Problem with power scheme on Gateway MX3042 Celeron M 370 and other problems

I'm still trying to find a good laptop (having returned an Acer and Compaq), and now I have a Gateway MX3042 Celeron M 370, but I'm not entirely happy.

I use the screensaver Flowerbox and whenever the monitor and hard drives are supposed to shut down the screen goes back to desktop. I tried another screensaver, Mystify, and the monitor shut off at the prescribed time. What is going on? Anyone have this problem?

I do like the light weight of this computer and the way it looks, but there are problems besides the power scheme situation.

The fan seems to be going all the time, blowing almost hot air. I keep hitting the Function key instead of Ctrl due to its awkward placement on the keyboard. The bottom part of the screen gets really warm, especially at the midway mark.

I'm not thrilled there's a drive C and D on the Gateway, that was one of my problems with the Acer.

I'm also not keen about the USB ports at the front right side of the computer instead of the back right side. If I want to use the CD-ROM drive I have to move the cords for the printer and mouse out of the way so I can get the drive open.

I'm more concerned about the problem with the power scheme on the computer if it doesn't turn the monitor and hard drives off when I use the Flowerbox screensaver. Hope someone can help or offer comments!

 

Hey
As for the screen saver issue, was there a program running that caused the monitor to stay on (perhaps windows media player)? I used to have that problem, some torrents such as Azereus do this as well.
The heat under the screen is normal. If it bothers you, lower the brightness by one step and you will notice a significant difference.

The rest are things that you are gonna' have to get accustomed to. I find that I actually prefer to have the Fn key where it is.

Good luck in your search.

 

Hello fellow Vancouverite.

What power scheme are you running the notebook on most of the time?? That might explain the screen turning off during the screensaver.

Also - if you are in the "always on" scheme - the fan will likely run continuously.

The drives are partitioned for recovery reasons - just in case your computer crashes

As for the layout of the USB ports - didn't you check this out before you bought the thing? I mean you have already returned TWO laptops....

 

Power scheme is as follows:


That's the thing with on-line computer shopping (each computer has been from either BestBuy or FutureShop or TheSource aka RadioShack for $899.99--my budget is $1000 with taxes), there's no indication where the USB ports are located. I probably should have checked the store for a Gateway model.

The Acer went back because it was too heavy and bulky. The battery died within 70 minutes after being fully charged. Portability and battery life are important for me.

The Compaq was not too bad, I did check it out in the store, and the USB ports were where they should be although there were only two (the photo showed three so either I got a dud or the photo was wrong). When I got it home it overheated to the point it was like a personal heater in a cold library cubicle, plus the battery died within 80 minutes. I do have my eye on the Compaq Turion as I've been told Turion is much better for battery longetivity than the Celeron and AMD Sempron, but there is a $300 difference which is a lot for me (especially with GST and PST--the curses of living in Canada) for the same specifications as this Gateway (except a DVD+).

Now I'm on this Gateway, and it's been fully charged. It will go through the battery test later today. If the battery dies within 2 hours you know where it will go.

I'm not sure what you mean by another program running? I've got McAfee and BigFix running. I did try hitting the "lower brightness" key, but I had to go back to normal brightness to counter the glare from the lights in the library.

 

I would set a laptop to "laptop" powerscheme - not "home office/desk" fwiw - I think the computer will manage power better.

also turn off wireless if you're not using it (fn-f2)

the mx7515 only lasts about 2 hours in my tests.

if you want max battery life - you should look at something with a Intel Centrino

 

Oops, I had deleted the other power schemes because I thought they were the problem. What should I do now to set a "laptop" power scheme?

I definitely am using wireless Internet while in the library. It's impossible to not to research without that and the Internet port cubicles are always full (there's so few now the library is wireless).

I misunderstood the Turion being good at maximizing battery life, and I should be looking for a laptop with Centrino? Despite its faults, this Gateway Celeron 370 lasted battery-wise for 2 hours and 20 minutes (longer than the Acer and Compaq), but I was doing very little Internet work compared to the Compaq and Acer, plus in a 3 hour class I'd be out of luck (I take notes on the computer).

I'd rate this Gateway better than Acer and Compaq, but will now looking at a laptop with Centrino :centrino: if you think that's the best way to go?

 

Hi,

I brought an mx6025 about 1 month ago. It has a lot of preinstalled software on it. Wireless wasn’t working fine. Sound broke o few times in winamp. Screen never shutoff when listening music no matter of my power saving settings.
So I decided to reinstall the operating system. I kept the LAN network driver. I reformatted the hard drive as a single partition and I used the Gateway XP disc. The installation was smooth. I installed the network driver, I connected to internet and I installed the rest of drivers. I took all my drivers from Gateway drivers. For card reader, sound and modem the driver I had to try drivers for another Gateway laptops.
Also I added an additional 512MB memory module.
Now my laptop is working fine and faster. No more problems with WLAN, sound and screen saver. I can configure my WLAN from Windows.