Gateway M505XL - Page 16

So I'm assuming you ordered after the 19th. Before the 19th was ground shipping and after the 19th was two-day shipping. That's why. They both shipped the same day, Monday, so of course your two-day would have beaten my ground shipping. You had to pay for shipping though, I didn't .

And uploading a few pictures now... I'll post links in a few

http://members.cox.net/vncntchn1/DSC00927.JPG
http://members.cox.net/vncntchn1/DSC00928.JPG
http://members.cox.net/vncntchn1/DSC00929.JPG
http://members.cox.net/vncntchn1/DSC00930.JPG
http://members.cox.net/vncntchn1/DSC00931.JPG
http://members.cox.net/vncntchn1/DSC00932.JPG

I'll have a few more soon.

Well, I am on my M505x right now and things seem to be going well. I did a clean install of Windows XP Professional and I have just about all of the drivers installed. The wireless internet is not working however, and I can't seem to find out where to turn it on. According to the status indicators, the wi-fi is enabled but when I go into network adapters, there are no wireless internet adapters detected. I'm clueless and Gateway's support page for the M505 seems useless. Anyone have any ideas?

Edit: I figured it out.. it was an unknown device in the device manager and the driver was on the drivers/apps CD.

vc, do a Add hardware wizard off control panels and it will find and install it for you. Strange I know but that is how I was able to find it. Congrats, enjoy. I love mine

Edit: Oops, didn't see your edit. Have fun with it.

bcpeng, my opinion on the HD is this. We are owed the faster drive so I am pushing by principle, however most of us (myself especially) are not going to notice much of an improvment and with my limited experience with the defective drive I just sent back is noteably louder, not noteably faster. When my second replacement arrives I am going to test drive the two and if I don't see much of an performance increase I will just send the Toshiba back. So there. I doubt you will notice a difference and if you don't want to go throught the trouble for the "principle" of it I could relate.

speed

has anyone compared speed of applications such as word, excell and booot speed with Compaq x1000.

I have an x1000 and will be getting the m505xl in a few days. I will post a review comparing the two as soon as I get it.

cool thanks!

cAN Anyone comment about the heat issue and the fan noise? And how is it compared to the availabe Sager laptops? I am interested in this but the 64 mb ATI seems like a down factor to get this laptop.

Word, Excel, etc., they all load relatively quick. Probably two or three seconds.

About the heat issue, it get's WARM but it's standable. It's NOT hot and it's only in one area of the laptop--the right rear section. This thing is extremely quiet though and I'd take quiet and warm over loud and cool anyday. After hours of internet surfing I think the fan came on once and that was like a "blast" of air, it came on for about a second or two and I didn't hear it again. When running 3DMark2001SE, the fan stayed on low for most of the test and I didn't really hear it. I scored 8989 and that is completely "untweaked". I'm sure the video card can take a little OC, hehe.

Right now, I'm the living room of my house and surfing the web on my home's wireless network. This thing works great. At 100% battery I get 4:37 on the desktop. That is INSANE. This little jewel works great and I wouldn't trade it for any laptop just about now (maybe an Alienware or some rediculously overpriced laptop and then sell it. I'd buy another one of these ).

PS: If anyone wants more pictures of anything specifically, PM me or post in the thread.

If you feel you can live with the 4200, you may want to keep it. The extreme run-around you may get may negate the value of the 5400... :-)
Seriously, the 5400 is snappier at times, like bootup or shutdown, but during gameplay and average use, I think they are really pretty much on par. If the noise will be an issue, stick with the 4200. For me, it eventually became a matter of principal. They said 5400 and I was going to make sure that is what I got.
If you do call for the drive, get EVERYONE'S extension that you talked with and get ticket numbers. Otherwise, you will have to start from scratch each time you call.

If I walk into a store today and buy the XL will it come with the 5400rpm HD?

Anyone had luck getting stuff thrown in by buying from a store?

Hey guy's

I've been following this thread since mid november and i just ordered my M505XL !! I just can't wait to have my hands on it !! Since i'm ordering it from canada it will take up to 15 buisness days to receive it ! bummer !

Keep on posting some pics !! I just can't get enought !

I hope i'll receive the 5400 drive !! Is there some one who actually got the faster drive the first time or are they still shipping de slow one's ??
Does the TV out work good ??

15 days is ing long !! but i'm sure it will be worth the wait !!

Report on delivery of 505XL

Well, for all you guys out there who own or are comtemplating buying a Gateway 505, either X or XL, here is a rundown so far on my XL.

I received it yesterday, after having ordered it last Monday night. I'm up here in Seattle and noticed it was shipped from their distribution center in Tennessee. So, considering it was over the Christmas holiday I don't think that's too bad for shipping times.

Upon tackling the UPS guy in my haste to open the box, I noticed that the box was virtually untouched in terms of any damage. The seal was not tampered with either so I was relieved to see that.

Jump ahead 30 minutes . . . I love the look of this machine. Feels very solid, screen is plenty big for me, and the keyboard is all there, no loose keys or anything. Also, no dead pixels either!

OK, on to the other specs. As promised to me by customer service, I immediately go to Device Manager to check and see if I indeed did get the faster 5400 rpm Toshiba hard drive. Well, this was the only downer, but it didn't take away from my enthusiasm about the rest of the machine. I got sent the Fujitsu MHT2060 AT hard drive, which is 4200 rpm. I don't mind the quiet operation of the hard drive, but I guess the Toshiba would've been nice.

As for the DVD drive, I popped in a few music CD's as well as DVD movies to give it a test drive (no pun intended ) It played them all flawlessly, and the picture looked crisp on the movies with no dead spots on the screen. As for the sound, well, c'mon . . . it's only a laptop after all so I can't complain.

Just a quick question for you 505 owners out there. I want to burn some DVD movies (on my friend's desktop computer) so that I can play some on my new lappy. I was wondering if you guys know of any good buys out there on blank DVD-Rs. What would you guys recommend?

On that note, Happy New Year's to everyone in 2004!

I want WSXGA+. waaa. =P It's the only thing stopping me from getting this comp making me to HP ZT3K. That and I wanna buy through Costco. *sigh*

kyk007, congrats on your machine. I hope you enjoy it. CompUSA often has some great deals on DVD-R. Less than a buck a piece. I have used them for both computer DVD stuff as well as our Video DVD-R. If you have one in town that is a way to get lots for a little. As for the drive, I am sure you have learned that you don't get much with the speed increase but you are owed it if you feel you need to fight the good fight. Now that I have one on the way, I even wonder if I am going to bother with the whole reinstall thing for a little faster definately louder drive. Again, have fun and enjoy!
~Gooner

I don't think u need the WSXGA. I think the WXGA is fine. Resolution isn't too bad and it's pretty clear and crisp IMO.

My USB ports don't seem to be working. They have power but Windows will not detect any USB devices that I plug in. Anyone have any ideas? Under device manager, there is an unknown device: "Other devices: Universal Serial Bus (USB) Controller". I've tried letting it automatically look for a driver but it hasn't found one and I have also let it search for drivers from the driver/apps disk that the laptop came with, also none. Anyone have any ideas? The weird thing is, I have the same unknown device on my desktop pc, the unknown USB controller but USB devices work fine. Are USB ports disabled in the bios or something?

vc178, do you have the latest windows updates installed? that fixed the problem for me. I think Service pack 1 will do it.