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What kind of scores does your 675 attain? I wanted to know how much you gain with dual channel supported on the Intel chipset vs going with the 4780 and the SIS motherboard that doesn't. Really like that Sager, but if it takes a big performance hit on the memory.......

Its in the first post:

System......................3DMark........CPU MIPS....Hard Drive......Memory

Desktop.......................1841............8533........19445 kB/s....4326MB/s
Sager............................917.............9493........14319 kB/s....1952MB/s
Compaq........................693.............4238........16510 kB/s.....1982MB/s
Gateway (Loaded).......2692............9824........18745 kB/s......4308MB/s

the memory test was from Softsite Sandra, as you can see its about 2x the speed, both the desktop and gateway have dual channel memory installed, the Seger here was a 8887. You will see a bit faster from the newer Segers with a faster FSB and memory.

I have been playing with it over the weekend and now have the 3dMark over 2800, I will retest the full system when I get to work today.

battery life:

Better hope its a not a long movie, I got 1hr and 50 mins from a full charge, Thats with full screen and no power savings. I know you can use a 2nd battery in place of the 6 in 1 media / floppy slot, but I have no more information on it.

My score:

How about an update MBarrette....now that you have had it a few days!!

I am still debating between the m675 and the Sager 4780. Any input would be appreciated!

Thanks,

steve

Overall I am still very happy with the system, I miss the built in TV on my 8887, the USB TV works well but there is a 5-10 sec delay and when you have two TV's going in the room it’s not usable. The game play is great, and I like the widescreen format.

After all the tweaks and playing with PowerStrip I get the following:
System.........................3dmark........cpu...........hard drive......memory
Desktop.......................1841............8533........19445 kB/s....4326MB/s
Sager............................917.............9493........14319 kB/s....1952MB/s
Compaq........................693.............4238........16510 kB/s.....1982MB/s
Gateway (Loaded).......2902............9824........18745 kB/s.....4308MB/s

3d Mark Pro: http://www.mcstamp.com/it/gateway_3d.jpg
SoftSite: http://www.mcstamp.com/it/gateway_sandra.jpg

I like the 4780, you gain the TV card, Camera, Subwoofer, and better hard drive options, but give up dual channel memory, and 802.11g. However the Sager is cheaper then the Gateway.

My advice for what’s its worth; if you can live without the dual channel memory get the Sager. Side by side I think there are going perform about the same. In the real world (not counting benchmarks that give you a magic number but mean nothing) you will not be able to tell the difference. Make sure to check with PCToque to see if the 4780 is shipping.

I can see your numbers do look good and actually I have seen both machines and I prefer the looks of the M675. I nice looking machine. I am leaning toward the Sager for exactly the same reasons you stated....cost, sub and tuner. I guess now its just a matter of forking over the money!! LOL I'm still waiting for some sager users reviews to see how they like them...they are slowly showing up so some reviews should be coming. Keep us all updated on your machine and thanks for the review!!!

steve

I own a M675. If I was to go back a month and do it again, I’d still order the Gateway. If I was to order a laptop today.. I might get the 4780.

I ordered my M675 the first week they came out… back when you could customize them anyways you wanted. Plus I snagged a $100 rebate because the sales rep gave me some wrong info after I ordered. Even after upgrading the RAM to 1 gig PC3200 and the HD to 7200rpm the total cost was only a $100 more than a 4780 of same specs today. I got a good deal.

M675 Pro’s :

-Dual Channel Memory
-Internal Wireless G
-Full sized keyboard and better case design (IMO)
-Option for 2nd hard drive.
-Possible option for 2nd battery. Gateway is working on one for the media bay like the 600 series notebooks.

M675 Con’s :

-The M10P’s memory is clocked lower than most. Being a numbers person this bugs me.. but I need to get over it. The system performs great and most of my benchmarks where higher than the ones posted by Adam in his 4780 review.
-More expensive now.
-No TV Tuner / Mini-Cam / Sub .. If you’re into those things. I have 2 tivos and a WinTV PVR in my desktop.. so I’m not

Both the M675 and 4780 are great systems, each with their own advantages. Can’t go wrong either way.

BTW : I had my first experience with Gateway support yesterday. Much to my surprise it was a good one.

I went to copy over some images from my digital camera only to find (a week after having it.. lol) that they gave me a floppy drive in the left bay instead of the 6-in-1 memory card reader. I called, talked to sales rep. He verified I was given the wrong drive and he sent me the correct one.. should be here next week. He said I could keep the floppy too

Also, For some reason they are sending me a free port replicator. I got a letter when I ordered my system saying it was on backorder and wouldn’t ship until middle of December.. I was like, wtf, I didn’t order one or get charged for it. Maybe they decided it should come with the system, who knows.. I’m not one to complain over free crap

You can check out my specs and some pictures here :
http://www.mokb.org/shoon/toy.html

My camera isn’t the greatest, they don’t do it justice.

I see by the picture that even with a widescreen laptop you still have the black bars on top and bottom of the screen. Not a problem as I'm used to those bars on my normal display when watching widescreen movies. Just thought it would fill the screen as the aspect ratio was setup for that.

Hi sp0rk. You're right about the M675 being more expensive. I was puzzled looking at the prices today because MBarrette said it works out to be cheaper than the 4870 even after loading 1GB DDR400 dual channel.

It's still possible to customize the options under the business section, but I don't know what the requirements are to qualify for that.

Funny that you should mention your benchmarks outperform Adam's review, and your setup is a 3.0GHz, right? MBarrette's M675 (fully loaded and optimized) were beat by the 4870 except for memory bandwidth. And I think his is a 3.2GHz!

I'm looking into getting one too, but I can't decide either. ^^

The +/- scores in benchmarks aren't important. I really want 802.11g though; it should make for 5x faster transfers in my LAN at home, right? Advice?

In fact, how about a review on the M675 if have the time and don't mind doing it? ^^

Also, thanks for posting up your review and bechmarks, MBarrette. ^^Y

I was talking about the vid card tests, mainly UT2K3 (I dont have the other tests he used)

You're right, the 4780 was ahead in all the CPU tests because it's a 3.2. But the M675 killed the 4780 in memory bandwidth.. that's to be expected with dual channel.

here are my UT2k3 scores.. they start out close to the 4780 but the M657 pulls way ahead 1600x1200 test.. seems odd to me too, basically the same hardware, donno why the 4780 was so low on that test.. could just be a typo on adams part.

UT2K3 Flyby/Botmatch 800x600 : 179/74
UT2K3 Flyby/Botmatch 1024x768 : 124/72
UT2K3 Flyby/Botmatch 1280x960 : 103/66
UT2K3 Flyby/Botmatch 1600x1200 : 80/56

3DMark03 = 2842. Adam didn't post that test so I can't compare.. seems lower than the other Sagers with M10's tho. Not sure if the lower clocked memory or gateway drivers are to blame.

PCMark04 = 4348

As for a review.. we'll, I've shared my thoughts, above are most of the benchmarks i've run, and a posted a link with pictures.. not sure what else I can really say

Does your warranty become void if you install parts yourself?

lol no. Maybe if you ripped out the MB or LCD and tried to replace it yourself it would, but upgrading your ram, drives, stuff like that doesn't void a warranty. Hell they even have detailed instructions/pictures on the Gateway support website on how to do all that stuff yourself.

Speaking of warranty, that's one thing I forgot to list under "M675 Pro's". Gateway offers an optional accidental protection plan. So if you're a clutz like me sometimes and spill crap on your laptop, drop it, or do something else stupid they will fix or replace it.. bout the only way they wont replace it is if there are signs that you took a hammer to the laptop or something

Thanks sp0rk!

Where did you get your Hitachi 7200RPM 60GB and PC3200 dual channel 1GB?

Hey, I'm thinking of getting a big notebook as well. Err, and by big, I mean a 17" one. I've been looking at HP's zd7000, Gateway's M675 and Sager's 4780. Unless my folks really cut down on my budget, I'll be getting the Gateway or the Sager.

Now, I was wondering about a couple of things. I know sp0rk sort of mentioned this but if he could clarify some more... Does having dual channel memory really boost up the performance? I'll be doing some coding, some Photoshopping, some gaming. Would this help me?

Also, what's the difference in performance between Gateway's and Sager's wireless? I'm under the impression that Gateway's is built in somehow, maybe with the antenna along the edges of the screen while Sager's is one of those cards that you plug in. I won't be going anywhere near the bandwidth provided for 801.11G but it's nice to have my options open.

Thanks to sp0rk and the MBarrette (sp?). Great reviews, guys.