New Computer
May. 20th, 2010 04:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dalthauserI've never owned a laptop before, but I'm willing to adjust - it's very sexy :-)
Gateway NV7915u
17.3" Widescreen Monitor * 500GB Hard Drive * 1.3GHZ Intel Core i3 330M
Link to CDNet Review
Link to PCWorld.com Review
PCMag.com Review
Gateway NV7915u
REVIEW DATE: 03.24.10
BOTTOM LINE:
The Gateway NV7915u desktop replacement laptop is one of the best values in the market, complete with a Core i3 processor and 500GB hard drive.
PROS:
Big screen. Bargain price. Intel Core i3 processor. 500GB hard drive. Good performance. Plenty of USB ports. HDMI-Out.
CONS:
Flat keyboard. No ExpressCard slot.COMPANY:
Gateway Inc
SPEC DATA
Price: $600.00 Street
Type: General Purpose, Media, Value
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor Name: Intel Core i3 330M
Processor Speed: 2.13 GHz
RAM: 4 GB
Weight: 6.7 lb
Screen Size: 17.3 inches
Screen Size Type: widescreen
Graphics Card: Intel GMA HD
Storage Capacity: 500 GB
Networking Options: 802.11n
Primary Optical Drive: Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW
EDITOR RATING:
By Cisco Cheng
Desktops are tough sells these days, given the growing list of desktop replacement laptops that are selling for just as much, if not less. Case in point: The Gateway NV7915u ($600 street) has 17.3-inches worth of desktop-quality screen real estate, running on a speedy Intel Core i3 processor, and, all things considered, is one of the best values in the market. For just $600, you can multitask to your heart's content and not suffer buyer's remorse the next day.
Design
Though it's using design techniques from two years ago, the glossy, in-mold decorated top still strikes a chord with consumers. The NV7915u's version is called NightSky Black and bears a strong resemblance to the HP Pavilion dv7-3183cl ($999 list, ). Desktop replacements like the Dell Inspiron 1764 (5955IBU) ($799.99 list, ) can be customized with different colors, while designs like the Acer Aspire AS8940-6865 ($1,399 street, ) and Acer Aspire AS7740-5691 ($649 list, ) have the glossy finish, but not much else in terms of style. The NV7915u is clearly not meant for commuting or small bags, as its 6.7-pound frame falls in between behemoths like the Dell 1764 (5955IBU) (6.2 lbs) and HP dv7-3183cl (7.1 lbs).
Features
The 17.3-inch widescreen is a sight to behold, perfect for users who work with multiple windows at a time. Better yet, the Acer AS8940-6865 has an 18.4-inch widescreen and an awe-inspiring 1,920 by 1,080 resolution. With a 1,600-by-900 resolution, the NV7915u's viewing experience is perfectly acceptable and consistent with that of its peers. The full-size keyboard is a bit flat for my taste, and the keys didn't have a good feel to them since the grooves between them are barely discernible. Still, the keyboard should be fine for touch typists, and it's soft for those who have sensitive fingers as well; but you can find better typing experiences on the Dell 1764 (5955IBU) and HP dv7-3183cl. The NV7915u has a spacious touchpad, while the easy-to-click mouse buttons are in the shape of a single bar; every other system in this review has dedicated mouse buttons.
A 500GB hard drive is the stand-out feature here, since many others are only offering 320GB at this price. Otherwise, it has a standard set of ports, which include four USBs, Ethernet, SD card slot, VGA, and HDMI-Out. It even has a modem jack for those who still heavily rely on their land lines. The lack of a Firewire port is understandable, but omitting an ExpressCard slot is a little surprising, given that others in its class are including one.
Performance
The parts aren't top of the line, but at least Gateway isn't giving you a Celeron or Pentium equivalent. An Intel Core i3-330M processor is very respectable in terms of speed, right behind the Core i5s and the Core i7s. In video encoding tests, it fell 7-8 seconds shy of the Dell 1764 (5955IBU) (0:50) and HP dv7-3183cl (0:49), both of which run on a Core i5-430M processor. The NV7915u did really well in PCMark Vantage tests (5,182), breaking the 5,000 mark. All of the systems that run on Intel's latest Core processor will ship with DDR3 memory only, and most of them run on 4GB—the NV7915u is no exception.
Unfortunately, the price of the NV7915u will only net you an integrated graphics chipset. But if you're not a serious gamer or a CAD specialist, this isn't a big concern. Pricier systems like the Acer AS8940-6865 and HP dv7-3183cl ship with Nvidia discrete graphics cards, which are known for their 3D prowess. Regardless of price, battery life will be underwhelming, because the sheer size of the screen eats up a lot of it. The NV7915u scored 3 hours 32 minutes, which fell in line with the HP dv7-3183cl (3:36) and Dell 1764 (5955IBU) (3:01). The size of the battery is important, too. But if you want to maximize battery life, you only have one option with the NV7915u: a 48WH (6-cell) battery. Meanwhile, the Dell 1764 (5955IBU) has an option for bigger batteries.
Gateway may not be the big household name it used to be, but it undercuts the competition without making too many sacrifices. The Gateway NV7915u runs on the latest line of Intel processors, comes with a 500GB hard drive, and has plenty of screen real estate—all this for only $600. It's hard to complain, but if your budget is a little bigger, check out the Acer Aspire AS8940 series.
BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS
Check out the test scores for the Gateway NV7915u
COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Gateway NV7915u with several other laptops side by side.
More laptop reviews:
Copyright (c) 2010Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Computer Shopper Review:
Gateway NV7915u | |||
 Pros Excellent performance for the price; multi-gesture touch pad; big, bright display; long battery life for its class Cons Poor graphics performance; mushy keys Editors' Take A notebook for folks concerned about both price and features, this Gateway packs in the goodies without breaking the bank. |
Price (at time of review): $649.99 (mfr. est., as tested) | ||
Key Specs | |
| 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330M 4GB RAM 500GB hard drive DVD±RW 17.3 inches (1,600x900 native resolution) Integrated Intel GMA HD 7.4 pounds 1.5x16x11 inches Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) | |
Gateway NV7915u Review | |
| Reviewed by: Joel Durham, Jr. Review Date: February 2010 | |
When it comes to the sheer performance you get for the price, few laptops we've seen offer as favorable a ratio as the Gateway NV7915u. It holds its own in terms of performance (until you consider gaming and graphics, anyway), and it stands alone in its size and price class. A 17-inch desktop replacement, this giant $649 laptop is made for the price-conscious consumer who doesn’t want to skimp on features and will revel in that huge screen. And for that buyer, this is a budget dream machine. The NV7915u includes a 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330M processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory, a bright 17.3-inch display, and all the checkmark items you'd expect. Gateway also offers other NV-series versions of this laptop based on AMD processors and with smaller screens; if you opt for a model with a 2.2GHz AMD Turion X2 processor, settle for a smaller 15.6-inch screen, and make some other trade-offs, you can pick up a base model for as little as $479. Plus, you can add some color to your computing life—the NV-series machines come in gray, black, red, and blue. Our experience with the NV7915u started at its generously large touch pad. It's 4.2 inches, measured diagonally, and it features handy multi-touch-gesture support. For those who haven’t used that feature before, it allows you to use two fingers simultaneously on the touch pad to perform various shortcuts. For instance, if you place two fingers on the touch pad and move them closer together or farther apart, the display will zoom accordingly. The keyboard, meanwhile, features a full set of keys, including a dedicated number pad. The keys themselves, interestingly, have squared-off, not rounded, corners, and the feel is a bit off the norm. (They lack a satisfying snap and instead feel a bit mushy.) We got used to it quickly, though. Above the keyboard is a touch-sensitive bar of multimedia and other controls, including volume, mute, touch-pad on/off, and Wi-Fi on/off options.
 Those nifty square keys, unfortunately, feel a bit mushy.
The NV7915u performed very well compared with other mainstream notebooks. For starters, it trumped most notebooks at its price point on our 64-bit PCMark Vantage test. (This test measures overall system performance.) The Gateway machine scored 4,838 on this test, and on the 32-bit version, 4,339. To put those digits in perspective, that score handily beats out the same-priced (but smaller, at 15.6 inches) Gateway EC5409u, which managed just 2,738 for the 64-bit test with its 1.3GHz Pentium SU4100 processor. Next, we moved on to our iTunes encoding and Windows Media Encoder (WME) tests, which measure CPU capability. The Gateway finished encoding our 11 test tracks in iTunes in 5 minutes and 4 seconds, and converted our test video in the WME test in 3 minutes and 32 seconds, respectively. Those are both impressive scores—especially for this price—thanks to the fast CPU and capacious bank of memory. We then progressed to our 64-bit Cinebench 10 test, which measures how well the processor and graphics card work together. The NV7915u scored 6,573 with its on-chip HD graphics solution. (With the Core i3, Intel introduced on-chip graphics, which brings the video-acceleration circuitry straight onto the processor die for cost savings.) That's considerably better than the EC5409u's score of 2,850. In fact, the only test in which the Gateway NV7915u didn’t fare well was our 3DMark06 test, which measures 3D performance for applications such as gaming and graphics work. On this test, the NV7915u’s on-chip graphics churned out a clunky 1,512 at its native resolution (1,600x900) and 1,726 at 1,024x768. This is in no way a gaming notebook, but then again, it’s not priced like one, either. We also tried to run another measure of 3D performance, 3DMark Vantage, but the laptop didn’t support the necessary resolution. (The big display’s resolution of 1,600x900 is actually on the low side for a 17-inch screen. We would have appreciated a higher resolution, such as 1,920x1,200, which would have allowed more information to fit on the screen.) We followed up the graphics tests with our battery-life test, which we perform by running down the battery playing a DVD movie. The unit was equally impressive in this test, enduring for 2 hours and 48 minutes. That's very strong for a laptop with a screen of this size. (Typically, 17-inch laptops struggle to last longer than two hours.) For certain, the 3D performance might have been lackluster, but video quality wasn't. We observed DVD video playback while running our battery-rundown test, watching The Matrix. It was near-perfect, and we didn't see any artifacts or stuttering.
 The optical drive and a few other features populate the right side.
Unlike the performance, you won't find many surprises with the ports, which are average for a budget system. They include a five-format card reader, four USB 2.0 ports, HDMI and VGA ports, and headphone and mic jacks. Connectivity is provided via 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet, as well as a modem for those desperate times when one must resort to dial-up. As for other hardware, there's also a built-in Webcam. (It performed well, even in low-light situations.) And on the right side is an 8x dual-layer DVD writer. Unfortunately, Gateway says a Blu-ray-drive option is not in the cards, which is too bad because one would have complemented the huge screen well.
 The left side of the NV7915u features most of the connectivity.
As for software, Gateway does a good job of including what you want and leaving out the extras that just take up space and resources. You’ll find a 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security, a similarly limited trial of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, and Microsoft Works. We're pleased to see all of the necessities installed, too, such as Adobe Reader and the various drivers and control applets for all the NV7915u’s hardware. Overall, the NV7915u hits a price/performance sweet spot that would make an excellent college computer or a terrific utilitarian household PC. Gateway accomplished what it set out to: make a notebook that really rocks in light of its size and price point. Indeed, it's the only 17-inch laptop that we've reviewed under $1,000 (with the exception of one Wal-Mart special that's no longer available). If this model is just too big for you, and you're willing to spend $100 more, the 15.6-inch, Core i5–based Acer Aspire 5740-6378 offers comparable performance and bang for the buck. But if a 17-inch screen suits you just fine, you'll find the Gateway NV7915u a tremendous value. Price (at time of review): $649.99 (mfr. est., as tested)See all of our Gateway NV7915u coverage Related Laptop Reviews on ComputerShopper.com Computer Shopper does not currently have pricing information for this product. It may be available directly from the manufacturer's Web site. | |
Laptopmag.com Review
This budget big-screen notebook looks and performs like a much more expensive system.
Editor’s Note: Portions of this review were taken from our earlier review of the Gateway NV Series (NV5807u).
If Acer stands for value, the Gateway brand that the company acquired back in August of 2007 has evolved into its more stylish cousin—the one that shops at H&M. Take the NV7915u, the bigger 17.3-inch version of the 15.6-inch model that was our top budget notebook pick of last year. This slick machine features Intel’s peppy new Core i3 processor, a high-def display, and a 500GB hard drive for an aggressive $649. As long as you don’t plan on playing the latest 3D games, this is the best-performing notebook of its size for the price.
Design
Ever since Gateway rebranded itself as a more fashionable notebook manufacturer, the company has been on a roll in churning out good-looking budget laptops, and the NV7915u is no exception. The glossy NightSky Black lid, with its subtle Honeycomb pattern, isn’t as luxe as something like the
HP Envy 15, but neither does it look cheap. However, the lid doesn’t hide fingerprints as well as the Midnight Blue color found on the NV5807u.
Other design flourishes include a matte silver hinge with the power button built into the side (like Sony VAIOs), a glossy upper deck, and LED lights and touch-sensitive controls that glow red. At 6.8 pounds, this notebook is not one you’re going to tote around much, but it’s lighter than many desktop replacements.
The touch-sensitive controls responded to even the lightest tap. While there are volume controls and a mute button, there are no external controls for multimedia playback. However, there are buttons for Launch Manager, MyBackup (more on that later), disabling the trackpad, and enabling or disabling Wi-Fi.
When you tap the Launch Manager button (a bold P above the keyboard), you can configure the notebook to automatically launch an application of your choosing the next time you press the button.
Heat
The NV7915u got quite warm, but not enough to cause major concern. After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the temperature of the touchpad measured 96 degrees Fahrenheit, the middle of the keyboard reached 101, and the middle of the chassis’ underside was 102 degrees. We consider anything over 100 degrees uncomfortable, but we doubt this notebook will spend much time on someone’s lap.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keys on the NV7915u are flat, but close together. Even with a full number pad on the right-hand side, the keys were still large enough for us to type comfortably without making typos. The keys’ subtle textured finish made it easy to get a grip, too.
At 1.8 inches, the touchpad could be taller, but at least its 3.3-inch width feels roomy. As far as touchpads go, the NV7915u’s feels smooth and doesn’t offer too much friction. On the other hand, although its mirrored design is appealing, we found the mouse bar uncomfortable; it’s a single button, and the strip is too narrow. It took us a while to get used to pressing the far edges of the bar to get better tactile feedback.
Display and Sound
The NV7915u’s 17.3-inch, 1600 x 900-pixel display was bright and crisp. While streaming Ghostbusters from Hulu, we noticed nice contrast between blues and reds in addition to rich, deep blacks. While images didn’t reverse colors until we were viewing the screen at extreme angles, its glossy finish kicked back a good number of reflections.
The NV7915u’s stereo speakers delivered very good quality and more than adequate bass when we streamed John Mayer’s “Why Georgia” from Pandora. When cranked to its maximum settings, the volume was more than loud enough for movie watching, and we ended up scaling it back to around the medium setting.
Ports and Webcam
The NV7915u has a strong selection of ports: in addition to four USB ports, VGA output, an Ethernet jack, headphone and mic ports, and a Kensington lock slot, the notebook has HDMI output. You’ll also find a 5-in-1 memory card reader.
The VGA webcam on the NV7915u provided good brightness, color, and detail, but the accompanying software is skimpy: once you record photos or videos, it saves them to your My Documents picture library. Most other webcam consoles have a strip of thumbnails that allow you to easily review recent captures you’ve taken.
Performance
Armed with a 2.13-GHz Intel Core i3-330M processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium, the NV7915u delivers strong performance. Its PCMark Vantage score of 4,907 is about 400 points above the desktop replacement category average, and just 90 points below the Toshiba Satellite P505-S8010, which uses the same processor but is $300 more expensive.
Compare PCMark Vantage results with similar laptops
The NV7915u’s 5,400-rpm, 500GB hard drive transferred a 4.97GB mixed media folder at a rate of 24.2 MBps. While that’s just 3.3 MBps slower than the category average, its boot time of 1:15 seconds is 9 seconds longer than average. You’ll definitely want to uninstall trialware and get rid of some startup programs.
When we transcoded a 5:05 MPEG-4 file to AVI using Oxelon Media Converter, a multithreaded app, the NV7915u took 1:07; that’s five seconds faster than the much pricier Satellite P505, but 6 seconds slower than the category average (which includes faster Core i5 and Core i7 notebooks).
Anecdotally, we didn’t experience any lag as we switched between tabs in Internet Explorer (one of which was Gmail, sending attachments). We were also easily able to move back and forth between open windows on the desktop while playing music, including Windows Explorer and the Control Panel.
Graphics Performance
Like most budget notebooks, graphics performance is given short shrift on the NV7915u. Despite its newer Intel GMA HD integrated graphics, the NV7915u scored just 1,735 on 3DMark06, which is nearly 5,600 points below the category average. To be fair, that average is bulked up by the presence of gaming rigs and their beefy graphics cards. For example, the Satellite P505’s score was more than double the NV7915u, and it has a midrange Nvidia GeForce 310M GPU.
Compare 3DMark06 results with similar laptops
Needless to say, we weren’t expecting much when it came to gaming tests. The NV7915u’s Far Cry 2 frame rates of 11 frames per second (1024 x 768 resolution) and 4 fps (1600 x 900) aren’t playable. However, some light mainstream gaming is more than possible, if you’re willing to make a few compromises. When we knocked the resolution down to 1024 x 768, we were able to notch a decent 34 fps in World of Warcraft; boosting the resolution to native and increasing the effects, though, brought gaming down to an inadequate 10 fps.
Battery Life and Wi-Fi
The NV7915u’s six-cell battery lasted 3 hours and 27 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test, about an hour longer than average and 90 minutes better than the Satellite P505. It’s doubtful this machine will see much time away from an outlet, but it’s good to know you can get some computing done unplugged.
Compare LAPTOP Battery Test results with similar laptops
The 802.11b/g/n wireless radio delivered throughput of 42.4 and 25.6 Mbps at 15 and 50 feet away from our router, respectively. That’s quite good, but a shade below the ASUS UL50VF (46.4 and 28.3 Mbps, respectively).
Compare Wireless Test (50 feet) results with similar laptops
Green Tests
The NV7915u recharged quickly, taking just 1 hour and 41 minutes to top off its battery. During that time, it drew an average of 48.1 watts. Its LAPTOP Battery Efficiency Rating of 23.5 (total watts divided by battery life) was excellent—nearly a third that of the desktop replacement average (79.0) and even lower than the thin-and-light average of 26.2.
Backup Software
The NV7915u comes with Gateway’s MyBackup software, which you can access simply by pressing the launch button on the touch-sensitive control panel. Although the laptop doesn’t come with complimentary online storage, users can back up to any USB-powered storage device.
Gateway’s software has a particularly intuitive interface: the screen is divided into four color-coded panels, each of which corresponding to a different kind of file (e-mail, Microsoft Office files, and multimedia), and browser favorites (Firefox and IE only). Within these panels are check boxes for indicating what kind of files you want to back up. Then you can add a job, and even automate it so that the computer regularly saves these items.
Configurations
In addition to our configuration, the NV7915u, Gateway offers the 17-inch NV7802u with a 2.2-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 processor for $649. If you’re looking for a little more power, you can opt for an Intel Core i5-430M processor in the NV7906u (320GB hard drive; $679), NV7922u (500GB hard drive, Cherry Red lid; $679), or the NV7923u (500GB hard drive, Sky Black lid; $679).
Software and Warranty
The NV7915u comes with a predictable spate of bundled and trial software: CyberLink PowerDVD 8, Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer, a 60-day trial of Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 (including a compatibility pack and PowerPoint viewer), a 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security 2009, Windows Live Essentials, and Yahoo Toolbar.
Gateway backs the NV7915u with a one-year warranty, including 24/7 toll-free phone support. To see how the company fared in our Tech Support Showdown, click here.
Verdict
Thanks to its strong performance, slick design, bright display, and built-in backup software, Gateway’s $649 NV7915u is the best value-priced 17-inch notebook we’ve seen this year. The machine’s single, stiff mouse button might be a turnoff for some buyers, and it doesn’t have much graphics power, but we’re more than willing to overlook these flaws given all that this system offers for the money.
Gateway NV7915u
http://www.gateway.com
| CPU | 2.13-GHz Intel Core i3-330M |
| Operating System | MS Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) |
| RAM | 4GB |
| RAM Upgradable to | 8GB |
| Hard Drive Size | 500GB |
| Hard Drive Speed | 5,400rpm |
| Hard Drive Type | SATA Hard Drive |
| Display Size | 17.3 |
| Native Resolution | 1600x900 |
| Optical Drive | DVD-R DL |
| Optical Drive Speed | 8X |
| Graphics Card | Intel GMA HD |
| Video Memory | Shared |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | |
| Mobile Broadband | |
| Ports (excluding USB) | Ethernet; HDMI; Headphone; Kensington Lock; Microphone; Modem; VGA |
| USB Ports | 4 |
| Card Slots | 5-1 card reader |
| Warranty/Support | One-year warranty, including 24/7 toll-free phone support. |
| Size | 16.2 x 11.0 x 1.0 inches |
| Weight | 6.8 pounds |
Specs From BestBuy Ad:
CPU  | 2.13-GHz Intel Core i3-330M |
| Operating System | MS Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) |
RAM | 4GB |
RAM Upgradable to | 8GB |
Hard Drive Size | 500GB |
Hard Drive Speed | 5,400rpm |
Hard Drive Type | SATA Hard Drive |
Display Size | 17.3 |
Native Resolution | 1600x900 |
Optical Drive | DVD-R DL |
Optical Drive Speed | 8X |
Graphics Card | Intel GMA HD |
Video Memory | Shared |
Wi-Fi | 802.11b/g/n |
luetooth | |
Mobile Broadband | |
Ports (excluding USB) | Ethernet; HDMI; Headphone; Kensington Lock; Microphone; Modem; VGA |
USB Ports | 4 |
Card Slots | 5-1 card reader |
| Warranty/Support | One-year warranty, including 24/7 toll-free phone support. |
| Size | 16.2 x 11.0 x 1.0 inches |
| Weight | 6.8 pounds |
I like my new computer................. :-)
