I'm a techie and own 9 other computers. 6 of the 9 are Sony's. I also own Toshiba and MSI. I always thought I had to purchase the most expensive to have the best, but after purchasing the Gateway, I see now that I was wrong. This laptop is absolutely phenomenal. The screen is the most crisp, colorful and sharpest display I have ever seen. It literally blows everything else out of the water. I have it sitting next to two other laptops right now that I paid at least double for and there is really no comparison at all. Windows 7 runs smooth as silk, there is very little bloatware pre-installed. I'm simply floored by how good this computer is at this price point. Don't think twice about getting it. After seeing it in action, I really feel that it's a steal at this price. One downside for me is that the memory isn't upgradable beyond 4gb and it doesn't have a pc card/expresscard slot for my wireless modem, but since I'm using it primarily at home for photo editing, those things don't really matter to me. I'm considering purchasing a 2nd one now for my wife.
Update: Windows 7 on this computer continues to amaze me too. Today, I had 8 apps open and they all ran as if I only had one open. I didn't intend to do this, but I had Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Outlook, Word, Navicat, Hypersnap, Explorer and Microsoft Publisher all open at the same time and there was no lag or anything that would have let me know that I needed to close some apps to free up memory. The system ran smoothly as if I was just using one app, so the 4GB limit makes more sense now since there doesn't appear to be a need for more.
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I was looking at a Toshiba with similar but less specs than this machine. 3GB vs 4GB memory, and 320GB HD vs 500GB hard drive. $200 more everywhere I looked for the Tob, some places $300 more. This unit also has an extra slot for another hard drive internally.
I bought this unit 3 weeks ago at a local BB for $599, which was a steal for the features and overall quality of this laptop.
This Gateway is fast, plays DVDs with no problem, the high def is great and very crisp, and the 17.3 screen is plenty of real estate to work from. The keyboard was a little flat for my liking but after using it a while I've adjusted to it.
Also the touch pad is at times not as responsive as I would like, the scrolling function that is. I would like it to be be a little more sensitive when scrolling up and down. Just wish I could adjust the response to the touch pressure some but that's not possible. But there are a lot of software adjustments to the touch pad available and it works great overall. The scrolling is usually when surfing so that could be a site or browser issue rather than the touch pad itself.
The built in wireless network works great and gets a much stronger and reliable signal than my other laptop all over our house. I can even go out on the patio with no problems. The RJ-45 network hard wire connector works fine as well.
Windows 7 is a joy on this thing, especially compared to Vista. Multitasking shows no signs of lag or hesitation when using several programs at once.
I have 5 desktops and another laptop and all have XP except one. That one sits in the corner with very little use because it has Vista on it. I use it for backup audio recording sessions in my business only. Now it will get a face lift to Windows 7 and become my primary desktop.
But it will be fighting with this new Gateway as I can see this laptop becoming my primary work machine for most things I do. I'm a techie and do light programming, audio and some video.
I've yet to try any games on it but do think most games would play alright with some settings adjustments, except for the most intensive resource using games.
Depending on the use, I've been averaging 3 3 1/2 hours on the battery with medium use on the resources, that's also having the screen about two settings dimmer from the highest setting which is still a very bright screen. The weight is around 7 pounds and makes it very comfortable for the lap and almost no heat from the bottom of the unit after a couple of hours use.
If you buy one and need a case for it, look at the Case Logic 17" Slimline Laptop Case here at Amazon. I bought it and it's a good case for the price of 26 bucks, especially for 17 inch laptops.
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I also purchased this laptop at a local Best Buy for $599. Not one of the other brands had 4GB memory, 500 GB HD, wireless, webcam, card reader, etc.. for near the price. As the previous reviewer said, this laptop has a stronger wireless signal as I have no problems anywhere in our home--our HP loses signal sometimes. I also do not like the keyboard quite as much as the Hp, but ok. I did have a problem with the Norton Internet Security locked up and quit working. I had to unistall it and ordered a new copy of Norton Security 2010 for $29.99 and it works great. The 2010 version is listed for Windows 7. It may have been a Norton problem with windows 2007. The screen is larger and brighter than our HP dv6. The battery is advertised at "up to 5 hours" but I have not gotten more than three and half hours--still more than the 2 hours I usually get with our HP. This computer, upon first powerup, starts you off with the wireless setup which was unbeliebably easy. Lastly, the setup with our Lexmark x7576 wireless printer was also very easy. I had the entire system up and running with wireless printer, new programs, wireless network, etc. in less than an hour. If you are looking for a great value laptop, this is it.
Honest reviews on Gateway NV7802u 17.3-Inch Black Laptop - Up to 5 Hours of Battery
Bought this for $599.00 at BB and just love it. This is my first lap top. I found it to be Quick like lightening and great memory with the DDR3, 4g memory, dual processors, and 5g hard drive. 64 bit Windows 7 is great except fire fox doesn't seem to do well on it. The screen is large, brilliant and easy to look at. Battery life is about 3.5 hours a little less than the specs.
A video on the webcam turned out great sent it to my brother in California and he loved it. Put on a couple professional programs that use a great deal of memory and the computer didn't even notice. No problems with many simultaneous programs running. Please note: I am not a gamer!
Only negative: Key pad is difficult to use I will go wireless mouse asap. DDR3 memory with 4g is NOT expandable.
I took the lap top out on the patio, to the garage, and all through the house and the signal was great. All in all, for the money, I don't think you can do better. This seems to have it all.
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I just purchased one of these at BB for $599.0 and I must say I am pleasantly suprised. Many of the reviews I read online (the majority here at Amazon or at the BB site) were spot on. I agonized for several days between this laptop and the Sony VAIO VGN-FW510/F, which you can find here on amazon for ~ 780. This included several trips to the BB brick and mortar to look at both machines. In the end, my budget limitations won out I didn't want to spend the extra 200. I thought for sure I would have some regrets (never buy cheap, someone once told me), but none in this case. I can't stop looking at the damn thing thinking that I got a good deal.
Some initial thoughts:
Screen size and quality the screen is of very good quality, much better than my existing HP DV2748se laptop; it is bright and clear whereas my HP always looks washed out. It's not an IPS panel, so the usual caveats about viewing angles apply. The screen is also of the right resolution 1600 x 900 on 17.3 diagonal inches. Text / fonts are of good size (not tiny as you get with some high resolution laptop screens, e.g., 1920 x 1200 on a 15.6" screen)it looks like my desktop at work just not as much screen real estate.
Build quality acceptable; it's not as nice as a Macbook, but it definitely feels solid. The screen however, does flex a bit but no more so than my other HP laptop. The screen hinge is hefty and solid; on my HP the screen wiggles back and forth a few degrees (i.e., it feels loose) not so with this machine.
Speakers i read some of the reviews that stated the speakers sucked...they aren't that bad: very little bass and such but more than adequate for watching TV or casually listening to music. I don't have a TV, so I'm on either on Hulu or streaming some radio station or .
Keyboard one of the few livable minuses. The keys are flush with very little separation between them, so it is easy to hit the wrong key and feeling around with your fingers for a key is difficult. It takes some getting used to. I don't think the extended keyboard is very useful.
Wireless no issues, works as advertised, I was up and running in minutes and reception very good. No blue tooth however, but that is not a minus for me.
Windows 7 a pleasant surprise! It is slick, smooth, and is what Vista should have been. BTW, I also run Linux; when I went to the store I took in an Ubuntu 9.10 boot CD and loaded it up (much to the consternation of the salesman). It seemed to find all the hardware, to include the wireless card.
Operating Temperature this laptop runs quiet and cool. My HP has this annoying feature of the cooling fan cycling on and off in a rapid fashion, i.e., it will ramp up to max rpms and the quickly turn back off, not to mention it get's very hot in my lap. Not so with this machine...i can hardly hear the fan when it is on, which doesn't seem to be very often. I assume this is partly due to the larger case size which yields a better airflow through the internal components.
Gateway Tech support many reviewers commented on this (or the lack thereof). It appears to be poor I went to the gateway web site and perused the support section of the site. I was unable to locate a number if you want to call a real person; they do offer tech support for exorbitant fees on a per minute basis; so between the reviews I have read and what I found on the site leads me to believe if this puppy breaks I will be in trouble.
Memory Limitation this machine maxes out at 4GB :-( This was one of the selling points for the Sony, which can go up to 8GB. So this might be an issue with future proofing your purchase.
No eSata or firewire port :-( However, it does have HDMI and 4 x USB.
Overall, I am very pleased thus far with my purchase and definitely feel like I got a good deal, especially for $599.00
++++ UPDATE ++++
This is an update as of 2/05/2010. I've had the machine for over a month now and I am still more than satisfied. Just a few more comments based on my experience:
Battery life appears good. I usually average about three hours not bad for a six cell battery and this usually includes playing some video or listening to music.
HDMI works extremely well. In some cases on a laptop, the HDMI port is not true HDMI, i.e., you only get video and are still left to run a separate audio output to your television. I'm happy to report this is not the case; I had the opportunity to hook up the laptop to a friends Samsung 48" HD television and it works as advertised; you only need a single HDMI cable to carry both audio and video. The picture looked excellent and was at the full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080.
Recovery Disks. None are included...you have to burn your own onto 3 x DVDs using the software already installed on your machine.
The touchpad. The single bar along the bottom is a bit hard to press. Like a Mac touchpad, you depress either the left or right extreme of the bar. With my earlier laptop, which had the normal two-button layout, the buttons were relatively easy to press so that is what I used all the time. I had forgotten (and had to relearn) that instead of pressing the left button you can simply double tap the touchpad :-) So this is what I used now and it works quite nicely. You can also set up numerous other touchpad "gestures" ala what is used on the iPhone so you don't wind up using the touchpad bar. For example, I've configure it to mimic the right mouse button if you tap the upper right corner of the touchpad (all four corners are configurable). It doesn't compensate 100% for having the bar a bit hard on the fingers, but it is more than workable.
