Gateway EC1430u 11.6" notebook impressions/thoughts/reviews

$260 WHAT? I thought at $550 this was already a bargain!

Which store did you find one at?

 

Ok, I received the ec1436u today. I noticed something not so good:

1. The metal logo with "gateway" has scratches.

2. The label with the Windows 7 serial number is kind of dirty, looks like somebody tried to erase something from the label.

3. The hinge is too loose, especially when the angle between monitor and the keyboard reaches 30 degree, the lid will drop closing very rapidly.

All these made me think it might be a used/returned product. Don't know what to do with it. Right now, the unit seems functioning normally, but I am a little bit worried there might be problems popping up soon due to the the "micro-crashing" (above mentioned No.3 resulted).

 

I would definitely return it. The metal logo should have a piece of plastic covering it to prevent scratches - as should the metal hinges.

The thought that your laptop was purchased used will always be in the back of your mind. At $550 USD you should definitely get something that's new.

PM

 

There's a very thin sticker on it, I thought mine had scratches too until I peel the sticker off.

I think it's made this way so the middle section is burnt off.

It's designed this way so it doesn't open by accident.

 

If you read any of the N450 reviews, it's nothing but a silly 10% performance/battery improvement over the previous generation which is still 100% slower than CULV notebooks.

There's always refresh coming, but the current generation i7 only boost performance with little to no increase in battery life. The next refresh which is coming in end of 2010 should provide both increased performance and improved battery life.

 

You are right, it's just the sticker, stupid me.

"middle section burnt off"?, I can't understand this.

I flashed to the 3303 BIOS, works fine. Replace the hard drive with 7k500 500gb, the hard drive runs very quiet and it produces the same amount of heat I think, can't feel if it runs faster as I only played the old hard drive for 10 minutes.

 

I had the same issue with mine. I thought there was a bunch of scratches on it. And then when I relaized there was a piece of plastic on it, it was a PITA to get it off.

I'm still liking my unit, especially with the 120GB SSD and 4GB of memory. It boots into win7 in just a few seconds. Although I purchased two SSDs and I wish now I would have put the slower one in the Gateway. It really doesn't need the OCZ which is much faster than the Kingston I picked up which I need to sell now.

 

Hi everyone who cought a gateway EC1430u & EC1815u

congrats on your new laptop....

However i have a question for all of you you... Recently i went to a computer store and i as trying to decide between the Gateway EC1815U & the Acer 1810T.

So i was deciding to buy the Gateway however on close inspection of both the laptops side by side i found that the Acer Lcd was slightly brighter and more crisper than the Gateway Lcd.

1. Did you feel the same...??

2. Can u go down to a store with your laptop and compare the lcd quality with a Acer 1810T and let me know....? Coz i'm very confused and still haven't bought one of these because of this reason. The Acer 1810T is only offering 320gb hdd but the gateway is offering 500gb hdd but i'm confused about the lcd screen quality...?!?

Here's a link to my original post in this issue....

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=460234

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=460231

Thanks...

 

I bought the Gateway EC14d01h (or US equivalent EC14D07U) last month (March 2010) twhich includes the built-in DVD burner. I am extremely happy with the purchase, using it mainly for internet, watching DVDs, but also light work. Performs well. From the recent reliability survey from rescuecom that Gateway and Acer are in top third, I am even happier. This netbook was launched in Canada in March and slightly earlier (January 2010) in USA. I was on both the US and Canadian Gateway site today and noticed that the entire EC series has been discontinued. Glad I took the plunge when i did. Just to be safe, I did take out a 2 year warranty from BestBuy, so I have no worries.
Just wanted everyone to know that they have been discontinued....pity!

 

Wait WHAT? I have been dithering between the EC14D and the EC5801 (15.6" version), and I was just about to click the button on an EC5801 at a somewhat discounted price.

Thank you! Now I'll wait a bit and grab one when the prices really fall.

Edit: waitasecond, you're not April Foolsing us, are you? /doh

 

No April fools. The only info I have is that both US and Canadian sites say it is discontinued, and Bestbuy, Futureshop, Tigerdirect no longer have them! I cannot find anything on the net like an official press release or anything. If you hear of any thing to clarify, please post. Also, if you can get one cheap/discounted, check it out.....it's a great little machine.

 

Edit to above post:
I checked the USA and Canada web suites again today....and the EC series shows up! Don't know why it said discontinued yesterday. Also, Bestbuy shows the have the EC14D01H in stock. Duh om me!

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170409924470&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

I ordered this BT module and installed it. Works flawlessly! I had the itch to do this upgrade for a while.