Gateway M-6850fx worth buying?

So whats the verdict on this laptop? Im going to be purchasing a new laptop soon and im pretty sure im going to be getting the 6850. I have to spend less than $1000 (parents are helping me out for college and not letting me spend too much). I want the best possible gaming performance I can get for the price and the 6850 seems like the best option. Should I go with this or is there a better option out there for $900?

 

I too am considering buying this laptop.. I would love the 6860fx instead, but it is a little too big.. bestbuy here in the US has it for $899, but I think I can get them to give it to me for 10 percent off.. is it worth the price @ 810 bucks plus tax? I don't think it is quite exactly worth it at 900 as the processor is a bit slow, and it doesn't have the 8800m gts, but an ATI. ahhh.. decisions, decisions. Not even sure I should be getting a gaming laptop at all, but my son wants one that can play games decently too. From what I have read I will probably only get around 1 hour or so of heavy 3D gaming with this rig, which I guess is to be expected with a good 3D card.

 

I think it is a nice laptop for under $900 and for the lighter 15.4 inch model. Pick up the larger 17inch model and then pick up the 15.4inch and see which one you would like to lug around all day if you had too. God Bless

 

There's a laptop almost identical to this for 799 at cotsco website.. It's also made by gateway with hd 2600 but it's not a fx

 

Yeah.. I saw the one at costco.com also.. Newegg.com also sells what seems to be the exact same laptop for 899 also.. I think if I can get the 6850fx for 800 or 810 I might go with that for "looks", LOL.. I am still wondering if it is a good investment as the processor is slow, and the videocard isn't as good as the 6860fx.. granted that is a bigger laptop case, probably has more room for the 8800m gtx card.

bestbuy has a 14 day return policy. I am going to go to bestbuy later today on my lunch break and see if I can get them to price match a coupon for circuitcity friends and family for 10 percent off laptops that starts today. You guys think an extended warranty is worth it? I am pretty good with upgrading and building desktop PCs but laptop upgrades, even this one, scares me a little bit.. not so much an HD but the CPU. Thanks for all the info guys! This site is great! =)

 

Keep in mind Best Buy has a restocking fee (15% I think) on non-defective returns.

If you're THAT set on the 6850FX, get the Costco one - they have a 90-day no-questions-asked, no re-stocking fee return policy...

You know where this is going....

If you can live with the non-FX paint job on the M-6851 at Costco, they automatically extend the warranty to 2 years, as well, and have a 24hr support/tech line for members-only.

Just an FYI...

T

 

I would say get the M-152XL instead, since its a better deal, but they dont offer those anymore =O

You could check out the M-153XL at gateway.com, but that is more expensive.

 

well.. just got back from bestbuy.. mine local one actually had 2 6850fx's on clearance for 809.99, but wouldn't budge on the price.. the website lists the price as now being $899.99, but buying the same spec'ed laptop @ costco will probably wind up costing me 799.99 + 14 shipping, plus whatever membership costs.. so it roughly is 809 or 849-859.. w/costco I do get the extra 1 year warranty and no restock fee..

how is the 6850fx for games? I don't care for Crysis too much.. but I would love to be able to play Assassin's Creed, Gears of War, Half-Life 2 Orange Box and stuff like that. I know crysis will probably suck on it though, hell it does on most desktops.

So bottom line, you guys think it is worth it to save 50-60 bucks, to get it @ bestbuy for $809? I still not sure. Funny how this laptop started out being I was gonna surf the web on and read comic book files on in bed (.cbr files) i have tons of marvel stuff, and now my son wanted to do some gaming on too.. LOL..

 

The one at Costco doesn't have the awesome paint job but it is cheaper, if you have a Costco near you, you don't have to pay shipping, plus it comes with Windows Vista 64 bit and 4GB of RAM.

 

i read 2600 performs really well due to GDDR3.
Also overclocks really well(even to XT)
i think speed is little over 8600m GT DDR2

 

$1000? thats a little pricey, even if it does have a decent gfx capabilites.

 

Stukpixel- You don't know much about notebooks, do you?

 

If I wanted to play 3d games with max settings, then build I would build myself a desktop with a nvdia sli card- which I've already done. The laptop I have is just for on the go, to write down some notes, to do multitasking etc etc.

But that just the viewpoint of someone who is using a desktop for college due to very small income.

 

Well, some people would rather have one machine that can do both. Neither is wrong, just opinion.

 

FYI - the M-6851 at Costco seems to be online-only.
I checked 3 local clubs, and none had it (they had an M-6337 I think it was?) and all suggested it was most likey an online-only item.

T

 

And the basic truth of notebooks is that we pay alot more for what basically amounts to inferior tech.

We pay the price twice for the mobility we enjoy. Once in actual dollars and once in the power of the systems we can get.

But yeah if you can get the 6850 for 800 dollars or there about then its a pretty good buy. None others can come close to its level of preformance and still be in the same price range. It would be a REALLY good deal if it came with Vista 64 and 4gigs of RAM though