Gateway M505XL - Page 2

EXCELLENT!

I am not too familiar with the various benchmarks , so anything that you can do is highly appreciated (I will then search around to reference whatever you provide). If you are a gamer, maybe you can let me know if you have any issues with the newest games out there.

Most importantly, I look forward to your personal feedback on how it handles and maybe even a screenshot?

Hoping you get the perfect lappy for you.



And one more question what was the turnaround from Gateway and do you have any experience with their financing?

Thanks,

Although I don't get the laptop until tomorrow morning, I can answer a few of your questions now about Gateway. For one, from the time I ordered it, Fri the 14th, it shipped one week to that day on the 21st. That was of course with no holidays between that like Thanksgiving which I'm sure will delay it a bit.

As for financing, I opted not to do so as I was splitting it with my parents for college so that wasn't a concern but they were more than willing to offer me some deals on payment options.

When I checked out the notebook at the store, it was quite nice... it is of a nice and snazzy silver color ; not at all the boring black and such that you might get at Dell for instance. The hard drive seemed quite peppy, similar to a desktop as it was using the 60GB drive (not sure if it was 5400 or 4200rpm one though ). As for weight, it was lighter than either notebooks on either side of it which were both desktop replacements and was far lighter than my father's notebook which is an old PIII Dell that he uses for work.

Tomorrow, I hope to uninstall and install all the software that I need or don't and maybe even install a game or two. However, gaming is a second concern on this notebook as I do have a Shuttle SFF for that sole purpose. My main concerns is wireless internet and typing and on the notebook. On this regard, does anyone recommend an 802.11b wireless acess point that DOESN'T have a built in firewall (it only complicates gaming )?

FollowThatDream- Happy Thanksgiving too.

I pray and pray that I don't get any dead pixels, or I am gonna be pissed like never before!
Best of luck for you too ,DTD2003, here's to hoping you don't get any dead pixels either. Coincidentally enough, I also have a shuttle SFF myself, I am soooo in love with my baby. Which one do you have?

As for the machine itself, damn that thing is sexy. I went to gateway again to play with it a little. Fired up some of The Big Lebowski (one of the best movies ever, I might add) to see how it would look. I was impressed. I especially LOVE the media controls on the left side. The little spin dial for fastforwarding and rewinding is one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

DTD2003, i hope you post a review of it as soon as you can. I can't wait.

kwick7, I have a SN45G Shuttle and I'm in love with it too. I use it as both a gaming PC at college as well as a media center PC using the All-In-Wonder 9800 Pro. I will surely get another one for the Athlon 64 when the Socket 939 comes out next year on 90nm process.

wow, dtd2003, thats a pretty close system, but yours is better. I have a 41G2 with a radean 9700 pro, and I through a TV wonder VE in the pci slot.

DTD2003,

Judging for you absence here I assume you are happy with your purchase? Please post as soon as you can.

Thanks so much!

SO has anyone been able to get their hands on this machine yet??

Rao.

mine's somewhere in between indiana and new jersey. supposed to get her on tuesday.

Awesome!!!

I just got my computer in the mail (m505xl). I've heared that Gateway is prone to shipping delays, but this was not the case for me. It was supposed to take two weeks to arrive, but it got here in like 4-5 days! This computer is almost flawless. The only gripe that I have is... well I was going to mention something but now I cannot even remember what it was. Obviously it is not that big of deal. The battery life is about 5 hours and it seems to drain appropriately. I have not had a lot of time to use this computer, but so far it is excellent! Wireless internet is good. Screen quality is awesome. Battery life superb! It is very fast too. Sound is spectacular! The subwoofer rocks! I just cannot believe the sound quality. I returned by IBM R40 to get this baby and I knew that I might regret it. There is no doubt in my mind that I made the right decision. I'll report back as soon as I find something wrong with this machine.

Being one that just ordered a 505XL, I hope to not hear back from Icelroca! Mine is due to arrive 12/09. If there are no reviews by then, I will post with pics.

wow.... i ordered mine monday (505X), and it shipped tuesday. Estimated delivery date is dec. 2, and it is already within an hour of nmy house! I didn't think mail was delivered on thanksgiving, but it arrived in my state at 8 this morning! I either am getting this baby today, which i doubt, or tomorrow. Either way, I am putting up a nice review when i get it.

Looking forward to the review. Im on the verge of ordering one also.

Just a question, does anyone know at what speed the memory is running at? I cant seem to find it at Gateway specs.

You can walk around with your chest sticking out now! I'm one of those people who's waiting for a gaming review with the 505XL. As soon as no major problems are reported, i'll order mine. Please do try and post a gaming review of the notebook.

Thanks,
Rao.

Sorry guys for not posting in the last few days but as was said, I WAS in fact having fun with my new notebook. Unfortunately, I was also doing Xmas decorations one day, was shopping and helping a friend with his PC another day, and today is of course Thanksgiving so it was also shot. However, with the time I had with the PC (only a measaly 2 hours...), I really like it.

For one, the screen is quite clear, even close to my Samsung 191T and I can't get over how quiet it is! Even compared to my Shuttle which has stealth Panaflos in it @ low speed, it beats that even that at idle. All I can BARELY hear is the hard drive when I put my ears against the notebook as silly as that may look.


Tomorrow, I'll be sure to post some actually usful info but the initial impression is a positive one! Turkey + me = sleepy time...

EDIT: This weekend, I'm moving back into college after a break so I will not have Internet access until Monday night. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as I did.

I have yet to play games on this notebook but I can tell you the Radeon 9600 is clocked at 317/209 when I enter 3DMark03 and check system properties but the Pentium M is only clocked at 952MHz on AC power....I assume it goes up in 3dMark dynamically but does the videocard also??? Powerplay isn't an option in the display properties and I assume that is why the score is lower than expected...hmmm

I recently bought a Toshiba M35-S359 Satellite. Its specs and price are quite comparable to the Gateway's, but I wasn't aware of the Gateway when I made my purchase. Now I'm having second thoughts. Does anyone have insights on the Toshiba M35 vs. Gateway? My local Gateway store does not have the M505 in stock, so I can't really compare.

Here are a few key differences from my perspective:

- The Gateway may have better sound, given the included subwoofer. But the Toshiba has 2-way harman/kardon speakers, which in my opinion sound quite good.

- The Toshiba has a 60gb hard drive, but only 32mb of NVidia video memory. The video memory doesn't bother me a lot because I don't plan to do much if any gaming.

- The Toshiba has a great, crisp screen, even compared to the Compaq/HP 15.4" widescreen models. Again, can't compare to the Gateway, so don't know what to think.

- The Toshiba comes with Microsoft OneNote software, which I haven't tried using yet, but looks interesting.

- Toshiba laptops consistently are rated very high in terms of reliability and user satisfaction (along with IBM), whereas Gateway is just middle-of-the-pack. If anyone wants sources, let me know. Gateway, however, has the benefit of local service, though I don't know how good it is.

- The Gateway is a little smaller (.2" less wide, .6" less deep from front-to-back).

- The Toshiba can be had for only $1450 at Circuit City, after rebates, which is $150 less than the Gateway.

- Toshiba claims battery life of 3 hr 40 min, which I think is a little less than the Gateway.

- The Toshiba weighs only 6.2 lbs including the battery, whereas the Gateway is 6.7 lbs.

- Then there are the little things: the Gateway has two Firewire ports, and a USB port on the back (which is nice for some peripherals so the cable is out of your way). The Gateway has a slot loading CD drive, which is much nicer, and has the quick function keys on the right side of the keyboard, and the media controls on the left (which seem useless for me though).

- Here is a link to some specs on the Toshiba if anyone is interested (go to page 4 for the M35): http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/cont...M30_Series.pdf

I'd appreciate your thoughts & insights on how these compare.

i just got my m505x . yay yay yay. i will post a review and pics and benchies in a little while.

kwick7! Hurry with those benchmarks! And your advise.

has anyone experienced delivery delays? For example, the arrival date that they give after you place your order. is it accurate more or less or ahs anyone recieved it alot later than they estimated?

Thank you in advance for your response.

I actually got mine a day early. if it weren't for thanksgiving, I would have gotten it 6 days early! it was 30 minutes from my house as of thinksgiving morning, but stayed put until this morning. STOOPID HOLIDAYS!!!

I am deleting all the installed craap, installing games and such, and then i will write a review.
I can already tell that i LOVE this machine.