Gateway's 17-inch P-6831FX gaming laptop gets reviewed

Given that Gateway just pushed out a round of updates including the relatively ginormous P Series, we reckon it was only logical to expect a review shortly. To be frank, the P-6831FX critiqued over at HotHardware is far from being the most potent machine with a 17-inch panel, but unlike many of its luxurious competitors, this one is actually affordable. So, how much gaming joy can $1,349.99 bring you? Quite a bit when the 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS and 3GB of RAM are included. Reviewers found gaming performance to be downright remarkable, though the 1.67GHz CPU did hamper it a bit in other areas. It should be noted that the unit now arrives with a slightly faster CPU among other minor extras, so if it was good then, we're guessing it's a runaway winner now.

[DefPo3t @ Jul 3rd 2008 4:58PM]

1300$ ish. Now that is a steal. Why can't other companies sell laptops with these specs for this kinda price

[kjb434 @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:16PM]

Because gateway is actually trying to get a customer to buy something they make.

I'm still surprised how this company is even around.

Alienware can sell theirs so high because enough people actually buy them at that price.

[stefan @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:18PM]

because they don't have to.

[Neil @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:31PM]

Tell me about it, my Dell XPS M1710 17" 1.83ghz core duo, geforce 7900 GTX 512, 2GB RAM, 80GB with 3 year warranty cost me about 3 grand back in 2006....lol.

[Matthew Hilario @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:05PM]

i just bought this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220306
a month ago. same price. i think mine trumps this one. cpu and gpu.

[Matthew Hilario @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:07PM]

i just this asus for about 1300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220306

it trumps this one. cpu and gpu imo.

[nanobis @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:05PM]

now the last gateway i remember was tho one i 1st got back with windows 95, god that was fun. was my 1st pc brings back some memory

*sniff*

didn't know they were still around tbh,

[Dook_In_The_Urinal @ Jul 4th 2008 8:18PM]

Sorry to disappoint you Matthew, but the HD3650 does NOT trump the 8800M GTS. Its not even close. And as far as the CPU, it is easily upgradable to the T9300(and beyond) for $300. Read this for GPU comparisons.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Grafic-Cards.130.0.html

The 8600M is a class 1 and only six from the top. The HD3650 is a Class 2. But nice try.

[maff @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:01PM]

why u list some specs, and not the model of CPU?

[Scott @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:02PM]

That orange bit is fugly

[i961vw @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:14PM]

I think you misspelled "Cool".

[Dubb @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:12PM]

Sorry, I think he spelled it exactly right.

[anonymouspimp @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:15PM]

Gateway, eh?

Not too shabby.

[YankeeDooda @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:18PM]

its sorta cheapish-feeling in some regards, like the hinges, but a good laptop. and a sexy game-playing beast to boot, as long as directx 10 is being used, or else it lags on minesweeper.

[Mitch @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:18PM]

I just spent 3 hours uninstalling junk programs and optimizing vista on a brand new HP notebook.

It's ridiculous that you can buy a computer that has blazing fast specifications and its' SUPER slow out of the box because of all the crapware that is pre-loaded by the manufacturer. I'm not a MAC fan at all but I can see why people would get one when the PC notebooks come with a special bonus feature called bloatware.

It's just getting way out of hand. Too bad it's not easy to build your own notebook.

[inno8sky @ Jul 4th 2008 11:59AM]

Who are you listening to?

I've purchased numerous name brand computers, primarily from Dell, the only thing I've needed to uninstall was Mcafee.. Don't believe all of the apple bullshit you read or hear in their ads. Besides, even if there was any truth to it, doing a fresh install of the OS, is pretty easy to do.

Why is it that every list of comments, there's always some mindless apple drone spewing party line. What am I saying, this entire blog is brought to the masses by apple drones.

[Shoumik @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:23PM]

looks pretty awesome. And the orange totally steals the show.

[Mister Goiter @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:25PM]

Supposedly a cpu swap is pretty easy (panel on the back and not a full 'rip out the motherboard' job) and the processor speed is about the only complaint. It still does kinda suck they don't have a $1500 model with a faster proc.

[Giles @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:42PM]

I bought one of these a couple of months ago and picked up an Intel C2D T9300 (2.5 GHz) and swapped it. Piece of cake amazingly.

It's a great gaming laptop, especially because of the price and because it's a Gateway. Probably one of my best impulse buys, heh.

[AirEgo @ Jul 3rd 2008 5:44PM]

I recently purchased this laptop. Upgraded to a 2.2Ghz processor and setup the 2 hard drives in a RAID configuration. Though the original processor speed did hamper it a bit, the faster chip help quite a bit. The over feel of the laptop is great, Keys are solid, screen is clear and vivid, and the Weight is not too over the top. Only downsides thus far have been the great deal of heat that comes with having the 8800 and the protruding battery on the backside.

[Dude! @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:01PM]

Um - why are they reviewing a lappie that was discontinued like 5-6 months ago? The currnet (not for long, though) is the P-6860FX, on clearance at Best Buy for $1099

[Giles @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:04PM]

Yeah when I first saw this, I was like, "Wait a min...I got this PC a few months back...it's not exactly new..."

[Iridium @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:10PM]

I was going to buy this but went with an Asus G1 instead. While this has the 8800 GTS and the Asus has a 9500GS, the Asus was a better buy.

The Gateway is really ugly. It is fine for a gamer but it is quite gaudy in a business enviroment. The protruding battery is also a horrible design flaw. The build quality isn't very good and the resolution is very low for a 17" monitor, 1440x900. One thing that also bugged me was the inclusion of a numpad which made the keyboard layout very small and awkward to type on since it is attached directly under the monitor. This also makes the trackpad a decidedly left handed affair.

It is also a very heavy machine just like all E-Machine made Gateway brand laptops. If the screen was higher resolution it would be worth the extra space and weight over a 15.4", but alas it is not.

Although my 5 year old Gateway is still running, almost every part has had to be replaced other than the GPU. Gatweay laptop fans are terrible at cooling, loud, and fail easily. I had to replace the main fan 4 times.

The best thing about it is the power you get for the money. 4 years ago there wasn't another player on the market that could give you this type of bang for the buck. Today Asus makes a better built laptop for the same or less money. I was able to get my G1 with a 1280x800 15.4", 512mb 9500GS, 4GB ram, 450GB HD, and the same Core Duo2 proc for $850. That was too good to pass up, looks better too.

[Dude! @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:20PM]

I love Asus, always have - First used Asus with a P2B P2 mainboard over 10 years ago.

Problem is - try getting service on that lappie...

With a Gateway, or similar, you can walk into a retail store, get the lappie+ a warranty (or buy lappie and call GW to buy an ext warranty) and you're set.

Now, I know, BB and CC are not the best warranty places, but hey, let's face it, like car insurance, their job is to NOT pay or pay AS LITTLE on a claim as possible.

Unfortunately, you're probably going to have a REALLY hard time with service.

I wanted an MSI MS-163A DIY lappie, but decided against it because of the same reason - unless you buy it overpriced from an online lappie boutique, you're in rough shape.

just my $.02.

[Rob Pereira @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:38PM]

@Dude:

Looks like someone's a bit too lappie happie...

[David @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:54PM]

@Iridium: if 1440x900 is low for a 17", then 1280x800 is low for a 15.4"
Likewise if the orange on the gateway is gaudy, surely the green on the asus is too.
Also, 450gb hdd, wdf?

+ $850, where you buy it from?

[Dude! @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:23PM]

Oh, sorry, one more thing...

The 8800M GTS is at MINIMUM 3 times faster than the 9500M GS, if not more, so it can't be dismissed as just a casual enhancement - people buy this lappie for one thing, and one thing only: the 512MB 8800M GTS on the 17" display.

If it weren't so big and heavy, I would've brought one home already.

[David @ Jul 4th 2008 8:00AM]

Actualy it is 2x, but the point is good.

I would prefer 1680 x 1050 on a gaming laptop though, who's with me?

[Alex @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:24PM]

That's a great price.

Oh crap, it comes with vista....nevermind...

[bjrcboy @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:38PM]

You know vista really isn't that bad. Just like going outside to have a real life isn't bad either.

[John B. @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:26PM]

@bjrc boy
You either don't use Vista or you aren't a gamer. A ton of games still have to be run under emulated XP, which makes them drop about 20-30FPS. Vista is crap for gaming.

[Ayle @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:33PM]

It has been reviewed since January on NotebookReview: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4208

You guys are slow...

[Shawn Wildermuth @ Jul 3rd 2008 6:47PM]

Too bad Gateway screws with where the control key belongs so I'll never buy one.

[Dook_In_The_Urinal @ Jul 4th 2008 8:22PM]

Yea. Theres a good reason not to save a thousand bucks over the nearest competitor.......

[AlExAkE @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:12PM]

In general this laptops is very good for its price! I would love to own one. There are 2 things that I must admint that I totally need and use that some other laptops dont have.

1) eSATA
2) HDMI port

I prefer this gaming laptop: http://www.sagernotebook.com/product_customed.php?pid=51114

BUT it Sager does not have eSATA and HDMI otherwise I'm much more likely to get it than the Gateway!

[Will N. @ Jul 3rd 2008 8:12PM]

Seems to be about $1099 at best buy right now for the newer version (P-6860FX). Just search the model number.

[Andre @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:23PM]

P-6831 FX is not new at all...
Here's a better deal
the P-6860FX at Best Buy for $1099!
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8780198&type=product&id=1204332501169&ref=39&loc=01&srccode=cii_11138&cpncode=07-62549330-2

[2fast4u @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:30PM]

The new Gateway Laptop series!!! Now in Rotten Mango color!!

[cub3 @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:58PM]

dude that color looks very cool. what do you want pink?

[Brandon @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:38PM]

I've owned the P-6831FX for a few months and now also own a P-6860FX. I really enjoy both laptops, especially the 6860 with Vista64 bit and 4gb ram. The 6860 with Vista feels faster in general than the 6831 does running XP. I like the inclusion of the numpad. The webcam is pretty crappy, but I didn't buy it for that. :)

[cub3 @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:03PM]

I will never buy another laptop for gaming again, I think the only reason i did that was because i was in the Military and had to travel a lot. I needed it power with me everywhere i went, If you dont fall into the Traveling and not staying in one place for a prolong period of time, then Get yourself a Desktop that you could actually upgrade later on and not have to spend 2 to 3 K each year & half or so.

I bought a Hypersonic EX7 in Jan 2006, By March 06 a new Graphics card came out making mine old. and 6 months later another one came out, also CPU got better im stuck with Pentium 4 and come on, there are Blue ray players for laptops while DVD burner are stuck at 8X-

[ralphchristopher @ Jul 3rd 2008 10:34PM]

That laptop is what I am using right now, and yes, it was a bargain, and it is fast and amazing. Crysis with some tweaks runs good on high, and anything else can pretty much run on max at it's default resolution.

[Tony @ Jul 4th 2008 1:01AM]

I just bought the P-6860 from BestBuy a week ago for $1099. The first thing I did was order a T9300 from Newegg.com for about $325. That completely overcame all the problems with the CPU benchmarking. For a total of $1424 plus tax, this is one heck of a computer. Biggest problem is finding a backpack big enough to put it in. With a normal backpack designed for a 17" computer, you have to take the battery out to put the laptop in. Other than that, I am completely happy.

[eljefefx @ Jul 4th 2008 12:14PM]

I'm still trying to understand why they're reviewing the first gen of this series. I purchased the second gen, the 6860, roughly 3 months ago. Yes, the resolution isn't the best, but it's something that honestly I don't even realize. It is true that you can change out the CPU rather quickly, with the average remove/replace time being roughly 10-20 minutes of work. I looked at several other computers for my upcoming travels and ended up settling on this one for a few simple factors:

1. Extremely decent graphics card, and the fact that most laptops with it currently start at over $2000.
2. Extra hdd bay
3. Upgradeable CPU
4. 4gig of RAM
5. Though it has Vista on it, at least it's 64 bit.
6. I'm a sucker for a 17 inch screen.


The asus G1 is a nice one as well, especially with the newer GPU in it, but at $1099 right now at best buy, which is $200 less than what I paid for mine, you still can not beat the bang-for-the-buck aspect of the 6860 right now.

[Chris Windsor @ Jul 7th 2008 1:37PM]

Got one and love it! Dropped in a faster CPU and I can say hands down this was a steal!