Gateway P-6831FX 17in Notebook - $1249

[foolish501]

Bestbuy has the new Gateway P-6831FX laptop for $1249.99

Specs :

Intel® Core? 2 Processor T5450 1.66.GHz 2MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Nvidia 512MB Geforce Go 8800m GTS GDDR3
17" Widescreen XGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD
3Gb 667Mhz DDR2 Ram
250Gb SATA HD (5400rpm)
Intel 4965 Wireless with 802.11n
DVD Writer
Built in 1.3 megapixel Webcam
5 in 1 memory card reader


This is a great price for a gaming laptop with the new 8800 GTS video card.

 

[nutxo]

Be warned. I bough a gateway laptop last sunday that had an issue. Tech support is almost non existent. Fortunately I was able to fix the issue myself.

 

[Kaido]

17" WXGA+ TFT-LCD widescreen display with Ultrabright technology and 1280 x 800 resolution :Q

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Originally posted by: Kaido
17" WXGA+ TFT-LCD widescreen display with Ultrabright technology and 1280 x 800 resolution :Q

It's a typo on BB's behalf, it's really 1440x900. For anyone else interested there's a thread of this product in Notebooks: See Here

 

[nakedfrog]

:Q

Now it's on sale for $1249
I'm really having a hard time NOT buying this.

(and you get a free PC game)

 

[erwos]

$1250 for a laptop with an 8800m is fantastic. Screen resolution is on the low side for a 17" laptop, but otherwise, not bad at all.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: erwos
$1250 for a laptop with an 8800m is fantastic. Screen resolution is on the low side for a 17" laptop, but otherwise, not bad at all.

Yeah, that's the main thing that gives me pause. I'd prefer 1900x1200, and I know I could live with 1680x1050. I guess 1440x900 isn't really all that much lower than 1680.

Looks like a 14 day return policy. Probably long enough to figure out if I'm comfortable with that resolution.

 

[Zap]

review

Pretty decent deal at list price, now getting hot!

 

[nakedfrog]

Well, I went for it. Went into the store to check one out... the only store that had any in stock (besides the demo) is an hour or more away, so mine won't be showing up until later this week.
I was told the additional $100 off expires today, so if you're going to go for it, today's the day.
They didn't give me any trouble about getting the free PC game that was listed on the website (grabbed CoD4) either. And my price total after tax came to 1337

 

[Delta6Echo]

Originally posted by: Zap
review

Pretty decent deal at list price, now getting hot!

I don't know. I would say it's a decent gaming laptop, but I agree with the review that a CPU/RAM upgrade is necessary to maximize performance, which increases the cost quite a bit.

Also, 1440x900 on a 17" laptop? My g-friend just got a brand new Inspiron 1420 and it has a 14.1" screen running at 1440x900 and a T7250 C2D processor. I guess that the 512MB monster GPU tries to make up for it somewhat.

After tax/shipping I am looking at $1366, so this deal is warm at best. The free game is pretty nice though

 

[HeyRay2]

Originally posted by: Delta6Echo

Originally posted by: Zap
review

Pretty decent deal at list price, now getting hot!

I don't know. I would say it's a decent gaming laptop, but I agree with the review that a CPU/RAM upgrade is necessary to maximize performance, which increases the cost quite a bit.

Also, 1440x900 on a 17" laptop? My g-friend just got a brand new Inspiron 1420 and it has a 14.1" screen running at 1440x900 and a T7250 C2D processor. I guess that the 512MB monster GPU tries to make up for it somewhat.

After tax/shipping I am looking at $1366, so this deal is warm at best. The free game is pretty nice though

I agree with you on the CPU. An upgrade would be necessary in the near future, but even an upgrade to a 2.0 would give the 8800GTS plenty of room to breathe without much $$$. However, 3GB RAM is far beyond adequate.

The screen resolution is not bad at all. I have a 1440x900 Samsung LCD on my desk at home and games look beautiful and there is plenty of screen real estate to do video / photo editing and web browsing.

You call $1366 for a 3GB Core 2 Duo notebook with a 8800GTS a warm deal??? Try and match that at a gaming laptop boutique like Alienware. I just tried and the closest match (2GB C2D (1.67gHz) 8700M GT) was $2184.00 before tax!

This is a great deal, and I'll be jumping on it. Too bad I don't get paid till next Friday, but even at $1349 it's still hot!

 

[Delta6Echo]

Originally posted by: HeyRay2

Originally posted by: Delta6Echo

Originally posted by: Zap
review

Pretty decent deal at list price, now getting hot!

I don't know. I would say it's a decent gaming laptop, but I agree with the review that a CPU/RAM upgrade is necessary to maximize performance, which increases the cost quite a bit.

Also, 1440x900 on a 17" laptop? My g-friend just got a brand new Inspiron 1420 and it has a 14.1" screen running at 1440x900 and a T7250 C2D processor. I guess that the 512MB monster GPU tries to make up for it somewhat.

After tax/shipping I am looking at $1366, so this deal is warm at best. The free game is pretty nice though

I agree with you on the CPU. An upgrade would be necessary in the near future, but even an upgrade to a 2.0 would give the 8800GTS plenty of room to breathe without much $$$. However, 3GB RAM is far beyond adequate.

The screen resolution is not bad at all. I have a 1440x900 Samsung LCD on my desk at home and games look beautiful and there is plenty of screen real estate to do video / photo editing and web browsing.

You call $1366 for a 3GB Core 2 Duo notebook with a 8800GTS a warm deal??? Try and match that at a gaming laptop boutique like Alienware. I just tried and the closest match (2GB C2D (1.67gHz) 8700M GT) was $2184.00 before tax!

This is a great deal, and I'll be jumping on it. Too bad I don't get paid till next Friday, but even at $1349 it's still hot!

Alienware is a bad example when making a comparison because their systems are typically overpriced.

Like I said, it's a decent laptop, but to me it's not a hot deal. I don't justify paying a $500-$600 more compared to a PC that I could build myself. Portability was never really an important factor to me unless it's the total package.

It seems like Gateway thinks that putting a nice GPU into a laptop justifies them using a sub-par CPU and a resolution that is underwhelming for a gaming laptop.

 

[HeyRay2]

Originally posted by: Delta6Echo
Alienware is a bad example when making a comparison because their systems are typically overpriced.

Like I said, it's a decent laptop, but to me it's not a hot deal. I don't justify paying a $500-$600 more compared to a PC that I could build myself. Portability was never really an important factor to me unless it's the total package.

It seems like Gateway thinks that putting a nice GPU into a laptop justifies them using a sub-par CPU and a resolution that is underwhelming for a gaming laptop.

I've checked most boutiques beyond Alienware, and none come close to offering a gaming laptop for this price that the Gateway is going for. You're right that you could build a comparable custom PC for less than this laptop, but mobile gamers on a budget will eat this deal up.

Unfortunately to put a gaming laptop in this price range, Gateway had to take a sacrifice somewhere, and honestly I think they made a good choice. Of all laptop components that affect gameing performace almost none, save the CPU and RAM, are upgradeable. Gateway could have gone the other way around and stuck gamers with a 8600M and 2.0+ ghz cpu. Which would you rather have?

Add a decent 2.0+ gHz C2D to this for $350 and you're still well under the price of anything comparable.

Yes, there are better screen resolutions, but again nowhere near this price / performace area. I'll take 1440x900, as I live with it every day on my main computer.

I'll reply back to this thread with my personal impressions on this laptop when mine arrives on Monday afternoon (Best Buy Rewards Credit Card FTW!!!).

Later!

 

[HeyRay2]

Ouch! Sale is over, and that bad boy is now $1699!

Guess I got it while the getting was good!

 

[Zap]

Holy.... It was also $1249 this past week. $1700 is.... not a hot deal.

 

[HeyRay2]

Laptop just arrived at the front door (I always am the last on the UPS delivery route! ), and I've just booted it up for the first time.

This laptop is HUGE! I've definitely become accustomed to the 13" and 15" lappies that everyone at work carries around, so I'll certainly stand out around campus.

Initial impressions are good. Very solid build quality, and I like the brushed aluminun around the keyboard. It give the case a nice feel. The screen has 3 brightness levels, all of which are very readable, and the viewing angle is not as bad as all the reviews I read made it out to be. Text and video are still very readable from the sides.

True to form for most big computer companies like Dell and HP, Gateway has LOADED this sucker with usefull bloatware, which I'll promptly be getting rid of with a clean Vista install.

However, before doing that I will do some benchmarking with the laptop AS-IS, then some more benchmarking with everything optimized. I'll post results sometime tomorrow or Thursday.

Starting out, I feel that I'm going to be happy with my $1250.00 investment.

 

[Wolfpup]

This is back on sale for $1200 plus a free $50 game. It's sort of tempting to me, but the low end CPU bothers me. I'm not sure how usable it would be out of the box, and if I have to upgrade that CPU that kills the deal largely (to me at least). That's assuming a CPU upgrade is even doable.

The one thing that DOESN'T bother me is the screen's resolution. 1440x900 is if anything too high resolution for a 17" screen IMO. Not to mention, if you're using this for games, a lot of new stuff is going to need to be run at a lower resolution than that anyway-there's no way a notebook is running new games at some crazy 1920x1280 resolution or whatever.

Wish Dell would get a single 8800GTX in a notebook already

 

[nakedfrog]

I played all the way through Crysis on this at medium settings. I found it quite usable out of the box.

 

[DoubleN]

Bought this today and must say it's incredible. I am now able to play World of Warcraft with every single option completely maxed out and it is so much more enjoyable than how I had to play it on my old computer with low/medium settings. Have also been reading that you can easily upgrade the CPU and it has room for a second hard drive so it is somewhat upgradable.

Edit: For anyone that purchases the laptop, the Cruzer 2 GB micro USB keys that are always on sale match the look perfectly for ReadyBoost as they are black with an orange glow, matching the black and orange styling of the laptop.

 

[Dragoon42]

oh man i've seen this thing at my local BB. They had Crisis installed, I turned it on to the max setting and it was still a go. THIS THING IS AWESOME! It was on sale for $1200 at my BB. They're also offering 18months no interest on computers at my BB

 

[rivan]

Can anyone confirm the processor is upgradeable?

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: rivan
Can anyone confirm the processor is upgradeable?

It's been confirmed over at notebookreview. I haven't seen any reason to upgrade yet, so I haven't opened mine.

 

[HeyRay2]

Max settings in Crysis get a little hairy on the frame rates at times (because of the 1.66Ghz CPU) but lowering the settings or resolution somehwat help that. A CPU upgrade would resolve this, and you'd still be under the price of anything in the same performace grade.

This laptop is well worth the money, even when I bought it at $1249! In the two weeks I've had it I haven't even booted up my main rig because this has all the power I need, gaming and otherwise!

Go to your local Best Buy and check it out! You won't regret it!

 

[Delta6Echo]

It's still not worth it to me. I don't want to have to upgrade the CPU and the screen resolution should be at least 1680x1050.

 

[kpax812]

lololol. delta, if you really want to be stubborn about this, why dont you go after the Sager NP5793/ClevoM570RU? if you want the 8800M GTX and 2.5 Ghz C2D Penryn Processor for about $2500, (personally not into computers THAT much) then that is your notebook. if you want a link, here it is: http://www.sagernotebook.com/p...customed.php?pid=51114

in response to all who are in favor of this amazing deal of a laptop, i myself have one and have easily upgraded the processor to a 2.5 Ghz C2d Penryn Processor for only $350 more. I got this laptop with a free game back when it was $1199, which came to $1271 after tax. $1271 + $350 = $1621. sure beats the hell outta $2500. only main difference between the laptop i suggested above from the gateway is the different amount of shader processors in the graphics card (GTS < GTX) and the screen resolution (1680 x1050). woOoOo. personally id rather not pay almost a grand to gain 10-15% performance and a bigger screen, but hey thats just me.