Digital Trends

Gateway M675CS December 8th, 2003 | by Doug MacLean

Included Software

The basic model of this notebook comes with a good selection of pre-loaded software. It includes Microsoft Works version 7.0, a trial copy of Norton Internet security and for you DVD collectors out there, the very popular WinDVD. For use with DVD-ROM content they also include InterActual .One great touch is the inclusion of PC-Doctor, a program that completely scans your machine for problems and fixes whatever it can. There is a driver update program that connects to the Gateway FTP site and makes sure you have the latest drivers. Use this one with caution, if everything is working don't mess with it. For your multimedia needs there is Real, Quick Time, Windows Media player and MusicMatch jukebox. Another potentially dangerous program is WinPhlash, a program that can backup and update your BIOS. Only use this if you are told to by a certified technician. The unit also comes with the basic version of the Roxio CD burning software. Typically, most of the software provides links to purchase the full release versions. Financial tracking is provided by the basic version of Quicken 2004 and Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 comes pre-installed.

CPU:

The standard CS model comes with a Pentium 4 2.8 GHz CPU. This CPU employs Intel's Hyper Threading technology, which greatly improves the ability to multitask two high demand programs. You can also order the CS with either the 3.0 GHz (add $130) or the 3.2GHz (add $330) processors should you need even more computing power.

Graphics Card:

Included in this model is the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 8X AGP with 64M of dedicated graphics RAM. This is a state of the art graphics processor that will handle almost any task you put to it. Considering the constraints of size, power consumption and heat generation inherent in such a chip the design team for this chip knew what they where doing. This card is fully compliant with the Direct X 9 specifications with quad rendering engines, dual vertex engines, 16 textures per pixel and 12 shade ops per clock tick. These are impressive sounding specifications but even more impressive to actual see. With the larger 17.1” screen you can opt for 128MB of dedicated video RAM. This is really only needed if you are planning on using the system for a lot of graphic intensive games. The Radeon 9600 is a good card, but business users may want a more business-oriented graphics processor such as the FireGL AutoCAD.

Networking:

The CS includes two integrated network solutions. First there is an Ethernet 10/100/1000 gigabit port. This provides a means to attach your DSL or cable modem as well as hooking up to a home network. For those that require a bit more freedom there is also an 802.11g wireless networking port. Unlike the previous standard, the 802.11b, the ‘g' version is fully compliant with the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption standard. The ‘b' version is considered far too easy to hack but the ‘g' uses Wi-Fi Protected Access for encryption and runs at speeds up to 54 million bits per second. For those that still use dial up service providers there is also an Integrated V.92 56K Modem.

Hard Drive:

The CS comes standard with a 40G hard drive but for an additional $80 you can move up to a 60G drive. The controller card uses Ultra DMA utilizing PIO mode 4 with 100 MB/s maximum data transfer rate. The Ultra DMA, which supports burst mode data transfer rates of 33.3MBps, is up to twice as fast as the previous disk drive standard for PCs.

Pointing Devices:

Standard with this series is an “EZ” touch pad. The touch pad is fairly accurate and follows the fingertip well. There is also an optional optical mouse available. It uses a USB connection but with four USB 2.0 ports there are still enough USB ports for your other devices. The optical mouse is extremely accurate, and has a scroll wheel. The optical mouse is symmetrical, making it great for right-handers and lefties alike. You'll need a USB mouse because there is no onboard PS/2 mouse port.