Thoughts on Gateway FX Gaming Laptops

[KASCOM]

I can only echo the above, ASUS are a superb brand with rock solid reliability , is recertified like refurbished then ?

 

[MindoverMaster]

Yes, they mean the same thing, they are factory repairs.

 

[acerinpa]

I was always taught to stay away from Recerts/refurbs. Am I wrong or are you just looking for trouble.

 

[MindoverMaster]

You save a lot with recertified, but the warranty is shorter. It is a good working machine.

 

[Skiller.]

I am not pushed away by re-certified laptops. It could have just been a return because somebody did not like it. Also, maybe it wasn't fast enough for what they needed it for. Another possibility is that it was defective. Even if that was the case, they can't sell it without fixing the problem.

I ended up buying the laptop for $650. The CPU is good enough and the GTX 260M outperforms the GTS 360M. For the price, I couldn't resist. Even my current CPU (Dual Core T4400) scores a 5.5 in Windows.

Thanks for the recommendations...if money was no issue, I would buy the top of the line ASUS G Series laptop

 

[MindoverMaster]

No, a return is Open-Box, which I do not trust. Re-certified is defective hardware factory repaired. Just FYI.

 

[PP Mguire]

I am not pushed away by re-certified laptops. It could have just been a return because somebody did not like it. Also, maybe it wasn't fast enough for what they needed it for. Another possibility is that it was defective. Even if that was the case, they can't sell it without fixing the problem.

I ended up buying the laptop for $650. The CPU is good enough and the GTX 260M outperforms the GTS 360M. For the price, I couldn't resist. Even my current CPU (Dual Core T4400) scores a 5.5 in Windows.

Thanks for the recommendations...if money was no issue, I would buy the top of the line ASUS G Series laptop

True as that may be, your missing a few key points. A 260m will be bottlenecked just like my 9800m (equivalent to 9600GT desktop) is with a p8400. With a lower res and better CPU the i5 would rip through CPU intensive apps including games and make up for the slight lack of GPU power compared to the 260m. Not to mention DDR3 vs DDR2, future upgradability with core i CPUs (i5 to i7, as opposed to C2D to C2D) ect ect.

BUT as long as your happy with your purchase, all that matters.

 

[Skiller.]

I didn't even know laptops were upgradable to tell you the truth (apart from ram because I didn't upgrade the ram in one of my laptops). If I did want to upgrade this machine, would I just upgrade the CPU to a faster C2D?

 

[MindoverMaster]

IMO, the upgrades you can do are very minimal.

 

[PP Mguire]

I didn't even know laptops were upgradable to tell you the truth (apart from ram because I didn't upgrade the ram in one of my laptops). If I did want to upgrade this machine, would I just upgrade the CPU to a faster C2D?

You can, but all your doing is upping the clock speed and or bus speed. The laptop i was referring to is an i5 which is a significant boost in performance CPU wide due to the new architecture and turbo boost.

And as i put in the other guys thread, you can upgrade any piece of a laptop CPU, GPU, RAM, HDD. With the GPU it has to be MXM type interface and NOT an IGP. Lots of research needs to be done on upgrading a GPU or CPU in a laptop but its pretty straight forward like PC upgrading. The hard part is just getting the laptop open without breaking anything. (Not that hard if you have lots of patience and take your time.....unlike me lol)

For instance i plan on putting a QX9300 and 460m in my laptop to make it last longer instead of simply buying a new one. P45M chipset hampers all overclocking on any laptop that uses it unless you have an extreme CPU.