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Rating: 
Summary: great notebook, for great price
Review: had the notebook for about a month now, and love everything about it. No problems to report so far. Pros: wide-screen is definitely a major plus, at 6.7lbs lighter than other comparable notebooks. Sturdier than comparable models. S-video port, and 3 USB ports. Looks VERY cool. Cons: No infrared (has the port built in, but its been disabled), at 1.4M not the fastest out there, 40 gigs is slightly smaller than others. Final note, I was debating between the toshiba m35 which was cheaper at the time than this,but the toshiba seemed flimsier and even though it had a bigger hard drive, it was not that appealing. The keyboard on the toshiba feels quite uncomfortable.
Rating:
Summary: Very nice multi-media machine
Review: I like this notebook. I had purchased a cheaper laptop earlier, but sent it back because of the fan noise. The cheaper laptops typically use Intel Celeron processors which do not include "Speedstep" technology. Intel's speedstep (or AMDs similar technique) is needed to reduce power consumption/dissipation (and hence heat) to keep the fan off. In Intel's line, it seems to only come with Mobile Pentium M (part of "Centrino") and with *Mobile* Pentium 4s. The Gateway M505X which has the more advanced Pentium M (1.4 GHz which is equivalent to perhaps a 2.4 GHz P4)) does not run the fan at all during most uses (probably would if one ran games, etc.), and the hard drive is virtually inaudible. In short, the machine is totally silent. In addition, the bottom only gets moderately warm (not hot). Also, the palm rests do not suffer from heat buildup like some competing models (hard disk location is better in 505X). The touchpad is awesome. Has a very smooth feel, never missing my finger's commands. I wish the left/right mouse keys were slightly less stiff, and I must say that although the keyboard is nice (less force needed than on HPs and Compaqs), I am dissappointed that Gateway left a chasm below the j, k, and l keys. When these keys are hit, the keyboard flexes slightly and the sound made is significantly different than the keys on the left side which have structure below them. But I'll learn to live with it... :-) The multimedia capabilities of the machine are excellent. Especially the sound quality. I am frankly amazed at how good this thing sounds. As an Electrical Engineer, I know it is not easy to make good sound from tiny speakers, but this machine does a good job. (It's not going to compare to large speakers, of course, but it is infinitely better than the speakers in the cheaper laptop I purchased and returned). The 505X has, in addition to the two top speakers, a "subwoofer" that does a very credible job of enhancing the lows. Makes bass guitar tracks, etc. very clearly heard, and fills out the sound in general. There's even an equalizer that comes up in the system tray that you can use to alter the tonal quality and add effects such as reverb! The only negative on the sound is that max volume is not too high. In a noisy environment, this might be an issue, but its certainly fine for around the house. The widescreen is also nice. Native resolution is 1280 x 800, which is OK for my eyesight. Like other laptops, if you go to a different (lower) resolution, the fonts look a bit rough, so be sure you can read text at the native resolution. The text is going to be slightly smaller than say, a 15 inch TFT with 1024x768 native resolution. Brightness is good, and has many levels so one can save power and battery life by turning it down if you want. One slight negative on the display is that mine has one bad pixel. It is stuck on and noticible with dark backgrounds, but completely invisible most of the time, so I can live with it... On the subject of battery life, I went 4 hours of mixed use (surfing web wirelessly, loading a few programs, playing snippets of DVDs, intermixed with some idle time on a mid-brightness setting), and still had 20% left in the battery. Wireless works fine. Seems to get as good a signal or better than my external card on my other machine. Power management is pretty good too. When I put it to sleep (hibernate mode), it gets there in 13 seconds. Waking from hibernation takes 22 seconds. Not bad for a machine with 512Mb of RAM. Of course, your mileage may vary, depending on what software you are using. Finally, the aesthetics and build are nice too. The metal lid and keyboard surround are fashionable and the machine feels quite solid. Would be nice if it were a few pounds lighter, but the 6.7 pounds is about state-of the art for what it contains.
For the price, I'm very pleased!
Rating:
Summary: Very nice multi-media machine
Review: I like this notebook. I had purchased a cheaper laptop earlier, but sent it back because of the fan noise. The cheaper laptops typically use Intel Celeron processors which do not include "Speedstep" technology. Intel's speedstep (or AMDs similar technique) is needed to reduce power consumption/dissipation (and hence heat) to keep the fan off. In Intel's line, it seems to only come with Mobile Pentium M (part of "Centrino") and with *Mobile* Pentium 4s. The Gateway M505X which has the more advanced Pentium M (1.4 GHz which is equivalent to perhaps a 2.4 GHz P4)) does not run the fan at all during most uses (probably would if one ran games, etc.), and the hard drive is virtually inaudible. In short, the machine is totally silent. In addition, the bottom only gets moderately warm (not hot). Also, the palm rests do not suffer from heat buildup like some competing models (hard disk location is better in 505X). The touchpad is awesome. Has a very smooth feel, never missing my finger's commands. I wish the left/right mouse keys were slightly less stiff, and I must say that although the keyboard is nice (less force needed than on HPs and Compaqs), I am dissappointed that Gateway left a chasm below the j, k, and l keys. When these keys are hit, the keyboard flexes slightly and the sound made is significantly different than the keys on the left side which have structure below them. But I'll learn to live with it... :-) The multimedia capabilities of the machine are excellent. Especially the sound quality. I am frankly amazed at how good this thing sounds. As an Electrical Engineer, I know it is not easy to make good sound from tiny speakers, but this machine does a good job. (It's not going to compare to large speakers, of course, but it is infinitely better than the speakers in the cheaper laptop I purchased and returned). The 505X has, in addition to the two top speakers, a "subwoofer" that does a very credible job of enhancing the lows. Makes bass guitar tracks, etc. very clearly heard, and fills out the sound in general. There's even an equalizer that comes up in the system tray that you can use to alter the tonal quality and add effects such as reverb! The only negative on the sound is that max volume is not too high. In a noisy environment, this might be an issue, but its certainly fine for around the house. The widescreen is also nice. Native resolution is 1280 x 800, which is OK for my eyesight. Like other laptops, if you go to a different (lower) resolution, the fonts look a bit rough, so be sure you can read text at the native resolution. The text is going to be slightly smaller than say, a 15 inch TFT with 1024x768 native resolution. Brightness is good, and has many levels so one can save power and battery life by turning it down if you want. One slight negative on the display is that mine has one bad pixel. It is stuck on and noticible with dark backgrounds, but completely invisible most of the time, so I can live with it... On the subject of battery life, I went 4 hours of mixed use (surfing web wirelessly, loading a few programs, playing snippets of DVDs, intermixed with some idle time on a mid-brightness setting), and still had 20% left in the battery. Wireless works fine. Seems to get as good a signal or better than my external card on my other machine. Power management is pretty good too. When I put it to sleep (hibernate mode), it gets there in 13 seconds. Waking from hibernation takes 22 seconds. Not bad for a machine with 512Mb of RAM. Of course, your mileage may vary, depending on what software you are using. Finally, the aesthetics and build are nice too. The metal lid and keyboard surround are fashionable and the machine feels quite solid. Would be nice if it were a few pounds lighter, but the 6.7 pounds is about state-of the art for what it contains.
For the price, I'm very pleased!
Rating:
Summary: Gateway M505X vs. Toshiba M35-S359
Review: Similar to another notebook shopper, I debated between the comparable Gateway M505X and Toshiba M35-S359, (see the very complete review "Nice machine, nice price", December 2, 2003 for the Toshiba). Unlike that reviewer, I ended up purchasing the Gateway for a couple of reasons: The Toshiba felt a bit flimsy and the keyboard was mushy. The Gateway seems to be constructed better and have a more subsantial feel with a very nice keyboard, without being much heavier (~1/2 pound). The Gateway has much better speakers and a subwoofer which enhances the sound. The Toshiba sounded faint and metallic in comparison. The Gateway also has a very handy AV panel with LC display. The screen on the Toshiba might be a little better, or at least a little brighter at its highest setting, but both are very good. The Gateway offered better extended warranty packages for less money. Also, you can take it into any Gateway store instead of shipping it somewhere. Complete extended warranties with accidental damage coverage offered by computer retailers for about the same price were only 2 years vs. Gateway's 3. The Gateway is much sleeker, and cleaner looking with its monotone metallic case and integrated speakers. I realize that most of my points are aesthetic, but the hardware is almost identical, and performance should be very comparable.
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