Gateway M505XL - Page 42

Thanks so much for the advice and info. I disabled the network sharing in the services menu, like you said, but I still have the Shared Documents folder, I want to get rid of that. Also, I didn't mean that I want to be able to sort by creation date necessarily, but rather for my mp3's specifically, I want to be able to sort by date downloaded, there used to be an option for the sub-menu in folders where you could sort by DATE, it isn't available in XP as far as I can tell. I know this is not really a 505XL subject, but maybe someone can help me out in here before I go to another forum. Thanks so much. And lastly, anyway to check to see exactly what is loaded as it is being loaded for start up, b/c for whatever reason, my startup is longer than it used to be a week ago, after installing items and programs that shouldn't have extended it, and in msconfig, I practically have nothing running. Let me know what you think guys.
Thanks
By the way, I love this laptop, I hope it stands the test of time and crap doesn't start going wrong with it in a few months.

as soon as you get into XP press crtl+alt+del and see what processes you're running

There's an updated bios on Gateway's site. Has anyone updated yet? The release note says that it resolves a distorted display issue. Since I'm not having issues, I think I'll hold off a bit.

i haven't had any issues myself, so i see no need to update either.

2) i believe the main difference is in working with larger files (multimedia, etc.) and *possibly* with loading large programs, like games and photoshop. otherwise, there is no real-world noticable difference from the larger cache that i can see (in desktop machines, at least. ) (edit to add: of course there will be a difference btwn 4200 and 5400 rpm, however. )

6) i would try a seagate, which would be quieter than both the hitachi and toshiba. probably more reliable, too. check newegg.com

7) there might be an option in the XP TweakUI utility.

8) that is the date. modified means the date modified, which is the same as before ("same as it ever was" ), it just didn't say "modified."

hey if I want to play far cry on my new 505XL. Do I have to install any additional drivers? and if so where do i get them?

Thanks,
--JR

Strange ... :)

I have a question to all M505 series user. Try to lower your lcd's brightness with FN+LEFT ARROW with 3-4 steps from maximum (or more than 3-4 steps). Launch for example MS Word. Because of the huge white background. Start typing and check the LCD while you are typing continuosly. Is it flickering a little bit, or not ? On my system (Gigabyte n601) appears this flickering only if the brightness is lowered from maximuim. If i set the brightness to max everything is fine !!?

Is this a "built in feature" for everyone, or i got a faulty laptop ?

I did what you said but I get no flickering from my screen. I tried it both plugged in and on battery.

Thank you Now i'm waiting for the answer from gigabyte.

Review of my new 505XL

I received my 505XL yesterday, and I am very pleased with it so far. I originally ordered, and received a 675XL. There was a problem with the monitor on the 675XL, and while playing around with it before shipping it back for replacement, I discovered that the fan noise was too much for my taste. The fan ran constantly during DVD playback, and it is LOUD. Other than that the 675XL is a great machine.

Anyway, I received the 505XL yesterday, and my first task was to set up the 802.11b with my D-LINK wirelesss router. Had it up in 5 minutes, no problems, runs like a champ. I don't have any problems buying a machine today with a 802.11b. My broadband maxes at 1G (if that) and 11G max limit is fine for what I do (Photoshop, C,C++, JAVA development, DVD watching, lots of Web browsing/reading, I'm not a gamer).

Next, I tried out the DVD player. Fantastic. The fan doesn't run at all during DVD playback (maybe 10-15 seconds at initial load/startup, but that's it!). Nice, quiet DVD-watching, and the sound quality/volume is very nice. I don't think I'll even need to buy external speakers for this.

The monitor is great, no dead pixels, and the 15.4" is just fine. I was worried that after sampling the 675XL with the 17" I would be disappointed going down to 15.4", but no, doesn't bother me a bit.

Also, the power brick on this is tiny (especially compared to the 675XL), and I've heard the battery-life is pretty decent. I'll be testing this out soon, though I don't really plan to use the battery that often, as I'll be using it at home and work for the most part, not much travel use.

I don't really care for the LED's directly under the screen. One flashes on/off constantly while playing DVD's. Does anyone know if these LED's can be disabled? If not, a little tape will probably do the trick.

I don't really need the DVD/sound controls on the left side of the keyboard, but they don't really bother me that much either.

The touchpad is very nice, although I prefer to use a mouse. Is there any way to disable the touchpad while using a mouse? I hate when the heal of my hand slides over the touchpad while I'm typing and moves the cursor around on other machines I've played with.

All in all, I'm very satisfied so far. This machine fits my needs to a tee. I'll report back with any problems/issues.

Hugo

hugorand, you think that M675 be bad notebook ? ...

Dead Pixels

In the few months since I've had my 505, I've noticed now 3 new bright "dead" pixels. Is this normal? Should I bring her in?

n601 flickering while typing at lower brightness with white background (ms word)

Hi Guys,

I've got the reply from gigabyte for my filckering problem, posted earlier:

Dear Sir,

Sorry for our late reply and long waiting. We have found the same problem at our side, and our R/D engineers are still trying to fix the problem in the lab. We will try our best to provide a way to fix the problem as soon as we can. Please be patient for news update and we are also terrible sorry for any inconvenience and trouble you encounter by our product. Please accept our sincere apologize.

I think GigaByte was cool

I thought I give a quick praise of Gateway's tech support/customer service.

I recently broke the enter key on my m505x's keyboard (I'm and idiot). I called Gateway and had a tech on the line in less than 1 minute. He promptly had me and an order number for my new keyboard. Before I hung up, I mentioned that my sub woofer sounded a little strange. He asked me to hold on, then came back with an order number for a new sub.

I'm pleased to say that everything arrived in 4 days. The new sub sounds perfect and the keyboard is back to normal. Gateway included a return UPS tag to ship back the broken sub, however, they did not include on for the keyboard. I broke the keyboard, so if I have to pay for it, that's cool.

All in all, I'm impressed with them. I'm really happy with my choice of notebooks.

For those of you with new m505's, if you upgrade one thing, upgrade to the Hitachi 60GB 7200 RPM hard drive. The performance increase is worth the money.

still available?

Hi there all, thanks for the forum.
I live in Australia. I want a 505xl or a 505x, but I can't find info on the gateway website regarding the 505xl. I got on the live chat and the salesperson said they " don't have it around anymore"?

There also seem to be very limited online options to buy the xl. Only amazon really, and they won't ship it internationally.

Can anyone help? Thanks in advance.

I realise that there are gigabyte n601's available here, but they're about A$3000 here ( or US$ 2150 ) which is considerably more than you guys pay over there!

no more 505XL?

Look at the site http://www.gateway.com/home/products/hm_ptb_m505.shtml

There is no listing for the XL

Was it discontinued?

Strange

According to gateway sales rep, 505x and 505xl has been discontinued. He didn't really say much, but he assumes a new system w/ dothan processor....... soon

I hope they come out with something similar to the m505xl with a faster processor, 802.11g wireless and maybe an 80gb hard drive. And Soon!!! ... now the wait begins...

For those of you who have had problems with your sub.....what was it doing ?
Mine is making a low humming noise more than not. If I turn it off and on again it goes away. Please let me know.

Dan, my sub just sounded horrible. It would hum when I would first turn it on, but not much after that.

I did call Gateway and after the typical tech run around of rebooting and such, they guys sent me out a new one. It was a painless call, but they do have to double check some stuf first.

The new one works like a charm.

BTW, a guy at my office liked my m505x so much he picked one up himself. He's not the computer type, so I have to keep him updated on drivers and apps