Experience w/MX6025 @BB?

I just bought this model from a local BB today. I couldn't resist the price though. Does anyone have this same model or alike? Any thought?

 

it needs at least another 256 stick of DDR 333

 

Yes, I bought it on tuesday the 27th and I am on it as I am typing. I was looking at getting either the base dell I6000 or a HP ze2000 but then thanks to this forum I learned about the deal for the mx6025 at Best Buy and decided to go with it. My needs will not be very demanding, mostly business type stuff and web surfing. It was hard not to buy the Dell which would have been $100 more out the door, with the same specs, but I forced myself to save money. I also figured there was some benifit from buying a computer from a local store rather than ordering online.

I really like the design of it and the screen really looks great sepecially for a notebook that only cost $579. Obviously it's only a celeron chip and not the pentium M but it seems to me that for basic level computing tasks the celeron will perform just fine. And if it was a pentium machine it would have been at least $300 bucks more. I like the fact it has 4 USB ports, a firewire port, and a card reader slot. Its DVD drive is also a CDRW and its WI/FI ready, that plus a 15.4" widescreen. Not many notebooks if any in this price range have all that.

Another 256 of memory to bring the total up to 512 is definatly the thing to do. But last time I check 256 of memory on newegg was under $30, so that is not bad at all. But again none of the notenooks near this price ,$579, come with 512 memory so to give that as a negative against it is really not fair. It DOES have a 15.4 WIDESCREEN which a lot of the notebooks in this price catagory do not. The HP ze2000 does not have a widescreen and to me the widescreen is much nicer than the normal 15 inch.

It does come with a lot of software installed on it already which I think slows it down some. Stuff like Nortan Internet Security, Nortan Antivirus, McAfee antispyware, McAfee Security Center, and this thing called BigFix which I think monitors your system to keep it updated. All of this stuff comes installed and automatically runs when you start it up. I've yet to determin if I want any of that stuff but I'm pretty sure is slows the computer down so im inclined to get rid of it or do some kind of reinstall of windows without all that stuff. That is actually why I came onto the forums, to find out what BigFix is and ask what I should do with all this Nortan and McAfee software that is preinstalled. I would bet this is a common problem with nearly all the new computers out there these days.

My only concern buying the Gateway MX6025 was if it would be a reliable computer. I had a certain confidence that a Dell or HP would have been fairly reliable but I wasnt as convinced with gateway. I had no reason to doubt gateway but just had that concern for whatever reason.

In all the research I did this was without a doubt the most computer for the least money. A simple $30 for another 256K of RAM makes it even that much better. Its a Celeron M 1.4, DVD/CDRW, 40gig Hard Disk, 256K, WI/FI, and a 15.4" Widescreen for $579. And its not $579 after a rebate, it was just $579 and I could buy it at a store where I could just go in and carry it out without any steep delivery charges.

If you are like me and limited to looking at the least expensive computers available, this is the way to go.

My question is:
1) What to do about all this software preinstalled software?

2) Is the extended warranty through Best Buy worth getting? I have 14 days to decided if I want it or not. I think it was 3 years for $150 and includes a free battery somewhere down the road. I generally think that extended warranties are not good deals and that they are big money makers for the company so they are not good for me.

Any thoughs on those questions would be appreciated.

 

1. Uninstall the preinstalled software.

2. It is absolutely worth getting. It's only going to last two years, but there's free battery replacement once every six months. After the first time it's paid for itself; every replacement from then on is gravy.

 

Beave395

Please let us know of your experience after using this machine. For the pre-installed stuff, I think I'm about to reformat the HD.

 

Tom handheld,

Well I've been using it all day and its running great. I do see that it could benifit from another 256K of memory just because sometimes its take a little extra time for programs to close or open and things like that. The little extra time is pretty minor, like maybe a extra second every once in a while, but thats it really. The extra memory is so cheap and easy to pop in its seems like a no brainer to just do it. I will be ordering some in a day or two. I read a couple posts somewhere else on these forums that WindowsXP would not even run on 256K of memory and so far that has not been the case whatsoever. Its been running fine.

What I've done so far is uninstall ALL the Norton stuff that came on it. I uninstalled all the McAfee stuff and I uninstalled that BigFix utility that came with it as well. I knew from my desktop that I hated Norton so I never even opened any norton stuff on the mx6025. I chose to uninstall them from the ADD/REMOVE control panel before ever starting it up. All those programs ,Norton, McAfee, and BigFix uninstlled just fine using the Add/Remove control panel. If you like Norton you will be all set, but I have had a lot of frustration with it on my desktop computer.

Anyway I uninstall that stuff and I downloaded the free version of AVG Anti-Virus from download.com. Searching the forums here It came highly recomemded. And editors and users on download.com gave it good ratings and reviews as well. It seems to be a clean, simple, yet powerful, anti-virus program. I like it so far. I also downloaded Ad-aware SE from download.com to clean out spyware since I uninstalled McAfee. I chose that one because it was rated 1st in a comparison test they did between 5 different spyware programs. The best thing seems to be to use a couple different spyware programs because as best as I can tell none of them find and destroy 100% of it.

Oh yea, the other thing I did was I downloaded Firefox. Its a web browser like Internet Explorer or Netscape. Like most people I just always used Internet Explorer and never thought about any other options. But I read so many people on these forums talking about Firefox, so I looked into it. The editor reviews on CNET.com loved it and gave it a very high rating too. One of the HUGE advantages of it is that all of the spyware, adware, and all that junk you don't want on your computer but gets on there somehow is designed for Internet Explorer. So simply buy using a different web browse you are protecting yourself from a ton of it that way. I never thought of it in those terms before but simply buy not using Internet Explorer your are avoiding all that stuff because it is all made to work on IE. On top of all those advantages, Firefox itself is great. Looks wise its not much different than Internet Explorer so really you dont feel like its any different. It does have one very cool feature on it. It uses TABS. So you can have several different web pages open in one firefox window. So if you are going back and forth between 5 different web pages you just click on the tab for that page along the top of the window. Unlike Internet Explorer where you had to have 5 different windows open at once and go back and forth by clicking on them in the bottom task bar. One advantage of that system is that only having 1 window open uses less system resources than having 5 windows open. It also has a cool search box that is part of it that you can change between google, yahoo, and couple others and even dictionary .com. so if your a terrible speller like me its great. So as someone you never thought about using anything but Internet Explorer I tried Firefox and I'll stick with it. Its better than IE and you aviod all the attacks from spyware and etc.

Thats what I've done so far and so far I am very glad I bought this computer.

 

Hi beav395,

I haven't used mine yet. I have some questions. What about the battery life? Did you use PhotoShop or alike? How do you compare it with your desktop?

I'm kind of reluctant to open the box. I have a Dell 700m w/1.6 P-M and looked into getting a somewhat larger screen size for my school work. I'm a grad student who has to carry the laptop on a daily basis.

Many thanks!

 

sounds good.. yeh like pulp said get the service plan for batteries if nothing else. 200 is 3 year and 130 is 2, at my bb at least. Good job uninstalling that preloaded stuff, and once you slap that memory in there you will be good to go.

 

I have only used it plugged in so I havent tested the battery yet and I havnet used any photo/graphic software at all. My desktop is a few years old. Its like a 1.4 or 1.7 pentium 4. I would say speed wise this is very close to that maybe a tad slower just becuase it has a lot less memory than my desktop. My desktop screen is just a very basic flat screen I bought 3-4 years ago and I like the screen on the 6025 better than it. If one of the reasons you bought the 6025 was for a bigger screen I don't think you will be disapointed. I like the screen very much. I know the 700m because I spent a lot of time at the dell kiosk in the mall looking at the I6000. If the screen on the 700m is what your used to this will be a nice change from that.

I got this because I am starting a new job in which I need to have a computer at work. So basically Ill be just be taking this with me to work everyday. It fit in my leather bag fine and it didnt seem to heavy but I didnt have anything to compare it to either.

Uscopper thanks for turning me on to this best buy deal. A couple of the stores closest to me were sold out but I was able to track one down not to far away.

Ok I'm gonna give the extended warranty some serious thought then. Your the second person to say its a good idea.

 

Yeah, the extended warranty is really a good idea... now you are prob thinking that since i work there thats what i *would* say... but actually i bought a service plan on my laptop before i worked there and have gotten really good service out of it. I got a whole new system when i got hit with a surge, and a new battery as well... cant argue with that. Otherwise, i see the amount of various computers that come in and whats wrong with them and people end up paying way more to have stuff worked on and parts for it than a service plan would cover.. jsut think... you have a small laptop with small internal parts that are close together, not to mention you are carrying it around, jarring it... so yeah give it some thought, but my recommendation is from personal experience.

 

Also purchased a MX6025 this week at BB.
Still thinking about the extended warranty.
Uninstalled the programs mentioned above. Everything worked OK.
Will buy more memory.

Any thoughts about this?
256K around $30
512K around $43 last check at newegg

256K VS 512K ?

If you go with 512 do you put it where the 256 stick is and move the 256 to the other slot or does it make any differance?

 

its not dual channel so you jsut pop another stick in the open spot... ooh i looked at the tag today 3 year is only 149 for service plan. go for the 512 to put you at 768, helps a lot

 

hi there last sat i just bought Gateway MX6025 from BB and add additional 512memory so its running better now although its still loaded with all the software in came with. I will be formating it just so i like having a clean install. But i have problems making a backup CD for the recovery disk. Theres a D Drive with a hidden partition? how can i make a copy of that partition? Any instruction on how to do it? I read the manual and follow the instruction but the apps tell me it cant find the image of something..any help would really be appreciated.

thanks

 

Recovery Discs,

This is what I did.

click Start, All Programs, System Recovery,then click Create My Drivers-Applications CD(s). Follow instructions. I ended up with 3 CDs.

 

I just picked one up from best buy last week

The first thing i did was wipe out the HD and reinstall xp
You will find out that there are no driver cd's included with the laptop.
You will have to goto gateways support and look under 6000 series drivers, don't search by serial number, it won't find any.
Some times the screen is a little dimmer than i wish, reflections from the reflective screen contributes mostly to this.
No serial port, so you will need a usb or pcmcia to serial adapter. And the card reader does not do CF.
More RAM really helps alot, best buy had a 512 on sale for only 49.99
The keyboard feels cheap, but it should last a while if taken care of
I did not purchase the 200 extended warranty, Any comments on weather its worth it or not??

 

My father recently retired and is starting to travel. I've almost talked him into buying an MX6025 to carry along with him. The info on this forum has been very helpful, but I want to be clear on a few things.

1. I've assembled several desktop pc's, but I've never popped open my laptop. Is adding memory to a laptop as easy as adding memory to a desktop?

2. If I remove the Norton & McAfee software via "add/remove programs" in the control panel, will I be causing any other unforeseen problems? Any tips?

3. Will the laptop come with WinXP installation disks that I can use if I decide to reformat the HD and make a clean install?

Any further insight would be appreciated. Thanks all.

 

Adding RAM to the MX6025 is just as easy as a desktop. There are two RAM slots. One has 256MB which came with the unit. The other is open. Just buy a PC2700 stick and insert it in the open slot. It is very simple and quick.

Deleting Norton and McAfee probably should not cause any problems. But, with SP2 the Windows Security Alerts will constantly tell you that your computer is at risk, which can be very annoying. You should keep one of them active.

The laptop does come with a WindowsXP Home recovery disk. But, there is no second disk for applications and drivers. These are stored on a separate "D" drive on the hard drive. You can, however, burn them to a CD after you buy the laptop.

I have owned one for about 2 weeks now. For the price I am very happy with it. Despite what people say about the Celeron M processor, I find it to be very responsive, and certainly fast enought to handle e-mail, internet, and office productivity applications without any problems at all. The notebook does not overheat and the hard drive is very quiet. The fan kicks in only when needed and it is not loud by any means. Battery life seems to be 2+ hours with non-cpu intensive use. Although I have yet to really time the battery life.

If you want to know anything else just ask.

 

I need Help. I need the recovery cds for this notebook. Please somebody helpme. Thanks.

 

I might like "upgrade " the cpu . . . . but need to know which ones will "plug-in"

Does anybody know what cpu's are compatible with Gateway MX6025 Notebook architecture . . .to Celeron 360 m socket and is compatible with 852GM chipset ...the specs sheet posted bellow



Hey for all those that wish to "tweak" their systems i found this program Very handy . . . . It saves time re-formatting your Hard drive . . . I've Disabled "big fix", Norton, Symantec . . . and used the freshdevices program to speedup the boot . . . .

The system runs alright . . . Just a basic system . . .

http://www.freshdevices.com/windows_shortcuts_tweak.html


Fresh UI is a fresh solution for configuring and optimizing Windows. Loaded with hundreds of useful hidden settings in Windows XP/2000/NT/ 98/95/Me, this software covers the customizing and optimizing techniques that you'll be glad to know, such as:
Customizing Windows User Interface (UI)

Optimizing system settings

Optimizing hardware settings

Customizing Windows application settings

Controlling user environment with policies

Several its features: tweak Internet Explorer settings, optimize media player settings, drive settings, folder settings, windows shortcuts, and many more.

Fresh UI is organized by section for easy navigation and completed with detail descriptions for easy reference.

<<<<<<<<<<<< Gateway MX6025 Specs >>>>>>>>>>>>>

http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Gateway/6000Series/5376sp13.shtml


MX6025 Notebook Specifications
5376

Feature Description
Processor Intel® Celeron® M Processor 360
(1 MB L2 Cache | 1.40 GHz | 400 MHz FSB)
Chipset Intel® 852GM
Screen 15.4-inch Widescreen Ultrabright TFT WXGA
Memory 256 MB DDR (1 x 256 MB) SODIMM (PC2700) Expandable to 1 GB
Video Intel® Extreme 2 Graphics
32 MB Shared Video Memory
Audio AC '97 2.3 Compliant Audio
Built-in Speakers
Hard Drive 40 GB HDD (4200 RPM)
Optical Drive CD-RW / DVD Combo
Write max: 24X CD-R/RW
Reads max: 24X CD-ROM, 8X DVD-ROM
Media Reader 4-in-1 Digital Media Manager
Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick-Pro, and MMC
Modem 56K ITU V.90 Fax/Modem
Network 802.11g integrated wireless (up to 54Mbps)
SecureEasySetup™, 125 High Speed Mode
10/100Mbps integrated Ethernet LAN
Pointing Device Touchpad with Vertical Scroll Zone
PCMCIA 1 - Type I or Type II; Card Bus
Interfaces 4 - USB 2.0 Ports
1 - VGA External Connector
1 - IEEE 1394 port
1 - RJ11
1 - RJ45
Microphone In
Headphone / Audio Out

Battery 6-cell Lithium-ion
Dimensions 1.40-inches H x 14.09-inches W x 10.39-inches D
Weight 6.27 pounds

 

I can say that this notebook is really good...per price/performance..i replace the 4200rpm hd with a 5400prm and added 512meg memory..so far its working fine..and i usually left it run 24hrs a day hehe. Looks sturdy than my friends v2000 compaq.

Now if i could just buy another one..seems like bb is out of stock for this model.

 

my sister just bought one. anybody kno the type of RAM it takes? and also, i dont like the screen. its very dim, is there a way to brighten up the screen?

 

Is it running on battery? Most laptops dim down the screen when on battery to save power. Mine(8510GZ) is adjusted by Fn + Up or Down directional arrows. The Fn options are usually written on the keys in an alternate color...blue/grey in my model. Not sure about yours. Small circular icons with lines on them(your standard brightness icon that's been present for decades) with an arrow indicating which way it adjusts. Hold down the "Fn" key and tap the appropriate key to adjust the brightness level.

This is a guess...as I've not physically touched this model of laptop...but I bet it's at least similar.

 

Yes, FN in bottom left of keyboard and while holding that hit up arrow hey. When you unplug it from ac power it will automatically go down a few notches in brightness to conserve power. So brighten it up at the cost of battery life if you are unplugged. Also, the ram is ddr 2700.

 

hey is this RAM compatible? i hear lots of good things about corsair

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145506

 

na man thats gonna run too hot... look for pc 2700/2100 (ddr333), or just pc 2700. Some newer intels use ddr2 ram, which runs about that speed... but thats ddr1

 

I just purchased this notebook online, it should be here in a couple of days. I have a question though, Im planning to upgrade the memory as soon as its out of the box. It contains, 1 256MB module, and one empty slot, is it a good idea, to just take out the 256 then put in two 512, get it running at 1 gb?

Can someone tell me if this is a wise idea. or just the 256, and 512 will do.

thanks
-brad

 

I tried a stick of corsair 2700 I ordered from newegg. It did not work. I am RMA'ing it. I found some 2700 on MemoryX.com.
they list it as working with mx6025,so I ordered 2 sticks of 512mb will report back when I get it . The reason I ordered it was corsair doesnt list compatible memory for this computer. Kingston list memory for it but it was 86+ at newegg. the memory at memoryX is 59 since this is not a speed demon anyways I figure I would give them a shot.

 

id just put another 512 in there... i mean really... its a celeron, prob not many games or photoshop gonna be done... 768 is far more than enough and you can leave the 256 in there, makes no performance difference.

 

This is what i added works great. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...t&productCategoryId=cat01170&id=1064001118794

 

Well folks....about that bit where you can re-format the HD. Proceed with caution...I just got off the phone with Gateway and they will be sending me a disk with all of the drivers I DO NOT have because I reformatted the HD and did not do a backup of the current config I had. I guess I though seeing how it was a brand new PC that worrying about drivers would be a thing of the past. Gateways web site does not even have the drivers. And yes they are not on the recovery disk. I have had this for 2 months and was a t an end with all of this junk running on the PC. Wanted to start fresh so I used my own XP disk and WOW was it faster until I went to connect to the Internet....no drivers for Video and Ethernet. Yikes! Now I will wait for the disk to come in the mail.

Unless any of you know of a place to get the drivers?

 

What do i need to backup?

 

You always want to be careful as manufacturers always have proprietary stuff on their units. It's not like building yoru own.

Gateway has all of the drivers on their site. Go to support and either enter your serial number or search for 6000 series. They have drivers for video, network, sound, mobo, etc.

As far as getting rid of the additional software, just go through the uninstall on the Control Panel. Works just fine. You don't need to go through a reinstall.

Mine came with the C drive formatted with NTFS and the backup partition (D drive) formatted with FAT32. This setup is perfectly fine.

 

so what can i use to see what RAM works with this laptop? i was gonna get some crucial. but now i dont kno.

 

I just bought this laptop. Before opening it up to install the 512 MB of ram. I have 2 questions. 1st: What type of ram is best for the laptop? 2nd: How Do I go about openingit up? if Someone has done it, please walk me through one what I need to do. Thanks, -brad

 

http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Gateway/6000Series/5376bv.shtml
If you look at that page, the memory slot seems to be in the middle bay.

http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Gateway/6000Series/5376sp13.shtml
This page says it take ddr2700 up to 1Gig total.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820155111
here is a nice 1 gig stick of ram

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820155122
if your looking for a 512mb chip here you go

 

so on gateway it shows how to do it right, and there is memory bays in there? 1 is already in use by the 256. Is it smartest to take out the 256, and just drop a 1 GB where that 256 was? or Get a 512 and put it in the empty slot?

 

I ment to say there is 2 memory inserts in the notebook. One has the 256 and one is empty. Is it best to take out the 256 and put a 1 gb in where it was. Or get a 512 and put it in the empty slot so it has 750 approx?

 

Thats what i did just left the 256 in and added the 512.

 

hey just bought this computer, good buy, Im not used to laptops and Im wondering if running a program like warcraft 3 (fairly graphic intensive) would have a detrimental effect on this computer seein as how ts a celeron. thanks alot

 

yeh this isnt a gaming notebook. The processor isnt for gaming, but mainly... its gonna be the graphics card that limits you even more than the celeron-m. You dont find gaming laptops around this price range as the 6025.

 

I just bought two 512 sticks of kingston. And WOW it speeds the thing up, having that 1gb total makes the laptop easily handle numerous power hungry applications. I can run photoshop, dreamweaver, etc and the thing doesnt slow down a bit. CPU usage isnt very high either. I strongly reccomend jsut getting 1gb total.

 

I purchased this notebook from BB on 12/15/05, apparently I got an exceptional deal. I've removed all of the antivirus software, and the other programs I didn't want. I know I need more memory, and you're conversations below confirm that. How much can this baby hold? A Gateway rep told me 1GB but I've found some web sites that say 2GB. Also, I'm kinda new at all of this... is it really okay to install memory that's not "gateway" certified? What kind of memory do I buy? Do I need to upgrade my hard drive too? When I install my memory will it wipe everything out that's already on it? I know... alot of questions!! Also, the Gateway website told me I had a bunk reboot disk, and they'd be mailing me a new one??? I've not received it yet. Many, many, many more questions...

 

As long as you put ddr333 (pc2700) in there thats all that you need. BB usually runs deals where you can get 512 megs of pc2700 notebook ram for about 50 dollars, or you can order from Newegg for about 45. Depending on what you do on the machine, id probably suggest just adding one more stick to give you a total of 768 megs. That is plenty. No need to match up sticks or anything, and dont worry about brands. Memory is volatile... as in things stored in the memory are temporary. when you save something it is saved to the hard drive. Memory is what allows you to have several things running at the same time, and quickly switch between those programs. When you dont have enough memory the system uses page filing to compensate-- where the machine uses a dedicated portion of the hard drive-which is slowwww. As for the hard drive... that depends what you do. its a 40 gig and after recovery partition and all stuff on there id assume you get maybe 27 gigs? Let us know what you use it for. 4200rpms is kinda slow but tolerable for most stuff. Its a common laptop hdd speed.


Back to memory (to make sure i get to everything)-- it can probably support 2 gigs, but 2 gigs would be a pricey waste of money. Its a celeron, not designed so much for photo editing or gaming-- so id say 768 (256+512) is sufficient. Anythign else?

 

I mainly got it to play my Sims games... but I read above that it wasn't much of a "gaming" computer. Please tell me you "gamers" don't consider the Sims to be an actual "game" when it comes to this...?! I won't really use it for much more than surfing the internet, d'ling music and maybe hooking up a digital camera to it... and the Sims games. Do you think I'll have an issue with that?

 

Oh, and thanks, by the way. You've been way helpful!! How about that bunk reinstall disk issue? I got the notification from that "Big Fix" thingy before I figured out what it was and to uninstall it. The Gateway site told me I had a corrupt Windows reboot disk, but that my actual notebook was installed with the okay version. If anything happens and I need that thing, I'm s.o.l., unless they actually send it to me. Am I the only one this happened to?

 

Na this was pretty common. You can always use the restore partition on the computer if nothing happens to it. As for the sims- the sims 2 actually requires a little bit of graphics. Im sure you can play with the settings and get it to work fine. But the gpu on that machine... if you want to call it a gpu... is really very basic and may not look to fabulous-- but for everything else that you say you want to do it sounds like a fine machine for the job-- and for the money. Put that memory in there though! oh and feel free to leave a lil positive feedback by clicking the weights beside my name to the left... if I have been helpful- lol :gateway:

 

I am having trouble using an external keyboard with this and KVM.
Is there a way to shut off the keypad?

 

i dont know about kvm ( i know what it is but havent used) ... but if you hook up a usb keyboard, mouse, etc... the system should pick it up as a generic human interface device... so i dont know where your problem lies.

 

I've had this laptop model for over 6 months and I've been very happy with it. I have 2 questions:

1- I want to replace the dvd/cdrw drive with a dvdrw/cdrw drive. Can somebody point me at a replacement? How do I find one that fits and isnt an eye-sore?

2- I'm fixing to upgrade the ram and I am wondering if there is much of a difference in having 512 total ram as opposed to 768. Is it worth the extra $$ for 768 or should I just buy a 256 and settle for 512 total ram?

I REALLY appreciate the help!

Merry Christmas!

 

I purchased a used mx6025 and after I added 512mb.of 333mhz.pc2700 it ran great.The only complaint I have is when my hard drive crashed and I installed a new one,I had a lot of trouble locating all the drivers from the Gateway site,they weren't much help even installed the updater.Still need the network driver,BUT all in all the computer is a sweet machine for the money as long as you add memory and clean out the excess programs.
GOOD LUCK with yours...TXJMJ