Just bought the 7525... few quick questions.

Well so far i am very impressed, this is my first laptop so im having alittle trouble getting used to the keyboard but thats about it. Is there anything i need to do? I updated to the omega drivers... Is there anything else? Why is my processor running at 1.58ghz when plugged in, and 755 when on battery? Anyway to change this to use the full 2.6 ghz?

Thank you guys for all your help!

 

put it on the home/office power setting when plugged in and it wont vary in speed, 2.6 constant

 

One thing that I did was:
1) Download+install the newest AMD driver
2) Download+install 'SpeedSwitch XP'
3) Set 'SpeedSwitch' to 'Dynamic Switching' When AC

This sets the processor to change speeds (when needed) very quickly. It is good for the overall heat output of the machine. I don't notice any degrade in performance when using it at 800MHz.
Maybe the driver allows it to do it automatically.. but I don't have proof without speedswitch

 

Go to the Gateway support page and select the model number; there should be a goodly amount (about 7 or 8 I think) of driver updates.

 

thats what the amd driver doesn, if you ever monitor it with cpu-z

 

When just using the battery.. the system always runs off of 755 mhz? So the processor switching will actually make it faster?

 

Oh, okay.
Before I updated the driver, my CPU ran at 2.4GHz (my top speed) at all times, even on battery. This functional 'power-now' is really nice for a change

 

Mine actually runs at 801.
But yes, it will make it faster at times if you have it set right. Max Battery keeps it at the lower clock speed.
Of course, with the processor switching to higher speeds, you will have decreased battery life.

 

its gonna run somewhere around 795-801 usually, depends on what the FSB is running at, multiplied by the...multiplier. the multiplier is what changes when the powernow is activated. This turion im on now is an ml-34, running at 800mhz on batter, 200x4.0.

 

went to futureshop today, and sure enough saw the Gateway® MX7525.
excellent stuff in it... 15.4 screen irks me a bit.. so i have to ask you.. how portable do you find the laptop?

battery life ? i herd it was 2 hrs for this notebook,..... does that change if while your on the go you only use it for stuff that recquires less power?

and what did the full price came out to be?
and any tossed freebies? aside for the laptop bag.. figured i'd ask futureshop to toss in a free game..lol.

i'm choosing between the vaio s460 comes to 1999 + taxes
and the Gateway® MX7525... roughly same price with 3 year plan ++ taxes
will purchase in the next 7 days.

i'm takin my native buddy with me..screw taxes.

 

well looked up some of my own concerns.
theres always spare batteries to be bought
chill pads are cool, and will end up needing it for this beauty.

should come out cheap, if futureshop lets me get 1 yr service plan initially. with the option to increase. that would be enough time for me to learn how to fix my own problems. i gather..we see.
unless ofcourse something occurs.. i'll be going and buying this. on wednesday.

question lynx...
did you get your notebook upgraded to a 2.6? if so how much more was that.
or is this one of those positive amd things?

for the specs i saw for the 7525 were 1.5 ghz..

 

The 7525 is running at 2.6GHz right out of the box..Where did you hear otherwise?

 

Ok, once again why i need to make a sticky. AMD Powernow will run the machine around 795-801mhz when the cpu is idle, bump it up to 1.58-1.6 when it needs a little boost, and throttle it at 2.59-2.6 under heave load. Right clicking on my computer and going to properties is not an accurate way to check speed. That only clocks it at that moment and doesnt update. Use CPU-Z if you really want to see how it works. Its a good thing designed to increase battery life and reduce heat. Going to control panel and power management and changing the power schemes to "home/office desk" or "always on" disables powernow and runs it flat out at 2.6. If its sitting on the desk plugged into ac power, use this. If you are mobile use a mobile setting. The athlon 64 4000+ mobile is a 2.6 ghz processor. The desktop version is 2.4.

 

my god that is sick
this notebook is way to cheap.

what are the cons?

by the way, thankyou very much for the informative reply

 

Build quality is on the cheapish side, doesn't come with very many acoutrements, hard drive is dog slow, miserable battery life (think 2 hrs. at most). It's also kind of heavy and large-ish, and there have been reliability issues with the line (the hinge cracking seems to have been corrected with the 75xx series, but screen flicker hasn't been totally wiped out, and some of the optical drives in these suck).

All that said, it's a ridiculous amount of power for a great price and I certainly wouldn't discourage someone from picking one up - quite the opposite in fact. Just know that what you're buying with this line is raw, brute processing power. If you need that (for example, video editing, file compression/encoding, etc.), this is the best buy on the market bar none. If you're planning on using it a bit more casually, and probably doing some gaming, you may want to look at the comparably priced HP dv4000, which can be configured with a very impressive 128MB Mobility Radeon X700 off their site, as it will be faster for games and provide longer battery life.

 

Cons..
At this price, there really isn't anything you can complain about

Some people consider the heat and weight as cons. I don't though.. it is all 'cool' with me.

Heat: My 7426 does not produce much heat at all. Ever since I got the latest AMD driver, I have seldom hear the fan. When I do, it is barely audible (I often have music playing though [10-30% master volume])

Weight: ~8lbs (maybe 9.5 in a case) I say: "If you find that difficult to carry, buy a barbie notebook." But that's just me. I only carry mine around my house. It can't be that hard to carry 10 pounds around your shoulder (so long as you shift the strap position every once in a while). Light weight notebooks are nice (much preferred by everyone), but it was close to the bottom of my priorities when shopping.

Yes, it is a sick notebook