Gateway FX P-7805U Laptop

This post is more for posterity sake so that in the future I do not have to search too far to find the spec's for my laptop.  This was the first laptop computer I ever bought.  So many people who think they just know it all about computers would always frown and make bad remarks when I told them my laptop is a Gateway.  These people can shut the EFF up because having owned three Gateway's now, I have had nothing but great results from all three machines.  Now when it comes to the computers I have fixed for others, its always Dell, Compaq, and HP's that I'm working on.  That could be saying something bad about those companies, or it could just be saying that the people who are computer illiterate and quite honestly PEBKAC's always tend to go with the name brands they are somehow familiar with aka Dell, Compaq, and HP.  And let's make it understood that Dell and HP are common in the workplace, and Compaq is just the cheap version of HP.  So this probably has a lot to do with why everyone is so familiar with those brands.

Well enough about all that.  Let's get to the specs of very first Laptop.  The model is the Gateway P-7805u FX Series, a Best Buy exclusive.

Processor Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor1 P8400 (2.26GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
Operating System Genuine Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit) with SP12
Color FX Premium Design with brushed metal keyboard surround and high-impact composite finish
Memory 4096MB 1066MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory (2-2048MB modules)
Hard Drive 320GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive5
Chassis Chassis with NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GTS Graphics with 1GB of GDDR3 Discrete Video Memory and Intel® PM45 Chipset
Adapter AC Adapter
Application Software Microsoft® Works 9.0SE, Microsoft® Money Essentials & Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 (60-day complimentary trial period)4
Battery 9-Cell Lithium Ion 86.58 Whr (2.6AHr)
Digital Media Software Microsoft® Windows Media Player 11, Cyberlink® Power2 Go™, & Cyberlink® LabelPrint™
Dimensions (Box) 15.5" (H) x 19" (W) x 6.5" (D) or 394mm (H) x 485mm (W) x 165mm (D)
Dimensions (System) 1.3"-1.70" (H) x 15.75" (W) x 11.75" (D) or 33-43mm (H) x 400mm (W) x 298mm (D)
Display 17" High-Definition Widescreen WXGA+ Display (1440 x 900)
Expansion Slots ExpressCard™ Type 54
External Ports (3) USB 2.0, VGA Connector, IEEE 1394b, eSATA Port, V1.2 HDMI Connector
Keyboard and Mouse Full-Size Keyboard, Synaptics Touchpad with Vertical Scroll
Media Card Reader 5-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader (Memory Stick™, Memory Stick™ Pro, Multi Media Card™, Secure Digital™, xD-Picture Card™)
Memory Capacity Maximum 4GB
Modem 56K ITU V.92 ready Fax/Modem (RJ-11 port)
Multimedia Buttons Illuminated Metal Precision-Touch Multimedia Buttons
Network 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
Optical Drive 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW and DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash™ Technology7
Security Software Symantec Norton 360™ 2008 (60-day trial)6
Sound High-Definition Audio- 2 Channel, Built-In speakers, microphone, headphone/SPDIF Audio Out
Warranty 1 Year Parts and Labor + Toll Free8
Web Camera 1.3 Megapixel Integrated Webcam
Weight 9.05 lbs. (4.11 kg) system unit only / 12.64 lbs. (5.73 kg.) box
Wireless Network Intel® WiFi Link 5100AGN 802.11a/g/Draft-N Wireless LAN

One of the oddities about this model is that the monitor is listed as a WXGA (1440x900 resolution) when in fact the monitor is actually a WUXGA with a resolution of 1920x1200.  That is to say, it is a Widescreen Ultra eXtended Graphics Array.  Although, I have heard that some models actually shipped with a WXGA monitor but lucky for me, mine came with the WUXGA.  The only unlucky thing for me is that this laptop has three USB ports and only one of the ports works on my laptop.  I was afraid to send it in for service because I didn't want to lose the luxury of the higher-res monitor somehow if they decided to send me a refurbished model.  So I have dealt with it being how it is.

It really doesn't bother me that two of the ports don't work because I mostly only use this laptop to take with me here and there.  It's actually not as easy and portable as my other laptop because it is so large and heavy to carry around and just a little too large to sit in my lap.  But it's okay, I still make it work.

It seems that the main thing I do from the laptop now is remotely connect to my home PC.  Either that or when I'm connected to the WiFi at my friend's house, it always seems to be time to run Windows Update and also update everything else so I let all that stuff run.  Makes me feel like my computer is healthy and running well, but seems to be one of the few things I even use it for anymore.  Even though I tend to like doing things from my smartphone rather than lugging around this large laptop, sometimes I just get so tired of my slow little phone and of having to use the touchscreen to do everything, that I just want to switch over to using a wireless mouse and having a real keyboard, so I go out to my car and get the laptop out.  I guess its just nice having the convenience of the laptop even if I dont use it much.  But I'm glad I don't need to rely on a laptop.  That might feel depressing to me.  I love desktops.