Digital Trends

Gateway XHD3000

December 12th, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Setup and Use

Setting up the Gateway Extreme HD 30" monitor is pretty easy, but it takes a little muscle and coordination. It's a huge monitor, and though it doesn't weigh as much as one would expect, its size alone makes unboxing and setup a bit of an exercise.

When removing the monitor from its box, you'll notice that the base is permanently attached. It doesn't elevate up and down, but it does swing side to side and will angle forward and back for the best viewing angles. Remove the power brick, cables and any driver CDs.

Plug the power brick into a surge protected outlet and connect the adapter end into the monitor. The tip of the power adapter looks like a PS/2 computer port. Make sure nothing else gets shoved into that port as it could cause serious damage. Once the power is hooked up, the monitor will switch from off to a sleep mode. Pressing the little blue power button on the bottom right corner of the monitor turns the beast on and off.

Decide what devices you'll be connecting to the Gateway Extreme HD monitor. It can take up to six input devices at once - DVI or dual-DVI, HDMI, VGA, Component cables, Composite cables and S-Video. Most people will use dual-DVI for use with a well-equipped computer. In this scenario, plug the dual-DVI cable into the monitor and then into your video card. If your computer is on, the 30" LCD will almost instantly light up with your computer screen. Whether you're using Linux, XP, Vista, Tiger or Leopard, adjust the screen resolution to your preference.

When using the Gateway Extreme HD monitor with a dual-DVI cable and a video card that supports dual-DVI, one can set the screen res to two ideal settings - medium res (1920x1200) or full res (2560x1600). 2560x1600 renders a massive desktop, absolutely perfect for Final Cut and Photoshop. That screen res is mind-blowing and, if your eyes can handle the tiny icons, it'll have a dramatic effect on productivity. If you're wary of using 2560x1600, you can scale down a notch by using the next best resolution - 1920x1200.

If you're using the Extreme HD monitor with a standard DVI cable, a video card that doesn't handle dual-DVI or if you're using the ancient VGA interface, you'll only be able to squeeze 1920x1200 pixels out of this monitor. To be very frank, if you're going to invest $1300 USD on a 30" monitor that can support up to 1600p HD video, you shouldn't insult the hardware with old-school video cards and cables. Invest just a few more dollars on a proper video card and cable and your on-screen world will change.

If you're going to connect the Gateway Extreme HD monitor to an HD or Blu-Ray DVD player, a high-def camcorder, high-def gaming system or an Apple TV, use HDMI or Component video. To hook up other goodies like standard def camcorders, cable boxes, etc., use Composite or S-Video.

The Gateway Extreme HD monitor has a great 6-port USB 2.0 hub built in. This is handy for USB memory keys, printers and an endless list of possible device connections. We at Digital Trends appreciate Gateway including six ports instead of the boring 2 or 4 ports that other LCD monitors have.

There are plenty of inputs on the XHD3000

Picture in Picture

Using the Extreme HD monitor for a combination of live TV and computer work is possible through a great feature - PIP, or Picture in Picture. While Photoshopping your latest RAW images for example, you can select live TV from a cable box, DVD player or even an HD/Blu-Ray source and have it play in a corner window. The PIP can be used for non-computing sources as well - watch an HD movie on the main screen and have another cable TV show running in the PIP box. The only downside to using PIP when computing is that the PIP box renders that area useless for programs. The PIP window can't be quickly moved or minimized like a QuickTime or VLC window can.

To set up the PIP window, click the Menu button on the Extreme HD monitor's remote control and scroll one tab to the right. The PIP window can be moved to any corner of the screen and can be increased and decreased in size using the remote. In fact, a PIP window can be enlarged from about 3% of the screen to nearly 75% of the screen in just a few seconds.