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macnnhelpme · Jul 22, 2003, 09:10 AM

Wow, seems everyone is developing a notebook that emulates Apple hardware. Check out the new Gateway M500s

http://reviews.cnet.com/Gateway_m500...tml?tag=promo2

This looks just a little TOO much like the PB. The case is silver, but I don't know if it's plastic, metal or AL. At over 6lbs though, it better be something other than plastic!

slow moe · Jul 22, 2003, 09:48 AM

Me still no likey WindowsXP.

Eug · Jul 22, 2003, 10:15 AM

I think one reason it looks similar is because it uses the same 1280x854 wide-screen. Remember that Apple doesn't make the screens.

One thing though, it is the first x86 laptop that I have ever seen with powered Firewire. Anyone see any others yet? I won't buy any laptop without powered Firewire.

macnnhelpme · Jul 22, 2003, 10:46 AM

Well, it also has an alloy top and keyboard casing. That's also something I haven't seen in a PC Laptop. The thing just resembles a PB. They can stick that goofy audio control thingy on the left though. And you'd think they could make the ports on the back look a little better.

I'm going to my local Gateway store at lunch just to check one out.

euphras · Jul 22, 2003, 12:23 PM

Quote:"it also has an alloy top and keyboard casing. That's also something I haven't seen in a PC Laptop."

Ever heard of the IBM Thinkpads??

macnnhelpme · Jul 22, 2003, 12:27 PM

Well, went and took a look at it. I've got to admit, not a bad notebook. It has nothing on the 15"PB, but it's a nice machine.

Specs
P4 2.2ghz (mobile)
512MB DDR SDRAM
40GB 4200rpm UATA drive
GF 4 420Go with 32 MB DDR video memory
8/8/24 CDRW & 8x DVD SLOT LOAD
Expansion: TypeII PC Card, SD memory card, 3 USB 2, 2 Firewire <powered>, SVideo TV-Out. Ethernet, Wifi 802.11b built-in.

Impressions:
Screen is very good. 15.2" WXGA. I was impressed with the screen quality. Casing is, eh, so so. The top and the keyboard side plates are silver, but they aren't aluminum or metal. It's like a sprayed-on alloy of some sort. Looked tough, but had a plastic feel. The keyboard was a transparent dark blue color (transparent again from the PB)and had an awesome feel to it. Trackpad was equally good. The little LCD display and audio/DVD controls on the left were a nice touch (you can play a CD and not turn the laptop on). Quicklaunch buttons along the right.

The thing weighs a little over 6lbs

No wonder you get a free backpack case to lug it around in.

This thing has some serious audio though. I fired up the installed clip of Nemo and was completely impressed. They managed to put a small subwoofer in it (might explain the weight). It wasn't like rattle your shoelaces bass, but it really did sound great. Better than any other laptop I've heard. And the video portion was very good and smooth.

Seriously though, not a bad value at 1599. That's a lot of machine for your money. If I needed a PC laptop I'd consider it. If they could have gotten the fit and finish the same all the way around the machine it would have been that much better.

Nice try Gateway, but it's no PB!

Alpha-sphere · Jul 22, 2003, 04:06 PM

Originally posted by macnnhelpme:
Well, went and took a look at it. I've got to admit, not a bad notebook. It has nothing on the 15"PB, but it's a nice machine.

Specs
P4 2.2ghz (mobile)
512MB DDR SDRAM
40GB 4200rpm UATA drive
GF 4 420Go with 32 MB DDR video memory
8/8/24 CDRW & 8x DVD SLOT LOAD
Expansion: TypeII PC Card, SD memory card, 3 USB 2, 2 Firewire <powered>, SVideo TV-Out. Ethernet, Wifi 802.11b built-in.

Impressions:
Screen is very good. 15.2" WXGA. I was impressed with the screen quality. Casing is, eh, so so. The top and the keyboard side plates are silver, but they aren't aluminum or metal. It's like a sprayed-on alloy of some sort. Looked tough, but had a plastic feel. The keyboard was a transparent dark blue color (transparent again from the PB)and had an awesome feel to it. Trackpad was equally good. The little LCD display and audio/DVD controls on the left were a nice touch (you can play a CD and not turn the laptop on). Quicklaunch buttons along the right.

The thing weighs a little over 6lbs No wonder you get a free backpack case to lug it around in.

This thing has some serious audio though. I fired up the installed clip of Nemo and was completely impressed. They managed to put a small subwoofer in it (might explain the weight). It wasn't like rattle your shoelaces bass, but it really did sound great. Better than any other laptop I've heard. And the video portion was very good and smooth.

Seriously though, not a bad value at 1599. That's a lot of machine for your money. If I needed a PC laptop I'd consider it. If they could have gotten the fit and finish the same all the way around the machine it would have been that much better.

Nice try Gateway, but it's no PB!

i found a user review of this wintel machine.

As Wintel laptops go this one is pretty nice. My unit had 6 defective pixels on the screen - they wouldn't fix it. Fortunately only one is in a spot where I notice it all of the time. WiFi range is quite good - important on this sort of a device. Battery life is poor. I get between 1hr30min and 1hr45min on a charge. If I'm watching a dvd it drops to about an hour (and the unit gets hot). Audio quality on portables is a joke and this one isn't great. If you are listening to mp3s take along a pair of headphones. It is one of the best 15" windows laptops I've seen - I wish I would have looked at the Apple powerbooks more though. I sat next to one on a cross country flight and I'm afraid it completely outclasses my Gateway... sigh .. next time...

Powerbook Ti an allu outclasses any laptop anytime anywhere

RGB · Jul 23, 2003, 06:15 PM

I've done a lot of computer shopping with my girlfriend the last month or two, and from what I've seen, Gateway is making the best looking computers in the Wintel side of the market. I don't know how their quality is right now, but the cases sure look good. Thankfully she wound up buying a 12" PowerBook. It arrived yesterday

g4baker · Jul 23, 2003, 07:42 PM

Have you ever noticed that no matter how hard PC makers try, they can never match the PowerBook? It's just so much "smoother" than the PC notebooks. The Gateway just doesn't look right.

g4baker · Jul 23, 2003, 07:53 PM

Have you ever noticed that no matter how hard PC makers try, they can never match the PowerBook? It's just so much "smoother" than the PC notebooks. The Gateway just doesn't look right.

neutrino23 · Jul 23, 2003, 10:03 PM

Here is another one. This is a 17" wide notebook with the same screen as the 17" Al book.

Eurocom

However, the thing weights nearly nine pounds. More of a transportable than a laptop.

DaedalusDX · Jul 24, 2003, 07:49 AM

I think its clear by now that all of the other PC makers just don't "get it" like Apple does about design, ESPECIALLY with regards to laptops...

PC makers have gotten really good at making desktop machines. What I mean by that is that they're dirt cheap, and usually faster and better configured than a Mac of the same price... yea yea, they don't have anywhere near the aesthetic value of Mac desktops...

they can build these cheap, yet okay system because they can buy off the shelf components for cheap and build it up...

but Laptops are a different story... Laptops have fewer areas where PC makers can cut corners without someone noticing. PC makers try to apply the same philosophy from their success in desktop machines... design something with cheap components to save cost... generally fails for laptops...

Dell for example... in past years, the reliability of their laptops in general has slipped significantly because they've tried to save money by cheapening components.

And that is why laptops really shine for Apple. Apple pours the most money into R&D for all of their machines than these other makers, and is not afraid to use expensive components or materials... Titanium and Anodized Aluminum, c'mon...

That's why no one else will ever really match the 15" Titanium. It cost ALOT in R&D dollars, which most PC makers are not used to spending...

The result, we have classier, more reliable laptops... and Apple's concern for aesthetics works so well here since laptops get alot more exposure in the public than desktops.

heh. imitators. lol.

The Placid Casual · Jul 24, 2003, 08:19 AM

I just saw this new release from NEC, the Versa P600...

I honestly thought it was Ti, from the advert I saw. The lighting, angle etc were all 'Apple'...

Intel� Mobile Pentium� M from 1.4GHz

Size (WxDxH) : 308 x 268 x 27.7 mm

Weight:
2.4 Kg

Display panel size:
14" TFT XGA LDC - resolution 1024 x 768

Storage:
Hard Drive 30GB 4200RPM
Hard Drive 40GB 4200RPM
Hard Drive 60GB 4200RPM

Memory card:
Memory std / max / type : 256 MB / 1GB / DDR-SDRAM

Optical devices in Bay:
Combo DVD-ROM / CD-RW 16x10x24x8x

Sound card:
2 Integrated speakers
3D surround sound
Audio controller embedded in chipset
Integrated microphone

Power devices:
8-cells Li-Ion battery - up to 4.3 hours

Communication:
LAN 10/100Base TX on motherboard
Modem MDC 56K V92
Optional Wireless LAN miniPCI solution Intel PRO Wireless 802.11g

Communication ports:
3 USB 2.0,
Firewire IEEE1394,
RJ-11,
RJ-45, VGA,
1 PCMCIA slot

As I always say, it doesn't run OS X, so it doesn't count, and the specs are nothing special AT ALL, but it is Ti Clone nonetheless...

Time for Apple to move the game on me thinks...

Peace,

TPC

neutrino23 · Jul 24, 2003, 06:08 PM

It looks like NEC cut corners on the video chip set. They use an Intel chip set and it appears the video memory (32MB) is shared with the main memory. Japanese laptop makers seem to do this a lot. When you read the specs for the lighter laptops from Japan you often find the chip set is something you never heard of and the video memory is shared with main memory. They also tend to use up significant amounts of the HD with preinstalled software and various backups in lieu of shipping CDs with the system.

Vicious · Jul 24, 2003, 06:46 PM

Okay, I got curious, I was intrigued by this Gateway machine when I first discovered it in this post. So I went to check it out, It is an excellent machine, truly the best pc laptop I've ever played with. Apple has lost my computing dollar by delaying updates and overall progress. Shame really, good stuff-horrid company. I'm tired of it, this computer does everything I could want, it's thin, durable, slot loading cd, excellent screen, excellent keyboard, fast, and great sound. Awesome for a student, and I will voice that with my buying dollar.

Oh and for those that say pc desktops are aesthetically inferior to macs, you obviously have not touched an Alienware machine, now that is a sweet case.

_Vicious

sailin74 · Jul 24, 2003, 08:19 PM

Originally posted by Vicious:
Okay, I got curious, I was intrigued by this Gateway machine when I first discovered it in this post. So I went to check it out, It is an excellent machine, truly the best pc laptop I've ever played with. Apple has lost my computing dollar by delaying updates and overall progress. Shame really, good stuff-horrid company. I'm tired of it, this computer does everything I could want, it's thin, durable, slot loading cd, excellent screen, excellent keyboard, fast, and great sound. Awesome for a student, and I will voice that with my buying dollar.

Oh and for those that say pc desktops are aesthetically inferior to macs, you obviously have not touched an Alienware machine, now that is a sweet case.

_Vicious

It'll go well with Pizza Boxes, but never in my house.

-Jason

DaedalusDX · Jul 24, 2003, 10:24 PM

Originally posted by Vicious:
Okay, I got curious, I was intrigued by this Gateway machine when I first discovered it in this post. So I went to check it out, It is an excellent machine, truly the best pc laptop I've ever played with. Apple has lost my computing dollar by delaying updates and overall progress. Shame really, good stuff-horrid company. I'm tired of it, this computer does everything I could want, it's thin, durable, slot loading cd, excellent screen, excellent keyboard, fast, and great sound. Awesome for a student, and I will voice that with my buying dollar.

I have not seen this machine myself, but in terms of its specs, its very similarly configured compared to a 15" combo drive Titanium, and is about the same price... perhaps a few hundred dollars less. Given the choice between the two computers, I'd personally pick the Powerbook because I have a strong preference to the OS, but I admit that the hardware offers the same functionality all around.

Oh, and of course hardware updates are imminent, so that would probably give me pause in buying a new machine...

delaying updates... i must stress that Apple has made NO announcement of new Powerbooks. Just because a rumor site says "new Powerbooks this week" and Apple does not deliver does not constitute a "delay" on their part.

I find it interesting that you talk about Apple delaying overall progress... In the past 6 months, they remain one of the only laptop makers to build in both the new 802.11g connectivity, and Bluetooth.

True, the 15" Powerbook does not have either 802.11g or Bluetooth, but neither does the Gateway machine. If you are looking for cutting edge features, you won't find them in the Gateway machine either... but i digress. I'm sure the choice makes sense for you'll and you'll be happy with it.

Oh and for those that say pc desktops are aesthetically inferior to macs, you obviously have not touched an Alienware machine, now that is a sweet case.

I was making a generalization. Clearly there are exceptions both ways, and there is also the subjective factor thrown in there too.

Alpha-sphere · Jul 25, 2003, 07:15 AM

Apple should use this line for when they start a new powerbook ad/comercial

"start innovating, stop imitating"

jojobe99 · Jul 25, 2003, 08:12 AM

Having owned an older Powerbook and a Blueberry iBook 300, I have been very happy with Mac portables. Now, I work in a corporate IT department, and we have about 500-600
Compaq laptops. I am glad I got to work with these as I know that buying an Intel laptop is a very poor idea. The screen is not centered on the front making the machine look very shoddy and ill-designed. But even the looks are nothing compared to the actual quality: 1 out of 3 batteries fail within 3 months, about 20-30% of the system boards or internal power supplies goes with in a year and a half (A NIGHTMERE to troubleshoot) and the CD-ROM/DVD drive works about 50% of the time. My Blueberry iBook never lost a pixel, ran Windows better than the Armadas do (with Virtual PC) and no matter how hard I tried I could not run the battery down in less than 4 hours (usually got over 5.) I had to sell it unfortunately because I needed Firewire and got $200 more for it that I thought I would. I had Apple Care but it was a big waste because the hardware in this thing NEVER acted up once much less broke. Now like lots of others I am waiting for an updated 12 or 15 powerbook to be released to succeed that that great machine. To be honest though I still use a Windows/Linux desktop (that was built by ME of course), but can�t wait to own a machine with OS X.