Ringing in at around $780, the Gateway M-7818u is tricky. It sure looks a lot like the Samsung X460, with its stylish red accents. But, the comparisons stop right there. Beyond a flashy coat, the M-7818u is a clunker.
The first thing to realize is that the M-7818u is a special configuration on the Gateway M-series made only for Office Max. Yep. Office Max. Friends, if you are going to Office Max to buy a computer. Well, you shouldn’t be.
Before anything else, this is a budget model notebook, and it shows with the specs. While the fairly standard Gateway configuration of nice components make up the heart of the machine — a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB of RAM — that’s about where the sexy stuff ends. In tests, Laptop Magazine found the M-7818u to be fast on boot and application launch, but molasses slow when it came to multi-tasking. And, for a everyday consumer’s home notebook, with internet browsing and music needed at the same time, multitasking is a necessity.
With the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD, don’t expect fast, current gameplay either. Sorry.
So, if it’s not good at multi-tasking or gameplay, why woulnd’t you just buy a netbook instead?
The Specs:
* Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5800
* Processor Speed: 2 GHz
* RAM: 4 GB
* Weight: 6.28 lbs.
* Display Size: 15.4″
* Graphics: Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
* Storage Capacity: 250 GB
* Networking Options: 802.11a/g/Draft-N
* Primary Optical Drive: 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD-RW
The first thing to realize is that the M-7818u is a special configuration on the Gateway M-series made only for Office Max. Yep. Office Max. Friends, if you are going to Office Max to buy a computer. Well, you shouldn’t be.
Before anything else, this is a budget model notebook, and it shows with the specs. While the fairly standard Gateway configuration of nice components make up the heart of the machine — a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4 GB of RAM — that’s about where the sexy stuff ends. In tests, Laptop Magazine found the M-7818u to be fast on boot and application launch, but molasses slow when it came to multi-tasking. And, for a everyday consumer’s home notebook, with internet browsing and music needed at the same time, multitasking is a necessity.
With the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD, don’t expect fast, current gameplay either. Sorry.
So, if it’s not good at multi-tasking or gameplay, why woulnd’t you just buy a netbook instead?
The Specs:
* Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5800
* Processor Speed: 2 GHz
* RAM: 4 GB
* Weight: 6.28 lbs.
* Display Size: 15.4″
* Graphics: Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
* Storage Capacity: 250 GB
* Networking Options: 802.11a/g/Draft-N
* Primary Optical Drive: 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD-RW
