Gateway M680XL Reviews
The Gateway M680XL laptop is released under the Workstation Power Series from Gateway. From the Gateway Website: “The NEW M680 Series boasts an impressive 17″ widescreen display and powerful graphics. Add to that Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology and a full-size keyboard and numeric key pad, and the result is our most advanced notebook yet.” Well, Gateway makes several significant improvements with the new M680XL laptop. It’s thinner and lighter than most systems with a 17-inch widescreen, and it has the best battery life in its class.
M680 XL Specifications:
Specifications:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home (SP2)
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 770 (2.13GHz, 533MHz FSB, 2MB L2 cache)3
1024MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-512MB modules)
100GB 5400rpm Ultra ATA hard drive4
Integrated 4-in-1 card reader
Integrated 8x Multi-Format Double Layer DVD Writer (DVD±R/±RW/CD-RW)
Notebook Value Service Plan — 1 year part/labor/no on-site/1 year technical support5
One type II PC card slot
(4) USB 2.0, VGA, TV Out, S-Video, IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
17″ WSXGA+ TFT Active Matrix (1680 x 1050 max. resolution)
nVidia GeForce Ge6800 256MB Graphics
Full-sized keyboard w/ integrated 10-key pad and EZ Pad® Pointing Device
Integrated sound and stereo speakers, headphone/speaker jack, and mic jacks
Primary 8-cell Lithium ion battery with AC pack and 1 yr. limited battery warranty
Integrated V.90 56K Modem
Integrated Broadcom® 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter
Integrated 802.11b/g wireless networking card
There are some reviews about this laptop from Gateway, let’s take them one by one…
One review comes from PC Mag. The conclusion: ‘Multimedia notebooks are often bulky, but there are signs that these powerhouses are going on a diet. One illustration of this new trend is the Gateway M680XL ($2,899.99 direct as tested). Though still somewhat large, the M680XL is noticeably thinner and lighter than its predecessor, the Gateway M675XL. We wish, however, that this multimedia portable would pack on a few more pounds in the features area. Then we’d be completely sold.’
Another review of the Gateway M680XL comes from CNET Reviews. The rating is “good” and it states: ‘The flexible M680XL walks the line between weekday and weekend, offering processing power that tears through productivity work, along with graphics performance on a par with that of gaming laptops. To top it all off, its bright, wide screen makes both work and play easier on the eyes. Remarkably, its price is $500 less than the business-focused Dell Latitude D810 and a full $800 less than high-performance entertainment systems such as the Sony VAIO VGN-A690. Though it lacks the security features that corporate buyers demand and the multimedia features, such as TV tuner and digital video recorder, that many home buyers love, the Gateway M680XL successfully balances the needs of power users in both corporate and home settings.’
The good:Excellent performance; top-speed components; sharp screen and graphics.
The bad:Expensive; no multimedia extras, such as a TV tuner and digital video recorder; lacks security measures often found in corporate laptops.
They recommend it for businesspeople who need top performance and a large screen to get their job done at the office or occasionally on the road.
In the end:
With high-end performance and graphics, the Gateway M680XL laptop is a power user’s dream come true, but it lacks both the security that businesses demand and the multimedia goodies home users want.
PC World has also a review of Gateway M680XL laptop : ‘The Gateway M680XL’s black-and-silver case is handsome, with a bright blue, backlit power button and status lights, a touchpad with a dedicated vertical scroll zone, and stylized mouse buttons. Number crunchers will like the separate numerical keypad of this laptop. The M680XL offers user-upgradable RAM and storage and is well documented in a nice printed manual. But in keeping with its frills-are-bad-for-you vibe, the M680XL’s stereo sound is lackluster, and there are no one-press hot buttons of any kind–not for video, music, or even business applications. The M680XL has its good points, but being fun is not one of them.’
