Anyone own a Gateway netbook? Share your thoughts.

[Chris]

I haven't had a chance to get my hands on a Gateway netbook so please share your thoughts if you have one

[ThisIsNot]

I purchased Gateway's LT3103u from Best Buy two weeks ago. I have over 7 netbooks at my disposal and I ended up purchasing this one for personal use. I have a government job and recommend netbook purchases for different workers at the building. We have a stockpile of netbooks so that we can simply dole them out instead of having to wait to order them.

I can give this Gateway netbook my solid recommendation. My only problems with the netbook is 4.5 hours of real world usage is not a whole lot and 0.3MP is low for the built-in camera. Still, I have not found a better performing netbook. I have used models with Atom N270, N280, Z520, and Z530 processors along with GMA 500 and GMA 950 graphics solutions. The AMD Athlon 64 1.2GHz processor is more powerful than any Atom processor currently on the market, the ATI X1270 GPU can actually playback 720p HD content (I have tried both 720p xvid videos and 720p content purchased from the iTunes Store), and the price for this netbook is just right. It is one of the only models that comes with a 250GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM all for $400.

All-in-all, I can recommend this netbook (that is actually made by Acer but slapped with Gateway's logo) to anyone who is looking for the (current) most powerful model on the market. The only drawback to this increase in performance is the shorter battery life. I plan on doing a more in-depth review for netbookreviews whenever I take my summer vacation (in August).

[onemodog]

I agree with ThisisNot's review. I purchased my Gateway about two weeks ago as well and my only complaint thus far is the battery life.
I played around with Vista Basic that it came loaded with and it the machine handled it well. I do not have too much experience with Vista but I had no problems. I did, however, load up Windows 7 RC and the Gateway is running smoothly without a hiccup. I purchased the netbook as a "toy" for me and it is quickly becoming a favorite. The full-size keyboard (Gateway's words...it still feels a tad small to me but Im sure its just me!) is easy to type on and the screen is beautiful compared to some of the other netbooks out there.
More to follow once I am able to dive in a little more.

[Chris]

Originally Posted by ThisIsNot

I purchased Gateway's LT3103u from Best Buy two weeks ago. I have over 7 netbooks at my disposal and I ended up purchasing this one for personal use. I have a government job and recommend netbook purchases for different workers at the building. We have a stockpile of netbooks so that we can simply dole them out instead of having to wait to order them.

I can give this Gateway netbook my solid recommendation. My only problems with the netbook is 4.5 hours of real world usage is not a whole lot and 0.3MP is low for the built-in camera. Still, I have not found a better performing netbook. I have used models with Atom N270, N280, Z520, and Z530 processors along with GMA 500 and GMA 950 graphics solutions. The AMD Athlon 64 1.2GHz processor is more powerful than any Atom processor currently on the market, the ATI X1270 GPU can actually playback 720p HD content (I have tried both 720p xvid videos and 720p content purchased from the iTunes Store), and the price for this netbook is just right. It is one of the only models that comes with a 250GB hard drive and 2GB of RAM all for $400.

All-in-all, I can recommend this netbook (that is actually made by Acer but slapped with Gateway's logo) to anyone who is looking for the (current) most powerful model on the market. The only drawback to this increase in performance is the shorter battery life. I plan on doing a more in-depth review for netbookreviews whenever I take my summer vacation (in August).

Hey, you should take some pics of your collection and I can share them on the blog perhaps. It'd be cool to see stacks of netbooks all over the place.

Yah I agree that .3 megapixel webcam is pretty low though.

[wafin]

I just found this little netbook sitting at BB yesterday and was wondering how well it would do HD youtube and I think I found the answer. Thanks for the insight.

Now for the big question, Is it worth waiting until Windows 7 comes out and is installed on these netbooks or should I just buy it now and then upgrade to windows 7 when it shows up? If I do the upgrade, will I qualify for the reduced price of windows 7 or will I have to pay the full amount for the upgrade.

Thanks!

[ericinboston]

Originally Posted by wafin

Now for the big question, Is it worth waiting until Windows 7 comes out and is installed on these netbooks or should I just buy it now and then upgrade to windows 7 when it shows up? If I do the upgrade, will I qualify for the reduced price of windows 7 or will I have to pay the full amount for the upgrade.

Thanks!

Out of curiousity, why would you upgrade to Windows7 if it already ships with XP? I happen to love XP...have loved it since 2001. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Windows7 may have some pretty new icons but other than that, what is the need to remove XP and use W7 on a netbook? I'd like to see some concrete reasons from Microsoft why I should run W7 on a netbook instead of XP or Vista.

The only way you will know if you qualify for a free W7 upgrade is to ask at the time of purchase...and of course demand written proof.

-Eric

[ThisIsNot]

Originally Posted by wafin

I just found this little netbook sitting at BB yesterday and was wondering how well it would do HD youtube and I think I found the answer. Thanks for the insight.

It has some issues playing back HD YouTube videos. The main reason is that Flash is an extreme resource hog. I have get my Gateway netbook to playback 720p divx/xvid, VC-1 WMV, mpeg-4 AVC, and mpeg-2 videos without issues. Even when using a low profile player such as VLC, 720p Flash videos stutter every so often. I wouldn't say that it is annoying. However, inside of a browser (such as FireFox), a 720p video is almost unwatchable. 3/4 of the processor and almost 1GB of RAM are being used during the process. Adobe really needs to get their act together and streamline Flash for the portable world and not focus on everyone running dual-core processors with HD capable GPUs and 4GB of RAM.

Originally Posted by wafin

Now for the big question, Is it worth waiting until Windows 7 comes out and is installed on these netbooks or should I just buy it now and then upgrade to windows 7 when it shows up? If I do the upgrade, will I qualify for the reduced price of windows 7 or will I have to pay the full amount for the upgrade.

Unfortunately, only some computer manufacturers are allowing for a free upgrade to Windows 7 and this applies to only a select few of their computers when you order Windows Vista Home Premium with a qualified system. Neither Gateway nor Best Buy are offering a free upgrade program for this netbook. However, you can pre-order Windows 7 for $50 so I don't think it is that big of a deal. You will be able to upgrade the netbook to Windows 7 rather easily. You don't even need to purchase an optical drive as you can install Windows 7 from a USB thumb drive. I pre-ordered Windows 7 for one of my netbooks, I just have to decide which one I am going to keep until at least the end of the year. I already have Windows 7 RC running on my Gateway netbook though. It runs the 64-bit version pretty smoothly and even has enough power to run Aero without issues.

Originally Posted by ericinboston

Out of curiousity, why would you upgrade to Windows7 if it already ships with XP?

Windows 7 is actually more streamlined and can take advantage of the netbook platform. Windows XP is used since slower/older hardware can run it instead of the resource hog that is Windows Vista. However, Windows 7 actually contains components to take advantage of the processors used in netbooks along. Windows 7 requires just a hair more resources to run when compared to Windows XP. Why would someone not want to upgrade? After all, Windows XP is almost a decade old and is showing its age. It has its place with netbooks now simply because Vista really does require a dual-core machine with at least 2GB of RAM in order to run smoothly. Once Windows 7 is released, there really will be no reason to keep Windows XP as it will be three generations old and the new OS can take full advantage of netbook hardware (mainly the Atom processor and GMA 950).

[ericinboston]

Originally Posted by ThisIsNot

Windows 7 is actually more streamlined and can take advantage of the netbook platform. Windows XP is used since slower/older hardware can run it instead of the resource hog that is Windows Vista. However, Windows 7 actually contains components to take advantage of the processors used in netbooks along. Windows 7 requires just a hair more resources to run when compared to Windows XP. Why would someone not want to upgrade? After all, Windows XP is almost a decade old and is showing its age. It has its place with netbooks now simply because Vista really does require a dual-core machine with at least 2GB of RAM in order to run smoothly. Once Windows 7 is released, there really will be no reason to keep Windows XP as it will be three generations old and the new OS can take full advantage of netbook hardware (mainly the Atom processor and GMA 950).

Mmmm....well, if you are talking strictly about netbooks and that W7 has some secret code that makes the netbooks more fast/usable than XP, I'd love to read more about this.

However, just because XP is 9+ years old does not mean it stinks or is time to upgrade. As a desktop user, give me 3 reasons why I should upgrade (and that means I have to shell out money) from XP to W7. I'm playing devil's advocate here.

Comments like:

"W7 is 2% faster than XP"
"W7 boots 4 seconds faster than XP"
"W7 has a prettier Start Menu than XP"

are not reasons. And I will add that "W7 is 64bit" doesn't count either because I could write a book on why that is no big deal unless you NEED to address more than 32GB of memory.

Reasons that would impress me are:

"W7 supports USB 3.0"
"W7 is a 40% smaller footprint on my hard drive"
"W7 has a new file system that allows for more metadata to be stored"

Until MS proves to me WHY I should buy W7, I ain't gonna buy it for any of my machines. Just like I haven't bought a new version of MS Office since 2003 (actually older but you wouldn't believe me).

Windows XP just rocks...and has rocked for 9 years in the pc world. MS will have to make a lot of technical and user-experience enhancements to get me to not only upgrade, but to PAY for an upgrade. We all saw what happened with Vista...and Windows ME.

-Eric

[ThisIsNot]

Windows 7 doesn't have a secret code or anything but Microsoft has commented and said that it takes more advantage of Intel's Atom platform. Back in the day, Microsoft also made a statement like this in regards to Windows XP (over Windows 2000) when it came to Intel's Centrino platform. I don't know if they are true or not but I see no reason to keep a 9 year old OS especially when a newer one can run almost just as smooth, offer up a new graphical experience, is made to take advantage of Intel's Atom along with SSD drives, and offers up new features (the side dock, the start menu at the bottom now houses programs for easier access, the new version of Movie Maker actually works good for basic movie editing, integrated compatibility with mpeg-4 audio and video files!, a more streamlined search function that actually provides on what Microsoft promised back before Vista was launched, and I can keep going on).

You are right that OS age does not always mean that it is time to upgrade. Windows ME and Windows Vista have been prime examples of this. However, when you really think about it, Windows XP doesn't offer anything over Windows 2000 aside from software support (some companies only support Windows XP/Vista with their releases, iTunes is an example). So why did you upgrade from Windows 2000 to Windows XP? Why did you upgrade from Windows 98 to Windows XP. Back in the day, XP didn't even ad much over 98 (at least not enough to pay for an upgrade). It has since become a solid OS but XP didn't offer much over either Windows 98 or Windows 2000 back when it was first released.

I remember people with threads that were the same as yours except they were asking why they should upgrade Windows 98 to XP. Like you, they presented valid points. They all eventually upgraded to XP and will likely upgrade to Windows 7.

[wafin]

Thanks for the quick reply there to all of you. I should look into preordering windows 7 but I may just end up and wait for those Ions to come out. Too bad I'd like a netbook to show off at our family reunion next month but I may just end up getting the cool Cannon D10 underwater camera. I've read a lot of good reviews on that.

I like to do a lot of comparison shopping before pulling the trigger and buying anything. It really annoys my wife but at least I know we get a good product.

I wish I could test out numerous netbooks but as is, I have to fund my own testing and then report back to the boss. So I count on reviews like these to help me out immensely. Keep them coming!