Gateway CX2724

hawki313: #gateway_cx2724 So - So The Pros: I love the core duo processor, gig of mem, dvd writer, and the decent size hard drive. The keyboard size is perfect and the mouse pad is nice. I like the locking magnetic latches which makes the lid lock tight when in tablet mode. The battery life is pretty impressive for a tablet. When you turn off wireless, turn down screen brightness, turn the sound down, and only use basic programs, you can find you can get about 4-5 hours. The battery design works also as an erganomical handel for mobile tablet use. I also like the 5-in-1 media card reader. Thanks to this, all I need on holiday is my laptop and a camera. It has 3 USB ports which is nice, a 1 Gig ethenet port in case your hotel has no wireless. The Cons: For first, it is quite bulky. It ways almost 7 lbs which can become quite heavy for the average student. When the lid is up, looking from the logo side, the notebook looks ugly because of the battery. Altough that bulky battery has another purpose of allowing air flow underneath the notebook. After a while, the rotating hinge feels quite flimsy and cheap. Just a fair warning, this notebook is not as durable as gateway pronounces. Once I dropped my backpack from 1 foot off the ground and even with the padding in the backpack, the battery pack still cracked. Fortunately, the battery pack is designed in a way that it can collapse sligthly to absorb impact and protect the cells. DONT GET ANY IDEAS THOUGH, battery packs are expensive (around $125 each) the pens are also easy to loose and they cost about $50 each to replace. I do wish that the optical drive was removable for weight management. All in all I give this a 3.75 out of 5. I like the notebook for its price and the specs. I do think it can be improoved. The New Gateway C-140 would probably have less of these flaws. I would reccomend this for students. However, If you have the money, go for the C-140. Jul 30, 07