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M680 Reviewed - As Promised - Page 4

Poll Results: Was this helpful

Poll expired: Jun 9, 2005  
  • 83% (25)
    Yes, I found it to be very helpful.
  • 13% (4)
    Yes, It was somewhat helpful.
  • 0% (0)
    It was Ok, but not very helpful.
  • 3% (1)
    It was horrible and not helpful at all.
30 Total Votes  
post #61 of 217
5/17/05 at 11:12am

What CD's are bundled

Those of you that have already received shipment of your M680...

what install CDs does it include? I don't care about the extra apps, just about the Restore CD, Drivers, Operating System, etc.

Did you reinstall everything or use the pre-installation... if you used the pre-installation... is it pretty fast with whats loaded? Those of you who reinstalled... did it speed things up over the pre-installation?

I'm just trying to get an idea of if its worth reinstalling everything to start with.
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post #62 of 217
5/17/05 at 11:15am
Well I should be going thru the install process tomorrow. I plan on removing the stock 80GB drive and installing my 7K60 hd. I'll try GW's software first and if that doesn't work out too well I'll use my WinXP disk.
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post #63 of 217
5/17/05 at 11:20am
There are some blank cds bundled, that's it. No driver cds, no OS cd, no restore cd. You have to make a restore cd/dvd after you load the laptop. You can only do it once.

I pulled the stock hard drive and installed a 100 GB 5400 RPM drive. I then did a clean install of Windows XP Pro. I highly recommend formatting the machine after you get it as mine was slow as hell out of the box.

All the drivers you need are either on the cd or available on the m680 tech support page. I managed to get everything from the web page except the wifi driver and the ATI driver. The ATI driver IS on the cd, I believe someone mentioned before that it was not. I can post the path to it later if someone still needs it. The wifi driver can be downloaded from the Intel web site.
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post #64 of 217
5/17/05 at 11:31am
They include blank CDs huh? I figured I was going to have to cough up a few. That's an extra $.75 for me!
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post #65 of 217
5/17/05 at 1:45pm
Any chance one of you guys could post a photo of the bottom of the machine? I would also love to see a good closeup of the keyboard layout. i think i'm in love but i need to be sure - gotta check her underside and innards first...

thanx
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post #66 of 217
5/17/05 at 2:08pm
You can go here and check on Product View.

http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/...400467nv.shtml

It is pretty good looking Lappy.
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post #67 of 217
5/17/05 at 2:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xplatform
Any chance one of you guys could post a photo of the bottom of the machine? I would also love to see a good closeup of the keyboard layout. i think i'm in love but i need to be sure - gotta check her underside and innards first...

thanx
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/...400467bv.shtml

...or

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post #68 of 217
5/17/05 at 2:58pm
Here are some non-56k friendly pics I took.

m680 Bottom

Left Side of KB

Right Side of KB
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post #69 of 217
5/17/05 at 4:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by flashram
Here are some non-56k friendly pics I took.

m680 Bottom

Left Side of KB

Right Side of KB
Thanks flashram for the pics. I thought there was only one guy left on the planet with dial-up. Doesn't everyone have fiber-optic to their house? Life is good!
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post #70 of 217
5/17/05 at 4:38pm
LOL! flashram you've had your machine a couple of weeks and you haven't pulled the stickers off yet?
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post #71 of 217
5/17/05 at 9:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by blix9
czm2000, thanks for the review. First rate. It's a benchmark of a notebook review.
I put many hours and effort into it because I knew everyone was wanting to know more about the M680. Those who already had one didn't seem to have much time (not that I do) and some of those who said they would do a review weren't. So it had to happen and I was happy to do it. It means a lot to me that you enjoyed it.

Thanks for the kind words.
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post #72 of 217
5/17/05 at 11:20pm
Czm2000,

Gateway should give you some reward for putting up that review because it could have influence some of the recent m680 purchases from here.
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post #73 of 217
5/18/05 at 6:16am
I am into the detailed study of Western European art on my notebook and desktop here and am just wondering how well your M680XL screen displays great art ?
In particular how is the color/gray scale balance across all ranges 000,000,000 on up thru 255, 255, 255?

Thanks againg for the superb review too.....

Daley
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post #74 of 217
5/18/05 at 8:46am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vancomycin
Czm2000,

Gateway should give you some reward for putting up that review because it could have influence some of the recent m680 purchases from here.
You're too kind. Thank you, but I doubt they will pony up any dough. I had to squeeze them for another $100 for that scratch since I elected not to take a replacement. I decided not to waste any more time on it. Thanks again for the compliment.
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post #75 of 217
5/18/05 at 8:47am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dlukesdoom
I am into the detailed study of Western European art on my notebook and desktop here and am just wondering how well your M680XL screen displays great art ?
In particular how is the color/gray scale balance across all ranges 000,000,000 on up thru 255, 255, 255?

Thanks againg for the superb review too.....

Daley
Happy to run a test for you. Which one? How? Let me know and I'll take care of it. I'm glad you liked the review.
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post #76 of 217
5/18/05 at 12:07pm
Well there is a demo version of Displaymate for Windows you could try. I use it all the time after adjusting my screen gamma.. etc

http://www.displaymate.com/demos.html

Daley
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post #77 of 217
5/18/05 at 8:15pm
Thread Starter 
Looks to be a bit time consuming. I will play around with it as soon as I have some time. May not be til the end to the weekend.
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post #78 of 217
5/25/05 at 10:29am

Wonderful review & photos

I read your review with some trepidation because I had just ordered the M680 after comparing it with Dell's 17" (xps?). I was worried that you would reveal facts regarding the machine that would make me regret the decision. Boy was I pleased with your enthusiastic endorsement.

I purchased the M680x and upgraded to the 2ghz cpu, 1 gig RAM, 100g 5400 rpm HD, ultribtrite WXGA screen and 4 year service.

The biggest issue I had was whether to get the 60g 7200rpm HD or the one I chose.

I see that most on this board opted for the higher rpm.

If you are going to upgrade from the M680xl you are better off doing so from the M680s or M680x. I don't know why, but I saved $175 by upgrading from the M680x than from doing so from the M680 xl. I did this at the suggestion of the Gateway salesman, Thad, who told me that the end result is exactly the same machine!!!! Go figure.

Again, thank you very much for taking the time and effort to contribute to our knowledge about the M680....
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post #79 of 217
5/25/05 at 12:17pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by JLat
I read your review with some trepidation because I had just ordered the M680 after comparing it with Dell's 17" (xps?). I was worried that you would reveal facts regarding the machine that would make me regret the decision. Boy was I pleased with your enthusiastic endorsement.

I purchased the M680x and upgraded to the 2ghz cpu, 1 gig RAM, 100g 5400 rpm HD, ultribtrite WXGA screen and 4 year service.

The biggest issue I had was whether to get the 60g 7200rpm HD or the one I chose.

I see that most on this board opted for the higher rpm.

If you are going to upgrade from the M680xl you are better off doing so from the M680s or M680x. I don't know why, but I saved $175 by upgrading from the M680x than from doing so from the M680 xl. I did this at the suggestion of the Gateway salesman, Thad, who told me that the end result is exactly the same machine!!!! Go figure.

Again, thank you very much for taking the time and effort to contribute to our knowledge about the M680....
Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you enjoyed the review. Going on 2 weeks and I would still recommend it the same if not more. I'm glad to say the honey moon is not over.

You went about ordering it perfectly. You have to remember, when I ordered mine, there was really no experience in ordering them and certainly no threads indicating peoples experience in the best way to do that. So oh well, live and learn. I have no regrets. I hope you get yours soon. You will love it. It's the best mix of everything. I guess you could say with 256MB Vid Card it would be 5 Stars. But at 4 1/2, I'll take it.
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post #80 of 217
5/25/05 at 6:13pm
Thanks csm2000, your review (and other forum comments) convinced me that the M680 was the way to go over the Dell 9300 and others. Mine just arrived yesterday and this baby rocks! The design, the look and as you know, WOW what a beautiful screen! Thanks for posting a great review!
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