The official P-7811FX lounge

did you try contacting gateway about this ?
under device manager / storage controllers / silicon image controller
is it there ?

 

The silicon Image controller is for the eSata port on both the 7811fx and the older 68XX series. So that is not what we are looking for.
What we want to see is "intel raid controller"
I did not contact gateway about it yet.
On the older FX model, if you went to put a second drive in you would get the 3rd IDE option in the bios to change it to (RAID)....otherwise you would just get IDE and AHCI as options.
Well, no matter what two drives i put in the new 7811fx only get two options in the bios for IDE config....IDE or AHCI..... NO RAID

 

thanx for clearing this up, havent used the esata port yet.
i wonder if they took it out physically or just removed the bios feature out of sheer idiotism.

 

This is just IMHO, but maybe you could try going without RAID for a bit... have Windows on one drive and your games, other files on another... you may find it faster than RAID

 

Nah...I am a raid-0 fanatic....partly for speed....but mostly for the fact that i can have a smaller boot partition (30-40 gig) for windows, then just a big data partition

 

Well, if you are going to keep that laptop... you may not have a choice lol

 

Note the "speed" of the RAID0 array is mostly mitigated due to general usage of a personal computer/gaming rig.

When the data you are reading is not much larger than the stripes you are gathering it from, the actual performance gain isn't so much and overhead generally eats a good portion of what you do gain.

RAID0 helps a lot with large files, but isn't much use with the smaller ones the games generally use.
Yes, some games use larger file transfers and these do indeed see nice gains, but RAID0 is FAR from a necessity IMHO. Indeed, its almost a "turbo-button" as having it on a gaming machine is not what the technology is designed for.
(almost because it does actually help a little)

Honestly, in most games you will probably gain more performance from the swap drive being on another spindle than from RAID0. Note you would gain this performance where it counts (in the heat of battle) instead of between cutscenes.

 

So if i did a two drive NON raid setup...would you recommend having the swap file not only on a different spindle (hard drive)...but should i have the games/game data installed on the system drive or on the same drive as the swap?

 

so... for those who already have it... hows the heat handling of this notebook?

 

How's the viewing angle of the screen?

 

Raid 0 helps tremendously with vista load times, that alone is worth having the array. Everything just feels faster

 

Viewing angles are VERY good...
Overall the WUXGA screen on this unit is pretty good.
It is an AU Optronics B170UW01 V0
Very good colors...sharp and little - no light leakage.
Only small complaint about the screen is that it has a very little bit of the "dithering/Sparkle" effect that is most apparents on WHITES (makes them look a little grey sometimes).

 

did you try digital vibrance ?
nvidia control panel / display / adjust desktop color settings
its the second slider

does wonders

 

I want to buy this so bad, but my gf strongly SUGGESTs me not to buy it and save money for future.

 

Why? (Sorry if you already posted the reason elsewhere)

 

Thats what women do... they kill the child in all of us.

 

Dude, take the collar off.

 

If you have the money to get it, it can be useful to you and you want it, then I'd advise ignoring the gf and doing what you want. You can start following orders once you get married...

No doubt. My wife tried to make me feel bad when I wanted to buy my 6860. I told her I was getting it and that it would cost about the same as her daily $4 coffees over about 2 years.

We always have to take the significant other's feelings and thoughts into consideration, right before we go ahead and do what we wanted in the first place.

 

HaHa! Priceless!

 

lol, and it lasts you longer than her coffees do too

 

Why do girls always want the most expensive thing on the menu?

Back on topic a bit, its now for sale at a store near me!!! Near being 60 miles out of my way...

 

How'd you find this out? The store locator only shows the 5 stores closest to me. All unavailable, I'm trying to figure out where it's available closest

 

You need to employ the 48 hour rule.
http://www.am1500.com/gl/lexicon.shtml

 

TY...

Yep, pretty much my feeling on the issue. Yes, I didn't really need the laptop, but I do find it useful. We were leaving on vacation when I bought it and I was able to keep my son busy playing games when he was bored, plus I was able to keep up with my email, forum threads, tech news, etc. while we were gone. Now I'm getting games setup on it so it can be a backup system at my monthly LAN parties. Not to mention I like sitting on the couch, half watching TV while surfing forums...

 

Oh heck, I use that one all the time...lol!

Didn't apply in this case, nor did it apply when I bought my 50" LED DLP TV, but it works great for CPU, video card and RAM upgrades...

 

from that same site and sort of on topic:

"Three Prices You Pay Syndrome
1 - The price you paid for the item.
2 - The price you tell her you paid for the item.
3 - The price you pay when she finds out the price you paid."

 

Well, one of the reason why she strongly SUGGESTS me not to get it is because my M1710 with 7950 GTX fills my needs already, and the fact that she feels she wants to get married sooner.

 

Humor credit given.

 

I've just been making sure to check the store finder every once in a while. It's still just the one out of 6.... I'm hoping they all are lit by Sunday when I buy.

 

which area r u searching for in the states?

 

We just posted our review here:

Gateway P-7811FX

 

till she pours a cup on it...

 

I just checked availability in my home town this morning and thankfully the bestbuy right in our town (Elmira, NY) had it in stock. I ordered it online for instore pickup and my dad picked it up an hour later. I was getting worried of whether or not my parents would actually be able to get their hands on one before my mother flew out here to visit me (St. Kitts, West Indies).

Happy to be the owner of a P-7811fx

But sad that I still wont be able to have it for another four days

Good luck everyone with snagging your own this weekend. I suggest just keep checking Bestbuy for instore pickup availability and then just ordering it right then and there for pickup.

 

I was searching in virginia. If you search near Roanoke, Virginia there's one place that has it west of there.

 

Inspires confidence right off the get go ...

I know you can read, but is this the experience of other owners?

 

copy that. no luck in texas yet. NY has got loads!

 

that's just the default thing that shows up when our shopping engine doesn't have any pricing information yet.

 

Dang, someone reads my posts ... who knew. Thanks for the info. both here and Computer Shopper. It appears an honest, well done review.

 

Very interesting info on the real value of RAID ). I was headed that direction as soon as I got my new machine (I also do video editing as well as gaming) but a second drive as the swap providing as good or better performance is interesting. Anyone else have a thought or better yet hard data. I guess all standardized HD tests force the drives to just crunch large files (benefiting RAID 0) so real world twin spindle setups in gaming mode are hard to come by.

GOTTA GO< BB MGR JUST CALLED MY 7811 IS OFF THE TRUCK AND WAITING...

 

What future? The world is going to hell in a handbasket. Can't you tell from reading this forum?

Just ask Dook...

....your girlfriend tells you what to do with your money...? hmm never considered that level of control from a non wife entitiy...

err... need more info....what does she look like?

 

now available 30 minutes from me (new york)

 

I guess I can understand that. Of course, you could always sell the M1710 to offset some of the cost and get the best of both worlds...

Definitely, I almost fell out of my chair at work laughing over that. Too true sometimes...

Did you guys also review the 6860? Hmmmm... now I have to search your site.

And on topic, good luck to everyone trying to get a 7811!

 

Poor review. It's entirely subjective...

 

the Eagle has landed...in Houston

 

Seriously? I can't find it anywhere? LINKS!

 

Please tell me the notebook sucks and break very easily. And it's not that much better than 7950 gtx.

btw, the 9800 gts is the lowest 9800m model, that's one reason i use to hold myself.

 

I'm looking to get a Gaming laptop when my financial aid comes in next week-I'm kinda stuck between this one and the Toshiba X305.

I did read maybe one other review (maybe two), and neither of those contained any complaints about the fans-although when I go to Best Buy tomorrow I might check it out and if there's a display model that's turned on I might attempt to take a listen or something (might be hard to do in a Best Buy store, though).

My concerns about this Vs. X305:

-How upgradeable is it? I've heard that Gateways tend to have upgradable CPUs, but not GPUs, is this particular model an exception? I've also heard you can add a second hard drive, how simple would this be to do? Also, out of curiosity what exactly is the advantage of having two small hard drives Vs. one with as much memory as the two combined? I can't think of anything besides perhaps organization.

-The sound system does not look to be as impressive as the X305, although granted I intend to hook it up to my Stereo system with an 1/8" to RCA adapter-but even still my current stereo has only two speakers.

-Of course there's the issue of the fans-on my desktop I tend to phase out the computer's white noises, but would this one be so invariable as to be potentially distracting?

-I've also got a "Too good to be true" worry of sorts. My worries about the X305 have been somewhat more alleviated because it's been out for awhile and on the Best Buy website it has gotten mostly positive reviews. Thankfully, I've got about a week to learn more about the pros and cons of both laptops before making a final decision.

Also, another question-would the laptop be good for watching DVDs and such when connected to an HDTV screen via the HDMI port? I'm planning on getting a 26" 720p screen so I can play games on the laptop just like I would a console game, and possibly watch DVDs with improved picture. Would the laptop up-convert the DVD, or do DVDs actually run at 720p (I know that 1080p is blu-ray resolution, but I'm not planning on getting a player for that until I can one afford an entertainment system capable of taking full advantage of the improved sound and picture, and/or two they start including remarkably impressive new kinds of extra features on Blu Ray movies).

Anyway, sorry for all the questions, concerns and such-I'm just trying to make an informed decision in buying my very first laptop.

 

I wouldn't say entirely. There are a few numbers in there, frame rates and such. Maybe a tad shallow but there were a few specifics of interest.

Wow it's like watching election results.
3 of 6 locations now report in stock. A short time ago it was one.

 

What are you talking about? 9800m GTS surpasses the 8800m GTX performance wise. The 9800m GT only gives a few fps extra and is a bit better when it handles DX10. The major difference is price since the 9800m GT is usually a couple of hundred dollars more.

This laptop is the best gaming solution for someone on a tight budget.

No, they didn't provide any tests or screenshots. This is a gaming notebook, not a casual notebook to be glanced at and simply say, "Oh, it's fast... but it's okay." You need to test it as a gaming notebook and that is why this review fails.

@DJGamer
You need to consider what you want for a notebook. If you just want portability and battery life, this is not the laptop to buy. If you do plan on buying a desktop alternative and don't even plan on moving this laptop 85% of the time, then this is the best gaming solution for a person in the sub $2000 range. There are many users, if you read the other threads, that have traded in their Toshiba for this Gateway because it performs better gaming wise and has a very good build (despite screen flex if you try to open it with one hand).
The Gateway's resolution is 1080p and has a HDMI 1.3 port therefore it can easily support your 26'' HDTV (you need to downscale though...).

 

Well considering the fact that an 1080p HDTV costs twice as much as the model I'm looking @: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8632964&type=product&id=1194052042561

& The Cheapest HDTV by the same brand: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8719078&type=product&id=1201306784758

On the subject of knowing what I'm looking for, well obviously since I'm looking at this and the Toshiba X305 it should be obvious I'm looking for a powerful gaming laptop that's basically a desktop replacer. I want a computer that I can easily use in my own room without having to go to the den because it's the only place I can fit the set up.

Right now my desktop is an alright set up with a Samsung - 19" Widescreen Flat-Panel LCD HD SyncMaster 920NW Monitor (also 720p), a 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT card, a 2.0 GHz AMD Athlon 64 x2 4400+ CPU and about 1.5 GB of RAM. So I guess I should say I'm used to a 720p picture, and may trade in for a 1080p when I'm ready to jump to Blu Ray.

Would the downscaling be automatic or would I have to tweak some settings before hooking everything up?

Also, I've heard that this laptop would be superior to my desktop in most respects (aside from the hard drive not having as much storage). So, even if it isn't upgradeable it should probably be able to play all games created so far this year and a good deal into next year.

I'm also looking forward to the releases of Fallout 3 and the PC version of GTA IV.

Oh, and finally battery life is not much of an issue, I would use it occasionally for taking notes in class, doing research and such (which shouldn't be as large a drain on the battery). It also seems this might have more life than Toshiba's model (although I have yet to find a professional review of the thing where they do thorough testing-I've heard it lasts for like one hour or so, whereas the Gateway lasts about 2-3 depending on what it's being used for). I'd take it with me on vacations and possibly some trips to visit family out of town, as long as I'd ultimately have access to a power outlet at the destination.