How good are Gateway laptops these days?

[louv68]

I see this one on sale at Circuit City for $699.99 which fits my budget nicely. I don't game, so a dedicated video card is probably not a requirement.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Gateway-M-6866-15-4-Widescreen-Laptop-Blue-M6866/sem/rp...oductDetail.do

How dependable are Gateways now? In your opinion, is this a good bang for the buck laptop? I'd like an all-around machine, minus the gaming. I may sometime down the road buy a USB TV tuner/capture device, to use it as a portable PVR.

What are the pros and cons you see? Please don't give answers like Vista sucks, or for another $300 you can get...
$700 - 800 is as much as I'd like to spend.

[jman98]

I feel very strongly that laptops are very poor choices for PVRs. You will have no choice but to use USB based devices and I believe that it's really best if you use PCI cards for this. However, some do use laptops for this. Just understand that your choices are VERY limited in that basically everything you want to add to it has to be USB based.

If you want to get into high def video playback, this laptop is probably underpowered and will not be a good choice for 1080p playback. I think you really need a quad core to be sure that 1080p works for you. Some people do get good results out of dual core boxes, but in my opinion it is a bit of a gamble. A quad core (more money though) will do the job for sure whereas a dual core may or may not.

The memory and hard drive are both sufficient for Vista.

[MJA]

if you need it just for net.check the compaq at bestbuy only $399

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8933005&productCategoryId=abcat0502001&t...=1215216329460

AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual-Core Mobile Processor QL-60

System Memory (RAM)
2GB

I personally will not spend more than $500 on a Lappy. Then it will be easy for me to upgrade in 3 to 4 years


BTW. what do you think about the Acer one 9.8", and the MSI wind 10" ?

I own the Asus EEE 7" and I love it .

[louv68]

Thanks jman98 & MJA for your replies.

I guess I'd be content with a very capable machine from a reputable mfg. that can do most any tasks other than game, and hi def. Something I could tote around, watch DVD's/video files on the road, internet, office applications and some SD video work. I guess something along the lines of an electronic purse.

[MJA]

just an update in case you didn't buy one yet

Acer - Extensa Laptop with AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Processor TK-57 $399

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8892772&st=8892772+&lp=1&type=product&cp...=1211587727715

[redwudz]

I've been using a Compaq 750US laptop for about six months now. No complaints. It has Vista premium for a OS. I upped the RAM to 2GB. I don't use it for encoding or other CPU intensive programs, mostly net surfing. It was a bargain for the price, IMO, about $500US.

One major improvement is to use a program like DeCrapifier to remove most of the useless installed programs. Most of them are crippled payware and you don't need or want them. No disrespect to Compaq, most laptops have a lot of useless programs installed. http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

[louv68]

Thank you for the additional info MJA & redwudz. Much appreciated! I haven't bought the laptop yet. I'm going to peruse thru the Sunday paper and see if anything else jumps out at me. Thanks again.

[Bodyslide]

You can also Check here Normally on Saturday night they will have listed the Sales for Sunday....

http://bensbargains.net/

[video_man2008]

If your not against refurbished stuff then you might check this out,I think it is a good price with the specs on it and it fits in your price range.

http://refurbdepot.com/productdetails2.cfm?Product_ID=6379

[Soopafresh]

Why peruse the Sunday papers?

Http://www.salescircular.com

[Marvingj]

Gateway are still pretty decent...