Archive for the ‘Review’ Category

Compare Asus, Hp, DELL And Gateway Laptops

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Asus, Hp, Dell and Gateway are all very big and famous companies and they all manufacture laptops. In my opinion they all do a great job and release very good products, but each of these companies and laptops have their own unique features that differentiate them from the other similar products on the market.

Some of them have strong features in one department, while another in a whole different one and so on. But if you want to find out the general impression each of these laptop brands has created on the market, do not ask the manufacturer or the ones selling the products because they have all the interest in the world to make you believe their products are the best. You will feel the real pulse by reading the users’ opinions.

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They have an accurate and objective perspective and tell you exactly what they think after they have experienced using that particular laptop. So if you want to compare Asus, HP, Dell and Gateway laptops you will have to browse the forums a bit to see the general impression for each brand.

Asus laptops are among the few laptop companies that manufacture all the components themselves. They got into business in 1989 , but only recently started producing laptops and they practically invented the term “netbook” in 2008. They set the trend of these tiny little laptops with small screens that are very portable and prefered by people who travel a lot and also do not want to be incomodated by a large laptop. The good thing about Asus laptops is the fact that they have an offer for all prices, starting with the smallest ones – which offer low demanding laptops that are highly portable, to really expensive but very competitive laptops with very powerful hardware components.

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HP laptops are shiny and they have a great design. They are not very expensive and offer a wide variety of options for every pocket, being very popular all over the world. Some downsides might be the tendency to overheat and the breakability. I mean the plastic components are not the best quality.

Dell laptops are very good, but some people complained of a bad interior design. Very popular in America, they come with a price that is a bit higher than the other laptops , but that is because the components are good quality ones.

Gateway laptops are a bit less popular than the other laptop brands presented before, but again they are more recent on the market. Their main features are the very affordable prices. Because you can’t have a really good price for the best quality, they had to cut the costs from some other department, but at the same time keep quality, so they chose to assemble weaker components on the laptops. However, they left you the possibility to upgrade the laptop whenever you want to.

These being said you can draw your own conclusions and decide which laptop brand you prefer. The best thing to do, though, is to compare Asus, HP, Dell and Gateway laptops yourself and only after that decide which one best suits you.

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Connect Toshiba Project Gateway Laptop

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

Laptops are portable devices and they are now used a lot by businessmen who keep all their information on the gard drive of their laptops, so when they must travel from one place to another, as it usually happens in this field of activity, they have instant access to documents, files, information and even to the internet, so that they can communicate with their business partners and send them the necessary data.

Sometimeslaptops have to be connected to different devices in order to provide the necessary assistance needed at a certain point. For example you can connect your Gateway laptop to a static device like a Toshiba projector when you want to make a presentation.

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It is very useful in Universities and even schools when professors and teachers want to present a certain thing or process in front of the class and they have to illustrate the course with images and charts, as visual aids are very helpful when you want to make a point. You can use this combination equally successful when presenting a business idea or plan to an investor or in front of the board. Visual images have a deep impact on the human mind, so it can only help.

If you had used your laptop screen to make the presentation, it would have been unsuccessful, as the laptop screen is too small and only some people in front of your laptop will be able to see the contents displayed on the monitor. But if you need to cover a large room or hall, you will have to use an alternative device, and this is the projector, hopefully a Toshiba projector, as they are very good quality.It is even more useful as the Toshiba projector can be static, always found in the same hall, but more people can use it , as they each can bring their own laptops.

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Now all you have to do for a successful operation is connect the Toshiba projector to your Gateway laptop by using a HDMI or S-video port and the right cable that will connect the two devices. You must consider the projector an external monitor and make the necessary adjustements this way. I mean you will have to install the drivers of this device and also to adjust the resolution because they support different levels of resolution. You can do that by right clicking the desktop and going to desktop settings where you can set the right resolution.

You can find the recommended resolution of the projector in its technical book , but if that is not available, you can search the internet for the specifications of that particular model of Toshiba projector. So you’d better do some research before using it because you don’t want to have any problems when having an important presentation.

Another thing I must mention is that the connection between the two devices is not instantaneous and you have to set the projector as an external monitor. You can do this easily by pressing Fn key plus another F key at the same time -F3, F5, F8 or F9, or by clicking one of the monitors icons that appear in the display settings. You can also have an image displayed on both devices if you want to see what happens on your laptop, too.

It’s not that difficult and once you’ve tried it , you will find the methos really useful and handy.

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How To Use Webcam On Gateway Laptop

Saturday, March 27th, 2010

Older series of Gateway laptops do not have a webcam incorporated like the new versions do, so if you want to use one, you will have to buy a separate webcam and connect it to your laptop. If you want to know how to use a separate webcam on a Gateway laptop, just plug it in a free USB port and then install the right drivers that were provided to you on a CD when you bought the webcam.

If you don’t have such a CD or you lost it, just look into the user’s manual and see what is the exact model of the webcam and look for the drivers on the official web site of the webcam’s producer. After installing the right drivers you can use the webcam to visualize your friends when having a conversation with them on Skype, Yahoo messenger or another similar programme used for instant messaging.

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You have to download the software first (the Skype and Yahoo messenger are free to use and you can download them from their web sites : www.yahoo.com and www.skype.com), then install the software, make an account and follow all the instructions given to you and finally add your friends in the list.

When you open a window for instant messages sent to one of your friends , you will see an option in the upper frame of the window that will allow you to view your friend’s webcam and also invite your friend to view your webcam. For Skype you will see a green telephone for starting the conversation and a red one for closing it. Skype is more used for using webcams for sharing instant images.

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I told you before that the new Gateway models have a webcam incorporated. This webcam already has the drivers installed if you bought the laptop with a pre-installed operating system. If not, just install the camera’s drivers from the corresponding CD or look them up on the internet. It’s not so hard to use a webcam on a Gateway laptop. Of course you have to make the same steps described above and download and install the necessary software for the instant messaging programme of your choice.

If you want to use the webcam for instant messaging, just set it up from Tools, – Audio and Video. When you start the video chat the camera will enable itself. But you also have another option for using the webcam. If you want to record something , like a short video wioth you or your friends or if you want to take some pictures that you want to post after that on different socializing web sites, try to find the right camera assistant software in the video programmes that were pre-installed.

If you want to have direct access to your webcam, just look for the shortcut on your laptop, you will find it in the right bottom corner, looking like a … webcam – I mean a black circle with another blue circle inside. When double clicking it, you will have access to the webcam’s menu and you will be able to select whatever operation you want it to do.

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Laptops Gateway M-6847 PC Notebook

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Gateway laptop M-6847 is actually a really good notebook produced by Gateway for people who want to have a nice and solid replacement for their desktop computer that can offer them the possibility to enjoy music and movies in the cosy environment of their homes.This laptop is slim and with a very attractive design, a wide screen that is very useful for a cinematic view and with an incredible sound as a  bonus for the whole system features.

The central piece of every system, including this one, is the processor, in this case a Core 2 Duo running at a speed of 2 GHz. So, this processor, together with the 3 GB (DDR2 SDRAM) memory offer a good combination that allows you to run more applications simultaneously without any trouble and without the computer getting slow. So the higher the speed the better and the bigger the memory, even better.

The hard drive capacity is huge when compared to other laptops – 320 GB Serial ATA, 5400 RPM – and this allows you to use it for storing as many documents and files as you want, also tons of music files and movies that you will enjoy watching on the 15.4 inch WXGA TFT Active Matrix display.

This Gateway M-6847 laptop has a pre-installed operating system that makes it work as soon as you have bought it, that is Windows Vista Home Premium. It is perfect for whatever you have to do on this laptop, for working and listening to music, communicating and watching movies. The quality of the picture is offered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) x3100 and also the very good quality of the screen. You can set up its resolution at 1280×800 in order to be able to see spreadsheets and all, but you can also adjust it according to your needs.

The dual layer DVD RW allows you both to visualize the DVDs you bring in with movies or videos and even burn your own DVDs or CDs with information from your computer if you want to share it with other people. But you also have the possibility to communicate with the outer world thanks to the integrated video camera that you can use in online chatting or even organizing video conferences or to all the USB ports available that allow you to plug in all kinds of devices. You can also add headphones if you don’t want to disturb the neighbours with your music and a microphone line in in case you might want to put on a karaoke show.

Or you may want to be connected to the internet and in this  case you will find the Integrated Wireless LAN really helpful and also the additional fax and modem.The lithium ion batteries with 6 cells guarantee a period of functioning without being plugged in of at least ten hours, which is wonderful. All the features available in this Gateway laptop, plus its stylish design of red and silver and black come with an extra gift: the price. You can buy this laptop for about $600-700 on the web sites specialized in selling computers.

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Review Gateway Laptop

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Gateway LT2113u laptop belongs to the LT series of laptops produced by Gateway and is, in fact, one of the best models of lapops ever made by this company. It is available only in red and black colours, but it is so fine and good looking like this, that I don’t know if another colour would have advantaged it some more. This stylish netbook has a very portable design and is the perfect device for very active people who move around all the time but also need to stay connected with family and friends. It is smaller than other laptops and a lot lighter, weighing only three pounds, which makes it desirable for those who want to travel light and also use all the advantages of the latest technology. Its 10.1-inch LED-backlit display is also reduced in dimensions, so it is obvious that it won’t be used for viewing movies, playing games or something similar, but rather for internet connections and editing documents or keeping records. This netbook gets your attention from the first look you get on it: it is red and nice, with rounded edges and a stylish metallic engraved Gateway logo, a polished aspect and a very refined aspect. The palm rest has a special texture that does not allow the fingerprints to show inaesthetically like other laptops do.

The most important component of this Gateway LT2113u laptop is its 1.66 GHz Intel Atom N450 processor and the NM10 Express chipset. This high quality processor, together with the memory of  2 GB maximum capacity ensure the speed of the entire system and the possibility to open more documents at the same time without any delaying or freezing or trouble.

The display supports a resolution of 1024×600 making scrolling and internet surfing an easier job. The six cell battery included is good enough to provide over ten hours of independent activity, which is the equivalent of a whole day of use. It is a good performance when compared to similar features laptops. You can use the web cam that is enbedded in the netbook offers you the possibility to have video communication with the people who stay in touch with you and it can also be used for video conferences.


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The multi-gesture touchpad is a very original feature and allows you to use different gesture to navigate on the internet , to view photos and spreadsheets and many other activities. The very good quality picture is backed up by the presence of an integrated Intel graphics media accelerator video processor, which has its own onboard memory and also shares a part of the system’s memory. The very quick connectivity to the internet is ensured by the wi-fi wireless device and the bluetooth technology that allow this netbook easy access to the internet pages and your email account from any place in the world where you can find hot spots.

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You can connect other devices to your laptop due to all the ports and input and output jacks, and the stereo speakers are also valuable features allowing you to enjoy music and movies.

In conclusion, you can purchase this Gateway laptop for a very good price, around $329.

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Gateway Laptop M-7351U

Friday, March 12th, 2010

This Gateway laptop M-7351u is a very good portable computer that you can buy for a very good price, somewhere between $700 and 1250 as you can see here – a list of compared prices for this product, depending on its condition and the web site offering it for sale. This laptop is perfect to be used both as a portable computer and as a replacement of your desktop one, due to its average dimensions and features.

That’s exactly what’s great about this laptop: it’s not equipped with the latest generation processor and other components, but still it offers the next best thing, very good quality for an affordable price and that is perfect for customers. They can use it for all kinds of activities and it performs them really well and, at the same time, offer the comfort of a good cost.

First of all a good laptop must have a good processor, so this Gateway laptop M-7351u is equipped with an Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200 processor, running at a speed of 2.0GHz. It is backed up by up to 1759MB of dynamic video memory and 4GB of DDR2 memory. This is perfect because, the more memory you have available, the faster your computer will work and you will be able to perform more tasks at the same time. And it is important for busy people to have more documents open simultaneously and listen to music, read their email and search something on the internet, all without having to wait for several minutes until every job is done in its turn.

The 320GB SATA 5400RPM hard drive present on this laptop offers enough space for all the documents you might want to save on it or for storing information imported from some other places, like music and video files that you can enjoy after a hard work at the office or a ton of digital photos that you can keep as valuable memories. Although the laptop’s screen is medium sized – 15.4 inch, you can still use it to watch movies and also read spreadsheets or whatever jobs you might have, as it offers a very clear image and vivid nice colours at a resolution of 1280×800.

And since we are talking about entertainment, you will definitely like the multimedia control panel that is right below the display and that offers you a quick access to your music and movies and lets you do this by operating the precision -touch buttons and touch-sensitive volume.

There are lots of other important and useful features available in this wonderful Gateway laptop, like: the full-sized keyboard, the media card reader, the DVD RW optical hard drive, HDMI connectivity, wireless technology, built-in web camera and integrated audio system and all the ports and slots that allow you to connect a lot of devices to your laptop and get and give a lot of files , sharing information and fun. But these are just technical details. And this laptop is just too fun to talk “tech”. You can use it for all the purposes you can use a laptop and it will work just fine.

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Gateway P7805U Laptop

Friday, March 12th, 2010

In case you did not realize it from the pictures, the Gateway P7805U laptop belongs to the FX series and is definitely a gaming laptop. It is impressive how Gateway laptops, and especially this gaming laptop, succeed to combine very good quality products for a very good price the buyers afford to pay. Addicted gamers know that good gaming laptops are really expensive, but you can buy this Gateway P7805U laptop for about $1200-1400, which is a really good offer.

The heart of the Gateway P7805U laptop system is the Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and it is , together with the NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS dedicated graphics card, the most important part of this laptop and also the strongest point that determines the performance of this gaming laptop. This one has one Gb of video memory , allowing you to play various more complex games.

Gamers also like to have the possibility to enjoy a very good quality screen, so they are not disappointed here, as the laptop has a 17 inch screen that can be set up to a resolution of 1900×1200. This fortunate combination of the essential components of the Gateway P7805U laptop is what you need to be able to play the latest computer games on it.

Although this laptop’s primary target is gaming, you can also use it for all kinds of purposes as it has all the necessary features and enough speed and graphics for being used as a cinema at home or for playing music or for business, whatever is that you like doing best.

Now let’s talk about the design. I think this is the best designed series coming from Gateway, both stylish ans nice, all black and with the enhancing orange lines that draw attention on its nice lines and contour. The keyboard is surrounded by a silver band and this makes it really attractive and also sets the limit between the palmrest and the keyboard. Speaking of which, the keyboard and the separate number pad have large comfortable keys and a set of media control buttons just below the screen.

This laptop is very easy and comfortable to use both for typing and for playing computer games. And whatever activity you are performing you can only enjoy the nice vivid colours of the screen provided by this WXGA widescreen display with a great clarity for games and movies and lots of space to view documents or webpages side by side.

The battery is 9-Cell Lithium Ion 86.58 Whr (2.6AHr) and offers quite a sufficient time of independent activity. Of course you must be connected to the internet when you are using a laptop, so this one is providing all the necessary features for this, including a modem , 3 USB ports, and a lot of other ports, a built-in web camera and a high definition video channel. These, together with the built-in speakers allow you to listen to music and enjoy the whole audio and video combination. The bottomline is that this Gateway P7805U laptop offers a very good quality combination of components for a very good price.

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Gateway Model MA2 Laptop

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

My brother is a student and he really wants a laptop to help him write his homework and do the research he needs for his university studies. But , although he already has a part time job, he can’t afford buying one with the rent and all the other expenses, so I thought I would surprise him with a gift on his birthday.

Well, the hard part was to find a good laptop that would look nice, work properly and cost a reasonable amount of money, as I am no going to ruin myself for buying a new laptop for my brother. After all kindness has its limitations. So I searched the imternet and I finally decided to buy a Gateway model MA2 laptop that is both convenient as price and totally functional.

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This Gateway model MA2 laptop is an older model released by Gateway, but still pretty good for the purpose I was considering, nothing too fancy or advanced, latest technology or gaming. Of course the most important component in a computer is the processor, in this case an Intel Centrino that runs at a speed of 1.7 GHz. The hard drive capacity is only 60GB, which is very little considering the possibilities we have nowadays , but let’s hope we can upgrade that and replace it with a bigger one. The 512 MB memory and the hard drive are the ones responsible for the space where you can store all the information and software that is necessary for a laptop to run and work properly.

As you can see from the pictures, the Gateway model MA2 laptop is pretty slim, nicely designed and covered with a silver shade that gives it elegance and style. The LCD display has a diagonal of 15 ” which makes it perfect for using it for watching films and enjoying the high quality of the screen and also the vivid colours showed when you are playing movies or watching photos.The quality of the video is ensured by the graphics card and the display that is the srongest point of this laptop.

The built in speakers and the media buttons make it a useful tool when you want to listen to music or enjoy the sound quality of the classical movies. This laptop has a 6 cell lithium ion battery that guarantees a few hours of autonomy , though usually older laptops have a lower quality in this department, but any way you can keep it plugged in just like you do with your desktop computer and this won’t bother you too much.

The two USB ports and the other PS/2 and parallel ports are responsible for connecting a lot of peripherals to your computer, including the modem of the computer mouse, this way being able to have access tot he internet and communicate with family and friends and also find all the necessary information. The bottom line is that you can use this model of Gateway laptop to do whatever you want to as long as it is supported by the laptop’s configuration and all this for a very reasonable price that ranges around $300-500.

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Gateway Laptop 450rog Hard Drive

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

This Gateway laptop 450rog is an older version of Gateway laptop and was released o the market about five or six years ago. So, considering the pace with which technology is evolving nowadays and the fact that new improved versions appear every day we can consider this one a bit too old for my taste or for the taste of any user who has got used to the latest technology.

However, you can still use it for really simple operations or for a second computer in your home, as it is still a laptop with very good display and sells very cheap. Any way I don’t think you would like to carry it around, so it is better to be used as a desktop computer replacement.

It is solid and not pretty heavy, weighing around 6 pounds. It has a reasonable size keyboard and touchpad and also a built-in optical drive. The laptop features an INTEL Mobile Pentium M 1.5Ghz CENTRINO processor running at a speed of about 3.0Ghz, which isn’t the best one ever, but still good. The 40GB Ultra ATA 133 Hard Drive and the memory – 7200 RPM 512MB PC2700 DDRAM are the two major components that ensure a storage space for the software applications and the documents you want to save on your computer, as well as for the music and movies that you might enjoy watching to make use of the crystal clear display that measures 15 inches in diagonal.

This LCD Monitor, SXGA Type can support a resolution of 1400×1050 and offers up to 16.7 million colours, so the view of this screen is spectacular. Even if the model is a bit older, the quality of the display is unquestionable. If you combine all the video features of this laptop provided by the graphics card with all the audio possibilities , that is the Integrated Surround Sound System, you get a really nice looking and totally functional home video device that you can use for enetertainment activities like listening to music or watching movies.

The Gateway laptop 450rog is not a closed entoty but it communicates with the outside in order to bring in or take out information and files, audio or video. In order to do this it needs some ports: 2 USB ports 2.0 where you can connect any peripherals you want to like a computer mouse, keyboard, printer, outer monitor, etc, 1 parallel port, 1 PS/2 port for the computer mouse and one for the keyboard and also one LAN port.

You can connect this device to the internet if you want and use it for reading your email and sending messages and communicate with all your friends and family. There is no web camera or microphone incorporated, because they were introduced in the more recent laptops, but you can use one of the ports to connect these devices to your laptop if you want to have both video and audio connection or maybe organize video conferences online for business purposes. Any way this is a valuable asset for the ridiculous amount of money that you will spend to purchase it. (I saw an offer for $82 on Amazon).

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Gateway LT3100 AMD Athlon 64 Laptop

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

The netbbok that turned out to have all the features listed above is the Gateway LT 3100. It features an AMD Athlon 64 CPU and an 11.6 inch display. As you can see from the pictures, this laptop comes in black and red and has a very sleek and stylish design to offer. It is highly portable, as its monitor has a diagonal of only 11.6 inch and is also very lightweight – 3.3 pounds for the system, 3.9 pounds together with the AC adapter.

The high definition display, together with the ATI Radeon™ X1270 Graphics card offers an incredible clear picture and enhanced performance. The widescreen ultrabright displays is LED backlit and can be viewed in a 16:9 ratio that, together with the incorporated high quality stereo speakers give you the impression of being in a cinema hall.

This Gateway LT3100 amd athlon 64 laptop keeps the dimensions of a netbook , but the system certainly provides a higher level of performance especially in the graphics department. This is the big win of the people buying it. The display has has a very high 1366×768 resolution that provides for a much larger workspace. However this improvement in graphics does come with shortcomings in another department. That would be the battery life, that is really reduced and can take only a few hours of independent use before having to be recharged, even if it is a siz cell Lithium ion battery that is supposed to be among the best.

Another good aspect of this Gateway laptop is the easy access panels on the bottom of the system. This way you can swap out the memory module or the hard drive according to your needs. You can also use the two mini slots for more complex changes like adding bluetooth or a solid state drive.

The hard drive provides ample storage for music, video, pictures or any documents you need to take with you on the go, the multi-gesture touch pad offers a smooth control over the cursor and also supports circular motion scrolling , action zoom and page flip.

Of course no laptop used for entertainment purposes is complete without a very nice and developed audio system. It includes the built-in speakers, the HD audio, Dolby headphone technology and digital microphone. The web camera that is incorporated here allows you to communicate with other people and even organize video conferences if you need them.

The card reader and all the portable digital devices can be used for transferring data from your laptop to others or to import data onto your laptop. Surfing the internet has never been easier with the help of the built in modem or the wi-fi connectivity  that can access any hot spot on the way. The laptop’s system has Windows XP Home edition pre-installed and it works just fine supporting all the additional software necessary. This thin and stylish netbook if perfect for both work and entertainment purposes and you can enjoy using it at the office, at home or when you are travelling.

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