I need a new computer

My old Dell desktop works great for SL when it runs but it is way too big and ugly so I am looking at notebooks. Has anyone had any experience with this Gateway notebook..http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668158.php?

It looks good for $1500USD but I can't say that I am an expert in such matters.

As far as laptops go I guess it's right up there in quality and advertised performance (if you can't tell, I'm not a big laptop lover ). I did notice that the computer is maxed out with 4 gigs of RAM. Vista 64 is capable of up to 8 gigs.......so it's a motheboard limitation I would guess. At the moment, 4 gigs should be enough. But you are spending $1500 USD!!! The end of next year Microsoft is going to introduce a new operating system and will undoubtedly be totally 64 bit. That will put pressure on software developers to make more 64 bit programs.......and I can almost guarantee those programs will be very memory hungry. 4 gigs could very well not be enough in less than two years.

I would think about that $1500 myself.

http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=321

that computer has a 15.4 inch screen, 50 gigs more of hard disk space, and a 2mp webcam instead of a 1.3mp webcam (which doesnt mean jack if your actually streaming it across the web)

but i boosted it to a 2.8 ghz intel chip (at nearly 2x the frontside bus) and 4 gigs of FASTER ram

never mind it comes with a 9600M GT (and a free copy of halo 2 you could ebay)

and hit 1,509...

im a performance whore, this stomps gateways ass, but its got a slightly smaller screen

Ye gods! From what little bit I know about these things I agree with you. I will be looking into that notebook further. Thanks!

Hi Peggy. From what I can tell $1500 is a good cheap price for a notebook like that. Dell sells comparable ones for $3000.

I know they do...........but that does not make it cheap. A computer with an operatiing system pre installed that that handle up to 8 gigs of RAM with a motherboard that only handle up to 4 gigs? That was the basis for my comment.......that, alone, would put me off on that computer. But, that's me.

Plus, I'm not a laptop/notebook fan......so I'm bias. I could take that 1500 bucks and go online find the parts to put together a computer that would melt steel a half block away. It would not be a notebook.

I would love to have another desktop if they could lower the weight by 50 pounds and make it so the cables and wires don't immediatelly become a tangled mess. The last time my PC worked it melted steel not only in my house but 3 miles away but that was due to the video card failure I think.

I have enough messes in my life.

If my desktop was 50 lbs lighter I'd have to tether it to my desk. It only weighs about 20 lbs. But, I hear you on the cables.

ya, ive never weighed my desktop, but with its thin metal (cheap) case, and limited use of stuff (ie i dont have 3 cd roms and 6 hard drives in it) i bet it only weighs 20-25 lbs ... and 90% of that is the ginormous copper heatsinks i use, and the beefy power supply (i dont like small fans, loud)

also in regards to the max memory, i doubt its a motherboard limitation, almost every laptop made now only have 2 sockets for ram (back when they usually had X on the board and 1 socket yuck)

well looking at ddr2 ram they only make 2048mb (2gig) sticks, nothing bigger

so if windows 7 (or whatever) is really that much of a memory hog they will start making larger sticks

course if windows 7 is really going to be that big of a memory hog noone will use it, unless forced to ... 64 bit linux has been around long enough where theres a ton of software for it, i have all the supid pretty oooh ahhh "you can fade an image on a 200$ gpu" bullcrap and im not even using 200mb of my ram (also mac osX has been doing this for nearly 9 years on sub 200mhz cpu's and 64 bit gpu's)

so i always have to ask, WTF windows? it takes vista a gig to use the gpu and show a clock ... thats just bad, bloated, crap, and this next time is probally going to be the downhill of that phase, if its even worse

reason why vista is failing so bad is because "joe shopkeep" is not going to shell out hundreds of dollars on 8 gigs of ram and a geforce 8, just to print recipts from excel

Vista x64 is capable of addressing up to 128GB, but it is an artificial limitation.

A 32 bit version is planned.

Actually, as long as the GPU has dedicated video memory, desktop composition will work fine with 512MB system RAM. If you are using a built in graphics adapter (GMA 950, x3000, etc), then you need 1GB system RAM.

Having 8GB RAM is pretty nice, but it's certainly not required for ordinary office-type tasks.

Indeed, it's relatively easy to build a $350 computer that runs Vista very smoothly. You won't be playing SL on it, but it'll do office tasks, photo editing, some video editing, and 1080p video just fine.

Bottom line, Robot, is 64 bit operating systems are coming.........I say in 2010 (but I could be wrong) that will be the main thrust for every computer. It won't be for the real need since there is very little 64 bit software out there that the average computer user (read home users) can use. Microsoft started their push for 64 bit with XP. It didn't take off like expected. They pushed a little harder with Vista but Vista got off to such a poor start that didn't work either. I bet Microsoft doesn't make that mistake agian with Windows 7 (or Vienna or whatever you call it right at this moment). The largest software developer in the world can (and will) dictate what operating systems we will use.

All this crap about Vista 64 being able to address up to 128 gigs of memory has nothing to do with the fact that the OP is looking at a computer that has the operating system pre-intalled with an ADVERTISED ability to address 8 gigs of RAM, yet the computer can only accept 4 gigs. That, for whatever reason, was my point of saying what I said.

Let's not go round and round again.........please.

If you want a light computer without a mess of cables, perhaps an iMac?

64-bit systems are here now, and not just with early adopters. Take a look at the desktops (and quite a few of the laptops) in the big chain stores like Best Buy & Circuit City. A whole lot of them are coming with Vista x64 today. At the local Best Buy, most of the desktops have Vista x64.

4GB of memory will certainly work for you now, and probably well into the future. Part of getting a laptop is accepting some compromises. One of those is going to be limited expandability.

the 24" iMacs are sweet, yet kind of high priced for the actual specs... not over reasonable for the total package, but still kind of high...

If you really want a laptop, I'd buy a decent name branded one that has good support... Ive tried a few of the ultra cheap high specs laptops before that were some off brand weird name... and while you might get lucky with it, the 2 I've owned both went to crap, and the companies disappeared like within 6 months...

if it makes you feel better, battalion has been around for a few years, and from what ive heard, from other people that ive pointed its a pretty well built notebook

its not going to withstand a bullet, like some of the early imacs, but its not ubercrap like comp-usa branded notebooks (i had one of those and it was a challenge to keep together) most would say its average as notebooks go