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eMachines unveils three new desktops
eMachines continues to ply its wares in the cutthroat waters of the low end PC market, and its new summer and fall lineup looks like it'll be pretty competitive. $500 will get you a T5230 desktop (pictured with optional 19-inch display) with a 2.32GHz dual-core Athlon 64 X2 4400+, NVIDIA 6510SE integrated graphics, 1 GB of RAM, a 250GB disk, Vista Home Premium, and a dual-layer DVD±RW drive, while the $450 T5062 swaps in a single core 2.4GHz Athlon 64 3800+ and a 160GB disk. The $400 T3616 is somewhat less of a deal, with a 2.0GHz Sempron on a 160MHz frontside bus, 512MB of RAM, a 120GB disk, and Vista Home Basic. All these prices go down $50 if you complete the mail-in rebate eMachines will be offering, which should be enough to throw in a couple extra sticks of RAM and actually make these things useful.
Gateway E-295C / C-140 convertible tablet announced
Gateway's keeping on with the convertible tablets, now announcing its latest in the lineup: the E-295C / C-140. Options include: Core 2 Duo 1.8 - 2.4GHz options 14-inch WXGA (1280 x 768) display, 200 nit brightness Wacom digitzer / pen with 256 sensitivity levels (nice!) Intel GMA X3100 or ATI Mobility Radeon X2300 graphics Up to 4GB RAM, drive options up to 120GB Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth 2.0 DVD±RW drive, SD / MS / xD media reader, 1394, three USB 2.0 ports, biometric scanner Prices start at $1100, plus there's another shot after the break to whet that whistle.
Gateway's 14-inch 295 series tablet PC spied
Note to Gateway: don't pass along secretive information about unannounced tablets (even to students) unless you don't mind it getting out. That being said, it seems like a new 295 series of tablet PCs could be hitting the education market (and beyond) real soon, as the device was candidly spotted in numerous education order forms. Dubbed the E-295M by the University of South Dakota, the convertible apparently comes stocked with a 1.8GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 60GB 5400RPM hard drive, modular DVD burner, seven-in-one multicard reader, a PC Card slot, FireWire, a trio of USB 2.0 connectors, and Intel's GMA x3100 integrated graphics. You'll be staring at a 14-inch WXGA display and fiddling with the included stylus while ignoring lecturers, and the gigabit Ethernet and 802.11b/g WiFi should keep you well connected to the things that matter most. Of course, pricing details for the general public are likely to change, but those headed to USD can place their order for $1,699.
Gateway issues recall for 400VTX and 450ROG Li-ion batteries
Just when you were absolutely certain the voluntary recalls regarding potentially explosive Li-ions were finally complete, here comes yet another vendor claiming that your lappie just might have a problem. This time around, Gateway has proclaimed that "about 14,000" of the lithium-ion battery packs that shipped with its 400VTX and 450ROG series machines "could possibly overheat and pose a fire hazard to consumers." The packs can reportedly be identified by 6500760 or 6500761 part numbers and a "made by SMP" label on the underside of the Li-ion. To date, four reports of "overheating" and a case of minor property damage have been accounted for, so if you just happen to be viewing these very words on one of the aforementioned devices, it's time to get your RMA on.
Laptop Mag revisits tech support showdown
After some success with last year's undercover excursion, Laptop Magazine is once again taking one for the team and testing out laptop manufacturer tech support. This year their faux-problems were system tray icon clutter and hard drive defragment. Last year Apple and Lenovo took the top prize, and while Apple continued to shine with stellar web support and speedy phone techs, Lenovo dropped to a B+ overall grade, and was replaced by Gateway at the top of the PC heap. Toshiba was the biggest gainer, with a solid B+ after a horrible D- showing last year. HP sunk to a C+, while Acer continued to stink it up with a C-, particularly impacted by the company's worst-by-far D rated web support. Hit up the read link for a full breakdown of scores and the heroic tales of Laptop Mag's tech support adventures.
Stubborn ex-customer takes Gateway to court for defective PC
"Me against the world" has taken on a whole new meaning for high school dropout Dennis Sheehan, who has taken Gateway to small claims court in a completely bizarre catch 22-laden case. Apparently, the now 46-year old Sheehan took his stubbornness out on the corporation who sent him a computer that "displayed scattered graphics" fresh out of the box. After the company purportedly refused to remedy the issue, the two have ended up in court where Gateway claimed that clicking through the EULA upon bootup eliminated his right to even sue; au contraire, claimed Sheehan, who explained that the malfunctioning PC wasn't even able to render the text and allow him the opportunity to read it. Interestingly enough, a tentative ruling on May 24th sided with the plantiff and maintained that the case would stay in small claims court, but it looks like finality is still a good ways off for the perturbed ex-customer.[Thanks, Mike]
Gateway's E-265M, E-475M laptops released and reviewed
In a departure from other companies, it looks like Gateway has managed to keep its new Santa Rosa laptops from leaking out before today's big release, although it does seem to have been willing to send out a few units for some early reviews. Aimed primarily at business users, the E-265M and E-475M boast virtually identical designs and specs, differentiated mainly by the 14.1-inch display on the former and a 15.4-inch one on the latter model. Otherwise, each laptop will give you a choice of Core 2 Duo processors, either ATI Radeon HD X2300 or Intel GMA X3100 graphics and, perhaps most notably, a promised 10 1/2 hours of battery life (if you opt for both the 12 cell battery and the modular battery, that is). As for how they stack up, the folks at CNET found that they both proved to be decent enough systems (giving same 7.4/10 rating to each), although they weren't exactly blown away by the switch to Santa Rosa, finding only modest gains in performance. Also, while they liked the $1,399 starting price, the cost of adding some of those desirable upgrades proved to more be a tad off-putting.Read - Gateway Press ReleaseRead - CNET, Gateway E-265MRead - CNET, Gateway E-475M
Gateway's C120X convertible tablet PC gets reviewed
Gateway's C120X, which is curiously also dubbed the E-155C and S-7125C, didn't look like a half bad option for the convertible fans in the crowd from the start, and while the weight and less-than-enthralling LCD may turn some folks off, NotebookReview found it a "solid" tablet for the money. One noticeable perk was the stylish, professional design and the sturdy nature of the enclosure, but opening it up put a sudden damper on things when peering at the "grainy, washed-out" touchscreen. Reviewers did admire the Wacom-enabled stylus, the lack of heat and noise while in use, and "impressive" speakers, but a bevy of minor quibbles kept it from excellence. The biggest digs came from a loose screen hinge, keyboard flexing, and just "normal" battery life from a ULV-equipped machine. Essentially, this tablet looks to be a classic example of ho hum, as it offers no real standout features that can't be found elsewhere, and provides just enough quirks to turn off the picky consumer, but feel free to give the full scoop a read if you're still perched on the fence.
Gateway E-155C convertible tablet announced
Gateway's first tablet since the CX210 / M285-E, announced almost a year ago today, is here: the widescreen convertible E-155C. The laptop, same as we saw a couple weeks back, comes equipped with a 12.1-inch WXGA bidirectionally rotating display, Core 2 Duo ULV processor, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, fingerprint reader, media reader, 1394, drives up to 120GB, and DVD burner in a 4.5-pound 1.17-inch thick body. Of course, it will run Vista, and be priced to order from the cow people in, um, southern California. More pics below.%Gallery-2647%
eMachines updates line with new desktops, displays
eMachines has a new range of desktop machines and displays for you this weekend with the T3612, T5008, and T5226 coming in with the usual mix of low- to mid-range specifications. At the core of the range is a selection of Intel Pentium processors, ranging from the Celeron D 360 in the T3612 up to the dual core Intel Pentium D 925 processor running at 3GHz in the T5226. The rest of the specs are relatively standard with memory configurations bottoming at 512MB and topping out at 1GB, yucky Intel 950 GMA "graphics cards" in the entire range, a 120-250GB SATA Hard Disk Drives, and all format DVD writer drives, and 15-in-one memory card readers rounding out the rest of the specs. All of these machines run Vista Home Premium, and the top end machine will cost you one cent short of $500 with the lower end T3612 and T5008 priced at $349 and $399 respectively. Expect to see these flogged to bewildered customers everywhere from today. eMachines is also making available a 19-inch widescreen LCD for $209.99 and a 17-inch model for $179.99, although they didn't elaborate on precise details.[Via Mobile Whack]
The 2006 Engadget Awards: Vote for Display of the Year
Now's your chance to cast your ballot for the 2006 Display of the Year! Our Engadget Awards nominees are listed below, and you've got until 11.59PM EST on Monday, April 16th to file your vote. You can only vote once, so make it count, and may the best tech win! The nominees: BenQ FP241W, Dell 3007WFP-HC, Gateway FPD2485W, HP LP3065, Optimus mini three, and Samsung 305T. %Poll-317%
The 2006 Engadget Awards: Vote for Tablet PC of the Year
Now's your chance to cast your ballot for the 2006 Tablet PC of the Year! (For the purposes of this award, UMPCs will compete in Handhelds.) Our Engadget Awards nominees are listed below, and you've got until 11.59PM EST on Sunday, April 15th to file your vote. You can only vote once, so make it count, and may the best tech win! The nominees: Fujitsu P1610, Gateway CX210 / M285, Kohjisha SA1F00, Lenovo X60, and Toshiba Portege M400. %Poll-240%
Gateway's imminent new tablet PC
Amongst the circulating rumors regarding Gateway's fate comes the information that Gateway is looking to update its Tablet PC range with a new model featuring a finger print scanner and an ambient light sensor. All we have to go on at the moment is a PDF manual which unfortunately doesn't list any specifications beyond the standard ports (they're very standard: VGA, Ethernet, PC Card, a Memory Card slot, FireWire, and USB) and the aforementioned ambient light sensor and finger print scanner -- which interestingly, but probably uselessly, doubles as a trackpad when the tablet is in tablet mode. Aside from that you'll note that the screenshots are of the machine running Vista, and not a lot else. Expect this machine to get some sort of C-class designation, which incidentally both Gateway and Acer have used for their tablet PCs.
Acer to buy Gateway?
Is Acer getting ready to buy Gateway? There's no official word from either company, but the Associated Press reports that shares in Gateway jumped today after analyst firm ThinkEquity released a report concluding that Acer was considering making an offer for the company. No clue how close they might be to actually making a bid (or even if they are actually planning to), but it wouldn't be shocking to see Gateway get scooped up (although they did reject a $450 million offer last year). The company has been struggling for years to carve out a niche in the shadow of larger PC makers like Dell and HP -- remember that chain of retail stores they opened and then quickly closed? -- and you could definitely see Acer buying them as a relatively easy way to gain marketshare in the US.
Ruckus Wireless' MetroFlex DZ brings outdoor WiFi inside
Although we wouldn't advise that you use Ruckus Wireless' latest gizmo on a faraway neighbor's stray WiFi signal if you're housin' it in Singapore, the MetroFlex DZ allows you to pull (legal) "outdoor, metro wireless internet signals" into your home with a single device. This dual-zone device didn't change much in the design department from the media-centric 2825 MediaFlex router, but its patent-pending smart antenna technology "dynamically selects the best sending and receiving antennas for incoming and outgoing WiFi signals," allowing subscribers of outdoor broadband to provide WiFi in the home. You'll also find the usual bevy of security measures here, such as IP management, discrete SSIDs, WEP, and WPA2, but those hoping to snag a bit of draft-N action here will be sorely disappointed. No word on pricing or availability just yet, but hopefully it'll help out you lucky souls with citywide WiFi floating around.[Via TheWirelessReport]
Gateway offers up Vista-eqiupped DX430 desktop / NX270S laptop
You know what they say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and apparently Gateway has latched onto said mantra and has quietly dished out a new computer on both the desktop and laptop sides, each fully equipped with Windows Vista. The $499.99 (and up) DX430-series desktop ups the ante from the DX420 by offering Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 / E6300 processors, 1GB of RAM, 160GB hard drive, 15-in-1 flash card reader, a DVD writer, Intel's GMA X3000 integrated graphics set, a micro ATX chassis, and up to 22-inches of LCD real estate to compliment the machine. In the portable realm, the $699.99 NX270S (pictured after the break) packs a 14.1-inch WXGA widescreen LCD, Intel Celeron 430 CPU, 512MB of RAM, 60GB hard drive, and a combo drive as well. Additionally, you'll find a copy of Vista Home Basic, a trio of USB 2.0 ports, 4-in-1 media card reader, WiFi, 56k modem jack, and Ethernet. Both of these budget-friendly systems aren't out to set any benchmark records, but they should handle the most basic of Vista demands fairly well, and considering the low starting price points on each, your wallet (and SO) will be greatly appreciative.[Via PCMag]
eMachines kicks out new desktop lineup for Vista
There's a good chance your dealing with some eMachines boxes when the "high-end" boasts a hefty $530 pricetag. The Gateway-owned budget PC builder has a new lineup of desktops out today to support Windows Vista, ranging from the Celeron-based T3604 to the Pentium D T5224. In the low-end, the T3604 sports a Celeron D 356 3.33GHz processor, with 512MB (hardly adequate for blazing Vista performance) of RAM, a 120GB HDD, CD-RW/DVD combo drive, Intel 950 graphics, Vista Home Basic and a $350 pricetag after a $50 instant rebate. Next up is the T5082, which runs a Pentium 4 631 3GHz processor, 512MB of RAM, a 160GB HDD, a super-multi DVD drive, 15-in-1 card reader, ATI Radeon X300-based integrated graphics, Vista Home Basic and a $400 pricetag after the $50 rebate. Finally, the T5224 really does it up fancy for an eMachines box, including a Pentium D 820 proc running at 2.8GHz, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB HDD, super-multi DVD drive, card reader, Intel 950 graphics (bleh), and Vista Home Premium. The box is Viiv compatible, and will run you $530 after the $50 rebate. All of the PCs have 5.1 surround sound, DirectX 9.0 graphics, and a PCI Express x16 slot for upgrading the graphics -- which seems highly advisable. You should be able to find these things at retail outlets before too terribly long.
Oregon man sues Acer, Gateway, et al. for violating hinge patent
Earlier this month, Mr. Khalil Zaidan of Portland, Oregon, sued Acer, Gateway, Toshiba, HP, IBM, and Fujitsu for violating his 1996 patent "Hinge Assembly for Electronic Devices." A closer reading of the patent indicates that Zaidan seems to have patented the basic principle behind a tablet PC, allowing a computer to perform "rotational adjustment." Still, the case -- filed in United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division -- seems like a pretty easy way to milk these big companies for some cash, given that tablet PCs have been around well before November 2006. Nevertheless, while Zaidan is asking the court for damages on patent infringement be decided in a jury trial, we're betting that this gets settled out-of-court pretty quick. We're pretty sure that if Zaidan could actually build a Commodore 64-esque tablet (that's what his diagram is supposed to represent, right?), he could just make money from that instead of going through all this legal nonsense.
ExtremeTech's Ultimate Gaming Machine shoot-out
ExtremeTech and Games for Windows magazine have combined their forces to take on a few of the ultimate gaming machines that are tearing up the scene these days. Over the last week, they rocked six, that's right, six full-on reviews of these rapacious rigs: the Dell XPS 710, Gateway FX530XT Gaming PC, CyberPower Gamer Infinity SLI KO, Alienware Area-51 ALX, Falcon Northwest Mach V, and VoodooPC Omen (pictured). First up is the Dell XPS 710, which really didn't get high marks at all -- they dubbed it a "very average system." What made it deserve such a panning? Basically, the site found that it's overpriced ($5,314) for the performance you get (2.66GHz Core 2 Extreme Quad QX6700) -- Dell seems to have spent the extra money on case design and not the actual components. When stacked up against a very close rival, the Gateway FX530XT, ExtremeTech found that the 530 edged out the Dell system, earning points for a faster chip (3.24GHz QX6700 quad-core), smaller case, lower price ($4,030), and quieter fan. Keep reading to check out the rest of the hardcore action...
Gateway's NX570 series of Core 2 Duo 15-inchers
Gateway just unleashed a couple of new NX570 Core 2 Duo, "brushed metallic" laptops that won't break the bank. Going extra-large is the top-end 1.83GHz XL model which delivers a 15.4-inch, 1920x1200 display and 128MB ATI Mobility RADEON x1400 graphics while the lesser NX570X model throttles back on the clock and resolution by dropping the proc to 1.6GHz while trimming the pixels to just 1280 x 800. Both models can be equipped with up 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a multi-format dual-layer DVD burner, 4/5/6.5-hour battery options, and SATA disk from 80-120GB spinning at 5400RPM or 80/120GB disks goin' all out at 7200RPM. The wedge measures between 1.31~1.4-inches thick while weighing in at 6.32-pounds when configured with standard, 4-hour / 6-cell battery. Available now with prices starting at about $900 on up to a bit more than $2000 fully spec'd.
