Gateway sells two lower-end models in this series, the $699 M-150S and the $799 M-150X, that use a slower T2310 CPUs and slower 533MHz memory with ditching the Radeon HD 2400XT graphics card, the HDMI port, and the fingerprint reader. We were able to multitask with ease, running Web browsers, media players, and office documents at the same time with no slowdown or stuttering. While our review unit included a T7100 CPU, Gateway is now selling this system with a slightly faster 2.0GHz T7250 CPU. As we'd expect from a laptop with an Intel T-7000 series CPU, the Gateway was a speedy performer, closely matching similarly configured systems, such as the Lenovo 3000 N200 (which is no-frills, but available with the same CPU and 2GB of RAM for only $948). We saw no surprises from the M-150XL's performance. This is the first laptop we've seen in a while without a mini-FireWire jack, but honestly, we didn't miss it (although camcorder owners might feel left out). Obviously, you're not going to find a next-gen high-def optical drive on a laptop in this price range, but swapping HDMI for the archaic S-Video port we still find on most laptops is hopefully a portent of things to come. You get Bluetooth and 802.11n Wi-Fi, both of which are sometimes omitted from laptops that hover around the $1,000 mark, plus an HDMI output, which is an unexpected, if not terribly useful, bonus. Following the direction of Dell and HP, Gateway's new design aesthetic is clean, modern, and satisfying-a long way from the bland industrial laptops of just a few years ago.ĭespite being a fixed-configuration system, Gateway offers plenty of extras on the M-150XL. Even though it weighs a few ounces more than other 15-inch laptops, such as the Toshiba Satellite A21, the lid and keyboard doesn't feel as solid, giving slightly under our fingers, but the wrist rest and brushed metal keyboard tray are rock solid. The back cover is a little fingerprint-prone, as all glossy finishes are. Available in red, blue, or dark gray, the Gateway M-150XL has a bubbly plastic prefab look, much like Dell's current line of mainstream Inspiron laptops.
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December 2022
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