). I don't care if it's new or old, as long as it's compatible and it's high on the performance charts.

 

Ive just bought this powerfull laptop(it will be after T9500-300 replacement ) from ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...2328&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab=Watching
hope I want be screwed as Im Polish in Ireland so laptop have to do long way to get to me to Ireland

 

Best of luck with that , he seems somewhat positive...

 

Just want to tell ya guys my mates from poland put T9500 into it and overclocked 8800 gts and received +10k points in 3d Mark 2006

for mor info you can come here

http://www.nhl.pl/index.php?showtopic=8146&st=40

maybe u want understand much but you can find some settings, benchmarks and tests they made

 

Hey man, have you figured out a fix for this? I have a similar issue. thanks

 

didnt u guys get a recovery dvd from gateway ?

 

I have had the fx for 6 months now. Gateway is taking it back to repair dead pixels. They admitted that it is under warranty.

 

How bad was it?

 

I've had my FX since it went on sale Jan and every now and then, I find the laptop automatically switching from high performance and balanced power saver modes since I see the brightness of my LCD dimming and brightening back up and I mouseover the plug-in to make sure it's plugged in and fully charged and see the current plan being used. I normally run Balanced with some customized settings.

Has anyone else experienced this issue? It's happened at least half a dozen times to me in the past 2-3 weeks.

 

nope nothing like that

 

I have had mine since Jan also and its never done that ..

 

I am deffinitly wanting to get a version of this laptop... my only question is whether I should go with the p-7811 FX with the P8400 and the PM45 Chipset (and ddr3 1066!) or the P-173XL FX with the T8300 and PM965. Im just curious why the 7811 is cheaper... isn't it newer technology with more potential for upgrades, or am I mistaken? I realize the XL has raid and a little fater processor but I want something that I can play anything with now and will be able to mod for a couple years to come. Thanks for any input!

shux im not sure i posted in the right place I would really appreciate any direction though... Ill keep looking for another thread in the meantime

 

Well, the small speed difference shouldn't matter, and you can always add another hard drive. I'd suggest getting the latest one, as it has newer technology, and will save you a good $600. If you do want to add another hard drive, you'd still be saving a good $400 or more.

 

I really just dont understand why its so much cheaper. I mean ddr3? 9800m gts? you aren't one of the dudes tryin to sell it on ebay are you... haha can someone please explain...

one ebay seller says...
"I have been asked a lot of questions about the P8400 and the new PM45 platform. The PM45 Express chipset will allow higher FSB and Memory bus speeds and has better battery saving features than previous versions such as PM965. This is the newest generation allowing for future upgrades to the fastest cpus and memory and even Quad Core for mobiles if you can afford it! The P8400 processor only runs at 2.26 ghz but due to faster cache and better technology overall, it actually runs processes faster than the once famous T9500 and uses less battery power in the process! So don't let the Intel® numbers fool you."

what the heck is going on?! does anyone understand my confusion?

-Spaz-

 

No, lol; I'm not an eBay fellow. xD

Go around the forums; everywhere people will be saying the same things. At the release of the Santa Rosa platform, people were debating between T7300 (2.0) and 7500/7700 (2.2/2.4) and most responses said the extra speed isn't usually worth the price.

For general usage and most gaming, the .14 speed difference isn't really going to mean anything. I do think RTS games however do depend on the CPU more heavily than others (I'm not an RTS gamer, so I'm not too qualified to make that judgement)

However, the $600 you save minus the potential for another hard drive makes .14 gHz more seem rather irrelavent, especially when the Montevina platform is newer than the Penryn.

But, as to why it is cheaper, the truth escapes me. I know the newer parts are cheaper to produce but that much of a price difference doesn't make much sense. Do know, though, that Gateway could still get along selling that cheaper one at a much higher price.