p-7801u soon to be at Best Buy

See this link at Gateway: http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668217.php

It appears to be the same specs as the model at Newegg. The price is quoted at $1,700.

It improves on the 7811 by including the 1 Gig 9800 GTS GPU.

On the other hand, it has a 320 Gig, 5,400 RPM drive instead of the 200 Gig, 7,200 RPM drive. I prefer the extra speed over the increased storage.

Since the list price has jumpped from $1,450 to $1,700, the system is less of a bargain, but with a decent sale, it will still be attractive since it should drop back to around the original $1,450 price.

With any luck, this also means continued BIOS and driver development for us 7811 owners.

Ira

 

The 320GB 5400RPM Drives are just as fast as 200GB 7200RPM Drives. Dunno why, ask it in the Hardware section.

This looks like a Gateway branded Packard Bell iPower GX.

 

Well, this makes me a bit more comfortable should mine decide to just up and die one day.

We've known this for a while. The difference is ours won't take a quad.

 

Just a quick note the P-7811's have been reported as selling at around $879.00. So the P-7801u's are TWICE as much, and all that's different is 512mb extra GPU cache, and 120GB more HDD space and less RPMs. It's my personal opinion that anyone who can get their hands on a 7811 would be INSANE to get the P-7801u instead... The 512mb extra cache has been argued as making little difference, and if you really want more space, you can get the P-7811 and 5 or 6 external hard drives or two huge internal hard drives for the same price as the P-7801u. Or you can buy the P-7811 and a flatscreen, or a dozen different accessories such as notebook cooler, case, etc, or pick up a 7811 and x9100 cpu and still have money left over instead of paying $1,700. Gentleman the market for this new laptop is those who don't know about the P-7811.

EDIT: I feel obliged to point out that the P-7801u does have an HDMI 1.3 port, whereas the 7811 has a 1.2 port. Still not even close to being worth the price difference though..

 

7801u has a 7200RPM HD....

 

we're talking about the one from best buy.... not newegg

but its a good point to bring up that the best buy version is NOT the same specs, although it is listed as being $50 cheaper than the Newegg one, while it has a less rpm HDD. that's another thing to consider, but who knows how the price will compare after tax

 

Where did you get that information? My understanding is that the 6831FX was HDMI version v1.2 but the 7811 is v1.3

reference link:
http://www.slashgear.com/gateway-p-6831fx-gaming-laptop-review-1810786/

However with the introduction of the 7811FX they upgraded the HDMI as part of the video upgrade to v1.3

reference link:
http://www.techpowerup.com/index.php?68484

So in essence you do not gain any HDMI upgrade with the 7801u over the 7811 as they both are HDMI v1.3 compliant.

 

Yes, one would be crazy to pay $1700 for a 7801u when one could get a 7811 for $879. However, Each individual BestBuy store sets their own clearance price. Many stores still have it marked over $1K, and many other store no longer have one in stock. If you find one some place other than Best Buy, it is technically used or refurbished. And ebay is not my preferred source for high-dollar electronics...

I agree that the 7811fx is a better deal, IF YOU CAN FIND ONE. The reviews on the newegg 7801u are mixed. Some seem to be rock solid and some seem to have problems. I hope along with slightly "upgraded" specs, Gateway has fixed one or two flaws in the new model that is rumored to be sold through Best Buy. Maybe BigHops can tell us if he's seen it in the BB database. (The Nikon D90 SKU showed up in the BB database over a month before Nikon announced it.)

 

I got the information from owning one.. lol. Try these links:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=322503
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=303228
http://www.elitezoom.com/gateway-p-7811-fx-gaming-laptop.html
http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-6000-view-Gateway-P-7811-FX.html
http://www.gadgetreview.com/2008/08/gateway-p-7811-fx-gaming-laptop-gets-official.html
http://www.cheaplaptops.org.uk/20080804/gateway-p-7811-gaming-laptop-available-14th-august/
http://gadgetinn.blogspot.com/2008/08/gateway-p-7811-fx-gaming-laptop-coming.html

etc, theres so many links, prob 95% of them correctly say it's 1.2 not 1.3. But believe me, I wish it was 1.3

EDIT: incase you were wondering, Gateway lied here: http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/2008/GodzillaFX/1015641R/1015641Rsp2.shtml

 

Gateway P-7801u FX Edition, so its getting the 'FX' branding again.

 

only gateway would remove something from the normal version and then call it the FX edition lol

 

Well given so much mis-information I don't think then one can honestly say for certain outside of a best "guess" which it really is ala 1.2 or 1.3.

Still not sure even by the posts as its still just speculation. Take the first one the guy goes off about not being 1.3 but then backtracks and says he may need to actually confirm if it is 1.3 or not so we will wait for his/her findings.

Is there a way to verify this once and for all via something like the computer device manager or something?

EDIT** Another thing, based on the contention that certian reviewers or even Gateway has incorrectly identified the version of HDMI in the 7811 FX as being 1.2 or 1.3 how then could we say that the new FX will in fact actually be 1.3?

 

Well the main difference is that 1.3 supports larger bandwidths, and I've never seen anyone get the 7811 to support a larger bandwidth, in fact, all posts on the subject say that the 7811 has not successfully supported larger bandwidths. You're right though that that's not enough to confirm the version, but I guess I'll try giving gateway a call right now to figure this out.

EDIT: Gateway rep from escalated problem support just told me that the internal documents for the 7811 confirm that it is actually HDMI 1.3... looks like you were right warhammer, guess the problem is that people just don't know they also need an hdmi 1.3 compliant cable, and an hdmi 1.3 compliant device to connect to

 

Even if the 7811 is still $1350, all the "improvements" are not worth $350. I guess the best bang for your buck laptop would be the Asus with the 9800M GS.

 

WOW..not worth that!

 

Did you guys notice the resolution also?

"Get a full HD work and entertainment space with the 17" 1440 X 900 WXGA widescreen display..."

Ouch.

 

Spec page still lists a 1920x1200 "Ultrabright" display. But yes, I see where it says it. It also mentions on that page that the video memory is 512MB, when the side and the spec page lists the 1GB.

If anything, it proves Gateway needs to proof their copy better.

 

Exactly. I've seen new, opened box 7811s going for around $950 in my area. A friend of mine bought his, sealed, in Concord, CA last week for $1000 from someone. At that price, the 7801u just ain't work it. Find a 7811, and spend the extra $300-$700 on a Blu-Ray drive, larger/2nd hard drive, or both.

 

I bet it will be $1400 again. Why screw around with a formula that works?

 

hope ur right but gateway has been known to be a silly goose

 

Do it has weight lower than 7811fx? I see at gateway sites it's 8.39 pounds but 7811 is 9.2.

 

It will be the same weight as the 7811.. the only differences are gpu cache and hdd space... and I'm pretty sure the HDD's weigh about the same

 

Thanks for doing the leg work.