Gateway's New FX P series Line up

I just seen a few new P series.

Gateway P-7915u FX - $1,099.00 - P8700, 4096MB DDR3 memory, 320GB (5400), GTX 260m 1024MB.
Gateway P-7908u FX - $1,279.99 - P8700, 4096MB DDR3 memory, 500GB (5400), GTX 260m 1024MB.
Gateway P-7917u FX - $1,699.99 - P8700, 8192MB DDR3 memory, Dual 500GB (5400)Raid0/1, GTX 260m 1024MB.
Gateway P-7920u FX - $1,899.99 - T9600, 8192MB DDR3 memory, Dual 500GB (5400)Raid0/1, GTX 260m 1024MB.

All come standard with Windows 7 Home Premium.

http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529598056.php

No i7's as of yet.

 

Intresting that the quads dont appear to be coming to the US still... thats kind of sad.

Good find though

 

they should put backlit keyboards like the ones they had on those md models. With the orange LEDs.

 

8GB DDR3 RAM in a $1700 notebook?! Sweet!

 

I see they are still keeping with the 1440 x 900 WXGA+ display on the new models. When will they learn.

 

There is nothing wrong with 1440 X 900 when will you learn?

 

now now! nothing worse than screen envy!

 

Now, how well do you max out you games at that res?

 

I found out you cant max out Stalker Clear Sky and still be in native 1900x1200 res. Cripples the 7805u lol

 

how big of an upgrade is 260gtx over 8800gts in 6860 >?

 

Its a decent upgrade and well worth it in my opinion.

 

I play mmo's which take a beating on the graphic card and I gotta say 8800gts is really good, it handled wonderfully in cities and big raids, but 260gtx seems catchy for an upgrade.

 

I wonder if any will have an LED screen prolly not tho

 

Still no blu-ray drive. Argh. Wouldn't mind the upgrade to the 260m GTX though. Guess I'll wait for the mobile core 7 models.

 

What kind of 3dmark06 score do you get with your P-7805u FX?

 

I just stumbled upon the new series when I was browsing through Gateway's site. Wow, this is seriously some great value for gaming. They popped in a GTX 260m!? Freaking awesome, If I wanted a 17inch laptop, I would buy one of these in a heartbeat. The value doesn't get much better than this. All they needed to do was put in 7200 rpm HD's.....

 

Now... When are they shipping.

 

The $1050 question...

 

see the problem is, the 9800gts can still run everything at 1440x900

 

Gateway dropped the resolution and dropped the 7200 rpm HDs to get the price down.

Really the only difference is the graphics card.. everything else isn't that appealing.. to a 7805 owner

 

and the GTX 260m can run everything at 1920×1200

 

None of the GTX 2xx series use "GTX 2xx" cores. They all use the G92 core (nowadays more likely the G92b) - even the GTX 280M, which merely has more processor cores and slightly higher clocks. It's still *technically* an upgrade over the 9800M GTS, which uses the G94 core (developed from the 9600GT), but not a huge one.

They're rebadges because nVidia didn't figure out a way to make a GTX 2xx core work in a mobile housing, and after the snafu with the mobile 7-9xxx series, weren't about to roll the dice again. The chip is faster, but don't let yourself think you're getting something "new" when it isn't.

 

Yeah I own the 7805u and I don't see any reason to be excited about the new offering. If they had added illuminated keyboards with Quad Core processors and the GTX 260m that would have been quite a stellar coup at 1500-1800. I'd of bought one instantly.

I'm now looking to Alienware to go I7 in the M17x and will likely pay 2 times the price for it. Gateway missed the mark this time I think. A redesign would have been a big deal too as well as higher resolution and new types of screens.

 

No, there's nothing wrong with 1440x900 resolution on a 17-inch screen - IF that's what you want!

But, what if you want a 17-inch screen with 1920x1200 resolution?!! How do you increase the resolution to that if all you have is 1440x900? At least with a 1920x1200 screen you can LOWER your res if you want to!

If Gateway thinks I'm going to pay $1,800 or so for a 17-inch with only 1440x900 resolution, they're crazy!! That's why I just bought a refurbished P-7805u FX, just so I can have the resolution I want! I'll perform some of my own upgrades on it, such as new processor and two new 500GB, 7,200rpm HDD's!

Dennis

 

They should get out a high end one with an LED 1920x1200, q9000, 2x320 7200.4 or 128GB SSD with a 640GB HDD, only needs to be 4 Gigs though and backlit keyboard. Or even a barebones quad capable with 1920x1200 LED screen and backlit keyboard sans CPU, HDDs and ram with the OEM recovery disk..........

I do wonder though if these new boards are quad capable out of the box. They have a different GPU card so it is possible the boards are a different revision that is now dual/quad capable.........

 

You can't watch blu-ray movies at that resolution.

What I want to do is buy the cheapest new model from Best Buy and add the following upgrades, in order of importance:

--Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9300
--1920x1200 display (although it would probably void the warranty)
--LG GBW-T10N Optical Drive
--Additional 500GB HDD (assuming the cheaper models have the same motherboard and can support multiple drives)
--Bluetooth capability
--Back-lit Keyboard (are those even available anymore?)

 

Haven't tested since I got the machine. I'd have to retest and get back to you.

 

Really, IMHO, Gateway needs to create a laptop geared towards entertainment with a blu-ray drive (preferably one that can also burn BD-R, BD-RE, BD-R DL, and BD-RE DL discs) and a screen with a high enough resolution to play them.

As for running games, The Sims 2, The Sims 3, Sim City 4, and Sim City Societies all seem to run fine at any resolution.
The games that refuse to play at higher resolutions don't sound appealing to me.

Someone else mentioned about the possibility of the motherboards in these new models not being quad capable.
Wouldn't it just be a matter of making sure their FSB clock speed matched that of the quad processor you wanted to put in the computer?

 

you guys are nuts! these notebooks are not meant for everyone who just bought last season model to uprade every new version. They are meant to be extremely competetive (price wise) gaming machines. Anyone in the market to by a gaming machine at a reasonable price should be thrilled at the release of these models. IMO the upgrades arn't worth the $$$ for anything above the $1050 ones...

I would like to see the 1900X1200 res back and i7's but how is all that and a 260m going to come in at $1050... It's not, otherwise we would get it...

 

This is exactly the reason I have been such a huge fan of Gateway and why I plan to stay loyal to them.

Windows 7 and the improved graphics cards are definitely the selling point for this latest line, but other than that, it would be more reasonable to buy the cheaper model and upgrade it.

For instance, the only difference between the P-7915u and the P-7908u is a slightly larger HDD, and yet the latter costs $200 more. That just doesn't make sense to me, since you can easily procure a second 500GB HDD for the other bay on the MOBO for under $80 if you know where to look.

For just $500 added to the price, I can buy the most powerful laptop processor on the market and put it into the cheapest model in this line.

I have searched ebay and I am able to upgrade the display and add a blu-ray BURNER drive for a combined cost of $350.

The other model that's definitely well priced is the P-7917u, since the cost of upgrading a P-7915u to its stats comes close to matching the price difference.

I have to ask myself very carefully if the extra $700 would be better put towards a much more powerful processor or towards more ram and HDD space.
Either way, I'm definitely going to spend $350 more to bring up the entertainment and optical storage value of the model I buy.

 

I think therein lies the problem. I'm talking about pwning n00bs in the face at high speed with a minigun. You're talking about building a house for an imaginary family that has no toilet.

I'd rather have a slightly lower resolution so that I can turn up the AA and AF and still get a good fps.

 

I'm probably just going to upgrade screens. Easy enough, and probably only $150 or so.

 

I'm planning on grabbing one of these in the next month or so.
Been looking at the alienwares (Base models almost no upgrades to them.) for the price difference I'll grab one of these.

 

Prices aren't bad, get the cheaper one and add a cpu for less.

 

Does BB have this on display, my local one did not.

 

It seems BB doesn't seem to have received them, yet.

 

Does anyone know if the 7915 has labelflash DVD writer? I ordered the 7915 and hoping it has labelflash.

 

Can you upgrade the LCD screen? I have a contact at Gateway who is going to get me one, but want a better screen resolution than this.

 

Can your contact at Gateway give us some shipping date info!?!?!?

 

If it doesn't you can just order a new DVD drive for it in the appropriate formfactor. For instance, I wanted BluRay, so I ordered an LGE CT10N.

 

Yeah, there are extras from the 7805 on ebay, just swap em out. There are guides on here to show you. good luck!

 

I'll check.. see if he knows about ship dates.

I want to upgrade the LCD as well. Trying to find out what the make/model is on the screen (unless anyone knows). Any good place to buy these at?

 

Finally, someone on the inside! get back asap!

 

Models are already shipping online. It is up to the Acer organization too get these placed in retailers. I would assume since this is so late in the year, that places like Best Buy won't get them as it is too late in the season (this is just my guess as I have some experience in selling to retail).

 

I just got a shipping e-mail from Best Buy. w00t!

 

I spotted a 7908 in Fry's (Anaheim) today...same layout as my 7811

 

when's it due?

 

It left Fresno, CA, today and is due to arrive in NJ on the 18th. Darn UPS ground being so slow... LOL

 

Finally Congratulations! Get your fingers ready to write that review!

 

I got my P-7908uFX today! Woot! I'll work on a detailed review with pictures this weekend as work has me very busy at the moment.