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Gateway M320/4540GZ

post #1 of 14
1/3/05 at 12:55am
Thread Starter 
I just bought the 4540 GZ at best buy. It was between the M210/3520GZ or the M320/4540GZ. Not sure if I did the right thing; I had read bad reviews about M320 battery life but no one could tell me if the 4500 series WAS the M320 (Even Gateway's online chat didn't know). I didn't find out the 4540 is actully the M320 until I got it home and saw that the System Properties (right click My Computer) said so. Unless this new 4540 model has improved battery life from the 4530 and the M320's (reviewed previously by others) I may exchange for the 3520.
Is there a program I can use to benchmark the battery life? Does anyone want to know any details about this model?

Pentium M 715 (1.5 GHz, 400 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache)
80 GB hard drive (How do I check the RPM speed?)
512 MB RAM
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post #2 of 14
1/3/05 at 7:20am
Pull the plug and run something like the 3dMark Demo or some type of burn in software in a continuous loop until the battery is near dead. The battery meter will give you a very close estimate after being drained and charged once. The number will fluctuate widely depending on your current tasks though.
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post #3 of 14
1/4/05 at 1:32am
Thread Starter 
Where do I get the 3dMark Demo? Is this what was used when people tested the 3520 GZ? People on this site said the 3520 had good battery life. I'd like to run something to compare it. Thanks,
David
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post #4 of 14
1/4/05 at 12:46pm
www.futuremark.com
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post #5 of 14
1/5/05 at 2:20pm
I am trying to gauge the overall quality of the 4540gz. Best Buy was out of the 3520 so we opted for the 4540 but have not yet opened it. Any issues that warrant returning it and swapping it for a better model even if it costs us more? How do you like it so far?
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post #6 of 14
1/5/05 at 3:16pm
Yeah, I want to hear more about the 4540. How do you like it so far? I'm considering this laptop for work and it's on sale for $1,100. 150 minute battery life from what I read on CNET on the 4520 (younger sibling?)...that's kind of poor for something with only a 1.5ghz CPU in it. Here's the link to the 4540:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....9&type=product

It seems like the perfect match for what I want, however - thin, light, XGA screen, and good price...I liked what I saw at BB yesterday.
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post #7 of 14
1/7/05 at 6:31pm

Bought It Anyway

Well if you are still interested we bought the 4540. I don't have the energy for a comprehensive review, but generally - it is a nice value for the price. It is light (although seems a bit heavier due the the size) and thin. It has many more features for the price. The screen has a nice resolution but is pretty reflective and the 3520 seemed to have sexier profile (but no longer available here). The processor is relatively quick, however, my old laptop with Windows 2000 seems to be faster (I think this is because XP is inherently slow). Also the built in wireless is nice and works very well.

It has plenty of ports and easy coneectivety. If you are going to use it for office functions as we intend to it is a definite bargain. If you intend to use it more for DVDs or gaming, you may want to go with the other version.
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post #8 of 14
1/7/05 at 11:17pm
I have the 4530GZ and have no complaint about battery life. Depending on the power settings I've ranged from 2+ to over 4 hours of battery life. This is with the standard 6 cell battery too.
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post #9 of 14
1/8/05 at 3:45pm
Thread Starter 
Sorry I didn't reply before. I not that much of a techie so didn't go and buy benchmarking software so didn't come back here.
I really like it though. My biggest complaint is that if your thumb touches the mouse thingy the slightest bit, while you're typing, you will find yourself typing on a different part of the page.
Placement of the PCMCIA slot is bad. I got the Verizon EVDO card and love it but when I flip the antenna up it is kind of in the way due to the PCMCIA slot location right by my left hand.
Memory card reader doesn't read compact flash.
I'm not sold on the shiny screen either but that seems to be what everybody is coming out with.
Oh, also, the scroll thingy (I could have said watchamacallit) sometimes just keeps on scrolling, even after taking your finger off. It can be very annoying so I don't use it much.
I got about 3 hours with the laptop running beside me doing nothing but staying connected to the internet via the EVDO card while I read a book. I turned the screen down two clicks after the first half hour or so. I don't know how good of a test that is.
I still don't know if I prefer the 14.1 or the 15 inch screen.
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post #10 of 14
1/9/05 at 12:58pm
To guage battery life, download the 15-day trial of BatteryMon (www.passmark.com) - it is great for evaluating your battery life, and seeing what different settings do to efect your battery life.

-n
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post #11 of 14
3/9/05 at 5:05pm
I just bought the 4540GZ. Spec-wise, its everything I want (except for the graphics, but I can live with the Intel stuff).

But I had one question that the BB drones and Gateway Tech support could not answer.

When you run an 800x600 full screen app, does it take up 800x600 pixels, with a black border around the outside, or does it interpolate the display so that the 800x600 image takes up the full 1024x768 screen?

I've seen laptops that do one, the other, and that do either, via a BIOS setting. The Gateway tech said that there wasn't anything in the BIOS that appeared to handle switching modes, but couldn't say for sure what the actual machine did.

Anyone that bought one: any idea? Anyone tried any older 800x600 apps?

Thanks!

Jim B.
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post #12 of 14
3/25/05 at 2:06pm
Thread Starter 
Sorry Jeb, I really can't say since I don't have my computer. It seems Gateway let me borrow it from them for 30 days then they wanted it back. I bought it around Jan 1st and it broke around Feb 5th. I sent it in, they sent it back with the same problem. I sent it in again and they still have it as of March 25th. I love owning a piece of shit that is just depreciating at their facility.
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post #13 of 14
3/30/05 at 12:03am
Well, I got the answer to my question. It will definitely stretch the display for legacy apps. Looks awesome.

However, less than three weeks of ownership, and its damaged. The slider that opens the cover is held on with a 1mm wide, and about .25mm thick plastic tab. I don't even know how it happened, but I went to open it, there was no switch! I felt around, and it was in a fold in my shirt.

I also noticed that the keyboard rattles around a lot, and doesn't have a very solid feel to it. Overall, I think the construction is rather shabby. I'm seriously considering whether I want to pursue getting it fixed, or just return it and start over.

Jim B.
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post #14 of 14
3/31/05 at 1:31pm
Thread Starter 
Get it fixed?! Ah ha ha, ah ha ha, whoo boy that's a good one, my eyes are tearing up. They've been "fixing" my 4540GZ since the beginning of February. Maybe I'm being unreasonable in feeling that two months is a little long to wait, especially since I've only owned it three months total. Oh well I guess 1 out of 3 isn't bad, oh wait yes it is.
If you have the option, RETURN IT and start over with another brand.
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