Gateway M680XL Review

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The Review

Recieved my m680XL (2.13 P-M, 1GB DDR2, 6800 go, 60GB 7200RPM HD) earlier this week, and decided I’d just throw some initial observations out, both good and bad. I always like to hear good news before bad news, so that’s the order i’ll put this in.
Good Things
- The ultrabrite 1680×1050 screen is incredible. Beautiful colors, wide viewing angle, very little motion blur, even in gaming. Yes the reflective nature takes getting used to, but after a few days I don’t even notice it.

- Gaming performance is above and beyond what I expected. The 6800 Go came clocked at 350/700, i have it at 426/807 and it has lots left, but I like the compromise between heat level and performance. I’m running Far Cry at 1680×1050 with 8xAF and getting totally fluid gameplay. Dungeon Siege 2 at 1680×1050 with 4xAA and 8xAF, no hiccups whatsoever.

- Overall system performance is likewise amazing. General Windows use seems almost as fast as my desktop (AMD FX-55). The 7200RPM hard drive makes a big difference here certainly, as does the 1GB of ram.

- The keyboard is very nice, I love the layout and the number pad. The arrow keys take getting used to, but in general, this is a part I have no complaints with.

- Overall, the fit and finish seems very good, there is very little flex anywhere, and nothing seems flimsy or cheap.

- The computer, as a whole, is gorgeous. It looks like a sports car next to my friends Dell 9200. Its thin, but not so thin that it feels flimsy, and the blue lighting on the power button and status lights looks very nice.

Now the Problems
- The fan is on, all the time, it stays on low speed as long as I’m not doing anything intensive, but it isn’t particularly quiet. I know I probably should have expected this with the processor and graphics system this computer has, but it is still somewhat dissapointing.

- As a whole, it runs very hot compared to my buddy’s Dell 9200. Sitting here right now, his is at 29 degrees Celsius, mine is at 46. Using the same program (CHC) for monitoring, both at max battery power settings. My processor is undervolted pretty significantly(.764V for lowest multiplier) and his is at stock voltage. (I know there can be some variance between temp readings, and he has a 1.6 P-M and a mobile radeon 9700, which obviously has a lot less heat output) But his fan isn’t even running, whereas both of mine are chugging away. I’ve heard applying AS5 to my various heatsinks might help, but I haven’t read any good instructions and i’m hesitant to start randomly poking around in a computer that cost this much.

- Battery life is pretty underwhelming. The extended battery (12 cell) gives me a little over 4 hours of Windows usage. Again, I know my choice of video card plays alot into this, but its still somewhat dissapointing. Speaking of which, the auto underclocking doesn’t seem to work right. When i set max power savings, and monitor the clocks with RivaTuner, they are all over the place, at once point it said it was running 800/12, which obviously can’t be right, so I hope that’s a problem with rivatuner, not with the card or the drivers.

- There was a lot of crap preinstalled all over the place. 2 Antivirus suites?? I mean I know pre-built computers come with a lot of junk these days, but this was pretty ridiculous. Then again, I just set up a new Dell 6000 for my girlfriends dad, and it was about the same, so i guess its just the norm.

Overall
- I feel like i made a good choice. On AC power, it is an incredible performer, and the price was decent for what I got. The only thing comparable would be the new XPS Gen II, which is even hotter and has even shorter battery life.

- It is a beatiful, fast computer, and I would recommend it to anyone looking in this class. Be aware that it is large and somewhat heavy, but very reasonable for a 17″ widescreen with the equipment that it has.

On another note, if anyone has any suggestions on the issues I mentioned, please post here. Thanks for reading.