No Disassemble!
For those of you who like seeing the
innards of the various notebooks we review, the following might disappoint you
slightly. You see, we didn't really feel it was necessary to completely
disassemble the Gateway FX chassis. The reasoning behind this should be quite
obvious, however: there are two access panels on the bottom of the laptop,
which provide you the ability to upgrade all the critical components — including
the CPU!
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Normally, you need to go to great
lengths to access a notebook CPU socket. Generally speaking, you will need to
remove 15 to 20 screws from the top and bottom of the notebook, take off the
keyboard, and sometimes even remove the LCD panel. Only then can you gain
access to the CPU socket. On the Gateway FX, five small screws are all that
stand between you and a new CPU (not counting the six or so additional screws on the heatsink/heatpipe). It's almost as though Gateway is expecting
some users will want to upgrade the CPU, so they made it easier, or maybe they're just being nice to the assembly workers. Also under the
main panel are the SO-DIMM sockets and a couple of mini-PCI slots (one of which
is occupied by the wireless networking card).
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The second access panel hides the
two hard drive bays. On the lower-end models, only one of the hard drive bays
is occupied, but end-users could easily add a second hard drive should they so
desire. The hard drives are installed in metal trays that slide into the
chassis.
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JarredWalton - Sunday, March 30, 2008 - link
You'll need to connect an external LCD and run at 1280x1024 to get comparable 3DMark06 scores. Without an external LCD, 3DMark06 will drop the resolution to 1280x800. I'll test that right now to let you know how the system I received benchmarks.JarredWalton - Sunday, March 30, 2008 - link
FYI, here are my results for 3DMark06 at 1280x800 (the default using the laptops LCD):Overall Score: 7005
SM2.0 Score: 3282
SM3.0 Score: 3430
CPU Score: 1448
JarredWalton - Saturday, March 29, 2008 - link
Could be that Gateway is just going to upgrade the CPU for free. I'm sure the T5550 will improve performance slightly in some situations, but after all it's only a 10% CPU performance increase. I really wish you could customize the build a bit; I'd want a T8300 and the 1920x1200 LCD personally. That would probably increase the price to $1700-$1800, but that's still better than the alternatives and you wouldn't have to sacrifice in those areas. Although, I do wonder what type of LCD they use for the upgraded model... hopefully the same LG.Philips as the Clevo, as it's quite good.marsbound2024 - Friday, March 28, 2008 - link
I work at Best Buy and I am very sure that the batteries typically installed on our FXs do NOT jut out from the back. They absolutely are flush with the unit. However, I do believe it is a smaller mAh obviously. The last time I dealt with an FX at Geek Squad I absolutely do not remember a jutting battery pack. Not sure if others can speak to this or not, however.ap90033 - Sunday, March 30, 2008 - link
I dont work at best buy, but I HAVE ONE AND IT DOES STICK OUT. Silly head... I bet you work in Geek Squad. LOLmarsbound2024 - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
I do work in Geek Squad... not that I like it or even think it is true IT. I have bigger plans, but for now I'll take what job I can get at my age. I realize the jokes about Geek Squad, but I don't care. My intelligence is greater than what may typically be represented by GS Agents.Anyways, I verified for myself that the laptop's battery is flush. In fact, I will take a picture with a digital camera to prove it.
JarredWalton - Friday, March 28, 2008 - link
I'd love it if you could check on this. If the standard battery is 2600 mAh instead of 7800 mAh, you'd be looking at 1/3 the battery life that I got in testing. :|marsbound2024 - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
By the way, the Gateway FXs could have been upgraded, but I am sure our display remained the same as far as what battery it has.marsbound2024 - Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - link
I checked on this already and am 100% positive that what we have at Best Buy, at least on display, is a battery that is flush with the unit. I will take it out and tell you what mAh it is.JarredWalton - Friday, March 28, 2008 - link
Note that Gateway's website lists 2600 mAh for all the batteries on all the P-series FX notebooks, and obviously I received a 7800 mAh battery. Since they Gateway pictures show the battery poking out, and given the power requirements, I have to think they really are shipping larger batteries. The only 2600 mAh batteries I've seen are for 12" and smaller ultra-portables, which end up offering less than two hours battery life on those laptops. Who would want a 20 minute battery life on a larger notebook!?