Whats the Difference?

Hi, I’m going off to college next year and I’m looking to buy my first laptop. I have around $1000 + or - $300. I saw in a best buy catalog an ad for a Gateway MX6455 notebook. I was intrigued by this notebook and by its looks. I've been reading on this forum and other places that there are many different models. Could you shed some light on the differences between like the 6450, 6455, and some I heard rumors about an Intel based laptop? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hi there Andrew
The 6455 is the updated version of the 6450, meaning that it will have one (or more) improvement(s) over the 6450. I believe this difference is the harddrive capacity. If I recall correctly, the 6450 had a 100gb harddrive. The newer 6455 has a 120gb harddrive. I can't tell you an accurate speed of the harddrive, because Gateway is often giving certain models faster harddrives. It's really a gamble if you want a faster harddrive .
Anyways, as I understand it, with a new model out, retail stores can not charge full price for the older version. If you feel that the extra 20gb compensates for the price difference, go for it by all means.
Good luck with college

 

One of the best things to do might be to print out the specs on each computer and just look at what the differences are. Gateways website should have this for you on their support page under "specifications".

 

well, i only see the 6455 in best buy, is there another store that might carry both?

 

Here are the specs:

6450:

Feature Description
Processor AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology ML-37
Operates at 2.0 GHz | 1 MB L2 Cache
Chipset ATI™ Radeon® Xpress 200M Chipset
Screen 15.4-inch Widescreen Ultrabright TFT WXGA
Memory 1024 MB DDR (2x 512 MB) SODIMM (PC2700) Expandable to 2 GB
Video Integrated Radeon® X300 based graphics
Up to 64MB shared video memory
Audio AC '97 2.3 Compliant Audio
Built-in Speakers
Hard Drive 100 GB HDD (4200 RPM)
Optical Drive DVD+/-RW Multi-Format Double Layer (up to 8.5 GB)
Write maximum: 8X DVD+/-R, 4X DVD+/-RW, 2.4X DVD+R DL, 24X CD-R and 10X CD-RW disk
Read maximum: 24X CD-ROM, 8X DVD-ROM, 8X DL/+RW disks
Media Reader 4-in-1 Digital Media Manager
Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick-Pro, and MMC
Modem 56K ITU V.92 ready Fax/Modem (RJ-11 port)
Network 10/100 Mbps Ethernet LAN
802.11g integrated wireless (up to 54Mbps)
SecureEasySetup™, 125 High Speed Mode, BroadRange™ Technology
Interfaces 4 - USB 2.0 Ports
1 - VGA External Connector
1 - IEEE 1394 port
1 - RJ11
1 - RJ45
Microphone In
Headphone / Audio Out

Pointing Device Touchpad with Vertical Scroll Zone
PCMCIA 1 - Type I or Type II; Card Bus
Battery 8-cell Lithium-ion
Dimensions 1.40-inches H x 14.09-inches W x 10.39-inches D
Weight 6.44 pounds


6455:

Processor AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology ML-37
Operates at 2.0 GHz | 1 MB L2 Cache
HyperTransport™ technology at up to 1600 MHz)
Screen 15.4-inch Widescreen Ultrabright WXGA TFT
Chipset ATI Radeon® Xpress 200M Chipset (RS482M)
Memory 1024 MB (2 × 512 MB) (PC2700) DDR SODIMM
Expandable to 2 GB
Video Integrated Radeon® X300 based graphics
Up to 64 MB shared video memory
Audio AC '97 2.3 Compliant Audio
Built-in speakers
Hard Drive 120-GB hard drive (4200 RPM)
Optical Drive DVD+/-RW Multi-Format Double Layer (up to 8.5 GB)
Write maximum: 8X DVD +/-R, 6X DVD-RW, 8X DVD+RW, 2X DVD-R DL, 2.4X DVD+R DL, 24X CD-R and 16X CD-RW
Read maximum: 8X DVD-R/RW/ROM, 4X DVD+/-R DL, RAM, 24X CD-R/RW/ROM discs

Media Reader 4-in-1 Digital Media Manager
Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick-Pro, and MMC
Modem 56K ITU V.92 ready Fax/Modem
Network 10/100 Mbps built-in Ethernet
802.11g Wireless LAN (up to 54 Mbps)
SecureEasySetup™, 125 High Speed Mode, BroadRange™ Technology
Interfaces 4 - USB 2.0 Ports
1 - VGA External Connector
1 - IEEE 1394 port
1 - RJ11
1 - RJ45
Microphone In
Headphone / Audio Out

Pointing Device Touchpad with Vertical Scroll Zone
PCMCIA 1 - Type I or Type II; Card Bus
Battery 8-cell Lithium-ion
Dimensions 1.31 to 1.40-inches H x 14.09-inches W x 10.39-inches D
Weight 6.28 pounds (2.92 kg)



If you go to Gateway's retail products store locator I did not see the 6450 listed. Maybe it is not available anymore for retail or perhaps the 6455 has replaced it. But yeah, like Hellmans said, it doesn't really look like too much more of a difference except for the hard drive.