Gateway 4525GZ

Gateway has just introduced a new laptop under the name 4525GZ has anyone here reviewed it and if so what is there opinion of it and would anyone think the price is good considering the features that it comes with.

 

I just got this Laptop on Monday 8/30/04 of this week and love it. Here is what I was considering when buying a laptop,

1. Light weight
2. Long battery life
3. Descent HDD size
4. Integrated Wireless

I got all that and more. The battery life is nice with the Centrino package. I wasn't really looking for a laptop with a DVD burner because I have one on my desktop but the burner on this drive has been compatiable with all my burning software so I'm happy with that. I bring this computer with me to school every day which is an hour away and I never notice it in my backpack. The system seems durable and I would recommend it if you plan on bring your laptop with you often on trips or what ever.

http://northlan.textamerica.com

 

This model and the 4520 are on sale at Best Buy this week with $150 mail in rebate.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by zmax

 

The 4520gz notebook itself is truly nice. Very light and thin, easy to read, keyboard and pointer are ergonomic, does not generate excess heat, and the battery seems to last 5+ hours.

The bad side is that the support for the notebook is essentially non-existent and nobody except an expert should buy this product. The first bad sign is that gateway's site suggests that "For personalized support enter your serial number", but it will not accept the serial numbers from this product. When you go to the FAQ it will answer silly questions like how to change the battery but has no information on substantial subjects such as wireless configuration. (The Intel wireless software as installed out of the box complains that it is misconfigured.) There is almost no other information except for these useless FAQs. You can search but the search includes sources such as the Microsoft knowledge base and the search engine does not allow much filtering, so any search seems to end up with hundreds to thousands of results, of which one or two might be relevant. Gateway will gladly charge you for answers – the only free contact you have is with a sales rep. They provide bad free information and charge for answers – this is not a company I’d choose to deal with and I regret not checking this before purchasing.

Net: Avoid this product until Gateway decides to better support it. Check for yourself -- go to the gateway site, look up this product by its model number, and try to find information on something like wireless operations.

 

My friend just bought that laptop yesterday at Best Buys. Its not that bad, just the fact that the touch pad you cant do a left click on it like any standard laptop. He did purchase it at Best Buy, he went and got the 4525GZ with the DVD RW and 80GB Harddrive, which isn't bad for its price either. I was trying to look for the drivers, not updates, and it gives me crap, since I'm tryin to format it and install Win XP Pro on it, because XP Home can't cut it, and yea Wifi was a pain in the ass due to some error but finally got it fixed. Oh and the rebate is actually a instant-rebate. So no need to wait for a check and hoping it will get there.

Fujitsu S6210: PentiumM 1.6Ghz 1GB DDR333 RAM 7K60 Hard Drive

 

What kind of problems are you guys having with the wifi? Mine has worked fine since I got it. I acutally bought it when I had a break in between classes. Right after I bought it I brought it in and every thing hooked up great as far as wifi goes. For the price of 1399$ thats including the current instant rebate of $150 you can't go wrong for it's size, weight and features. This is a good laptop if your mobile all the time. I'm getting about 5 hours of battery life. I usually bring the brightness down about 3 or 4 clicks to get that battery life. The only other options bestbuy has right now are the small Sony's or a huge desktop replacement. This laptop will have it's place in the market and I think it's a step in the right direction for Gateway.

http://northlan.textamerica.com

 

A lot of routers, especially is they're older have a pretty screwy time with Centrino. Mine did. I bought this Netgear one a year ago, and I couldnt get it to consistently work, in fact my laptop kept connecting to some other network in my neighborhood. I just updated the firmware, and havent had a problem since. Just something to look into maybe.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by jjqqww

 

I purchased the 4520GZ a week ago @ bestBuy w/ the instant rebate.
I have to say that I would not get this book at full price because you should just spend 1 hundred more and get something better; like better screen resolution, newer processor, separate graphic controller and most importantly, stronger shell.

This notebook is pretty damn good for $1250.. the USB and Firewire seem to be at the right places, very quite during operation. But, this book is NOT very durable,the internal frame is very weak.

THat is all i have to say for now..

Again, not bad for 1250. Not a desktop replacement. Good if you are a student.