Digital Trends

Gateway M675CS December 8th, 2003 | by Doug MacLean

Pros:

With many notebooks there are only two USB ports; this model comes standard with four. Considering you have to use one for the optional optical mouse this leaves three for the many devices you will want to add to your computer. The USB ports are conveniently located on all sides of the unit making connections fast and easy. Since it uses a wide screen display, Gateway used the extra room to expand on the keyboard. Once you get used to it, the keyboard is very easy to use.

The video was excellent. DVDs look great in full screen mode without any noticeable artifacts. The response was smooth and clean. The same held true for streaming video.

The overall design of this notebook gets very high marks. Even in the basic configuration comes with more power than required for most uses. Between the ultra-fast hard drive and speedy video card this machine is responsive. You'll be able to get going in only a few minutes once you get it out of the box.

Cons:

The M675CS has very few drawbacks. As is normal these days, the 3.5” floppy drive is optional. While this may be a popular path for notebooks, many times it is advantageous to boot from an emergency floppy. When all else fails, it is nice to have this option. We did have an issue with Gateway's shipping policy. There is no express delivery available for notebook computers and the date they officially give for shipping is two weeks after you place an order. For those that depend on a laptop for work and need a replacement fast, this can be a problem. Any extras ordered may be shipped separately and there is limited online tracking but that is more due to the carrier than Gateway. When you ask for the status of the order, all you get is the estimated shipping date. One reason for this is many of their notebooks are shipped from China, so although they make get to the States in a day it, they can be held for several days at customs.

The touch pad is not recessed quite enough and your hand may tend to brush against it moving the mouse where you don't want it. This may not sound like a big deal, but we noticed it enough to mention it. Also, the built in speakers where tinny, providing very little in the way of low frequency reproduction.

Conclusion

The Gateway M675CS is more than a notebook, it is a portable workstation designed with legitimate power. It's not the type of machine that is well suited for a trip on an airplane but rather far better suited for moving between office presentations or using as both your office and home machine. The Hyper Threaded CPU is intended for power not battery conservation. The battery life is sacrificed for pure processing power. Since the target audience is for power users it is a wonder that Gateway does not offer Windows XP Professional as the default rather than a somewhat costly extra. When you are not hard at work the Radeon 9600 will give you more than enough detail and resolution for any game or DVD.