Best Buy discontinuing 7811FX?

I was on the phone with the Manager in the computer section at Best Buy today about my overheating 7811. I was discussing returning my laptop and trying to hunt down one with a 2888 serial number. They only had one left down from 7 on Friday and it was the 2887. I asked him if he knew if they had any more on order or had any idea when some more would come in. He told me he hadn't seen any on order in a while and was not expecting anymore because it is on clearance. Can anyone else verify this?

I'm really bummed about this as I LOVE this machine, aside from the heat lockups. I've seen my temps hit 105 playing GRID for less than 15 minutes, So i am concerned greatly about the longevity of this unit and really want to get ahold of the 2888 model.

 

Could be, I actually just got off the phone with someone at Best Buy and she told me that there were no P-7811's in stock or on order.

 

Or possibly it's such an inexpensive for end-user, and high performing machine..that they just can't keep em in stock! OR...It isn't making them the money they would like to get. Too much overhead, not enough profit..especially considering all the returns/exchanges

 

It could be that the best buy chimps are getting confused with P6860FX which is now an outlet item or at least I hope they are because i've been waiting weeks to get this laptop oh well only a few days to go!

 

I asked him if he meant the 6860 but he said no the 7811. He asked how much I payed and said yep that was the clearance price

 

If your hitting 105 playing grid do you have the laptop propped up on the backend or is it flat on a table ?.

 

I have worried about this. Best Buy isn't exactly known for their stellar stock in "performance gaming machines."

What if 2-3 years from now, if you need a whole system replacement, they won't have a notebook with comparable performance and you get stuck with a machine that's merely "the best they carry?"

And worse yet - the "best they carry" for a mere $1249?

 

Well I gave up on the P-7811...it was pretty easy to when I saw the ridiculous deal that xoticpc is having on the Sager 5793 ($500 off).

I just ordered one with the following specs:

--17" WSXGA+ Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050)
--T9300 2.5GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 800MHz FSB
--512MB GeForce 9800M GTS DDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
--4gb of ddr2 ram
--2X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
--320GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
--Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader
--Internal Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR
--Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
--Built in 1.3Megapixel Camera
--Basic Black Business Case
--Integrated Fingerprint Reader
--Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit
--3 Year Labor 1 Year Parts Warranty w/lifetime 24/7 domestic tech support

All that for only $1,836. The current price of the P-7811 ($1449) + the Geek Squad 2 year "black tie" warranty ($349.99) comes out to $1,799.98...seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

The hard drive is what caused the my 7811 to lock up. It would got hot.So what I did was to put a thick pen under the front to let air pass underneath it and walah no more lock ups. my serial 2887

 

Sounds like its a little too soon to discontinue this line. Then again, with all the defects reported...i guess it makes sense.

 

I just saw it on clearance (discounted to $1300something) when I went to best buy to exchange my overheating one.

 

yea, pls discontinue this model, so i can sell used 7811fx for more, maybe far more than i bought it for $1353 after ny tax.

 

ar i dont know where else can i get a gaming latop with my limited $1500 .....

 

They're sold out online, but the website claims 10/9-10/14/2008 as the nearest restock date.

 

Of course the other thing that they could be doing is clearing stock of the older serial numbers which all seemed to have had the problems (freezing no raid etc) and putting it on clearance hoping that joe public will bite there hand off and help clear them that much sooner.

 

Or they're clearing it out because Gateway is about to put out their branded version of the Packard Bell everyone's been lusting over.

Here's hoping it comes with a heatpipe assembly that'll fit in the 7811 so we can run quads.

 

That would be great except theres no way to order any parts for these machines .

 

So they are discontinuing this product? I've had mine for over a month.. should I be worried? -.-;

 

Gateway releases new models every few months like the 6831/6860/7811 and no dont worry about it.

 

hm... i hope our units price tags go up because of the rarity of these beasts.

 

Or...they've been getting too many returns

 

On Friday, Best Buy listed 12 Gateway laptops on their website, including the 7811FX @ $1299. On Sunday, they listed 9 laptops, including the 7811FX @1449 (notice the price jump?). Today, they list only 6 Gateway laptops, including the 7811, again at $1449.

So, as of today, they have discontinued half of their Gateway laptop lineup, but not the 7811FX. The 7811FX is not being clearanced, but they are sold out. They are still taking orders for the 7811FX even though it is sold out, which means they are expecting a new shipment. It doesn't sound discontinued to me.

 

I went on the best buy site earlier and it was back up for online ordering and delivery.

 

I work next on saturday. I'll get the official out-of-stock date and let you guys know. (out-of-stock date meaning the day when we feasibly have no more 7811 and now have the new model)

 

aargh i'm running out of patience. i want to buy now. by the way if i insist on getting the 2888+ model before i buy, is there any way a pissed of BB employee or manager can just go at the back, slap on the 2888 serial on a 2887 maybe ?

 

we don't have any of those stickers, we don't put anything on them. they come off the truck and we put them in the cages.

 

Big, if i wanted to exchange mine and i am at 19 days since purchase..will they allow it?

 

E it really depends on the manager on duty and his/her current mood. Technically policy says no, but what is wrong with it?

 

tzs0 gets hot way too quick, and downthrottles the CPU.. gotta undervolt the cpu just to run a game. My previous model didn't do that. Not exactly sure how to show them that..or if they'd do anything about it. Im thinking that they may tell me to just send it to Gateway.

EDIT: And that's not applying any overclock the the GTS

 

Yeah chances are they will just send it out for you. Probably worth it though, normally about a 2 week turn-around time on ship-outs.

 

BigHops, what's the dead pixel policy again? I've got one dead-center that cropped up after the 14th day and it's just bugging the hell out of me.

Additionally, I never got my three-year warranty paperwork, either. I've got the receipt saying I *paid* for it, but never got the mailed policy like I was told would come.

 

They don't send you extended warranty pamphlets in the mail anymore. You have to request them in the store.

 

Yea, no kidding! That is an AWESOME deal. I would have most likely done the same thing. One can knock an extra $175 off by staying with the still very capable, T8300.

 

I'm experiencing the same thing. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to graph TZS0. However, I did run Crysis in a window for a while (and CPUID Hardware monitor in another) and TZS0 stayed in the high 40s for some time, but after a firefight, I noticed it was at 98C... I went into the Crysis menu and immediately it dropped to 49C. So, I don't think it's overheating, instead I think the temperature sensor spikes when it reaches 50C. Through over 2 hours of Crysis on a flat surface, The gpu never hit more than 81C.

 

Hmm.. well, my GPU doesnt ever surpass 70c. But, TZS0 is off the freakin charts.. From what NHC says, it's throttle is at 97c. This is something I hope is resolved soon. But, it's Vista ACPI that is causing this, combined with the BIOS. RMClock overrides Vista's CPU power management..so then it won't downthrottle..but with a p8400 that will hurt your performance. Im looking for a WMI script to edit the acpi\thermalzone settings. I spent 3 hours today trying to figure out how to edit it. The acpi.sys, hal.dll, and acpi(something).sys seems to control it. Im just looking to edit the temp value. Maybe if I can set to 0, then it will never downthrottle. Anyhow, just keepin on keepin on.

 

yes, but your warranty is no where near what the best buy warranty is. you would have had to buy the 2 year real warranty from them. all those people who bought the 7811 with the extended warranty will be sitting right if they come out with the next model in like a few months. because if they dont have any 7811's laying around, then they will give them the next closes matched model in that class. which is the next gen gaming gateway. and as we found out in another thread..you will be charged shipping and insurance to send your unit back. about (150.00 or so) but this is just info...

sure, you can buy mine.

 

Sager's are so reliable, I probably don't even need a warranty

 

If you've got the three year its something like 3 or 4 dead pixels within close proximity of eachother. Being in the middle of the screen I'd take it for the agents to have a look at. At my store we would send it out seeing as the dead pixel is the center of attention.

 

I returned my 2887 for another 2887 after not being able to find a 2888, and the one I got doesn't have the overheating issues the first one did.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4009971#post4009971

he doesn't seem to think so...*LMAO*

 

E-wrecked, in your RAID-0 thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=303626 I found this little gem:

00079: Nomo Lu 2008/08/28 17:52:00
1. Modify APIC table.
Check CPU core to modify APIC table.​

That's a fix in one of the beta BIOS's, right?. APIC tables are used by ACPI. Could this be the TZS0 fix we are looking for? Are you testing the beta BIOS's?

 

That is correct.. I believe that's on the 9c.10 BIOS if memory serves me correct. And, I think it has something to do with the Quad-core power adjustments.. I'm using the 9c.08 BIOS as of right now. I did test run the 9c.10 BIOS and not sure if HWMonitor was reading temps correctly, but TZS, CPU, and GPU *did* drop about 5 degrees. Im just waiting on the next BIOS to come out, and hopefully with the emails I've been exchanging with them..they'll take the feedback into consideration. Oh, and if you download the Build File here you can open it with notepad and see all the updates as they have came along..since the beginning. Maybe I should re-visit the 9c.10 BIOS and see if there's a noticeable difference..again. Thanks for the reminder. +rep

 

LOL! Doh!
...........

 

Ya ive been running the 9c.10 bios since you posted it and had no problems with it so i stuck with it as i didnt see the need to switch back . i really hope what ever new bios come down the line we can actually get a hold of them ie quad support, thats if its not already there and BMWs quad was just a dud . Speaking of has he been on lately, i think the last time i saw him post was when he ripped the CPU socket from his MOBO.

 

Well..installed 9c.10 again.. My CPU is same temps as before.. the TZS0 went up 5c.. was idling around 40-41 TZS and 36-37 CPU. Now Idling 37ish CPU and 46ish TZS0/1

guess it's time to test tzs0 for stability.

 

how is Gateway making a profit out of these machines? DO they all have one massive massive flaw? say, on the 4th of September in 2010, all of them explode? (maybe not)

 

qaz, I think most are stable.. imagine how many people would be joining these forums if they all had issues. And they likely aren't making much profit, as the warehouse continues to run short on supply, maybe cause of limited availability by Gway or maybe cause of more returns than expected?..they did however give a great product at reasonable price. Ok..enough blowin' smoke. I honestly don't care how profitable it is for them. As long as I am a satisfied consumer.. and if I never swapped out the CPU.. I would likely never had any issues. The machine isn't built for the x9100..actually, it is. The BIOS isn't built for it..or possibly the intel chipset drivers. There are issues at hand, which I don't honestly feel can be placed on Gway's back. It's a new technology(montevina), and with time(hopefully soon), there will be no more issues. And if Gway stepped up their own support, then there would be less issues to discuss on the forums. Then, you and I would have never met.. nice sig, by the way. Oh, and Quad.. TZS0 peaks at 86C now..I re-seated my thermal pad.

Side note tangent: Gateway would not send me a replacment thermal pad for the chipset. They said it only comes with the mobo. Then I asked for level 2 tech. They said it can't be sent alone.. I asked him to send me a heatsink, he couldnt unless it was a warranty issue. And being the CPU is swapped, and that's why I need a new thermal pad..then that isn't covered under warranty. However, if I put the P8400 back in, and temps then get crazy..it is covered. But, I'd have to send it back in to Gway..they still wont let me do self-install. *shrugs* I found a website while at work today, they provide "samples" of thermal interface compounds for microchips.. Im gonna order a free sample, and then give it a shot. I'll post the site once I get to work tomorrow..its saved as a Fav.

 

I 'm guessing this TZSO/1 thing is a sensor on your chipset? If that's the case, the newer bios may reflect error correction for the sensor, and possibly be more accurate. In terms of getting anymore overclockabilty, or being able to up your voltage back to stock on CPU, it probably won't affect anything unless other changes to the chipset were incorporated in the bios. Hope to hear good results for you. Heck, It's worth a try, anyway!

Have you tested replacement yet?

 

all i know is i tried a 4 inch fan under the the gpu and it kept that tzs0 in check for the most part. so it was giving me the impression that the sensor was close to the gpu....if i still had the laptop i would further investigate...

 

john? What is that in your sig? A sager eh? Friggin right! Congrats Nice setup ya got ordered.. Im sure you'll be upgrading RAM and CPU on your own

Bama(shortb); I am using the replacement..it's the one that is throttling at 86c on tzs0. I'm bout to try 9c.08 BIOS.. Dumb me diidnt try testing before flashing to 9c.10 BIOS. Actually, Im gonna try 9c.09 BIOS first. And I tell ya, it's like pulling friggin teeth to order replacment thermal pads. Gateway wasted 2 hours of my time to find out they can't help me out. Said I needed a new MOBO to get the pad..then it was that they can't send CPU heatsink assembly and let me return it without thermal pad, so I offered to buy the heatsink, then they said it's not available cause Im under warranty..blah blah blah. Anyhow, I called HP since I still have a dv9700 under warranty, and they're on the phone now ordering me replacment pads. Im gonna order a few. And john, I should try putting an external fan near just to see... but dam, I got enough crap crowding the laptop