will gateway upgrade the 7405gx soon?

I think I'm set on getting the Gateway 7405GX... but I'm wondering if I should wait a few more weeks till the new year and see if Gateway/Emachines puts out something a bit better. Would they downgrade the line (like putting a crappy video card, slower processer)? I don't need the notebook now, I can wait a few more weeks. Do you think it's better to just go for it now or wait and see?

 

The gateway site shows no AMD64 notebooks on sale right now. All of Gateway's noteoooks are P4/PM based now [:0]

I dont know what this means ( emachinesstill sells AMD64 lappies)but expect an overpriced 3400+ with a 128 mb dx9 ati graphics card (i reckon at $ 1699-1799)

 

Expect to pay $400-500 more for the new system when it comes out, I'd say get the 7405GX now if you are looking for a good value, it's really cheap. Besides Athlon 64 3200+ 2GHZ, you don't need anything faster than that... Only thing they could upgrade is the video card.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by cheddy

 

The 74xx series does not appear on Gateway's site at all, except for the support sections. It was a model exclusively sold at retail.

As far as a replacement goes, Best Buy either has already or will be getting the 7422GX in as a replacement for the 7405GX. The new model replaces the 64MB Radeon 9600 with a 64MB Radeon 9550 (supposedly an underclocked 9600), bumps the processor from the Athlon 64 3200+ to the Athlon 64 3400+ (not a big improvement), and either 1GB or 512MB of PC2700 DDR memory (the spec sheet itself lists both sizes, but in different sections of the document). The 7422 will sell at the same $1399 price as the 7405 it replaces, so cost isn't a big factor.

It looks like we may see the Athlon processors move to the Gateway brand, while the Celeron and Sempron processors are used in the eMachines units. I know they are planning to keep the two brands seperate (ala HP/Compaq), but beyond that is a bunch of unknowns.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Doug McCloud

 

Would it be better for gaming to have the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 and 512 mb ram or the ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 and 1 gb ram??? I have a defective Emachines m6811 and I can take it into Best Buy for a replacement. That is when I saw the Gateway 7422 GX notebook with the 9550 graphics card and the 1GB ram.

Thanks for any help.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by jepjep

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Would it be better for gaming to have the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 and 512 mb ram or the ATI Mobility Radeon 9550 and 1 gb ram??? <hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

It would depend on the specific game. Games that rely more on the videocard would benefit from the 9600 over the 9550. OTOH, if the game relies on the CPU more, then the 1GB would be the differencemaker.

 

I've been looking at the 7422GX at Bestbuy ($1250 with rebat) and it seems like a pretty good deal. There is info on the Gateway website but it's buried, see below. Im guessing the 7422 is a re-badged eMachines 78xx after they were purchased by Gateway


http://www.gateway.com/home/products/ret/ret_7422gx.shtml

 

The 9550 is actually faster than the 9600. It's replacing the 9600 to prolong ATI reaching 10000 with the Radeon series. According to their website, at least.

 

The 9550 is an underclocked 9600, not a faster version. If you check in Device manager, it lists the 9550 as a "9600/9700", the same listing as the 9600 in the 7405.