Mobile Roundup: A Trio of Midrange Laptops
by Jarred Walton on September 17, 2008 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Gateway M-152XL - Features and Specifications
| Gateway M-152XL Specifications | |
| Processor | Core 2 Duo T8300 (2.40GHz 3MB 800FSB) |
| Chipset | Intel PM965 + ICH8-ME |
| Memory | 1x2048MB + 1x1024MB DDR2-667 |
| Graphics | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 512MB |
| Display | 15.4" WXGA (1280x800) Glossy Samsung LTN154AT-A01 |
| Hard Drive | 160GB 7200RPM (Seagate Momentus 7200.2 ST9160823AS) |
| Optical Drive | 8x DVDR SuperMulti Slot-load (TSSTcorp TS-T632A) |
| Networking | Integrated 10/100 Ethernet Intel 4965AGN WiFi Bluetooth v2.0 V.92 56K Modem |
| Audio | 2-Channel HD Audio (2.0 Speakers) |
| Battery | 9-Cell 58Whr |
| Front Side | Headphone/Mic Jacks |
| Left Side | HDMI Ethernet 2 x USB 2.0 Mini FireWire ExpressCard/54 5-in-1 Flash Reader (MS, MS Pro, MMC, SD, xD) WiFi On/Off switch Cooling Exhaust |
| Right Side | 1 x USB 2.0 Slot-load Optical Drive (DVDRW) |
| Back Side | VGA Power Connector 56K Modem Kensington Lock |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit |
| Dimensions | 14" x 10" x 1.1"-1.50" (WxDxH) |
| Weight | 6.29 lbs |
| Extras | Fingerprint scanner 1.3MP webcam |
| Warranty | 1-year standard |
| Price | Superceded by M-153XL available at TigerDirect.com for $1100. (M-153XL includes 2x2GB RAM, 200GB HDD, and 87Whr battery) |
The specifications of the M-152XL are pure run-of-the-mill midrange options for current notebooks. The most noteworthy feature is probably the inclusion of an HDMI port (along with the HD 2600 GPU and slot-load DVDR mentioned already). Not only are there very few standout features on the M-152XL, but there are also several areas where Gateway is clearly taking cost-cutting measures. For example, they only include a 10/100 Ethernet connection, and as we will see later the LCD panel is one of the worst laptop displays we've ever tested. Despite the lackluster features, the M-152XL does have one thing going for it: price.
We already mentioned that the M-152XL is no longer in production, but current prices on the replacement M-153XL start at just over $1000, or $1100 if you want to go with a well-known supplier like TigerDirect.com. As mentioned in the above table, the M-153XL upgrades the memory, hard drive, and battery relative to the M-152XL. With 4GB of memory, we're a little disappointed that Gateway didn't upgrade the operating system to a 64-bit OS, but we appreciate the other upgrades. The battery in particular is an important upgrade, boasting 50% more battery life than the default M-152XL battery.
If you like the design of the M-152XL but don't need as much performance, Gateway offers a large number of similar notebooks with Intel and AMD processors priced as low as $600. What's really great about budget notebooks these days is that most companies now recognize that having enough memory to run Windows Vista properly is extremely important. All of the current Gateway notebooks we looked at come with at least 2GB of memory, and more often 3GB or 4GB. Some of the other M-series models also ship with Vista 64-bit. If you don't demand maximum performance, battery life, or quality (the LCD is really quite poor), and more importantly if you don't want to break the bank, the M-152XL/M-153XL or other M-series notebooks might be exactly what you need. Just don't be surprised when you discover that the lower price comes with some drawbacks.
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Hrel - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
Midrange graphics are great! Why would you expect to run any game on a laptop at high or max detail settings? Why do you care about detail settings? It doesn't effect how fun the game is. On a laptop, as long as you can run modern games at min-med settings and get decent frames that's all I would ever want. If you want to max everything out use your desktop. However, I would like to see the ability to turn off the discrete card and use integrated graphics become standard. And, in general, laptops need much better LCD's and better battery life, HP has a 24hour notebook, meaning the battery lasts 24 hours, LED backlight, why aren't LED backlights standard place?????JarredWalton - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
The HP "24 hour" notebook includes an extra battery attachment that sits under the notebook and weighs several pounds if I'm not mistaken. If you buy any of these laptops and six to eight extra batteries, you could get 24 hours as well. :-) Yeah, that's sort of extreme, but so is a huge battery sitting under a small laptop.As for midrange graphics and gaming, let me reiterate: running at 1280x800 I couldn't break 20 FPS in Mass Effect or Crysis even at minimum detail, and GRID at medium-low detail was playable but looked like a four year old graphics engine. There are plenty of other games that start looking quite poor before you break 30 FPS. Graphics aren't everything, true, but they do make a difference. That's not to say you can't play any games on these midrange GPUs, but I would hate to give people the mistaken impression that midrange mobile GPUs run most games "fine" when that's simply not true.
Midrange mobile graphics *aren't* great, and in fact even the fastest mobile GPUs are slower than desktop "midrange" graphics: the 9600 GT costs under $100 and outperforms the 9800M GTS, and the ~$110 8800 GT 512MB is faster than any mobile GPU. (Same for the HD 4670 and even HD 3850.) If you want to play modern games on a notebook, get the Gateway P-7811 or some other more powerful (and larger) notebook. Otherwise, the vast majority of people will be better off with a midrange desktop for gaming and a true midrange solution.
strikeback03 - Friday, September 19, 2008 - link
For this very reason I'm wondering why you bothered running the full gaming tests on all of these. Wouldn't maybe a full test on one game plus minimum settings/resolution for the others be enough to offer a best case ceiling and say "See, don't look to play modern games on these"? Would save you significant time I'd imagine.JarredWalton - Friday, September 19, 2008 - link
It would save time, but it wouldn't provide a ready comparison to other mobile GPUs, which is one thing I wanted to do. (That's also why I tested the Gateway M-152XL at settings other than 1280x800, just to show how the GPU would run with a different LCD.) If you just want 3DMark scores, you can find that at some other places, but no one plays 3DMark for fun.Another problem: if you choose just one game, which one should you go with? Assassin's Creed DX9 is roughly half the speed of the faster 9800M GTS, and while that's a big difference you can easily turn down a few settings and get acceptable performance at 1280x800. On the other hand CoH is about 1/3 to 1/4 the performance of the same GPU. The best characterization of performance requires more testing, so some people would want scores for TF2, HL2, and a bunch of older games as well, but I had to draw the line somewhere.
At least now I can point to a (relatively large) battery of gaming tests and say, "This is why you shouldn't plan on using low or midrange laptop GPUs for gaming. It's not just one or two games that will struggle, but a large number of newer titles won't run well regardless of settings, and others will only run well when you set the detail levels to 'ugly'." :)
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
Edit: that last line is supposed to say "a true mobile solution".arjunp2085 - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
Why is that i have never seen a Single AMD based laptops on the list....780G is one great solution for graphics on laptops.. Y is there no article about PUMA????
Is it some BIAS??
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
I could forward the list of email messages requesting AMD laptops to you if you'd like. I specifically asked a couple of companies for one of the HD 3200 laptops, because I think it's a very compelling platform. Why haven't I received one yet? No idea... but I'll check back with the contacts and hopefully get one soon.Voldenuit - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
For $1100, you can buy a Thinkpad T400.I don't see how anyone would prefer an Acer, Gateway, or AVADirect at these pricepoints.
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
It all depends on what you're after, but Lenovo is certainly a viable option. The T400 is good, but you'll probably want to spend more than $1100. I'd get 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, LED backlighting, 6-cell battery, Vista Home Premium, DVDR, 802.11N WiFi, and Bluetooth. That puts the price at around $1450, which includes $450 savings (limited time offer) and only a 1-year warranty. Bump it up to 3-years and you're at $1550, which is actually still very good. Without the $500 savings it would be difficult to recommend that much, however.Voldenuit - Thursday, September 18, 2008 - link
You can easily configure a great T400 w/ 2 GB RAM, DVD-burner, discrete Radeon 3470, wireless-N (only $15 extra), LED screen (only $60 extra) and 6-cell battery (only $15 extra) for under $1200.