which is the better laptop????

[Trump]

I am currently looking at 2 Gateway laptops, and I have no idea which to buy. My main concern is my budget ($600-800), a dual core processor and at least 1GB of RAM. I dont use up too much space in my Hard Drive, so 100GB should be enough. I listen to music, watch DVD's(aside from web surfing and Word) and i realise that my budget cannot get me a good computer that i can play games in(right??). here are the 2 computers I'm looking at:


MT6451-----15.4" screen, AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50(1.6GHz), 1 GB ram, 120GB Parallel ATA (4200 rpm), ATI RADEON XPRESS 1150(256MB shared)

MT3705-----14.1" screen, Pentium Dual-Core T2060(1.6GHz), 1 GB ram, 100GB Parallel ATA (4200 rpm), ATI Radeon Xpress 200M(256MB Shared)

I prefer a smaller computer because i will be taking it to my University, but 15.4" is not bad at all. so the biggest difference between the two is, ofcourse, the processors. I dont know how the two compare. which one is better? and by how much? how much extra would you pay for it(if all other specs were equal)?

The MT6451 is originally $850, but is being sold right now at $700 at BestBuy.
The MT3705 is originally $750, not on sale right now, but will probably go down to $600 next week. so should i get the 6451 laptop now, or wait for the smaller one to go on sale? which is the better deal?

Dont forget to vote!!

[Airman]

Well the Pentium Dual-Core just came out so I'm not 100% about it's performance however, if I were to choose one of those two I would pick The MT3705 because if it indeed drops to $600 thats not a bad deal at all. I haven't really heard too many good things about Gateway though for $806.15 + Tax you could get an HP with these specs:

Operating System Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) dual core T2060(1.6GHz/1MB L2)
Display 15.4" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
Graphics Card 256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7400
Personalization HP Imprint Finish + Microphone
Memory 1024MB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Hard Drive 60GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade: 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
Networking 802.11b/g WLAN
Primary Battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery


Thats as a CTO (Custom To Order Notebook) from HP's site.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/sh...dv6000t_series


The differences being a 15.4" Brightview High Definition Screen, a faster 5400RPM hard drive, built in mic, a Geforce Go 7400 which is better than the Xpress 200M. Keep in mind you can always upgrade the hard drive at a later date.

The HP configuration also will be able to play new games on mid level settings and basically all older games, hope this helps and good luck Trump

[Charles P. Jefferies]

Hi there,
I would go for the first notebook, the one equipped with the AMD processor. You're not going to notice a difference between the processors as far as speed goes. With the AMD notebook, you get 20GB more hard drive space and faster graphics. The Radeon X1150 is a good integrated GPU and can play most older games without much difficulty. If you have an inquiry about a specific game, post it here.
More information about video cards can be found in the GPU Guide.

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I would also go for the first (MT6451) Notebook. Being you get 20GB more and better Graphics card. 15.4 VS 14.1 is not big deal to me. If it was VS a 13inch then that would be a differ story.

I would try to get that $700 deal at Best Buy. Just make sure it has ALL the specs it is suppose to have. Retail stores sometimes strip specs and still use the same model name. Do research and search for as many reviews as possible.

Gaming in on the MT6451 should be decent to play at default game settings.
Certain games like Counter Strike might be to demanding tho.

The Specs in the MT6451 Notebook are most likely the best you will find in the price range you are looking for.

And being that Vista is installed, you want every inch for the buck you can get. Like better Graphics & more Mem.

[Wastin_Time]

The 2060 chip is an oddball chip to say the least. You can read up on it over at Tomshardware. If you get it for 600 then that is a pretty good deal. I saved 50 bucks over that and went with the MT3418 today 2.0GHz AMD single core (the MK36 is an oddbal in its own right being the only socket S1 single core turion although my bet is that it is just a turion X2 that came out with a bad core or bad cache that was disabbled.. anyway)

You will spend a while getting rid of garbage programs on the gateways, like Mcafee (thing was using 40+% of the processor until I ditched it). wildtangent and google desktop got ditched as well. After all was said and done I was only using about 600MB of physical memory when surfing and listening to music.

Save the 100 and get the intel 14 inch, the 1280x800 on the 15 inchers always looks stupid. Things are just too big.

BTW: that MT3705 is only 599 this week at CircuitCity.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Gatew...oductDetail.do

[Sludge]

Originally Posted by Chaz

Hi there,
I would go for the first notebook, the one equipped with the AMD processor. You're not going to notice a difference between the processors as far as speed goes. With the AMD notebook, you get 20GB more hard drive space and faster graphics. The Radeon X1150 is a good integrated GPU and can play most older games without much difficulty. If you have an inquiry about a specific game, post it here.

I spent several hours reading these forums and finally saw a thread which discusses the laptop I'm interested in.

Gateway MT6451
AMD Turion™ 64 X2 mobile technology TL-50
1GB PC5300 DDR2 memory
ATI RADEON XPRESS 1150 graphics with up to 256MB of HyperMemory

The MT6451 is on sale for $699 at bestbuy. I am a gamer and will usually play on my desktop. I will only be playing when the wife has me stuck someplace where I cant access my desktop. But would like to know if this laptop will play the following games.

1. BF1942
2. BF Vietnam
3. Medal of Honor Allied Assault
4. COD 2
5. BF2
6. BF2142

If the game will play please indicate at what kind of performance.

Thanks for your time.

[Wingsbr]

I had a Gateway SOLO 9550 that finally croaked on me after 5 years so I went to BB and picked up the MT6451 when it was on sale a couple of weeks ago. I have been pretty happy with it. I haven't played any games on it so I can't really rate that part. It did come with alot of crapware, but it comes with a fresh install disc for Vista. Reformatted it and its very nice. I do suggest that you upgrade to 2gb's memory. This sucks because its 512x2 and I had to buy 2g sticks to replace the 512's. You can easily do that with the money you save on the price. Gateway has locked down the bios. =( The integrated card shows some very weird things. It says "Memory Size 831 MB" and "Memory Type HyperMemory" in the ATI CCC. I noticed when I changed my memory that the number went up. Anyone have any comments!?!? It runs Aero with no problems w/ the 2g's. I had to configure some services, msconfig and all that crap and it runs like a dream. I use Photo, Flash and Fireworks with ease. I have winamp, 3 ie's, ATI CCC, full aero open and I'm only using 40% memory. Hope this helps make a decision for you.

New Member!

[Wingsbr]

I forgot to post the Vista experience index numbers.

Processer Calculations per second :4.6
Memory Calculations per second :5.1
Graphics Desktop Performance for Windows Aero :3.0
Gaming Graphics 3d Gaming and Business Graphics Performance :3.1
Primary Hard Disk : Disk Data Transfer Rate :4.6

[Sludge]

I went to bestbuy yesterday to look at it. I went into the system information and the graphics card was listed as a Xpress 200 in the display tab and NOT the 1150 that is advertised. I asked a salesman at bestbuy and he said it had the xpress 1150. I asked him why the system showed the xpress 200. He said it was just listed wrong. I didn't believe him. But maybe he is right. It could be a listed wrong under the vista. Can you check your system information and see what the graphics card is.

Thanks so much. This computer seems great for the price. Did you get the xtended warranty?

[Wingsbr]

Funny that you ask that. When I bought my system it said the 200 as well. After further research I realized that the competent techies at gateway had the wrong driver loaded. When I first hooked to the internet Windows Update said that my ati driver had an updated available and it was the 1150, not the 200. I installed it with no issues. On the Windows Aero mark it was 2.6 when I got it, after I upgraded the driver thru Windows Update it showed that it went up to 2.8. ATI has since come out with a new driver at http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/v...d-vista32.html . Driver just posted this week. When I dl'd that driver I got the 3.0 that you see above. Could also be the extra 1g mem i put in. When I read ATI's website it said that the 200 chip is for turion single core and the 1100-1150 is for the turion dual core. As far as the warranty I went back and forth on this one. Ultimately deciding against it. My girlfriend has a Toshiba and she got the warranty, motherboard went bad, best buy had it for a month, sent it back to the wrong address (thank god for honest people) and then they didn't reinstall anything. We had to do a full wipe and start from scratch. I figure I spent 700 bucks and the warrant was 200, doesn't seem very equitable. Lol, I took the extra money I saved and upgraded the ram from www.crucial.com for 200.00. I figure if it breaks then o well, I have a nice paperweight. I do have a bit of experience with Gateway. My last lappy was a SOLO 9550, thing was a brick and a half but it worked like a champ until it finally gave out. It lasted 5 years and I didn't have a warranty on that. Hope this helps.