Gateway's new GM5664 desktop does Blu-ray and HD DVD, has kid brother that doesn't

Gateway is releasing two new desktops today, both sporting some features we've grown accustomed to, but also introducing some new hotness into the typically stale market. The new models -- the GM5664 and GT5662 -- share a slew of the same features, like the ATI Radeon HD 2400XT graphics card, 3GB of RAM, and 8-channel 7.1 audio, but they also have some notable differences. The GM5664 comes equipped with a Hybrid-SuperMulti optical drive, which gives you the ability to play Blu-ray or HD DVDs to your heart's content, while also handling typical DVD-RW functions. The system is also packed with a 2.3GHz AMD Phenom 9600 CPU, 1TB hard drive array, and an analog / digital TV tuner. The GT5662 includes a 2.2GHz AMD Phenom 9500 CPU, does away with the dual format drive, halves the storage space, and axes the TV tuner. Both are available now for $1,149.99 and $749.99, respectively.

[John @ Jan 30th 2008 11:21AM]

Gateway sells crap. I know from personal experience. I am currently the proud owner of a Gateway piece of sh!t. Their customer service is bad, only to be beaten by their even worse products.

[Superevil @ Jan 30th 2008 12:24PM]

That sucks man, I've owned 3 Gateways and my family has several and we've never had any kind of problems whatsoever. I guess it's just the luck of the draw and I've came out lucky several times.

[Mojo_Yugen @ Jan 30th 2008 12:54PM]

Well as long as you are basing your comments on such a vast sampling I can't argue with them...

[Trent @ Jan 30th 2008 1:09PM]

I owned the 2G blueberry iMac where the HD tanked before 2 years and cost me $250 to replace/lost everything. I ended up getting a Gateway desktop for about $1200 with the upgraded speakers/bass box. After 4 years I have not had 1 freaking problem.

[Chebwa @ Jan 30th 2008 1:30PM]

Hey man, if Gateway is as reliable as Gateway 2000 was, you're all wrong.

I remember years ago we had two computers in particular. We had a 120mhz (that cost like, $4,000, haha) and later a 300mhz. Those things went so far above and beyond the call of duty it was insane. They were so beat up by the time we retired them it was a wonder they even turned on. But they did. I also have a couple of family members with Gateway laptops that are great, too.

So seriously, man. Don't grill.

[John @ Jan 30th 2008 2:16PM]

Sorry to cause such a commotion on this. The only reason I currently own a Gateway computer is because I had such a great experience with a Gateway 2000 I used to own. But their current products are no comparison. I've went through 5 monitors in 8 months. And getting each one replaced that went bad was not a pleasant experience. I wish you luck if you own one or ever need to contact their "customer service".

[Chebwa @ Jan 30th 2008 11:15AM]

I guess Gateway has a few of those dual format players laying around and needs somewhere to put 'em.

[Kamokazi @ Jan 30th 2008 11:27AM]

Those dual-format drives are actualy fairly cheap...Newegg had them for $300 last I checked.

[Chebwa @ Jan 30th 2008 11:39AM]

That's $100 more than the cheapest Blu-ray drive. $100 more for HD-DVD... eh.

[aardvark sandwich @ Jan 30th 2008 11:38AM]

Not bad for the price.

[BC @ Jan 30th 2008 12:13PM]

Does vista even support HD DVD or Blu-ray? Last I heard you had to have another application to play them. Whats the point of Vista Media Center with HD capabilities when you have to quit it to play a movie. And I assume the HD tuner is integrated into Vista Media Center? Or does gateway have their own media center?

[Liquicism @ Jan 30th 2008 12:27PM]

XP by itself doesn't support dvd movie play back so from your logic no one should put in dvd players into their xp machines. Gateway puts in the appropriate software to make the bd and hddvd player work.

Now the funny part. I work at best buy and the 5662's we got seem to be completely bad. We got 3. Out of the 3, 2 of them won't identify any usb devices or new harddrives. It says it can't find the drivers. For example we plugged in a flash drive and it couldn't load it. The one other won't would freeze up whenever we put in a cd. on all 3 we found out the os was corrupt but nothing we could do could uncorrupt it. Even the recovery cds it comes with were corrupt. I'm curious if anyone else is having these problems. The 5664 has not given us any problems yet.

[killerewok @ Feb 13th 2008 5:49PM]

I also work at Best Buy and just purchased a Gateway 5662, and its great all that it needs for gaming is a 8800 gt oc witch we sell. Also i have had no problems with it at all or seen or herd anything from customer service or geek squad about any problems. So I'm assuming your store got a bad batch or something.

[mattclarkie @ Jan 30th 2008 11:38AM]

This trend of 3Gb of RAM is really irritating me. Manufacturers have reached the limit of 32bit technology, but rather than switching to the readily available 64bit, they just stunt progress.

It goes 64mb -> 128mb -> 256mb -> 512mb -> 1024mb -> 2048mb -> 3072mb

Do you see what has happened in that little RoadMap.

[Howdy Doody @ Jan 30th 2008 11:59AM]

Looks like doubling RAM capacities isn't an option ATM unless the 64-bit architecture becomes the norm in modern computing.

[catbertz @ Jan 30th 2008 1:44PM]

Unless I'm misunderstanding the max amount of ram in 32 bit, you can't use 4gb, which many OEMs' are/were including. I'd rather get 3gb, and not pay for a wasted gb of ram.

[mattclarkie @ Jan 30th 2008 1:51PM]

The point I was making is, when the processor in every desktop or laptop is x86-64, why not put a bloody 64bit OS on it. I run x64 on my computers and everything is compatible. If 64bit became standard then the few manufacturers not supporting it would have to anyway. I can't see why the OEMs wont switch.

By the end of '08 they will have to make the switch as they will have to install 4gb of RAM, and a 64bit OS is the only way to do that.

I remember buying a PC a few years ago boasting about the 64bit processor in it, but with XP x86, why boast about a feature that you can't use?

[Anthony Schaefer @ Jan 30th 2008 11:59AM]

I think you can pick up the dual drives on bestbuy for 240... ( on sale)

[California Mike @ Jan 30th 2008 12:33PM]

Gateway and their eMachines subsidiary have had the worst repair and support records of all PC makers for several years now. My daughter's eMachine that she bought one year ago turned out to be an erratic low performer with ZERO support from Gateway/eMachines. I would suggest that people avoid PCs from Gateway/eMachines.

[GodPidgeon @ Jan 30th 2008 4:23PM]

Both of these models have been on sale at Best Buy for two weeks already.

[mdsbrain @ Jan 30th 2008 1:57PM]

Announced today? I saw this model in Best buy 2 weeks or so ago.