Gateway 7405 Review w/ pictures

 
Purpose:
I have been a satisfied owner of a Gateway 7405 laptop notebook. I purchased it in January for $1249 at a local Best Buy here in town. My laptop needs basically consisted of a desktop replacement model that could if needed by taken with me if the need came up. Generally, my laptop sits on my desk so I ruled out the generally more expensive lighter, thinner Centrino units you see around. Plus batter life was not a huge factor to me, thus another reason that I looked at AMD based laptops as I will always be around a power outlet. Overall I am very glad I made the purchase and the purpose of this review is to show you all up close the pros and cons of my Gateway laptop.

Hardware:
AMD Athlon 64 Mobile 2 GHz
512 MB @ ddr 333 (expandable to 1,256 MB)
15.4” WXGA TFT Active Matrix
8x DVD±RWATI MOBILITY RADEON 9600
4 x USB 2.0, 1 x IEEE 1394a (FireWire), VGA out, 56k modem, RJ-45 (NIC), S-Video out
PC Card Slot
4 in 1 Memory card reader
80 GIG 4200 w/ 8 MB cache

Initial Impressions/ Size

As I said above, I knew when I purchased this that is was on the larger and heavier side of the notebook spectrum. Overall the unit comes in at about 7.5 pounds and feels about right at that on the few occasions when I travel with it. The dimensions are 14W x 10.4D x 1.6H. Obviously a litter larger than most, so you will want to consider this is you lug it around often. I myself only move it a few times a month.

The quality of the materials is pretty good as well. The unit is sturdy and doesn’t feel like it’s going to break if you hold it from the side in one hand.

 

 

Screen/ Video

The screen is a beautiful 15.4 inch  wide screen display is great for playing DVD’s and makes them all the more enjoyable. This unit has the bright view option that outs the fine plastic or glass coating over the LCD to make things crisper. I like the fact that it does make the text and colors appear cleaner, but find the added glare a nuisance especially when working on my balcony outside. The hinges on the screen are smooth and hold the lcd still when moving it across a table for example.

The video capabilities are pretty good for a laptop compared with other integrates units. It is powered by the ATI 9600 GPU and it does a pretty good job at Far Cry. (yes, I am a girl who likes FPS)

Sound/ Speakers

The sound from this laptop is above average and I am very impressed.  MP3s come through very crisp and clean with a nice overall range of sound. Of course if you are a hardcore audiophile you probably already have a fine set of external speakers. Those not as concerned with audio finesse with me very happy with these speakers. Below you can see the speakers on the front. I like this arrangement better than say under the lid so you can hear you music will the lid closed for those times when you want to for what ever reason.

 

 

The sound controls are on the upper right side above the keyboard. Also in this photo you can see the quick launch buttons as well as the power button.

 

Keyboard and Mouse

The keyboard itself is normal for the most part. Some of the function keys are a bit different and I always find myself reaching for the function key when I really and trying to hit CTRL. The keys are quiet and push down with ease and don’t flex like other units I have used in the past.

The mouse is very responsive and I love the scroll feature on the side. I find myself using the scroll feature all the time, then on non equipped units I barley can function without it.

 

 

Optical Drive and Ports

This laptop has an 8x DVD R- R+ RW burner that fits the requirements for the few times I backup a DVD or play an audio CD. I do wish however that is was a dual layer burner, but hey, what can you do. Media is too expensive right now anyway. Below you can see the optical drive on the left side of the laptop:

 

On the opposite side there are two USB ports, one fire wire, and the 4 in 1 memory card reader. Also in view is the PC card slot.

 

 

Now onto the back: There from left to right you can view the power input, then the mic and audio inputs. I actually enjoy having the audio hookups on the back so they are not in the way in the side or front when using an external mouse. Moving along you has the modem and LAN ports followed by the external analog monitor hookup. Then you have another two USB 2.0 ports and finally S-video output.

 

Battery:
The batter life has room for improvement. I found under normal usage, the battery will last 2.5- 3 hrs. Watching a DVD is doable, but barley time for much else. Seeing how this is a desktop replacement model and an AMD 64, I can justify the mediocre battery life. Just don’t expect this to last 4-6 hours like some of the entry level Centrinos out there.

WiFi
With a laptop you almost have to use the wireless capabilities or it wouldn’t be much point now would it. The reception is fairly sensitive as I can get my neighbors signal from across the street. Although very weak, my neighbors signal will connect with the internal card just fine. All of the networks I have came into encounters with have always connected in the first try unless it was encrypted and needed a wep key.

Performance:
 CPU:
As you expect from an AMD 64, performance is blistering fast and has no problem burning a DVD and playing MP3s and using Photoshop with several web browser screens open as well. If you plan of keeping your laptop 2+ years, when 64 bit goes mainstream with XP 64, you won’t be left out or forced to buy a new laptop.

I ran prime95 for about 3 days to test stability and it kept working like clock work without a hiccup.

Running superpi calculating pie to 2 million digits was completed in 1:53. Aquamark3 came in at just under 23,000.

All of these results were when plugged in so no power saving CPU throttling was in use.

One of these days I may upgrade the ram, but my current needs only require 512 for the moment. I probably will move up to one gig fairly soon as ram prices are falling lately.

Hard drive:

The included hard drive included 80 gigs for plenty of space, but only a dismal 4200 rpm spindle speed so performance could be better with a new 7200 unit. I though honestly don’t notice it lagging really, but I am sure if I every upgrade the HD the difference will be noticeable.

Software:
The bundled software is the typical included junk. To make things worse, the restore software was on a partition part of the drive and you had to make your own recovery discs. It came with XP home as well, but since then I have wiped the whole thing clean and used my XP Pro. MS Word comes standard as part of MS Works, but other than that no other office programs were included.

Pros:
• AMD 64 !!!!
• Quality materials
• Good WiFi range
• Fairly Affordable
• Good video card

Cons:
• Larger than others, a tad heavy
• 4200 rpm HD
• Battery performance

Conclusion:
To be honest I was a little reluctant to try out Gateway as they seem to be heading downhill. Following my experience, the build quality is up there with the top manufactures and I have yet to have a problem with my unit. At this point I have had no reason to call Gateway tech support so am unable to comment about that aspect. If you find a deal , don’t hesitate to look at Gateway as they are well built units and I am very pleased overall. For a desktop replacement this unit fits all of my needs. Those looking to travel with their laptop my want something lighter though so keep that in mind.