Gateway P-7811FX gaming laptop unboxing and hands-on

Right on schedule, Gateway has set free its P-7811 FX gaming laptop, and we got our hands on one right before you can get your own. Our test unit shipped with the aforementioned Intel Core 2 Duo at 2.26GHz with a 3MB L2 cache, Windows Vista Home 64-bit, Intel PM45 Express Chipset, NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory, a 17-inch WXGA screen, 200GB 7200 SATA HDD, 4GB DDR3 800MHz RAM, HDMI, 9-cell battery, and 1.3MP webcam. We're pretty pleased with the performance of the machine, although dialing up Crysis to its max settings made it choke a bit. We're still not sold on the computer's stylings, but in a dark room of gaming goodness, who's paying attention to gaudy lights and overly-shiny carbon anyway, right? Peep the hands-on pics and a brief video of Crysis in action after the break. And yes, we know we suck at the game.

Gateway P-7811FX

[goldenthief Posted Aug 14th 2008 1:44AM]

wait a sec....isnt it 8800M GTS???

[xValentine Posted Aug 14th 2008 3:41AM]

It's 9800M GTS.

A little faster than the 8800M GTS.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 14th 2008 9:47AM]

i'm a little pissed. i just got the gateway p-173x-fx with the nvidia 8800 gts and know they have the same thing with a 9800 gts. don't get me wrong the computer is still amazing. does anyone know if the 9800 gts is really that much better than the 8800gts? thanks.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 21st 2008 7:24PM]

Yes its still $1500 @ best buy, and remember its DDR3 not DDR 2, and 4GIGs not 2-3gigs like most models. DDR3 is the way to go and the jump from 8800 to 9800 is noticiable. Battery life was rated at 2h 45 min which i good for a gaming rig.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 24th 2008 3:58AM]

Japan Gateway will release in different configuration as P-7812jFX. The diffs are; Intel Core 2 Duo T9400, Integrated Bluetooth 2.0, 3MB DDR3 1066MHz memory, Blu-ray readable drive, 320GB 5400rpm SATA HD, V1.3 HDMI connector. The price is not listed yet. Do you think which model is better, P-7812FX will be released in US as well?

http://jp.gateway.com/products/product.html?prod=P-7812jFX

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 26th 2008 12:01PM]

I was seriously thinking of buying a gateway P-173XL FX, but this nvidia 9800 upgrade on this 7812 make me doubt about which one I'll decide. Actually I dont care about the 200Gb HDD compare to 400GB of p173,, but what really bothers me is the down on the processor from 2.4GH to 2.26 why they did that??, it would have been a power horse with the same processor. What model do you think is better, anyonw ples Help in advance :)

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 29th 2008 8:25AM]

What I am disappoint with is I was looking at the P-173 also because I read it has a clean "no junk" install of Vista ultimate.

I was/am hoping for a updated p173 with the p45 chipset, faster cpu, the 9800 gpu, and the blu ray.

If tigerdirect had that for 1600-1700 I would get it yesterday as is I am on the fence and waiting to see what Gateway does next.

If nothing else comes down the pipe in 2-3 months I may pull the trigger on the 7811.

Why can't they push out the new lineup all at once???

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 6th 2008 5:22AM]

The M-6864FX can't even compare to this baby.

7811 vs 6864:

17" WUXGA (1920x1200) vs. 15.4" WXGA (1200x800)
4gb DD3 @ 800 vs. 4gb DD2 @ 667
Montevina chipset (newest, DDR3 RAM to 8gb, 1066mhz FSB+) vs. Santa Rosa (667mhz max, 4gb cap DDR2)
9800gts vs. 2600 HD (Class 1 GPU vs. Class 2 GPU. 9800gts wipes the floor with the 2600)
2.26ghz 3mb cache 800mhz FSB CPU vs. 2.0 ghz 2mb cache 667mhz FSB CPU

The 7811 is a budget gaming laptop.
The 6864 is clearly a super budget borderline gaming system (albeit 1200x800 helps offset the deficiencies of the 2600 mobility GPU)

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 30th 2008 11:39PM]

Discontinued. Why?

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 12th 2009 12:25AM]

DO NOT BUY THIS LAPTOP.

Gateway is TERRIBLE not only with this laptop, but with their "customer support" it's more like wait on hold til some asshole "tech" support person says all they can do is cover your brand new laptop under their warranty, so basically you are paying for your brand new laptop to work..by sending it in for repairs. It's absurd, and I will be putting in a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.