Gateway P-6831FX Review

Please update me if you find any drivers that are stable and have good performance. I'm only getting decent performance atm, having slowdowns in WoW at 8x AA, while on my desktop 8800GT, it runs without a hitch.
 
Got mine last night. Love it so far, but the LCD sucks. I am using my BenQ via HDMI now.

Is there any way to upgrade the LCD screen?
 
Love this notebook so far, we picked up a pair of them today, thank god for bonus time of year. Myself and a family member both ran out to bbuy and luckily they had 2 left, and matched the web price of 1249. Theyre shipping with 1.83ghz processors at this point, no more 1.6's :) So that was a nice added bonus. I dont think the displays that bad to be honest, the rest of the hardwares great. Im surprised it doesnt get warmer than it does to be 100% honest.

Anyways im looking forward to having a full day with it tomorrow, so far so good though. I just hope these things are reliable now :)
 
I picked one up last week and also received the upgraded processor. It was a nice surprise.

Within the first 24 hours I had 64-bit Vista installed and everything set up the way I like it. So far I'm happy with the purchase.
 
Picked mine up when BB dropped the price.....my local BB already had sold 3 when I picked up mine at 9pm that night.....a day later, the ONLY available store is in Chico which is like 3 hours drive away from Sacramento!!!

Glad I picked up mine before BB ran out again. Hooked it up to 720p DLP projector last night, projecting onto 120" screen and playing Crysis/CoD4 demos were nothing short of extraordinary.

Frag
 
How's everyones laptops holding up? I'm thinking that I might be moving around more in the future and selling off my desktop and sticking with a laptop.... Gaming is quickly becoming a thing of the past for me, but I think I wouldn't mind having a cheapish laptop with the capabilies :D

How's everyones laptops holding up? They do well with wear and tear?
 
Citizen86 said:
How's everyones laptops holding up? I'm thinking that I might be moving around more in the future and selling off my desktop and sticking with a laptop.... Gaming is quickly becoming a thing of the past for me, but I think I wouldn't mind having a cheapish laptop with the capabilies :D

How's everyones laptops holding up? They do well with wear and tear?
Click to expand...

Mine has been on practically everyday for the last couple months in my shop as a desktop replacement. I have not had any issues so far. One annoyance is if you turn the computer on then close the screen it will shut off. Also if your using an external monitor and you need to reboot the computer it will not reboot unless the internal screen is opened.

BTW the shiny black exterior scratches if you breath in it the wrong way.

Still this is without a doubt the BEST bang for the buck out there.

Mac
 
cmacclel said:
Mine has been on practically everyday for the last couple months in my shop as a desktop replacement. I have not had any issues so far. One annoyance is if you turn the computer on then close the screen it will shut off. Also if your using an external monitor and you need to reboot the computer it will not reboot unless the internal screen is opened.

BTW the shiny black exterior scratches if you breath in it the wrong way.

Still this is without a doubt the BEST bang for the buck out there.

Mac
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've noticed the same problem with reboots. I use both the VGA and HDMI for 2 external displays with the lid closed. So it's a bit of a hassle to reboot.
 
Citizen86 said:
How's everyones laptops holding up? I'm thinking that I might be moving around more in the future and selling off my desktop and sticking with a laptop.... Gaming is quickly becoming a thing of the past for me, but I think I wouldn't mind having a cheapish laptop with the capabilies :D

How's everyones laptops holding up? They do well with wear and tear?
Click to expand...

No issues of any kind yet w/my P-6831FX. I've upgraded the cpu up to a T9300, as well as installed a second HD, w/both drives set up as RAID 0

I use it for playing games, the web, email, etc, as well as run a Distributed Computing program, 24/7, since I bought it in late January.

.
 
Cool, thanks for the updates guys. It'll be a couple hundred bucks to upgrade my desktop to this laptop, but I have a feeling it'll be worth it :cool:
 
Ordered an Asus F8ns-C1 14.1" laptop. Then saw pictures of the 14.1" next to a 15.4" and it was damn near the same size. Yes, the screen might be much smaller, but the actual size of the casing was not so much smaller. So decided a 15.4" might not be too big after all and cancelled the Asus F8 and ordered a Dell XPS M1530 with nearly the same set-up as the Asus F8, except it had an 8600GT with GDRR3 instead of the 9500M.
Then I saw this, which made me pause, but it wasn't till I went to BB and saw the laptop that it made me run back home to cancel my Dell XPS order.

After owning a behemoth Sager 98xx laptop, I swore off getting another 17" laptop. When a laptop is so much trouble to move that you don't even bother, it might as well be a desktop. My Sager's starting weight was 11+lbs. It felt like I was lugging around 20lbs. This Gateway FX is about the same diminsions, except thinner and lighter and that does make a difference for me. I can actually carry this in my backpack (I have a big backpack) and take it back and forth to work with me when I stand duty. It's not small to the point where I would pull it out in a commercial airplane to mess around with, but I also have an ultraportable laptop that fullfills that need.

I paid the $1349 price and didn't get any free games with it, but there is only 2 BB on the island (oahu) and the other doesn't even have em in stock so not like I was gonna get a better deal. It has one pixel that is slightly grey and I can only see it with a white screen. All other colors and I can't see it. Glad it came with vista 64, thought I was going to have to upgrade to it. Just gotta take out some of the crap ware that came with it now, then start loading my own crap.
 
They are selling the P-6860FX at BB now.

$1349 for the 6860FX:

OS- Vista Home Premium 64/32 (64 comes loaded)
CPU- T5550 1.83GHz
Ram 4GB DDR2
HDD- 320GB
and of course the 8800GTS, think everything else is the same including some I listed.

The P6831FX is listed at $1199 on their site now, but out of stock and no site of it in the store.
 
Casca said:
They are selling the P-6860FX at BB now.

$1349 for the 6860FX:

OS- Vista Home Premium 64/32 (64 comes loaded)
CPU- T5550 1.83GHz
Ram 4GB DDR2
HDD- 320GB
and of course the 8800GTS, think everything else is the same including some I listed.

The P6831FX is listed at $1199 on their site now, but out of stock and no site of it in the store.
Click to expand...
thats not bad but isn't hte 6831fx now with the T5550 in it? 1gb more for 150? ;)

if it comes back in stock i'm getting it :)
 
I got the p6860fx from BB here in NYC for $1249. They were running a special so I got $100.00 off and I signed up for a BB Rewardzone card (its free) and got $20.00 in gift certificates. It also came with a free game. Not too shabby.

I wasn't psyched about Vista, so I spent the first evening getting XP Pro on the machine and it runs like a champ. I found directions with all the links I needed here. The instructions are actually for the p6831fx, but it works the same. It stinks that XP only sees 3gb of ram, but I'm still very happy with the machine. No problem with CoH Opposing fronts and now my wife lets me game while the baby sleeps.
 
matrix563 said:
thats not bad but isn't hte 6831fx now with the T5550 in it? 1gb more for 150? ;)

if it comes back in stock i'm getting it :)
Click to expand...


With the 6860 you get the faster processor (according to bestbuy's website it still lists the 6831 with the 1.67 proc vs the 1.83)
4 gigs of ram vs 3
320gb HD vs 250 but both are 5400rpm
vista 64 vs 32


It's also about a pound heavier.
 
WhiteGuardian said:
how come people don't buy it off gateway's website? they have processor upgrades on there
Click to expand...

The p6860fx is only available at BB and BB.com. You can't get it on the Gateway site. I also noticed when I was on the gateway site there were very few, if any component upgrade options. It looks like you have to buy most models as-is from them.
 
people wanted better processors, the ones on the website has the 8800M GTS and 2.0 to 2.4 ghz processors.
 
WhiteGuardian said:
people wanted better processors, the ones on the website has the 8800M GTS and 2.0 to 2.4 ghz processors.
Click to expand...

Yes... plus tax... plus shipping... plus waiting for shipping. It's not all THAT upgraded, just kind of different... faster proc, but less ram (3 gigs), and only 160gig Hard drive, although it's running at 7200rpm. That's about all I see that's different.
 
Hey guys. Can one of you with a 6860 running Vista 64 bit do me a favor and PM me a serial so I can download the drivers from Gateway's site or somehow copy the driver CD and let me send you some cash for shipping it to me????

I did a search by notebook type and the 6831 is the highest listed. I cannot find the 6860 anywhere. What I am trying to do is upgrade my Vista 32 bit on my 6831 to 64 bit. The 6831 location doesn't list any drivers for x64 either.
 
2.0 ghz processor
8800M GTS
3 gig ram
160 GB 7200 rpm

1398.99 SHIPPED.

There is no tax.


And if you wanna go the full way, for 1999 you can get-

2.4 ghz
4 gig ram 2x 2048
320GB 7200 rpm
8800M GTS
1900x1200
 
And where are you located? I typed in a zipcode from Washington and got $109.13 in tax, so.......... comes out to $1,508.12

I do agree about the Gateway® P-172X FX Edition, that is a NICE laptop.
 
best route is to buy the cheapest model possible and upgrade the cpu yourself. ebay the old one for like $50 and then pick up another either new or off the bay. there are alot of 2.0 and 2.2's on there cheap. otherwise do like I did and get a new T9300 and a pair of 7200 rpm drives and raid0. this thing screams in that config.
 
I bought one of these for $800 used off Ebay (w00t!), but it doesn't come with the original restore CD... does anybody know if the Vista license that comes with the laptop will work with a regular Vista install?
 
Nvidia101 said:
is the best buy deal of $1250 for the P-6860FX still running?
Click to expand...

It sure is.

I'm about to buy one of these myself, would it be better to order the 6860 from best buy then upgrade the cpu? Or go with the 171 routes?

Also does the 1440x900 as opposed to the 1920x1200 lcd screens make much of a difference?
 
Citizen86 said:
I bought one of these for $800 used off Ebay (w00t!), but it doesn't come with the original restore CD... does anybody know if the Vista license that comes with the laptop will work with a regular Vista install?
Click to expand...

The laptop didn't actually come with a restore CD. It came with a Vista install DVD and software on the laptop to create a driver/applications DVD. You'll just need Vista OEM media to reinstall.
 
How was everyone's performance increase after they upgraded the CPU?

I'm thinking about doing it, when I get some cash!

Let me know... and via PM if possible!
 
Thanks Maximus, that's good to know. I believe that the computer has a fresh install, but at least for the future I just need a Vista Install DVD and nothing else :D

I also second AMDXPCottonfire, how has everyone noticed computer responsiveness and performance in games with a CPU upgrade? I'm trying to decide between the T8300 and T9300, whether 100mhz and 3 megs of cache is worth the extra $60 bucks to me.
 
Hmm. found one on ebay but it doesn't have a battery.. and it's already at $770. P-6831FX. Worth it?
If I got it, I'd buy a battery (obviously), CPU (I'm not sure how good yet)... ram is fine... Ya.
 
dingobiatch said:
Hmm. found one on ebay but it doesn't have a battery.. and it's already at $770. P-6831FX. Worth it?
If I got it, I'd buy a battery (obviously), CPU (I'm not sure how good yet)... ram is fine... Ya.
Click to expand...

Dang, I got mine from ebay from hdgamerstore or something for 760 used, only missing original box. Although I haven't seen another that cheap yet, as I've been looking for one for my friend. But they got for around 800 so I wouldn't say 770 and 130 for the battery is a very good price
 
BTW, how long have these been out for?? Wondering what the usage level would be on ebay ones.
A few more popped up on ebay.. I'm a little hesitant about them though - both from the same guy, and he only has 6 feedbacks..
 
This thread started around the end of January and I think GoHack was one of the first to buy them... so probably no more than 6 months.

Check out this store, http://myworld.ebay.com/hdgamestore/, it's where I bought mine, haven't received it yet but so far they've been pretty good to deal with, and they have quite a few used ones for sale. Reading their website, dealtree.com, it seems they work with best buy a bit, they allow people to trade in their old laptops for newer upgraded ones. They probably get the laptops for like $400 trade in value, heh.
 
I bought the 6860 on May 13 for $1350, no free game, no Vista Ultimate discount...nothing. Still within 30 days, but I think everyplace has a 15 day window for returns, anyone know for sure if I can go back to Bestbuy with my receipt and et $100 refunded to me, the free game and the Vista ultimate discount? Probably gonna try it either way.
 
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