Great gaming laptop deal? P-6831FX 8800m GTS $1349

[Vashar]

Gateway - Laptop with Intel® Centrino® - P-6831FX

I need a second opinion on this laptop as I haven't been shopping very long for one. I only saw news of the new 8880m video chips and figured getting a new laptop would be a better solution than upgrading my desktop.

What are these features worth? Will I possibly use any? HDMI sounds nice, but I'm thinking it's only for outputting what's on the laptop monitor to a HDTV.

The only other laptop that I would even remotely buy would be a Clevo M571RU-U based one like the Sager NP5792, but I tried configuring one with a new Penrynn processor and a 7200 RPM HD and it ends up being $2500. It doesn't seem to be worth it considering this is available for a whole $1000 less.


I'm considering a gaming laptop since I predict moving around a lot due to separating from the military, school, job searching, etc. I'm a big gamer, but I would easily be willing to sacrifice my heavy and bulky 32" CRT type TV, consoles, 2 desktops, home entertainment system, DVD and console game collection... hell, I'd only have clothes, shoes, this laptop and various size external HDs, an air mattress and sleeping bag, and importat papers if I got rid of all my entertainment junk. Only my newest desktop really gets use and this will replace that.

[MSP]

That laptop has the latest Nvidia mobile accelerator in it (8800M GTS) which is pretty sweet. Supposedly it runs faster than the old mobile SLI solution.

Anyway, the specs look nice but I'd get the extended warranty. Gateway isn't exactly know for their quality. I myself bought an LCD monitor from them recently and had to send it back twice before I could get one that wasn't defective.

[Lord Kain]

and the new one will get fubared in a year

[tictac]

I agree with MSP, get the extended warranty. I got an LCD from Gateway and it was RMA'd immediately. On the other hand, I got a Gateway laptop for Christmas two years ago, and it hasn't had any problems at all (its what I'm posting on right now, too.) I'd still get the warranty.

[ThatHideousStrength]

That thing looks goofy.

[tweakmonkey]

Looks pretty good on paper at least and it's faster than my desktop. *sob*

[ThatHideousStrength]

These pics make it look a bit better.

[MSP]

I've done some searching around and this looks like a FANTASTIC deal. NewEgg, TigerDirect, Dell, etc. At none of those sites was I able to build a PC with the 8800M chipset at any price, and slower stuff with less RAM and features were a lot more money. Buy it! But still get the extended warranty.

EDIT: Holy fuck! Not even Alienware has the 8800M chipset yet on their website.

[Vashar]

The backorder notice is an error. This laptop is available at about half of their B&M stores.

I ordered it. About $84 tax and $20 S&H. I didn't get the 3-year plan since it only covers defects and wear and tear, but not accidental damage. I know for sure that the laptop wouldn't last 3 years, but what would I do with it after 2 and 1/2 years if it did crap out? Turn it in hoping that they'd swap it for a $1350 current gen system since this model would be discontinued? It's $300 and I have 14 days once I receive it to change my mind and buy the coverage plan.

Some accessories I'm getting to go with it:
- Antec Laptop Cooler 27.99 - 20 rebate
- Samsonite Venue Laptop Backpack 30.99
- Built NY Neoprene Laptop Sleeve 21.19
- 6 ft HDMI 1.3 Cable (x2) 13.99
- 4 ft Retractable RJ45 Network Cable (x2) 4.99
- LCD Display Protector 17.99

On my old laptop, I used a regular backpack to haul it (middle compartment) and carelessly let it hit the ground when I put my pack down and damage a corner of the laptop. I cannot stand messenger/briefcase style cases. Also, I noticed that my screen developed "stains" that looked like the grid of the keyboard. Playing games on my old laptop overheated it too, which also had the side-effect of disabling it's networking ability for hours/days. HDMI cable seems a steal considering that my friend paid over $20 at Fye for a HDMI cable for his PS3 to watch Blu-ray in HD.

[MSP]

Congrats, good purchase. Although those laptop coolers seem pretty silly to me. But for 8 bucks after rebate? Why not.

As for the accidental damage thing, I've been meaning to contact my insurance company to see what my home owner's insurance covers. I believe that a busted laptop would fall under "contents".

[Vashar]

I found the link to this laptop on the gateway site:
Gateway Computers - The P-Series FX, Coming Soon

I read another article on it to see what the buzz was about it at CES 2008.
CES 2008: Gateway to Introduce P-Series 8800M GTS Notebooks - The 17-inch notebooks are ready for everything - Softpedia

It seems Best Buy wasn't supposed to sell these until Jan 13.

[Vashar]

Alienware has their m15x and m17x line with the 8800m GTX video chipset available, but like the Sager, expect it to cost around $2500.

Compare all Alienware Area-51 m15x high performance gaming notebook computers

[tjsanda]

I just picked this Gateway up yesterday at Best Buy and It's great. I got it to replace my aging p-4 desktop. This video card smokes my old 7800gs. I can run Battlefield 2 with everything maxed (including antialiasing) and this thing never drops below 80fps. 3d Mark 06 score is 7021. Thats not bad considering there is a lot of stuff that needs to be cleened and tweaked. Only thing I have done so far is remove Norton. Memory seems to be the slowest part of this system, so I will be looking at that first. Maybe adding Intel turbo Memory will help this some? I dont know.

[Vashar]

Sounds great. I can't wait to get mine. It's close enough to come in this Monday.

It'll be my first time with Vista. I'm going to follow the vista tweak guide and start testing with some games of my own.

[MSP]

One of you should slap Oblivion on there and see how it runs. I SO want one of these now (glances at my Macbook and wonders how much it's worth)...

[Vashar]

Oblivion and Bioshock are games that I wish had played smoothly on my desktop. I couldn't enjoy them at all and ended up going back to playing WoW.

[MSP]

Yeah, I gave my Nvidia 6800 to my daughter when I got into Oblivion. She still plays Oblivion/Shivering Isles with it, but she has to crank down the resolution and detail.

That new laptop is going to blow your mind.

[Vashar]

My new laptop came in late last night and I left it charging while checking out the manual.

Here's the official site for the laptop: Gateway P-6831FX Notebook

My first impression: It looks incredibly sharp. Piano black finish, with a carbon fiber look, on the upper portions divided by an inlaid copper colored metallic band and a matte black composite bottom. The keyboard is trimmed with aluminum, copper and gunmetal. The latch to keep it closed looks very heavy duty. I think the big FX logo is a turn off, but I can't do anything about it but add a skin.

I like the media buttons up top and how they are "flat buttons" and the volume adjust is an unique touch type one. I saw the media card readers were filled with a placeholder. I held off on trying to figure out how to work it until later. I picked up my laptop to reposition it and the disc drive retracted. I pushed it back in 3 times before I figured out that the eject button could be triggered with a very light touch. The keyboard is nice and big... almost a full size one, but I'm going to have to get used to that function key being there as I use my ctrl key quite a bit and like resting my pinky on the outside edge of a full size keyboard's ctrl key. The touchpad's position threw me off - I have no idea why they put it so far to the left. The edge of my left palm would be resting on it if it weren't recessed.

Vista's already annoying me with the numerous prompts asking for permission to do stuff. I'm about to go find the tweak page for Vista right now to fix some of it.

[MSP]

Here's a PDF issue of Maximum PC, with the article "Make Vista Liveable!". That should help considerably.

January 2008 - Upgrade Your PC for Free! - nathan edwards - Maximum PC

[MSP]

Just checking back, how's the new laptop? You've got to post a review and some pics.