TechEnthusiast
New Member
Hey everyone, I just got the Gateway P-6860fx from BestBuy (the only outlet you can get it from). I thought I'd post some specs and my thoughts on it so far.
First Off the Specs:
CPU: t5550 1.83ghz
GPU: 8800m GTS 512mb dedicated DDR3 Memory
HDD: 320gb Serial ATA 5400 RPM drive (faster than a lot of 7200rpm drives), also has an extra HDD bay so that you can install another HDD in RAID.
RAM: 4gb Dual Channeled
Screen: 17" HD 1440x900 Glossy
Webcam: 1.3mp video and still pictures.
Wireless: Intel N card
Bluetooth: Version 2
Card Reader: 5 in 1
Disk Drive: Dual layer DVD burner with Labelflash Technology.
OS: 64bit Windows Vista Home Premium (you can install 32bit instead if you want with the disk supplied)
PRICE: The regular price is $1350 USD but it sometimes goes down to $1250 or $1099.
Now some of my thoughts after a week of use:
So far this laptop has been amazing. It came with very little bloatware but I decided to do a clean install anyway (yes it comes with both the 32bit and 64bit Vista Home Premium disks). I decided to stick with the 64bit and try it out. To my surprise I have had NO compatibility issues with my old programs and games. That's saying a lot as I've used Photoshop CS3, Autodesk 3D, Arial Audio Vonverter, VSO ConvertXtoDVD, WoW, Quake IV, Civ IV, Battlefield 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, Firefox, Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word), AVG and some others.
Not only have I had no problems with compatibility, I've had no problems with the weak CPU. I've run WoW along with Firefox with 6tabs open, VSO ConvertxtoDVD (Converting and burning a disk), AND Windows Media Player with no slow down. This computer absolutely flies. I don't think I'll even bother upgrading the CPU anymore (it IS user upgradable).
Now onto the Video Card, I suppose I don't really have a HUGELY graphically intensive game to test it with, but it does run WoW at 100-200fps on all High in native resolution. Quake IV and my other games also run extremely smoothly with no lagging at all on all the highest settings. I have also heard it can run Crysis at Med-High with AA at Native Resolution or on High at the next resolution down with no AA. I can not yet attest to this becuase I don't have the game (yet).
The disk drive is also great, I've burned two DVD's so far, both were a little over 2 gigs and both took about 15 minutes.
Another thing I like about the laptop is it comes with a full keyboard AND a full number pad. There are orange back lit touch buttons across the top which actually look quite nice.
As far as the battery life goes the 9-Cell it comes with seems to do very well. I have not done a full test yet but the Highpower setting the battery meter gives me about 2 hours, and on balanced about 2.5 hours, I haven't bothered checking power saving yet.
The couple things I don't like are:
1. The number keys across the top of the keyboard are in a brownish reddish orange which is a little hard to see. This isn't really a huge problem because I use a Logitech wireless Desktop system and in most other situations it won't really matter.
2. Also before doing a clean install you need to back up your own drivers to a disk if you don't want to have to get them all off the gateway site.
3. When reinstalling drivers, software on the clean install, the video driver did not work so I had to go to the site to get it. This was no big issue. Also the software which manages the web cam did not burn to the disk like it was supposed to so I had to get this of the site as well.
Other than those few things, this laptop has been a dream, let me know if you have any questions or comments.
First Off the Specs:
CPU: t5550 1.83ghz
GPU: 8800m GTS 512mb dedicated DDR3 Memory
HDD: 320gb Serial ATA 5400 RPM drive (faster than a lot of 7200rpm drives), also has an extra HDD bay so that you can install another HDD in RAID.
RAM: 4gb Dual Channeled
Screen: 17" HD 1440x900 Glossy
Webcam: 1.3mp video and still pictures.
Wireless: Intel N card
Bluetooth: Version 2
Card Reader: 5 in 1
Disk Drive: Dual layer DVD burner with Labelflash Technology.
OS: 64bit Windows Vista Home Premium (you can install 32bit instead if you want with the disk supplied)
PRICE: The regular price is $1350 USD but it sometimes goes down to $1250 or $1099.
Now some of my thoughts after a week of use:
So far this laptop has been amazing. It came with very little bloatware but I decided to do a clean install anyway (yes it comes with both the 32bit and 64bit Vista Home Premium disks). I decided to stick with the 64bit and try it out. To my surprise I have had NO compatibility issues with my old programs and games. That's saying a lot as I've used Photoshop CS3, Autodesk 3D, Arial Audio Vonverter, VSO ConvertXtoDVD, WoW, Quake IV, Civ IV, Battlefield 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, Firefox, Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word), AVG and some others.
Not only have I had no problems with compatibility, I've had no problems with the weak CPU. I've run WoW along with Firefox with 6tabs open, VSO ConvertxtoDVD (Converting and burning a disk), AND Windows Media Player with no slow down. This computer absolutely flies. I don't think I'll even bother upgrading the CPU anymore (it IS user upgradable).
Now onto the Video Card, I suppose I don't really have a HUGELY graphically intensive game to test it with, but it does run WoW at 100-200fps on all High in native resolution. Quake IV and my other games also run extremely smoothly with no lagging at all on all the highest settings. I have also heard it can run Crysis at Med-High with AA at Native Resolution or on High at the next resolution down with no AA. I can not yet attest to this becuase I don't have the game (yet).
The disk drive is also great, I've burned two DVD's so far, both were a little over 2 gigs and both took about 15 minutes.
Another thing I like about the laptop is it comes with a full keyboard AND a full number pad. There are orange back lit touch buttons across the top which actually look quite nice.
As far as the battery life goes the 9-Cell it comes with seems to do very well. I have not done a full test yet but the Highpower setting the battery meter gives me about 2 hours, and on balanced about 2.5 hours, I haven't bothered checking power saving yet.
The couple things I don't like are:
1. The number keys across the top of the keyboard are in a brownish reddish orange which is a little hard to see. This isn't really a huge problem because I use a Logitech wireless Desktop system and in most other situations it won't really matter.
2. Also before doing a clean install you need to back up your own drivers to a disk if you don't want to have to get them all off the gateway site.
3. When reinstalling drivers, software on the clean install, the video driver did not work so I had to go to the site to get it. This was no big issue. Also the software which manages the web cam did not burn to the disk like it was supposed to so I had to get this of the site as well.
Other than those few things, this laptop has been a dream, let me know if you have any questions or comments.
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