So.. My experience with the P-7811FX, thus far.. [Longer than a Month]

I bought my P-7811FX a week before Labor day.. and I'm still loving it.

Pros:
- I love the look of the system, with Orange being my favorite color.. it matches everything.
- The screen is beautiful, sure.. there's a little bleeding light, but it's never bothered me in-game.
- It can run any game I've thrown at it, on at least High settings.
- Web Cam works great for what I need it to.
- Everything else.

Cons: [Before I bought my Passive-Airflow Stand]
- After over a month, I'm just now getting use to hitting the CTRL key instead of the FN key. Using the same keyboard layout for years on end and switching it up unexpectedly, while having to reverse the method when I'm at work, can get tiring..
- The Ethernet port is very inconveniently placed. This doesn't bother me much until I bring my laptop to work and have very limited space for my laptop, mousepad, and mouse.
- No back-lit keys! This isn't really an issue, but would look awesome with orange back-lit keys.
- Would reach temperatures up to 82c on my GPU.
- Keyboard was very uncomfortable while gaming for several hours. Keys would tend to get hot as well.

After I bought my Passive-Airflow Stand:
- Has only reached 65c, which is a vast improvement.
- Keys don't tend to get hot, as often. They still do at some points, but not near as bad.
- The stand allowed the keyboard to get far more comfortable, it no longer hurts my wrist or the arch of my fingers.

What I have purchased for my laptop so far:
- Targus Mobile Notebook X Stand. This is a MUST for any P-7811FX. If you want to look in-style, and not use crappy DvD cases and/or textbooks, buy this. It's PASSIVE airflow, which is what this beast needs.
- Logitech MX518 Gaming Mouse.
- Razer eXactMat Mousepad with Gel Rest.
- 10 FT Ethernet Cord.
- 6 FT HDMI Cable.
- Microsoft Zune 80GB.
- Canon SD1100 Digital Camera.
- Targus CityGear Miami 17'' Laptop Bag.
- 160GB External Harddrive.

As you can see, I went a little overboard.. but yeah.. I haven't had any issues out of my laptop yet. No lock-ups, no freezing, nothing. I've used the stock drivers, haven't tried to overclock it yet, and I'm using Xfastest's GPU driver. With the stock harddrive, it came with two portions.. I'm using the second portion strictly for gaming needs.. and the other portion for OS and programs like that.

I love Gateway. Anyone who can make a laptop with this performance and this price.. is amazing. It's quite funny, because growing up and building my own computers.. I was strictly against any Gateway, Compaq, or Acer. Funny how times have changed.

If you were debating rather or not to pick this one up.. I can honestly say, you will not find another laptop with this performance around this price.

 

You are one lucky man to own this baby.

Love the display on this laptop. If I can add to the cons though. The cooling fans can be a bit loud and I've heard the DirectX 10 performance is not fully up to speed. But the Gateway P-7811FX is still THE fastest notebook at this price range. So its a VERY good buy.

 

Wait, your GPU only reached 82C when playing on a flat surface?!

Mine reached 101C running Furmark for 10 minutes and 98C playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for 30 minutes

 

Yeah, it hit 82c running CoD4 on Max Settings for about.. 30 minutes. [Offline]

 

wow, looks like gateway really pulled off a great product.
It's unfortunate that this laptop is only available in NA.

 

But you got the one with serial number 2887, right?

This is somewhat interesting. I've had mine for about a month as well and love it for the most part.

 

I'm not sure, I never bothered to look at it. =\

I just bought it the week before the Labor Day sale.. I remember going back and getting $200 back with a free copy of Call of Duty 4.

 

Im also curious about the serial number.

 

Mine has a 2887 serial # i got it when i replaced my first one (for what the said was a bad hard drive) during labor day sale. got my $200 new lappy and Crysis (had to finally try it, when researching laptops that's all anyone talked about...) and a replacement lappy. Was a good day, and the new one oc'd at i believe 650/900/1750 only ever saw gpu temp get as high as 67C once. New BIOS thanks to E-wrecked as well...

 

Just curious, what does the serial number have to do with anything?

 

Medieval, congrats...nice review on the 7811 It's very good to see that not everyone has major issues..and honestly, I think a lot of the issues are just exhasperated(sp?) by seeing any negative reviews..then people begin to make a mountain out of a mole hill. I am on #6 myself, but really..only 2 of them had problems. One had a dead pixel, and one had ghosting.. But, otherwise..that's not the computer, that's the LCD. And your serial number will tell you the month of production.. I.E.- P2887 was the july production, p2888 was the august one.. The new BIOS with RAID and seemingly less "issues" due to updated ACPI was released with the P2888 line.. and a new DVD ROM. Anyways, your system is rock solid man. Glad you love it +rep

 

Ghosting is the white that bleeds through? Mine doesn't do that when you're staring right at it.. but more when you're off at about a 40degree angle.

 

ghosting is if you move your cursor across the screen, it leaves white streaks across dark background. If you have the black Gateway Background, that came with the factory install as your current background.. change it. Select another black background and see if those white spots go away.

 

So, will there be a 2889 coming out for the September production?

 

Hm, don't believe I've encountered that.. I'm heading home now to check that Serial number and I'll run a quick test on that as well.

Can't I just set the background to a black full color and see what happens?

 

Ghosting is when the last frame is still left on the screen after the current frame has already been rendered. Think of it as a flashbang in Counter Strike Source.

 

So.. Posting from home. My serial number begins with P2887.. Is that bad?

Also, as far as ghosting goes.. I changed it to a black color and moved the mouse around really quick.. the only white I see is just the mouse moving.

Is it noticeable if you had Ghosting?

Also, what should I do about my serial number, is that something I should be worried about? Back to work!

 

Ah I see, so I had set it to the GateWay wallpaper.. and then switched it to a solid black.. no white left on the screen.

 

It's the .bmp that has issues.. I realzied that after being pissed that my 3rd one had the white blotches. Stay with another background, and that problem is fixed. And nothing is wrong with the p2887.. it's a stable option. Like I said, if ya wanna go to the new BIOS it can't hurt(barring something going wrong with the flash)..and could help. If you run into any issues, you can always go back to the original BIOS. But, I'm sure you have heard..if it isn't broke, don't fix it. So, my friend..it is on you to decide what satisfies ya.

 

Ah, well.. I'm content, if it lowers the degree's though... I may do that. Hm.. I don't know, like you said.. if It' snot broke.. don't fix it.

I guess I'll see how the PC works with Fallout 3 and Farcry 2.. if it gets hot with FC2 I may upgrade the BIOS.

 

Supposedly, the difference between the 2887 and 2888, they fixed the GPU heat issue by redesigning the bottom of the laptop or something. Don't know the exact details. I've just read that you can actually game on it on a flat surface and not worry about your GPU burning up in flames. But hey, if your laptop works, great!

I'm also awaiting impatiently for Farcy 2 and Fallout. Crysis Warhead lasted me 2 nights

 

Well, honestly there's nothing I can do about the 2888.. My warranty is long over due.. the 14-18 days (w/e?) from BB has long been passed. :\

 

Well, if you don't have any issues, then don't worry about it

 

Not everyone that had a 2887 had an issue. The other main difference was the BIOS, but that can be updated manually anyway. I wouldn't worry about it if your laptop is doing great.

 

So, will the new BIOS result in cooler GPU temps? When I got mine, I played Crysis for 15 minutes and it locked up (on my kitchen table with a tablecloth) with the sound going... a minute or two late, it unlocked, although Crysis was "not responding" and I got the little "Display Driver has failed and restarted" popup. Next day, I put it on my coffeetable, loaded RivaTuner (just to log the temps) and played Crysis for about 55 minuted before it locked up. Same thing happened as the day before and landed back on the desktop. RivaTuner reported 91C temps. About ten minutes later... I played Crysis for 57 minutes and it sat at 94C for some time before finally completely locking up. Complete reboot time. Other than that and one dead pixel near the top-center of the screen, I am completely happy with the system.

-fizzie

 

I don't recall the BIOS itself having an impact on the GPU temp, but if you have a 2887 vs a 2888, someone mentioned the bottom vents were situated differently. This could result in people with 2888s not having those problems.

I don't know how much youv'e read through these forums, but another thing to consider is raising the back of the laptop up a bit. That allows more airflow under the laptop.

 

love to see some pics of the redesign.

 

I have the new 2888 version and the highest gpu has hit after running 3dmark06 a few times is around 82c. I then put a zalman 2000 notebook cooler under it and ran 3dmark06 some more and the higest temp my gpu reached was 64c. So I highly recommend this notebook cooler if you're that worried about gpu temps.

 

I'm with you on this. I've asked previously to no avail.

 

I've got a 2887 model. Running Crysis, I can run 45-55 minutes before lockup at 89C-93C. Running Furmark, it taks about 5 minutes to hit 85C and a lockup.

When I prop the back of the laptop up about an inch, I can run Crysis as long as I care to and it tops out at 71C. Also with the back propped up I can run Furmark for over an hour and it tops out at 81C. It only takes it 9 minutes to get to 80C.

I've heard two theories about the difference between the 2887 and 2888 models as it relates to the GPU. One theory is that the case was modified to provide better airflow. Another theory is that temperature sensors were faulty or were poorly placed and better sensors are used or were repositioned in the 2888 models.

One thing I have noticed is that when I end Crysis or Furmark, the temperature drops like a rock, from 80C to 50C in 40 seconds. On the one hand, I find that difficult to believe, and it makes me want to lean towards the temperature sensor theory. However, After playing Crysis and locking up after 55 minutes, I was able to quickly reboot and play Cryss another 50 minutes before a lockup. That tends to make one believe that the GPU really does cool down that quickly.

I was willing to live with having to prop the back of my laptop up to play games until Furmark locked the system in only 5 minutes. So, I'll take some pictures of the case tonight and tomorrow, I'll go to BB to see if they have an 2888 models for an exchange. If so, I'll post pictures of the differences.

 

The new serial has the raid function already so no upgrade is needed. The older serials (like mine) needed to update the bios in order to access the RAID function.

 

so whos gonna post the pictures of the 2888 behinds ?
rep promised (greedy buggers)

 

P2887 here and it works great. bought it the same day it came out. never had an issue with it

 

I still have not had one lockup.. I don't have the Crysis demo installed anymore.. and I never played the game. I may pick it up eventually, but I'm more interested in Fallout 3 and Farcry2.

 

not one lockup here either. I seriously took it out of the box and put on some crysis and it ran like a champ. Fallout 3 looks great! I cant wait!

 

I think more of us need to speak up about not having problems. I bought mine on day 1 and have had no problems at all. I love mine.

 

No problems here to speak of .

 

Mind if I quickly chime in, on my experiences with the notebook for over a month?

Pros:
-High end graphics card, great CPU
-4GB DDR3 RAM, fast 200GB 7,200 RPM HDD
-Gorgeous WUXGA screen
High performance for price basically, etc. . .

Cons:
-Light bleed (not bad I can live with it)
-Overheated to above 92*C
-Personally colors don't match
-WoW froze multiple times within 30 minutes
-USB BSoD's
-Sizzling power brick (literally! )

Solution to overheating and freezing:

1. Purchased Targus 180W AC adapter (solved sizzling issue).
2. Went from 64bit Vista to 32bit.
3. Uninstall Logitech mouse drivers.
4. use a wallet to lift the back of the notebook to allow better airflow, games max out at 78*C now.

Obviously these cons weren't extremely severe. It took some time to solve all of them, and I did. For the price though, I don't know how one can complain. I purchased mine for the full retail price, ~$1450. Even with the $200 off, I can't be mad, or won't have buyer's remorse.

I find some of your Cons, picky, such as back lit keyboard. Even until now, only a select few notebooks have this feature. I find that the screen provides enough light to see the keys.

Overall, I find that we both have had the same issues, and have solved them differently. I like how you didn't return your's, like many other people did. Most of the problems took a little thinking, and some trial and error.

Let's hear some more thoughts!

 

I suspected my framerates were not as high as they should be. So, i took mine to Best Buy today and told them about the overheating and lockups, and they gave me the song and dance about "really no such thing as a cheap gaming laptop." and "these things are gonna run real hot when you game." So the Service manager loaded some benchmarks and a few minutes later, "huh this thing is slow". I suggested he change the power setting to performance, since he was running on the battery. He said it was on the "performance" power setting. At that point, he bent over backwards to find me a 7811 with a serial number that starts 2889, which should be at the store tomorrow afternoon. I took several pictures of the vents at the GPU and CPU fan inlets and exhaust. So we'll see how that compares to the hopefully newer one they have for me tomorrow. If there are any differences, I'll post pictures.

 

Yeah what's with the serial number please?

 

I keep hearing about these sizzling powerbricks.. Are you all serious? Mine's quiet and doesn't tend to get that hot.. Of course, it does rest next to a brick wall that's constantly cold.. Lol..

 

You fellas do realize that experiences will vary from user to user.