Gateway ID49: Mixing the Bag
by Dustin Sklavos on September 23, 2010 2:46 AM ESTHigh Gaming and 3DMarks
As I mentioned on the previous page, driver bugs in Optimus prevented us from running Left 4 Dead 2 with 4xAA, so those results are omitted here. The GT 330M isn't really cut out for anti-aliasing or gaming above 1366x768 anyhow, making those results mainly academic, but it still would've been nice to see it really reach for the stars in a game that's traditionally pretty forgiving of video hardware.
Once we move to our "High" preset, the 330M in the ID49C takes a swan dive and can only produce playable settings in Mass Effect 2 and, arguably, StarCraft II and DiRT 2 (only at native resolution.) As we said before, the results are academic, but they do serve to illustrate the immense gulf in performance between the mainstream-class graphics processors and their high-end kin. In fairness, though, these are settings the 330M wasn't really made to run.
Once we get to 3DMark, the GeForces start to accel, though 3DMark03 and to a lesser extent 05 seem to have some issues with being CPU limited. That's fair; 3DMark03 is seven years old at this point and wasn't designed to run graphics hardware this fast. It's still sad watching the G 310M and HD 5470 trail the mainstream parts, though. The solid i5-450M in the ID49C gives the GT 330M the support it needs to rank consistently high on these charts, and in 3DMark06 and Vantage the ID49C comes into its own and slots in right where it ought to be.
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Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, September 23, 2010 - link
I'm not sure I have such a low opinion of the average consumer that I would assume they'd have to buy this thing just because it has a glowing touchpad. While I do like some of the styling (it's nice to see aluminum on a notebook at this price point), I take issue with the fact that rather than choosing to invest in putting together a more well-rounded machine, Gateway whiffed and just gave us a crappy screen and a touchpad that lights up.There was potential here. Dedicated volume controls are common from most manufacturers, they didn't need to replace useful document navigation keys with them. Instead, they somehow managed to make a bad keyboard worse (and a regular consumer checking out units on the shelf may very well test the keyboard), and again, burned their budget making the touchpad light up instead of improving something...ANYTHING else.
AnnonymousCoward - Saturday, September 25, 2010 - link
$849 for this POS? Negativity was not overzealous. Your 1st paragraph isn't supported by the rest. In the rapist rapper's voice, Welllll, obviously, most people won't notice the shitty screeeen, and the crappy keyboard. He's climbin in your windows...I would never pay $800 for 1366x768 and a crappy keyboard, even if there's a quantum CPU with data crystals inside.
Minion4Hire - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
I wouldn't expect you to buy this. As I said, this model of laptop is not designed to target Anandtech readers in the least. But its target audience is known to lower their resolution (while remaining entirely ignorant of aspect ratio) in order to get larger text. As such 1366x768 isn't a problem in the least. As for the "crappy" keyboard, while it does flex when under pressure I think the key layout is acceptable, and unless you pound your keyboard while typing you'll never notice said flexing; it takes a decent amount of force (more than any typist would use) in order to cause the keyboard to bow.Even Dustin admitted that its "pricetag is justifiable". It's not a great laptop, but the flaws that we see often do not exist in the eyes of the consumer, either because they don't care (don't know better) or view said flaws as positives (ie. 1366x768 resolution) so it's all very relative.
AnnonymousCoward - Monday, September 27, 2010 - link
There's no question that this laptop, like any crappy product, is acceptable to the average consumer. When it comes to average/bad products, I'm sure you'd agree that AnandTech should lean zealously negative. When poor design choices are made that affect things that AnandTech readers care about, it should be a big deal.andrepang - Thursday, September 23, 2010 - link
Not too sure if you guys have noticed, this particular gateway notebook have very similar physical design compared to Acer's timelineX 4820TG....Looking at the side ports, DVD tray and even the back cover plus and the battery's shape looked the same.. And of course not forgetting the keyboard.......
I wondered if its a design copy or are they sourcing the design from the same OEM...
Just my thoughts...
infodan - Thursday, September 23, 2010 - link
Acer owns gateway, so thats not a surprise, but in the US the gateway brand is more popular, unlike in europe (and especially the UK) where the gateway brand is all but dead.Roland00 - Thursday, September 23, 2010 - link
The big differences between the two (besides looks)Is the Acer TimelineX either uses intel i3/i5 integrated graphics or has an ATI HD5650. The Gateway ID series either uses intel i3/i5 integrated graphics on their cheaper models, on their more expensive models they use nvidia Optimus with the GT330m (this is what Dustin reviewed).
Also the TimelineX comes with a Six-cell, 6000mAh (up to 8 hours in mobile mark with intetgrated graphics ) or a Nine-cell, 9000mAh (up to 11.5 hours in mobile mark with integrated graphics). The Gateway ID series comes with a Six-cell 4400mAH battery (up to 6 hours in mobile mark with integrated graphics).
So Timeline X gives you bigger battery with ATI (and the faster video card) whilethe Gateway gives you a smaller batter with Nvidia Optimus.
Roland00 - Thursday, September 23, 2010 - link
I have seen and operated one and it is a good laptop for the money.I just hate they keyboard, hate, hate, hate...
One thing that wasn't mention by Dustin is that when you click the touchpad (which is one large button), the button actually lowers, it actually deepens. For a person who loathes touchpads and always carries a mouse, I found this option to be intuitive and better than most touchpads I have operated.
zoxo - Thursday, September 23, 2010 - link
Seriously, how much extra would it cost to have a decent screen?Pirks - Saturday, September 25, 2010 - link
judging by MacBook Pro prices - about a grand extraforget about it, PC user