Gateway M-6851 Notebook Reviews

Gateway M-6851 Reviews

Powerful machine on a budget, July 8, 2008

By David A. Smith -
Before I go any farther, I wanted to note that the price as it exists at the time I wrote Gateway M-6851 Notebook comment is about 20% higher than you should be paying, if you look around.

That said, Gateway M-6851 is a great laptop for the price. I am a software developer, and I've been using this machine for work, which means that I am always running all of the anti-virus stuff that is required for our corporate network, plus a big bloated Office suite with all of the collaboration tools, at least one or two running instances of heavy development software, and a web browser... at a minimum. This little laptop takes it all in stride. I demand quite a lot of it, so I can say with confidence that it should be more than adequate for almost everyone looking at it.

Gaming is also very doable, the with ATI Mobility Radeon HD2600 GPU (with 512MB of dedicated video ram). You may not be running the most cutting edge games which have come out over the last few months, but I was running Microsoft Flight Simulator X Deluxe DVD with fairly high settings a couple of nights ago, and I was getting good frame rates. (One related point: the GPU runs hot, and the hot air is blown off of the left side toward the front of the machine. This can actually be hot to the touch, and a bit disconcerting. It hasn't caused any trouble for me, though.)

It comes with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista pre-installed. You can replace this with the 32-bit version if you like. When I did this, the 32-bit drivers were not available for download, but I was able to install all of the drivers by having Windows search online for the drivers--it found them and installed them with no trouble. Of course, keep in mind that if you install the 32-bit version you won't get to take full advantage of the 4GB of RAM.

My only real complaint is petty. On the bottom row of keys on the far left, they have the Fn key and the Ctrl key swapped from where I would like them. I would prefer the Ctrl key to be the bottom-left-most key on the keyboard, but instead Fn is there and Ctrl is to Gateway M-6851 Notebook is right. This causes me to miss the Ctrl key pretty much every time I try to hit it with my left pinky. I have no idea why they designed it this way.

There is a trade off when you get this much power this cheap, of course. This laptop feels plastic-y and somewhat fragile, particularly the cd tray, which feels like it could snap off if it gets roughed up. You're saving a lot of money by buying this machine, so take $50-$75 of the money you saved and buy a nice, protective laptop bag. Just make sure you don't abuse the machine, and Gateway M-6851 Notebook will treat you well.

Caution: Vista 64-bit is INCOMPATIBLE with some software!, July 24, 2008

By Brazilian Jazzaholic! (CALIFORNIA) - This Gateway laptop is a pretty good computer, IF (and that's a big "if") you know what you're getting. A lot of listings and online ads (like Amazon's) just say that this system runs on Windows Vista 64-bit, without any explanation as to what that truly means.) Apparently, 32-bit is the Vista "Gold Standard," and, as a result, many programs and peripheral devices (printers, mp3 players, etc.) will NOT work with Vista 64-bit, but only with 32-bit systems. I only learned of this unfortunate bit of info when I opened the laptop box and found a "notice" inside saying that "some programs and devices" might not work on my computer. I suppose a 64-bit system might be fine if you're extremely tech savvy, and can design/hack a work-around. But it proved to be a "deal-breaker" for an average consumer like me. The final straw was when I found out that a key piece of software necessary for my job would not run on the 64-bit Vista laptop. So I exchanged this computer for a different laptop running Vista 32-bit. I sacrificed a little on RAM (3 gigs vs. 4 for the Gateway), and hard drive space (160GB vs. 250GB on the Gateway), but saved my self a ton of headaches in terms of non-working software and peripherals.

I'm not knocking this Gateway laptop model, but buyers should be aware of what they're purchasing. If you notice a laptop that seems to have a lot of "bang for the buck," like this one, be sure to ask a lot of questions, including whether it's a Vista 64-bit system. Then you can make an informed decision.

Dont buy this, July 21, 2008

By Malcolm Gill "philly" (usa) -
this is a great labtop but you can get it for half the price at gateway.com and get the warrenty. http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529598025.php

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Gateway M-6851 Notebook