Digital Trends

Gateway P-7801u FX Edition November 24th, 2008 | by Nick Mokey

Display

One of the main attractions for any desktop replacement comes in the form of screen real estate, which usually gets sacrificed to portability on smaller notebooks. The P-7801u boasts a whopping 17-inch display with the same 1080p resolution that usually gets stretched across 50-inch HDTVs. As a result, the dot pitch (a measure of how closely the pixels are packed together) is extremely high, reducing the look of pixilation and making images look exceptionally sharp and crisp. All that resolution also makes it possible to fit two pages comfortably alongside one another for multitasking.

Although the viewing angle on the display felt quite narrow and required us to look at it dead on to avoid distortion, the flexibility of the display hinges made this much less of an issue during normal use. Unlike the last Gateway notebook we looked at, which had the flexibility of a ninety-year-old man, the P-7801u can actually tilt past 180 degrees, making it supremely easy to adjust. Those hinges don't slip or wobble, either, which is a major plus.

Both plugged in and on battery power, the display managed to throw off a brilliant amount of light, and it was usable under a variety of lighting conditions. The gloss on the display, though, also catches reflections quite easily, which can be distracting under overhead lights, especially when the image on the monitor is dim. Overall, though, we found the notebook's display to be one of its main attractions, and a definite plus for multi-taskers.

Battery Life

In the wireless surfing test we use to simulate the type of battery life most people could expect to milk out of a notebook under common conditions, the P-Series FX delivered an impressive 3 hours and 20 minutes of surf time before petering out. Considering the sheer size of the display, and the potential power consumption of its discrete graphics card, that's actually a respectable number, and a usable window of time to get work done in the field.

Performance

Once in Windows, the P-7801u juggled multiple applications diligently, and handled the sort of media-intensive applications a smaller notebook might choke on, with ease. We did encounter the usual Vista woes, though, as some applications, like Adobe Audition CS3, refused to even open. Utilities like Pidgin, Skype and Firefox opened quickly, responded without delay, and generally showed off the system's capable hardware.

Though a boon for desktop applications, the notebook's enormous 1920 x 1200 display can be more of a liability in games, where driving it at full resolution strains the system to the very max. A run through Crysis at native resolution and most settings to high slowed the system to a chug, and we had to back off checkboxes to medium to really produce produce playable framerates. Dropping resolution to a lower level seemed to be the best way to maintain the game's high-end effects without sacrificing game play, but it won't look as clean as it would as a machine with a lower native resolution.

Fortunately, Crysis remains an exception to the norm in terms of system demands, and other games played at full resolution without issue. BioShock, for instance, delivered flawless, silky smooth frame rates, even with resolution at 1920 x 1200, and every setting cranked to high.

And though it will cause some games to stutter, the display also makes games look positively cinematic. One colleague actually mistook the beginning of Crysis for a scene from Snakes on a Plane, a credit to both the game and the notebook's full 1080p glory - when it can manage it.

Much like the MacBook Pro, the Gateway P-7801u throws its size around to offer impressive, room-filling volume, although it still suffers from the typical lack off bass associated with tiny notebook speakers. Music is listenable through the full volume range, though, and we would definitely call the sound better than average for a notebook.

As it aids the speakers, the notebook's sheer size seems to benefit its Wi-Fi reception by way of a longer internal antenna. Not only did it pull down unshakably strong signal from the close by networks we're used to, it also turned up faraway fringe networks that other laptops haven't even put on radar. 

Conclusion

Some irks concerning a somewhat cheap-looking exterior aside, Gatway's P-7801u makes a utilitarian machine for working, gaming, and handling all the same tasks a desktop would, on the go. For anyone considering a machine in this size range, it would be difficult to find a comparable notebook for the price.


Pros:

• Affordable price
• Good battery Life
• Hardware specs
• Performance
• 1080p display
• Wi-Fi reception


Cons:

• Size and weight
• Cheapish chassis
• Small touch pad