Gateway P-7808u Laptop

PC World - Gateway's return to tech prominence is largely due to a series of incredibly cheap gaming laptops sold directly through Best Buy. In fact, one of the earliest models, the P-6831FX (and later the P-172X FX), offered so much bang for the buck that it was nearly impossible to find in stores. Gateway has since expanded sales through other online retailers, with slightly adjusted configurations of the same laptop; and the P-7808u now takes its place at the head of the class.

While the P-7808u's sticker price ($1800 as of April 13, 2009) isn't eye-catchingly low, it looks a lot better when you consider what you get under the hood: a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Quad processor, 4GB of speedy 1066MHz RAM, a 500GB hard-disk drive, and an nVidia GeForce 9800M graphics system with a full 1GB of RAM. You won't find many comparable 17-inch desktop replacements for the price.

Strangely, the P-7808u's WorldBench 6 score of 92 put it at the low end of the performance spectrum (by comparison, the Gateway P-7811FX, which costs significantly less, received a mark of 90). In our battery drain tests, the P-7808u ran for 3 hours, 20 minutes. This desktop replacement's greatest strength was its handling of games, as evidenced by its impressive frame rates on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (60 frames per second) and Unreal Tournament III (67 fps) at 1024-by-768-pixel resolution.

Though most of the internal components are cutting-edge, the screen appears to have been a compromise choice. On desktop replacements, it's not uncommon to see screens with resolutions of 1680 by 1050 pixels or even 1920 by 1200 pixels; the P-7808u's screen has a native resolution of just 1440 by 900 pixels. Text looks crisp and legible, but the lack of screen real estate is a bit disappointing. The general quality of the screen is a bit above average, with slightly muted colors, relatively poor black levels, and a shallow vertical viewing angle.Still, unless you're doing color-critical work, it's far from a deal-breaker.

Otherwise, the P-7808u leaves little to complain about. The solid black-and-copper body, while clearly crafted with gamers in mind, is subtle enough to fit in comfortably in more-subdued settings, and the wide assortment of ports should accommodate all but the most specialized of requirements. Connection options include three USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA port, a four-pin FireWire port, an ExpressCard 54 slot, gigabit ethernet and modem jacks, a VGA port, and an HDMI output. Among the other features are a five-in-one card reader, a 1.3-megapixel Webcam with built-in microphone, a physical wireless on/off switch, and external microphone/headphone inputs and outputs.