Gateway laptops
Updated March 31, 2006
Gateway offers a modest range of laptops for work and home use, which the company sells direct from its Web site and through retailers, such as Best Buy and Circuit City. If you buy from Gateway's site, you'll be faced with three or four preconfigured models for each line, which are broken out into S for low-end options, M for midrange options, and X and/or XL for the highest-end options.
Generally speaking, a Gateway laptop offers a competitive set of components and features for the price, though it often has a drab, functional design that makes it seem a little less cool than the competition. Because the laptops are sold to both home and professional customers, many models include a few entertainment features (wide-screen display, media-card reader), but most lack higher-end corporate features, such as biometric security. That said, Gateway laptops are versatile enough to please basic home and pro users alike, and these systems are consistently popular among CNET readers--check out the user opinions. Like HP, many of Gateway's laptops are available with either an AMD or Intel processor, though the AMD configurations are sold only in retail outlets. Gateway has begun to update its line with
Intel's new Core Solo and Core Duo processors, and it recently released its first ultraportable model since 2002, the NX100X.
Gateway populates its seemingly colossal catalog with what's actually only five or so basic laptop designs, which are fine-tuned for each of its four major customer segments: consumer (home and home office), small business, enterprise (midsize and large business), and retail; the government and education categories largely contain a rehash of midsize and large-business category models. It's quite complicated.
For example, Gateway sells the NX550 under a different name for each of its market segments and packages each with different configuration options and warranty terms. With what's listed on its site combined with what you see on retail shelves, it looks like Gateway has a million models to choose from, but it's just smoke and mirrors: each of Gateway's consumer models, which are typically the ones that CNET reviews, have a close equivalent in each of the other lines. We've broken them out in the chart below.
| Home and home office model |
Small-business model |
Midsize and large-business model |
Retail model |
Chassis type |
| NX100X |
NX100X |
E-100M |
N/A |
12.1-inch wide screen |
| NX200 |
NX200 |
N/A |
MX3000 |
14-inch wide screen |
| NX250 |
S-7200N |
M250E |
MX3000 |
| CX200 |
S-7200C |
M280E |
CX2600 |
14-inch wide-screen tablet |
| NX500 |
NX500 |
N/A |
MX6000 |
15.4-inch wide screen |
| NX550 |
S-7500N |
M460E |
MX6000 |
| NX560 |
S-7510N |
M465E |
MX6000 |
| N/A |
S-7700N |
M680E |
MX8000 |
17-inch wide screen |
| NX860 |
M685E |
M685E |
MX8000 |
| M320/M325 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
15-inch standard |
Gateway backs its laptops with industry-standard warranties: one year for most consumer models and three years for business models. In many cases, you can upgrade the warranty for a reasonable price. Warranties include toll-free 24/7 phone support, and the company promises to reply to e-mail support questions within 24 hours. Gateway's support site has a lot of downloads, spec sheets, and setup suggestions. There's a chat room to compare notes with other users, though the site lacks the option for a live chat with a technician.
Gateway laptop lines:
Gateway NX100X |
Gateway NX200 series |
Gateway CX200 series |
Gateway NX500 series |
Gateway NX850 series |
Gateway M320 series
Gateway NX100X
For its first ultraportable model since 2002, Gateway has taken a page from Apple's design handbook; with a sleek black case, brushed-aluminum details, and dark blue status lights, the NX100X looks like a minimalist's dream laptop. That minimalism extends to features as well; among other omissions, the NX100X forgoes the built-in optical drive and the security features found on higher-priced competitors; Gateway's identical business-focused model, the E-100M affords additional security functionality. The NX100X's price is many hundreds of dollars less than the superiorly equipped competitors, so if you're looking for an extremely portable and stylish laptop and can do without a built-in optical drive or security features, it's a solid, economical choice.
Gateway NX200 series (includes NX250)
Gateway's 14-inch wide-screen model, the NX200 series, weighs about 5 pounds, placing it in the
thin-and-light category. It's clearly light enough for regular travelers. You can configure the system with a 12-cell battery, which makes it nearly a pound heavier but gives the NX200 nearly
seven hours of battery life. We liked the overall design and features of the Gateway NX200, and its performance proved more than adequate for basic productivity work. We recommend this system, which starts at around $600, for anyone who needs a highly portable laptop for business or the home.
Gateway CX200 series
The Gateway CX200 is a fairly typical 14-inch wide-screen laptop with one major twist: it's actually a
convertible tablet--the first and only to feature a display of its size. Starting at slightly more than $1,000, the CX200 comes with a number of features that aren't standard for tablets, including a DVD burner. With the big, 14-inch screen comes considerable bulk, however: the CX200 weighs more than seven pounds, which is too heavy for handheld mobile use. That said, if you're interested in writing on the screen of a powerful midsize notebook, this is a good choice.
Gateway NX500 series (includes NX550, NX560)
Gateway's affordable NX500 series proves that you don't need to spend an exorbitant amount of money to get a respectably configured notebook. The $950 NX500X configuration we tested in June 2005 featured a 15.4-inch wide-screen display, a standard array of features, and solid performance; it weighed almost seven pounds, though, placing it firmly in the
midsize category and making a bit too heavy for regular travel. Battery life was also so-so, and we found fault with its dearth of security features and flimsy keyboard, too. With its NX560, Gateway recently made the NX500 available with an Intel Core Duo processor, and
Windows XP Media Center is also an option.
Gateway NX850 series (includes NX860)
Formerly known as the
M680XL, the NX850 series
desktop replacement delivers strong performance, a beautiful 17-inch display, and a slender case. Starting at $1,200, the NX850 series is most expensive of all of Gateway's laptops, but it offers high-end standard features, including Intel's Core Duo processor, higher-end graphics cards, and Microsoft Windows XP Media Center. The Gateway NX850XL we tested in November 2005 kept pace with some of the higher-end (and more expensive) gaming laptops we've seen, and we expect the new NX860 model to perform even better, equipped as it is with the Intel Core Duo processor.
Gateway M320 series
The M320-series model, the last Gateway laptop to feature a standard-aspect display, is in the process of being phased out, having been replaced by the NX500 series.
Read CNET's review of the M320 here.
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Gateway desktops
