Gateway M675 review and banchmarks - Page 9

Zinc,

Yes, Gateway still doesn't readily promote the customization of the M675. So unless you venture down the path of the M675CS, you wouldn't even realize that that the 675 is customizable. I found this out after ordering my M675XL -- finding out that a 4x +/- DVD drive was available, but only through the CS path. I was persistent (prob'ly to the point of annoying) that I managed to swap out the stock 2x drive for the 4x, justpaying the $60 difference. My main argument was that the web site didn't provide an obvious path for customization. I heard others in this forum experience the same issue, so I'm surprised that a customize button isn't more obvious like it is on Dell's & HP's sites.

Anyway, good luck with your shopping. This forum was tremendously valuable in helping me make my purchase.


M675XL+ | 17" | P4/3.2HT | 512MB/80GB | ATI 9600/128 | WiFi-G | 4x DVD±RW
...there are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't...

M675 customization

Zinc,

Here's the link to the M675CS customization site.

Memory upgrades for the M675CS from Gateway seem expensive though. Personal recommendation is to upgrade memory elsewhere if you want to save a few $.

Tucsonan, how did you customize the video card? Doesn't the 675CS come with the 64MB version? I didn't see any option to upgrade the videocard to 128MB.

Just tried it on my M675XL, no problem at all. I'm at a loss to explain your issue, since you said it works fine with Windows Media. If you are willing, please download MusicMatch Jukebox from http://www.musicmatch.com/ and see if it exhibits the same problem as WinAMP. MusicMatch Jukebox cleanly uninstalls if you choose not to keep it after the test.

My drive is a GWA-4040N, the 4X DVD+-RW burner that Gateway supplied for $60 (with the letter that seems to be so rare )

hi zinc,

here are the two links a rep gave me to customize the m675.

http://products.gateway.com/products...=m675eb&seg=sb

http://products.gateway.com/products...=m675cs&seg=hm

hope it helps.
indera

It looks like the option to select 64mb or 128mb ATI9600 video isn't there right now. I've noticed some customization options seem to disappear, then reappear later. The integrated wireless 54g was an option when I ordered, then it disappeared for a week or two, then it reappeared.

You can try contacting Gateway sales support to see if they still offer the 128mb upgrade (perhaps it was mistakenly removed from the website).

About the text smudging:

Desktop > Display Properties > Settings > Advanced > Displays > Panel > Uncheck Scale Image to Panel Size

waiting....

Just ordered my M675X and cannot wait for it to get here.
I'm happy about everything except video card (didn't find an option to upgrade) -- but I do not "game" much -- anything that would require a larger video card anyways, so it should be OK. This forum definately helped me decide to purchase this portable desktop.

My system (better come soon):

2.8GHz Pentium 4 w/ Hyper-Threading (800MHz fbus)
512MB DDR SDRAM (2 - 256MB)
60GB 4200rpm HD
2x DVD-R/RW/CD-RW drive
Integrated Wireless G
17.1" WXGA+ TFT Active Matrix Display
XP-Home (XP-Pro as soon as I get it, I have my own copy)
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 8x AGP, 64MB DDR Memory

I attend a college that used to be a ThinkPad university (until this year, now for next semester we have to purchase our own. The school partnered with Dell and their offers DO NOT compare to what I am getting for the same price!) -- and I'm really sick of the 700MHz Celeron, 128MB RAM and 10GB hard drive iSeries I have now.

Can't wait to get my new one. I noticed there haven't been many posts in this thread lately and wanted to get it going again -- mostly because I want to hear about how much people love their M675Z as I wait for mine to come!!!!

Any thoughts on the video card I'm getting? I mainly use my laptop for writing (office 2003), playing some "light" games, The Sims, programming (some), and will use it to watch DVDs, but probably only while travelling.

wvwcguy, congrats on your M675X purchase. Every system has a weakness...for Gateway it's seems to be Customer Service, as I'm sure you've read about in these forums. Hang in there until your M675X arrives, and remember you're dealing with corporate America when you contact Customer Service (which only leads to frustration, IMHO).
I'm quite pleased with my M675...my only regret is the time I spent on the phone with Customer Service!

waiting... it has shipped!

OK -- so my M675 has shipped! It shipped on 4/14 and is supposed to arrive from China (?) on 4/22 (says Gateway), 4/20 (says UPS) ... so we'll have to see. I really hope it's 4/20!

They are shipping two packages -- I'm guessing one is the carrying case which is coming from Omaha, Nebraska (shipped the same time) and it is arriving 4/22 according to gateway and 4/20 according to UPS. Now if they can ship from China to WV in 4 days -- it still takes 4 days to come from Nebraska to WV? LOL

Anyways I'm rambling ... I'm just really excited and can't wait to get it! Will post again when I get it to add my review...

First off, hello to everyone! Just found this forum through a search on Google. Glad to meet everyone! I just got my M675X a week ago (April 8, 2004) and I'm in LOVE!!!

OK, I'm a little on the oddball side as I found this BARGAIN of a laptop on the Home Shopping Network website. No foolin. I got the 3.0 P4 w/HT, 512MB RAM, 80 GB 4200 RPM HDD, 64 MB ATI Radeon 9600, 802.11 G built-in wireless, DVD-RW, but no card reader. Oh well, not complaining.

Anyways, this is my very first notebook, and I actually ALMOST purchased the HP zd7120. I'm so glad I didn't go that route. More money (I only paid $2,098) and the only thing that was better (IMHO), were the speakers on the HP. I am so happy with this notebook and I actually convinced 2 others to purchase it.

I run this thing like a horse, and I use it for training. I train DSL support, and I use this notebook for presentation and instruction. This screen is fantastic and having multiple screens open for teaching is fabulous and not cumbersome at all. Movies look incredible, the wireless is a dream, and adding a 5.1 surround system (I get stuck in hotel rooms A LOT) has made this a Godsend.

I'm looking forward to upping my RAM on this. I really would like at least 1 GB, and have seen some excellent recommendations here. I'll make sure to keep checking back here and reading all of your very informative information. Thank you all for being here and sharing what you've learned so far. You have just confirmed the fact that I made the right choice. Hope to meet you all at some point or another!

chiefsmackaho - 5.1 surround system

Can you elaborate on the 5.1 surround sytem you added? Is this from Gateway? I just received a 675XL and I'm disappointed with the fact that the fan noise is a little high, and with the standard audio I crank the volume all the way up and still can't drown out the fan noise.

Thanks,
Hugo

Hi ya doin? I didn't pick the speakers up from Gateway. In Raleigh, NC, they have a Tiger Direct store where I found the Logitech Z-640 speakers for $42.99. Great price, great sounding speakers and they connect easily to this laptop. Try finding them online if you don't have a Tiger Direct store near you. They are fantastic sounding speakers!

Fan noise hasn't been much of a bother to me at all. I know it's a powerful notebook, so I kind of figured on it. Plus, the trade off being that this notebook doesn't heat up that much. At least I can keep it on my lap and not burn myself. Fair trade I do believe.

Like chiefsmackaho, I too bought the M675X from the HSN website. While I'm happy with the features that it came with, it didn't come with the card reader. I know it uses the second modular bay, so I was wondering if anyone knows if this can be purchased seperately from Gateway. TIA...

Yes, you can purchase directly from Gateway, although just going to the accessory store online makes it almost impossible to locate it. Your best bet is to contact Gateway via e-chat and request a part number. I'm chatting with them now about an issue, and if I can get the part number and price, I'll relay it through an update of this post. I hope this helps.

BTW, how do you like it so far? I've VERY pleased, if you couldn't tell already....

I haven't received it yet, should come the next two weeks or so. Thank you for your information!

BC...

Well in that case, welcome to the club and I'm sure you will enjoy your purchase!

Hey everybody, I'm planning to purchase the gateway m675xl. I'm just wondering how is the dead pixel problem with this gateway? If you have a deal pixel did gateway fix it or replace it? Thanks

None here and I run this thing pretty hard. I'll let you know should it happen. Hopefully, few, if none, have run across that yet. I think you'll like your decision. Enjoy!!!