Packard Bell's iPower GX laptop for hardcore gamerz. Sniff.

Following in the vaunted footsteps of Packard Bell's ugly-ass iPower X2.0 desktop, PB has swiped Gateway's well-received, if already-gaudy P-7811 FX gaming laptop and turned it into pure gamer stereotype: the iPower GX. As far as oppressed people groups go, "hardcore gamers" have had some of the worst aesthetics known to man foisted upon them, and this is no exception. We don't know how they can keep on keeping on -- we would've given up and bought a MacBook to play WoW years ago. Lucky for us, Acer-owned Packard Bell is still Europe-only for the time being, so maybe everything's going to be okay.

[Averox @ Sep 19th 2008 9:39AM]

Oh hey... That's the Gateway gaming laptop with different colors.

[1234321 @ Sep 19th 2008 9:47AM]

it is, but I don't get why Acer gave PB this gaming laptop when PB used to focus on business laptops

[Ryan Trevisol @ Sep 19th 2008 11:13AM]

That's not a gamer laptop! I don't see any skulls or gears anywhere in the design.

[bob sakamano @ Sep 19th 2008 9:41AM]

"ugly-ass"?

this is a family blog!

[Alan @ Sep 19th 2008 11:15AM]

fuck.

[konshuss @ Sep 19th 2008 9:50AM]

i really don't want to know what would inspire white splashes on the keyboard.


also i think engadget might want to check into paul miller, judging by the headline i think he may have a drug problem.

[tealfixie @ Sep 19th 2008 10:16AM]

really people, stop putting "i" in front of all your products.

[j @ Sep 19th 2008 10:26AM]

does adding a small 'i' to a brand name make it cool and expensive?

[kyle.dille @ Sep 19th 2008 10:41AM]

I for one welcome our sniffling, gamer laptop wannabe stylist overlords...

(I think that is what i mean although it is kinda hard to put thoughts in words before they disappear into the jumbled nonsense of a black hole that i call my brain)

[TareX @ Sep 19th 2008 10:42AM]

Finally. No more +$3000 Sagernotebooks and the overpriced Alienware. I guess I'm gonna be getting this one.

[Shawn @ Sep 19th 2008 10:52AM]

Did anyone notice they are saying that it will come with a mobile quad core processor? Gateway... where were you on that one?!

[Chris @ Sep 19th 2008 10:52AM]

It doesn't look all that bad to me. Why would a MacBook be any better? Because the design is boring instead of gaudy?

[Jason Litka @ Sep 19th 2008 10:55AM]

ewww... Seriously though, why can't anyone make a powerful notebook not look like a pile of crap? I'd love to have a nice 14" brushed metal system (like a MBP or Dell E-series) with a video card fast enough to actually play last year's games at the resolution of the screen.

[Adoniteking @ Sep 19th 2008 10:59AM]

the styling is very aggressive but i think it looks good. i hope the pricing isnt more aggressive

[Ken @ Sep 19th 2008 11:05AM]

You'd play games on a MBP? I guess that "sniff" is from huffing gasoline.

[ronzo @ Sep 19th 2008 11:13AM]

Note to manufacturers: Can we PLEASE drop the "i-XXX" naming convention now? It's been played out since, oh... about 2003.

[SlimPickinz @ Sep 19th 2008 11:39AM]

LOL Agreed!

[CrackedButter @ Sep 19th 2008 11:24AM]

Ummm, the trackpad, shouldn't it be in the center?

[a ham sandwich @ Sep 19th 2008 11:27AM]

yes it should, but they're not assuming that gamer=nerd, apparently. every nerd

[SlimPickinz @ Sep 19th 2008 11:46AM]

Wow, i didnt even notice. At first glance with all the kewl graphic's sloshed all over the hand rest...I just missed that horrible flaw in design.

[voodoo @ Sep 19th 2008 2:05PM]

NO, it should not be in the centre of the laptop... because of the full num pad, dead-centre would put the trackpad under your right wrist when typing.

Standard placement is slightly to the left of centre of the QWERTY keyboard. Which it is.

[Ken @ Sep 19th 2008 3:27PM]

@Voodoo

Do you keep your mouse centered with regards to the QWERTY keys? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no. Having the track pad on the left is asinine. Typing and then moving your hand to the GUI control interface is perfectly acceptable. This offset track pad however is not.

[voodoo @ Sep 19th 2008 4:19PM]

@Ken
You are incorrect. The reason for the offset trackpad is that standard typing position is not centred on most laptop keyboards.
Standard typing position is index fingers on 'F' and 'J'.
Look at the trackpad in relation to these keys. Position is fine. Well done.

[Dach @ Sep 19th 2008 2:28PM]

What's wrong with how it looks? Black/Red is a pretty common color scheme, and nothing wrong with that!

[N00d13s @ Sep 19th 2008 3:05PM]

i do like the look of this one also, but the gateway is better looking to me.

[xValentine @ Sep 19th 2008 3:40PM]

My first impression:

WOW.

I don't know about you guys, but I find that design cool.

[Po Panda @ Sep 19th 2008 4:41PM]

I got the Gateway P7811FX and the track pad's location is perfect. I wonder if it's possible to upgrade it to a quad-core cpu with the current psu it has in it now?

[Stupidiot @ Sep 19th 2008 6:22PM]

"we would've given up and bought a MacBook to play WoW years ago"
eurgh... I don't know why I keep coming back to this website. Force of habit I s'pose.

[McLovin @ Sep 21st 2008 3:18PM]

It looks better than my brother's M1730 XPS and my M1710.

[James @ Sep 21st 2008 4:10PM]

I clicked this link thinking it had something to do with Athene's hippy group i-power. Alas no sponsor.