T-1616 User Group

Does this laptop (T-1620) support component video(YPbPr) or TV out directly through the VGA port?

 

VGA yes, it has a vga out. Component, no, it has HDMI output, which is all you need IMO.

I know they have dvi to component converter, don't know if they have that for hdmi. Or you can be silly and buy the hdmi to dvi , and that dvi to component. You'll have so much attachments.

First you buy this, HDMI to DVI:



Then you buy this, DVI to component

 

I should have. Works best on a nice, smooth table. It was shooting them out about three inches and then they would have enough force to slide quite a distance. I had no idea a slot-load ejected that fast.

 

can some one post pictures of the GATEWAY T1616 please. im dieing to see it since im getting one but i wont get it until april so thats why i want some one to take the front back side to side top and bottom please

 

Best Buy has it (exclusively?)



Can anyone pleeeeease tell me how to change my video memory from 256mb to 128mb? I can't find it when I go into BIOS.

Thanks!

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...-1616&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1188559985378

It's currently at a good price as you see on bestbuy's site. Just hope its the same or cheaper come april.

 

Yes, well maybe not exclusive to bestbuy, but from Gateway's site, these laptops are exclusive to retail stores. So maybe other big computer/electronic stores carry it. But from my browsing, only Bestbuy has carried the ones with hdmi (t-1616/t-1620 and the core 2 duo variants).

You don't need any help because you are already in the area where you change it.. The bios. It should say something like video memory, or allocated video, can't remember top of my head, but its right there as soon as you get into the bios. The thing that says 256mb by default, you should be able to change it and you will see the only other setting is 128mb. Perhaps someone who remembers exactly can inform us. It was the first thing I did as soon as I took the laptop out of the box and turned it on, even before I let it boot to vista for the first time.

 

Hey guys, I just updated the sound driver for the ATI HDMI audio out feature.

It used the Realtek driver from here:

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...=24&Level=4&Conn=3&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

Before that, it was using the driver included from the ATI catalyst package.

This is how the sound properties in control panel looked with the ATI catalyst package:



now this is how it is after with the Realtek drivers



I don't know whats better because I don't have an hdmi receiver. But with the drivers in the ati package, you could click the configure button and you see only 2 speaker setup, which I found odd, being spdif.

Now with the realtek drivers as you see in the pic, it actually identifies it as ATI HDMI audio, and the configure button is no longer accessible, and looks like it detects if hdmi connector is plugged in.

Just thought I'd post my findings, might be useful for some.

 

the laptop is already bought soo the 599 miss me. it was bought at the 7xx price

 

If you bought it from Best Buy, there's a 14 day price match guarantee...

 

the best buy pics arent exact. like the top cover its clear metal silver also the screen is glossy and the palm rests are also metal silver.

i always thought 599 was just right. 799 for an AMD and 1gb ram is pretty expensive.

@ nerdninja, slot loading is sexy its just as powerful as the tray system. if the tray didnt have some rubber band holding it in place it would fly off too. ive seen it happen to an old desktop cd drive. the rubber band came off and the tray went flying out. =/

 

Hmmmm.... I may need to modify an old tray loading cd rom system. May be a good prank, too. :wink:

 

Thanks for info. Do you know what's the easiest way to connect this laptop to a regular tv?

 

Also my t-1620 is suppose to have 2gb of ram, why does the system say it only has 1662 mb?

 

About the ram, please read this entire thread, it will tell you why system ram only shows that amount.

As for how to connect to a regular TV, to be honest, this tv is a dream for those with HDTVs. Most of us here got it for the HDMI output and spdif connection.

Connecting this to a "regular" tv is the last thing on my mind. There is NO s-video output. This might not have been the right choice if you were looking to connect it that way. If you have an hdtv with dvi or hdmi, its easy--just get the proper cable. Same goes with VGA. But if you are looking to connect it to an svideo input, I really don't know.

 

The reported ram is b/c your vidoe card is sharing the ram with your computer. You can turn the ram usage down to 128mb in the Bios so your total will be like 1875 mb free.


So, I bought a 1620 at Best buy, but returned it after reading about how horrendous the build quality/customer support was. Bought a core 2 duo 14.1 inch Vostro for 599 at Dell. I really miss how sleek the gateway looked though.

My question is, how long has your battery life been btw?

With Vista Service Pack 1 Beta installed, I'm getting aroudn 2 hour 50 min, listening to music and browsing web. How about you Gateway owners?

 

Are you crazy? You went with the massively bulky vostro 1400 over this gateway. thats nuts! The gateway T-series has good build quality. lol. You have seriously been misinformed! I hope you'll like the vostro as it has the exact same screen in it with poor vertical viewing angle, No HDMI, and very bulky laptop. Im sure the speakers are better but just looking at the vostro is just like eating a stale plain doughnut...

Gateway RMA is probably the best Ive seen also.

 

So you chose to return it based on what you read? Did you let yourself have a say in the decision? Did you personally have a problem with the unit when you owned it? I have read nothing but positive comments regarding customer support and build quality--at least in pertaining to this specific model. I myself am satisfied with the laptop.

The thing is, for this price, I believe it is the cheapest that has HDMI and spdif output. For some, such as myself, that was the most important decision in purchasing this laptop.

All other laptops I've seen at this price range do not have HDMI. $599, for 14.1 turion x2, 2gb ram and massive 250hdd, and the mentioned hdmi/spdif output, that was very hard to beat. And believe me I have been looking.

As for the battery issue, I have never tested how long it would last, never had to actually, but I'm sure someone can chime in on the subject.

 

just a quick question. i purchased the t-1620 at best buy on black friday. does anyone know if this laptop has the silver or gloss black palm rests? haven't opened it yet. and i'm not about to pay best buy's 15% restocking. i'm still comparing this with others. thank you in advance!

 

Can this laptop be in any way connected to a non-hd tv?

It only has a vga port, is there a vga port to regular tv cable around? I haven't seen one.

 

Yes there are VGA to S-video converters all over the place. Dont get just the cable. You need the entire converter box. They cost around $40.

 

Basically, I debated whether ot keep the Gateway or not for days. I already spent 12 hours at BB on black friday, but I spent another 5-6 at a Dell retailer in the mall and at the local BB comparing the Inspiron 1420 and the Gateway.

The dell is built MUCH nice than the Gateway. There's no way to get around it. The gateway was cool, but that RAZr looking media section, u push on it and it flexes a lot. I would have loved the core 2 duo version of the T-series, but it was around $800. Recently, they had a open box demo of the c2d gateway for only $600, but the mouse pad area...those little white dots were RUBBING OFF with my finger tip. I wasn't even trying very hard. The laptop just seemed flimsy.

And yes, there is a thread several pages long about Gateway customer support. I also read they were goign out of business, but I think Acer bought them?

$600 is substantial dough. This Gateway laptop seemed VERY cool, but I think the Dell is going to be more reliable in the long run.

The Vertical screen viewing on the Dell is not as good, but I"m getting C2D, and much sturdier build quality. I also don't need HDMI. For those reasons I bought the Vostro. Also, the Vostro seems lame looking in pictures, but I'm really digging it now. Very clean and purposeful looking.

Anyhow, that's just my story. I still want to compare to how you guys are doing on battery life. I was getting aroudn 2h 45m b4 SP1 was installed.

Thanks.

PS. I could not find much information on the T-series on the gateway website. I had trouble finding out if I could even buy an extended battery for the 1620. All were pretty scary, that's another reason why I passed.

 

And BTW, I'm not retarded. I know how to type and write properly, but as it's 3 AM, and I'm sure you can understand what I'm trying to say. No need to expand more, I don't think.

 

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4102

I can't really comment on the build of the gateway myself, as I use it right now, I am pressing on the media buttons, and the overall build seems solid. The flex of the media buttons don't seem present on my unit, the only thing that flexes are the actual buttons when I press them down--but I think they wouldnt be buttons if they didn't flex down As far as the little white dots on the touchpad. Mine are still present, but this was not a demo unit.

As far as finding info on gateway's site. It was no problem finding..

http://www.gateway.com/retail/notebooks.php
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/2007/Triton/1014881R/1014881Rnv.shtml

As far as finding extra batterys, and more specific an extended one such as a 9 cell, again wasn't too difficult to find, in their store..

http://www.gateway.com/accessories/category/316803.php?seg=hm

So are you trying to find more reasons to justify your return on the gateway and picking the dell? You seem to have already stated your reasons. I hope the information above helped.

I assume with most Gateway t-series owners, if this laptop did not have HDMI, I bet more than half of us would not have picked it up. And the dell not having that, let alone a spdif output it seems, just seems like any ordinary laptop. And if an ordinary laptop (without hdmi and spdif) is what we were looking to purchase, there would be many other options. To me personally, the only other laptops I would have considered would be those with HDMI and spdif output, and as you know is quite rare still And others that had it were up in the $1000 price tag. To some it up, I needed HDMI, and again most other T-series users probably did as well. If you didn't, perhaps you should be considering what non-hdmi laptops you passed up.

I do like the higher resolution of the upgraded screen on the Dell.

 

try playing halo 2 on HDMI output with this laptop baby! 1 word WOOOOOT!

from 14'1 to 42'+ muhahaha this freaking rocks! id take a screenshot but it wont do justice.

@ ihatericers

looks like you already made ur decision yet u put down the 1620. i dunno as much as i like dell. i own a 1400 latitude then an 8200 inspiron back then and they still work fine, so kudos to dell on that. but the 1420 had an ugly build for me. ive seen it,most of it is plastic, no real metal finish, like the gateway the brushed metal around the keyboard+media keys look awesome. the slot loading dvd. im bored with trays. the fan on the left side s as quiet as ever.

and its sooo cheap compared to all the other options out there with HDMI output and digital sound output. for a slotloading 14'1 160gb u cannot find a better deal than this gateway 1600 series.

i get 2hours 30mins on powersaver just browsing and stuff.

 

I'm not so much putting the gateway down as I am justifying my reasons to rebutt a few posts that were aimed at me.

Interesting about the HDMI info. I guess it makes sense that many users here bought the T-series based on that info.

When I was looking for into on black friday, I couldn't find the T-series on their main webpage. I found it later, but it just screamed "lack of support!" to me.

The Dell is pretty big. I took it to class for the first time today and it seems even larger than the older Compaq V2000z circa '05 that I replaced with the Dell. However, the case is reinforced with a "magnesium alloy" and you can tell by the stiffness of the entire structure. The Inspiron models seemed to lack this, but I'm assuming they must be a bit lighter too.

For those reading this thread, trying to figure out which laptops to buy, also consider the Acer Extenza 4xxx that they have for sale at BB for $550 right now. Core Duo, 2 gigs, large hdd and a 14.1 inch screen like my Vostro 1400 and the ex-gateway t-1616/t-1620/t-c2d version.

What is Spdif? What do you guys use the HDMI port for? Just for watching movies on a large screen?

 

i use it for browsing gaming and movies. attaching a wireless dongle through the uisb for the mouse and keyboard this laptop is pure multimedia through the HDMI output it looks awesome 1080 on a 42'' screen. and thje webcam is fine for random pictures with your friends.

i take this to school with me and use it for presetations and stuff although the laptop has prblems connecting with older projectors compared to new ones. ive tested on 3 different projectors.

its of lighter weight compared to my clasmates laptops, the fact tht the exhaust is on the left means i dont have to prop it up anywhere except for space on the side.

the laptop is compact packed tightly and neatly, feels solid and sturdy, kudos to gateway on the build quality, and totally doesnt feel plastic or cheap.
ive gotten my hands n the inspiron, feels plastic and bulky to me, even the vostro, did u get it with the webcam?

 

OK. Turn your computer on. When you see the initial Gateway screen, press F2 until you see a message in the bottom left that tells you to wait a moment...

Once you are into the BIOS/Setup --> go one "tab" to the right, is says "advanced". The first option is "UMA Frame Buffer". This is set to Auto. Highlight the entry and press enter. A menu will pop up with three options: 128MB 256MB and AUTO. Set this to 128MB then save and exit.

 

UPDATE: I received this ram in the mail today, installed alongside one of the 512MB modules and I am happy to say it's working perfectly! BIOS and Vista detect it properly, so I now have 2.5GB of RAM. I also ran Memtest86+ for a full pass with no errors.

So if ya'll are looking for a compatible 2GB stick, this will do the trick.

 

Those of you that have reinstalled Vista - listen up!
I had a hard time getting the driver for the wireless card installed. The driver that is on the drivers disc I burned DID NOT WORK. It installs the program but windows still sees the wireless card as an unknown device. I connected to the internet via the 10/100 NIC and had vista search for a driver online, which it luckily found and installed. So, this is one option, BUT the driver that it finds I had issues with coming out of sleep mode. Basically after waking the machine I would have to disable and enable the wireless card to get it to reconnect.

The wireless card is identified as Realtek RTL8187B. I went to realtek's site and found a more recent driver than Vista found. Installed this driver and have no problems since! The driver version and date are: 6.1089/5.1097 2007/8/15
and this is the page I got it from:
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...n=5&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false&Downloads=true
You have to scroll to the bottom for the RTL8187B driver.

Hope this helps anyone that has problems with their wireless not working!

Cheers!

 

congrats unatomer!

btw when you set up the ram on the video it doenst really take 256 more like 386 ^^ coz ive got two gig thats suippose to say 2048mb but instead is 1662mb.

 

lool. BAD move! By adding that single 2gb stick you LOST dual channel memory mode.

Bad move. You should have just added two 1gb sticks....live and learn I guess...

Note to everyone else. DONT use a single 2gb stick. Buy either two 1gb sticks of two 2gb stick if you want to upgrade. You will lose dual channel mode any other way.

 

You may be right about losing dual channel, but it's still much better than 1GB by far (especially at $30 for the single 2GB stick after rebate...it was a limited time offer @ newegg). I'm not sure if I would say BAD move (in caps) since I can still add another stick later. However, your point is noted - people should take this into account, however it would be interesting to see benchmarks between dual and single channel. I have two 1GB ddr2-667 chips in my iMac. Perhaps I could pull them out and do benchmarking on the Gateway to see if it has any effect.

Tom

 

If you dont play video games then you'll be OK.

 

lokster, I have a 2.0 megapixel web cam on my Vostro.

The Vostro is more bulky and heavy, no doubt. I really don't think it feels anything like the Inspiron though. Same mouse buttons (which aren't that great when compared to the rest of the notebook) , but sealed keyboard with very good feel when compared to my old Compaq. Dell was claiming they tested their Vostro line 13,000 hours or something like that when they were developing. They have extra sturdy hinges on the LCD too. The Vostro is bigger and heavier, but FOR ME, it's very justifiable. If I had more money to throw around and could afford to try out notebooks as a hobby, I would have picked up the Gateway. That slot loading drive is P.I.M.P.!

But then, I realized it wouldn't have even come on my 1620 I bought, only the 1616 (

What is your Vista experience score? Could you tell me the subscore numbers too?

 

lol sorry i thought you got an inspiron. anyways the vostro is nice. if u like bigger and heavier laptop sure go for it. to each his own i guess. true that the slot loading is only on the 1616. and as for the WEI i learnt that you can actually edit the score yourself recently lol. whats your laptop specs? i think i lose out coz im amd and intergrated graphics. you paid how much for the vostro?


@ unatommer i think dual channel is much better allowing for more flow of ram than single channel. onion reminded me

@ onion howd u get banned?

 

Here is a screen shot of the system properties and vista scores..

:tongue:

Notice my window ultimate install was from Dell OEM.

2nd screen cap showing it is indeed a gateway.. hdmi, x1270 ati card, and spdif output settings, on a dell.. dont think so.

 

o.o wow ultimate dell! 9.9 score! awesome! xD

 

Please, help me. I have no idea how to fix the mistake I made with my T-1616.
It all started when I realized that my laptop had become infected with the Google redirect virus. I downloaded some anti-virus software, but none of them eliminated the virus. So, I saved all of my important documents to a disk, and just rebooted (I think it's called rebooting? or system restore?) the entire system, using the reboot disc that had come with the laptop.
So the computer was up and running soon enough, but for some reason I don't have any wireless anymore. I took it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy, the place where I'd bought it. They looked at it and told me that I needed to find some free software online that could re-awaken the wireless function on the T-1616, because it had somehow gotten switched off during the reboot. Does anybody know where I might find that kind of free software???? Please help me.

 

I do but I have a gaming rig for that. (Core2 e6600 @ 3.0GHz, 3.0GB DDR2-800[2x1GB, 2x512MB], ATI 2900XT, 2x74GB WD Raptors...)

The t-1616 is mostly for my wife to surf the web and do photo editing w/ Photoshop elements. (oh and she plays solitaire too, but I don't think that's the kind of gaming you're talking about..)

 

You're probably just missing the driver for the wireless card. (driver = software that lets windows talk to the wireless card). You could try downloading the driver from gateway.com's support page -however this did not work for me. Look for my post a page or two back about the wireless card driver. Download that driver, then you'll need to tell windows to install it. Vista should already be asking to install it. Otherwise you'll need to go into device manager (to get there click the start menu, RIGHT CLICK on Computer --> click "manage." "device manager" will be in the list that comes up. You need to find the wireless card, but it probably won't say what the device actually is (if you have more than one unknown device, you will have to guess.) I think if you right click on the device there should be an option to install the driver. If you download the driver I recommended, during driver installation you will probably need to point the installation to the vista x32 folder inside the folder you downloaded.

Otherwise you can call gateway support and i'm sure they will help you with this. You can also chat with them online, i've done this before and they were helpful on clearing up some questions. Best of luck!

Oh, and watch where you go on the web! Use Mozilla Firefox as your browser and use antivirus software! I use Avast! Home edition, it's free and works well.

 

can some one tell me the announce date. Is it 2007 btw is it possible to run gta san andrews on it or vice city and Microsoft flight simulator MFS

 

Thank you so much for the guide to switch my RAM in BIOS, I can already tell a difference!

 

Yeah, I know the video score won't be good on the Gateway b/c of the integrated graphics, but thats why I was interested in the sub levels.

I paid $599, plus tax. Shipping was free. As you can see, for me, these laptops were very comparable and I had to sit on it for a long time.

This is for 1.4 Ghz C2D processor, 800 FSB, 2mg cache. Came with 2 gigs of ram, seperate graphics card, but only a 120gb hdd. I didn't think the size of the hdd would matter for my usage, but with media direct (which uses embedded XP!) and Vista, I only had 80 gb in the end to use!!

O, the worst part is, my Dell came with Vista Basic. I didn't do my research and didn't realize Basic was all 3D. It was only a $29 upgrade, so +1 to the Gateway for the larger HD, Vista Premium, Slot loading drive (if it lasts that is), HDMI, and doesn't weigh a ton.

Dell has a larger battery, C2D, decent graphics card, better build quality (I think) and that's about it. There are other reasons, but this is a Gateway thread, so I'm not going to go into all of the specs.



Anyhow, my scores are (from top to bottom):
CPU 4.6, Ram 4.8, Graphics 3.7 (used to be 3.6 b4 I updated the video driver), Gaming graphics 4.6, HD transfer rate of 5.0

My overall is 3.7, due to the graphics card. What are your scores?

Also, how do you install a Dell OEM version for Premium?

I really want to install Premium on my laptop. What would be the cheapest way to do this?

 

i got the ram today and the 2gb and 1gb work. as for the speeds mentioned, i never notice it on my t-1620

i recently updated my wireless network card and gateway has like 6 kinds of drivers. i dl the wrong one and it messed up my network. i tried a few others until i finally got it to work. my question is there a way to check which kind of network card u have? whether its 801.11 a/b/g cause i somehome feel i got a slower version as suppose to one i had before.

 

Nice work on the RAM.

I believe these laptops come with 802.11g (54mbps) cards that are backwards compatible with 802.11b (11mbps) - 802.11a is really a mostly dead standard, especially in the consumer world. The newest standard/upcoming standard is 802.11n, which most people don't have yet (which also requires an n router).
You could use a utility to check the transfer speed rate. I've never tried to do it myself, but I suppose you could take one computer on the wired connection of your router and copy a 100MB file over the wireless to your laptop and see how long it takes then do the math for your speed. Or look for a utility on google. Maybe someone else has a better idea.

As far as the wireless card, look in device manager under network devices - it should tell you the make and model of the card. One of my prev. posts a page or two back describes how to get into device manager (or see google).

 

Hi,

How do you install a Dell OEM version for Premium?

I really want to install Premium on my laptop. What would be the cheapest way to do this?

 

i think you have to buy one from dell. sorry.

unatommer the most common as of now is g or b WIFI, n is still starting.

@ ricers i get a 3.0 aw home premium looks way cool especially with the aero works alright with 2gb.

 

this is the RAM for the laptop, works really good on my t1616.... this all the bloatware removed and RAM installed it is atleast 75% faster from startup too getting on the internet.

ouch, looks like the price went back up to 799, im glad i picked this up... but even at 799 its a pretty good deal for sure.

i love this laptop, i got a microsoft wireless mouse also.

 

sorry forgot to post the link for the correct RAM for this laptop, only 45 shipped http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211194