iPhone 3GS from AT&T. Free Shipping
Entered CNET Catalog: 09/30/2003
SKU: CNETGATEWAY610S
Manufacturer: Gateway Inc.
Product summary
The good: Compact, simple design; wide-screen display; solid performance; wireless onboard; integrated three-piece speaker system.
The bad: No DVI or component inputs; limited image controls and no OSD; clunky keyboard; not customizable.
The bottom line: The first Windows XP Media Center PC designed from the ground up, the Gateway 610 series will give you the urge to converge.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 12/22/2003
The Gateway 610 series will never be mistaken for an ordinary PC. Though it carries Gateway's logo, much of the credit belongs to Intel and its digital home initiative (in fact, the identical product is sold overseas by a different company).
 Sleek design makes the Gateway 610 series Media Center ready for public spaces. |
 Though the design is unified, we'd prefer a smaller keyboard. |
A single, sleek unit houses a 17-inch wide-screen display, stereo speakers with a subwoofer that's smartly housed behind the screen, a TV tuner and an IR receiver for the remote control, and, oh yeah, a fully loaded PC. The wireless keyboard and mouse mean you need just two cables to use all of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004's basic features: the power cable and the TV video cable, which can be coaxial, S-Video, or RCA (composite). Since we tested with DirecTV satellite service, we also attached the included IR blaster to control the set-top box.
 |
 |
Side-mounted DVD+RW drive and media ports keep the front panel uncluttered. |
The Gateway 610 series is a huge improvement over competing models, which have 10 or more cables hanging off the back by the time you connect the components. The Gateway 610's all-in-one design eliminates this problem, and the 610X and 610XL models even have built-in 802.11g wireless, so there's no need to string an Ethernet cable or install a Wi-Fi adapter.
We tested the 600XL, but no matter which model you choose, the system will measure 21.3 inches wide and 16 inches high including the stand. It has a sturdy handle in the back, but you'll need both hands to budge this 30-pound unit. The display tilts up and down within a limited range, but it does not swivel or pivot to Portrait mode, and you can't adjust the height (it sits about 4.5 inches above the desktop).
 |
 The rear-mounted subwoofer adds punch but stays out of the way. |
| |
The rest of the design is equally simple. There are no legacy ports, so aside from the video in the connectors mentioned above, the back panel has analog audio-in and audio-out, digital audio-out (SPDIF), Ethernet and modem, and four USB 2.0 ports. On the right side of the display is an optical drive bay, and on the left, a hatch hides a media-card reader. On the top edge are buttons for power, volume, channel, and brightness, as well as a connector for an FM antenna, a new feature in Media Center 2004. Hidden at the base are an extra USB 2.0 port, a FireWire port, and headphone and microphone jacks.
Our complaints about the design are relatively minor. The keyboard is serviceable and has dedicated buttons for the Media Center OS, but its design is uninspired. We'd gladly opt for a smaller keyboard that would fit on (and look better on) a coffee table. The keyboard and mouse also have a relatively short range (about three feet from the front and six feet side to side). The remote, however, is well designed, offering good range and providing one-button access to live and recorded TV and other Media Center services.
The Gateway 610 series' simple design belies its complex set of features. Beneath the hood is a basic flat-panel TV and a high-end desktop PC.
It is available in three different models, ranging in price from $1,500 to $2,000. All models include the same 17-inch wide-screen display and stereo speakers with a subwoofer. But the models have important differences.
We tested the top-of-the-line 610XL, which includes a 3GHz Pentium 4 processor, 512MB of memory, ATI Radeon 9200 graphics with 128MB memory, a DVD burner, and integrated 802.11g networking. Our test system also had a whopping 250GB hard drive, but a still-large 200GB hard drive will ship on 610XL models, a change Gateway made to the system after submitting our review unit. In addition to slower processors, less memory, and smaller hard drives, the less costly models do not include a DVD burner, a big drawback for those who like to archive their favorite TV shows to disc. The entry-level 610S also lacks discrete graphics--it has integrated Intel Extreme Graphics with shared memory--and wireless networking.
 |
 |
Lots of connectors, but with a wireless mouse and keyboard and internal 802.11g, you may not need them. |
The 610XL is more than enough PC for anyone short of a serious gamer, but the 610 series has some real shortcomings as an LCD TV. Though the 1,280x768 display provides plenty of pixels to display true HDTV (1,280x720), it has neither component-video input nor DVI, so there's no way to connect an external HDTV tuner to view high-definition programming as you can with many 17-inch LCD TVs.
The unit has hard brightness controls, but none for color, contrast, or other image adjustments, and there is no OSD (onscreen display) from which to tweak the settings. This lack of display control is especially frustrating because Media Center's new Display Calibration wizard attempts to help you with image fine-tuning. You can adjust color and save those profiles using ATI's driver accessible from Display Properties in Windows.
Via the remote, you can choose from three aspect ratios: standard 4:3 (windowbox) and either stretched or zoomed in to fit the full 16:9 wide-screen display. The latter shaves off the top and bottom of the image, which is especially glaring if you are watching a channel with a crawl such as ESPN2, CNBC, or CNN Headline News. It does not offer a mode that stretches only to the edges of the image and leaves the middle intact, which is generally preferable because the overall image appears less distorted.
Finally, though the OS lets you watch TV in a small window while performing other Media Center tasks, you can't do true PIP with two video sources or channels.
Application performance
The Gateway 610XL model we tested is the most powerful configuration in the all-in-one Media Center line, and in general, it lived up to our expectations. Its performance was virtually identical to that of the Dell Dimension 4600C with Media Center. Both systems had 512MB of 400MHz DDR SDRAM, but the Gateway 610XL had a slightly faster processor (3GHz Intel P4) and superior graphics (ATI Radeon 9200 with 128MB memory). Both systems edged out the HP Media Center m300y, which has a 3.2GHz P4 but only 333MHz DDR SDRAM, and easily bested the sluggish ViewSonic NextVision M2100 Digital Media Center. Don't expect the same level of performance from the 610S or 610X models, but overall, the 610XL was a nimble performer that we would recommend for both for both office and Media Center tasks.
Application performance (Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
To measure application performance, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's SysMark 2002, an industry-standard benchmark. Using off-the-shelf applications, SysMark measures a desktop's performance using office-productivity applications (such as Microsoft Office and McAfee VirusScan) and Internet-content-creation applications (such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver).
3D graphics and gaming performance
Gaming isn't the primary role of the Gateway 610 series or any Media Center PC, but a home-entertainment PC should have some 3D gaming capabilities. The Gateway 610XL configuration, equipped with an ATI Radeon 9200 graphics chipset with 128MB of memory, is a capable gaming system, though it can't hold a candle to true gaming systems with Radeon 9800 Pro XT Pro or Nvidia GeForce FX 5950 graphics. In fact, we couldn't run our high-end 3DMark03 graphics tests at all, because the display doesn't support a resolution of 1,600x1,200 pixels. Instead, we resorted to our Unreal Tournament 2003 Flyby-Antalus test, and the Gateway 610XL's score of 52 frames per second was about what we expected. The bottom line is that most games will play adequately on the Gateway 610XL, but advanced graphics features will slow it noticeably.
3D graphics performance (Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
||||||||||
|
3D gaming performance (in fps) (Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
||||||||||
|
To measure 3D gaming performance, CNET Labs uses Epic Games' Unreal Tournament 2003, widely regarded as an industry-standard benchmark. We use Unreal to measure a desktop's performance with the DirectX 8.0 (DX8) interface at a 32-bit color depth and at a resolution of 1,024x768. Antialiasing and anisotropic filtering are disabled. At this color depth and resolution, Unreal is much less demanding than 3DMark03 and is therefore an excellent way to compare the performance of low-end to high-end graphics subsystems. We report the results of Unreal's Flyby-Antalus test in frames per second (fps).
Find out more about how we test desktop systems.
System configurations:Dell Dimension 4600C with Media Center
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004; 2.8GHz Intel P4; Intel 865G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; ATI All-in-Wonder 9000 Pro 64MB; Seagate ST3120026A 120GB 7,200rpm
Gateway 610XL Media Center
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004; 3.0GHz Intel P4; Intel 865PE chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; ATI Radeon 9200 Pro 128MB; Western Digital WD2500JB-22EVA0 250GB 7,200rpm
HP Media Center m300y
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004; 3.2GHz Intel P4; Intel 865PE chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 333MHz; Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 128MB; Maxtor 6Y200P0 200GB 7,200rpm
ViewSonic NextVision M2100 Digital Media Center
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004; 2.8GHz Intel P4; Intel 845GV chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; Nvidia GeForce FX 5600 128MB; Maxtor 4R160L0 160GB 5,400rpm
ZT Home Theatre PC A5071
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004; 2.2GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-51; Nvidia Nforce 3 Pro 150 chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB; Seagate ST3160023AS 160GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
The service and support options for the Gateway 610 series are similar to those of the high-end 710 series. The 610 series comes with a standard one-year parts and labor warranty. In addition to this Value plan, Gateway offers two more comprehensive warranty plans: Value Plus, which includes onsite service, and Total Protection, which includes onsite service, accidental damage protection, and lifetime tech support. You can upgrade to one these plans and increase the length up to five years.
If you get cold feet, you must return the unit within 15 days, and you'll pay either shipping or a 15 percent restocking fee. After that, Gateway will ship you the parts and instructions if you need a repair. If you must return the 610 series for service, you'll need to package it, take it to a local depot in some cases, and pay to ship it back to Gateway. The company picks up the return shipping costs, though.
The online support and documentation is ample, but you need to find it first. Gateway offers a personalized My Support page, but when we entered the serial number of our test system, it came up empty. A search of customer support turned up some relevant information, including a 104-page downloadable user guide, driver downloads, illustrated FAQs, a detailed breakdown of the system components and specifications, and links to e-mail and online chat support.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 User Rating: 
1/10
Power Supple Horrable!!!
Pros: Great for Space
Cons: only 256mb ram, ($$upgradable$$) Power Supply went out and is very expensive to replace!
User Rating: 
4/10
LIke gift-wrapping a box of horse apples.
Pros: Looks slick, and appears to have everything you need for a complete computer experience.
Cons: Terrible power supply issues, I am on my 3rd burnt-out power supply now. Ignore power supply revision advice, doesn't help. disable subwoofer 1st thing.
User Rating: 
6/10
excellent, loved it's streamline and all in one look
Pros: space saver good looks
Cons: bad keyboard and mouse
User Rating: 
10/10
Love the look and functionality of my PC, wish if there is 2 TV tuner insted of 1
Pros: Outstanding screen; Great design; plenty of fun and handy extras.
Cons: one speaker problem, gateway took care of it right away.
User Rating: 
3/10
Do yourself a favor-STAY AWAY!
Pros: small footprint
Cons: If one componet fails-your done
User Rating: 
2/10
Power Supply Failed
Pros: Good sound quality out of supplied speakers
Cons: Portable? How about 30 lbs. heavy!
same as others. I've owned the 610 for just about 1 1/2 years. About 3 months ago, the thing just started shutting itself off. I was thinking power surge, but nothing I did helped. Eventually it shut off never to be brought back to life. The achilles heel of this machine is by far the crappy power supply. Nice work Gateway...
User Rating: 6/10
GREAT IDEA but...
Pros: All in one really turns heads and is very convinient in small room
Cons: Support and the pc, like others say, tends to die within a year or two
I have to admit that the fact that you can pick this pc up and move it around the house (it is heavier than i thought, but still nothing i cant handle) and plug it in and be good to GO with internet was very convinient.
But here are my issues with the PC. The backlight of the minitor (like many claim) goes out fast. I did abuse the 610 for two years but after one year it was showing some imperfections. FORGET about the Support from Gateway, ITS A JOKE. The only direction they'll point you is to the webite where you'll most likely going to have to buy more softwear, NO THANX.
I think gateway was on the right track with this PC, however, from what i have heard DELL is banging out better products for the same price. I GUESS we'll know where im heading for my next BUY.
User Rating: 2/10
Wait a year....
Pros: Sleek design
Cons: Power supply failure
PS: I bought a new Dell 5100 Media Center last night.
User Rating: 
9/10
How to get a 610 Power Supply
Pros: Almost every thing is great
Cons: Power Supply is known to fail overtime
Do you need a new power supply for your Gateway 610 (or 610S 610X 610XL) look no further than www.kostinsoft.com I buy in bulk direct from Delta. Don't let your Gateway 610 Media Center PC go to waste replace your Power Supply today. I can also provide you with a Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Upgrade CD.
-Andrew Kostin
KostinSoft Inc.
www.KostinSoft.com
Microsoft and Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Gateway and Gateway 610 Media Center PC are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Gateway Computer in the United States and/or other countries.
KostinSoft is either registered trademarks or trademarks of the KostinSoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
User Rating: 3/10
It was great... until the monitor broke after 1 year!
Pros: Great screen, great design, great features!
Cons: Dies after warranty expires and the speakers make a horrible crackling noise when headphones are inserted.
User Rating: 1/10
Gateway has lost my business!!
Pros: Shiny & compact.
Cons: After 1 year problems with power supply make it ready for garbage.
User Rating: 1/10
Terrible product, unbelievably horrible support
Pros: Neat form factor
Cons: Unreliable, worst support in the business
User Rating: 3/10
Looks Good but looks can be deceiving
Pros: sleek design, nice picture, nice sound
Cons: Terrible tech support and poor software integration
Also, I have had nothing but problems trying to get it to create DVD's with DVD-R, resolved that by never installing updates (the updates seemed to create more problems than anything else) Also, don't install the software they give you as extra because that does not work with the initial setup.
Took it apart, that thing is locked down. Trying to get to the speakers to replace myself was a headache, so gave up.
All in all, horrible product and even worse tech. However, tech used to be good, until they merged with emachines, now no one knows what the other is doing, and those that do know something are definitely not the best techs out there. In fact, when I had one problem, the tech told me to use system restore, explained to him I disabled it, told me to enable it, it will solve problem. Tried to explain that system restore creates the restore point when enabled not disabled. Humored him, and, low and behold, it created the system restore point when I re-enabled it.
Do not get this product, even used, definitely not worth the time, aggravation or frustration. Look into non-integrated Media Centers, or wait to see if Mac comes out with one.
User Rating: 2/10
Bad computer
Pros: Good looking
Cons: Power supply failure without Repair Access
User Rating: 2/10
Major Power Supply Issues
Pros: Nice case design
Cons: Bad parts.... Only a 100W PSU - Will fail over time
Problem - proprietary power supply from Delta Electronics Inc. (Model : DPS-185JB-1 A Rev:00) will fail over time. You can't order the replacement part from Delta or Gateway. The only way to fix it is to send it to Gateway for $400 to $500 after repairs.
I smell a class action law suit
User Rating: 
8/10
Simple All in One
Pros: This is just a great kitchen PC for the average user. Does everything pretty well. You can put a whole bunch of RAM in it, too!
Cons: Can't change video card and it has no component video inputs.
User Rating: 3/10
Gateway doesn't support this model with on-site service as promised!
Pros: GOOD LOOKING! Good display. Great in small spaces. (assuming you weren't planning on using it)
Cons: Many drivers need updating, resulting in homicide inspiring experience with inept tech staff. 10 different techs will tell you 10 different things. I'm ready to go postal! They sold me an on site warranty, but won't honor it. You won't get it either.
User Rating: 4/10
One thing after another
Pros: Like design. Perfect for dorm room. No wires. Serves as TV (although tuner card is low quality), stereo, and computer. Thought this would be a keeper...
Cons: First modem went haywire. Now monitor is not working. DVD has crashed when trying to play DVDs. Bad thing is that entire machine must be sent into GW. Components (ie modem) cannot be removed and just mailed in...Price I am paying for compact system.
User Rating: 3/10
They won't help you! Don't Buy!
Pros: all in one device
Cons: Screen blinks and they can't fix it. Customer service won't go the extra mile. Fortunately, I'm in charge of purchasing at my Fortune 500 company. I WAS considering Gateway, but after their treatment, I bought 1300 DELL Laptops. I'm out a few bucks, b
User Rating: 4/10
Please save yourself the headache
Pros: Above average design. Love the built-in MMC card reader.
Cons: Two harddrive failures and two OS failures in 7 months. I have never before been exposed to such shoddy hardware. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.
User Rating: 
5/10
Might have been okay if tech support could handle it!
Pros: in theory, this was the machine for our kitchen/office space, HOW COOL!
Cons: Theory is nice, practice is nicer. Problem after problem, mostly with support. They sold me onsite service for 300 dollars, then wouldn't let me have it. Now I have to send it back. It's completely dead at 9months. Why would a company have such uninf
User Rating: 2/10
Has never functioned properly
Pros: Looks good
Cons: completely unreliable. I have spent countless hours on the phone with tech support.
User Rating: 3/10
Sent two back now third has blinking screen
Pros: Great idea and design for a home kitchen or small space.
Cons: To many to list. Sent two machines back. The third's screen has started blinking after six months.
User Rating: 5/10
Great idea- poor execution
Pros: perfect design for a dorm room or anywhere space is at a premium
Cons: wireless keyboard must be at a certain angle to make a connection Computer quit working after 1 month and Gateway refuses to take it back currently filing a dispute with the credit card company- a product should atleast last until you can pay the bill
User Rating: 10/10
Awsome windows machine
Pros: The price drop is the best part. The 610X was dropped to 1099 and I got another 300 off after the first one was sent to me damaged in shipping. The 610X for $799 and it looks great and works flawlessly! I am a Mac user myself and this is the first windows
Cons: Not a single con at all.
User Rating: 
7/10
Great for a new computer user of child
Pros: Has great connections for almost any accessory someon might have. All in one design saves a lot of space.
Cons: Not reliable, constantly crashes, Media center os still has bugs
User Rating: 6/10
Has Up's and Down's
Pros: Media Center is a wonderful OS. Compact design is a good thing.
Cons: One thing that no one has pointed out is the fact that this computer does not have a ps2 (keyboard and mouse) port. even though this computer comes with a wireless keyboard, the one it comes with is horrible. it is only good for about 1 foot and it has to
User Rating: 8/10
I'm Happy. Dowloaded updates for TV quality
Pros: Small, easy to set up. great price for 800FSB w HT good number of ports. Good sound. Updates from gateway remoed TV fuzz.
Cons: hard to upgrade Can't easily output sound to both home stereo and internal speakers
User Rating: 6/10
Horrible Wireless
Pros: Display is GREAT All in one is great for 901 delivered, great value
Cons: but...You can't watch a purchased VHS tape. Wireless keyboard and mouse don't work and are cheap in every way. Gateway tech support act like it is my fault and my problem.
User Rating: 10/10
For the new $799 pice.... AWSOME!
Pros: This is he best PC I have ever seen and used and liked! I am a Mac user.
Cons: none
User Rating: 5/10
Looks cool, not a finished product
Pros: Sleek looking with some cool features like recording tv and wireless keyboard and mouse. I haven't had any problems with the mouse and keyboard or sleep mode like some other owners.
Cons: TV picture in full screen mode is not very good, I even had an amplifier installed on my cable line and am not thrilled with it. Also you can only adjust the brightness on the monitor for TV. I had to uninstall and re-install several programs in the first
User Rating: 9/10
Beautiful PC does a lot
Pros: Great design, crisp sound, awsome display. I picked up the 610s at a gateway country store brand new for $849+tax!! I should've bought 2 but oh well. The system is pretty quick and already includes every program I think I'll ever need.
Cons: I cannot think of any cons for this particular model. It's doesn't do everything possible, but then again I didn't pay a whole lot.
User Rating: 5/10
Faulty sound system
Pros: small footprint
Cons: narrow viewing angle lcd, I've returned it twice and they still haven't fixed the faulty sound card, and tv tuner card image is poor--- in light of the foregoing, they call this a media center?
User Rating: 8/10
It's a great kitchen appliance
Pros: Great features, not looking for a Cray supercomputer so it fits perfectly.
Cons: Doesn't match my other kitchen appliances....
User Rating: 8/10
Great all-in-one media center
Pros: I purchased this pc, even though some of the reviews have been less than stellar. Going with the Gateway name along with some very glowing reviews I decided to take the plunge and I can say that it has lived up to my expectations so far. And for the TV qu
Cons: I have had to reset the keyboard a couple of times to get it working normally, but it seems to be working fine now.
User Rating: 3/10
Looks good, poor quality
Pros: Sharp design, decent screen quality.
Cons: Right out of the box it didn't work. Trying to get Gateway to help with their "on-line chat" with a techie is very frustrating. Each time they tell you to try one thing and then if that doesn't work you have to re-connect and talk to a completely differen
User Rating: 3/10
Ugh. Where to begin with this pig...
Pros: Looks great...but that's about it.
Cons: Too loud, screen quality is hideous...the TV actually looks fine if you have poor vision or haven't ever owned a TV before in your life...the monitor seriously lacks quality in all areas of graphic display and the video card that comes with it is crap. Ug
User Rating: 9/10
Everything is good. Only few minor issues..
Pros: Outstanding look! This is one killer styled PC you could ever put in your desk. Super picture quality. Everything is good.
Cons: TV quality really sucks. Keyboard misses stroke sometimes because of alignment.
User Rating: 8/10
Very attractive PC/TV with almost no wires
Pros: I love the look of this PC, good souding, and video quality is nice. I love how you can watch TV and be on the internet at the same time.
Cons: The only problem that i have had is when I burn CD's either the CDR drive freezes or the program..and when this happens you can not open the burner or stop itin anyway but to restart, which i dont like doing and it is a pain. Otherwise i have had no prob
User Rating: 5/10
Poor quality control
Pros: Nice screen size, easy to read and view
Cons: The internal modem didn't work when I got it and the tech support was very poor. After numerous "online chats", I still didn't get the thing fixed. Also they don't provide onsite service for these. They have to be sent in to Arkansas just to have the mode
User Rating: 3/10
Not Worth The Trouble!!!
Pros: Nifty features in the Media Center. Nice looking display. Small size.
Cons: I received my 610XL six days ago and want to kick myself for ever buying this thing. You'd think with all the cool features, that Gateway could at least figure out how to have a cordless mouse that actually WORKS! Tech 'support' has been zero help getting
User Rating: 5/10
bad keyboard and customer service
Pros: great design, space saving, good sound, vivid display, lots of ports, no wasted space on legacy ports
Cons: terrible and unreliable keyboard. It's slow (if you can even get it to work), different customer service reps didn't even offer similar product knowledge on repeat calls for the same problem, uninspired keyboard design, no lights for num lock or cap lock.
User Rating: 8/10
Glad I purchased it.
Pros: The system is very easy to setup. Recording tv shows onto DVD's has never been easier. If you price compare this system against other systems, it is a lot less expensive because everything is integrated into one unit. Delivery of product came early.
Cons: The tv quality could be better.
User Rating: 7/10
Sleek machine, cheap dvd player
Pros: The best aspect of this gateway is its appealing all-in-one style, it will look great in any room. Screen resolution is sharp and its media card slots are great for transfering digital pics.
Cons: I purchased this machine to double as both a computer and a tv. Unfortunalty the dvd playback quality is poor as is the tv resolution. The screen is excellent so I assume they skimped on the dvd player. I also stongly recommend external speakers as I have
User Rating: 8/10
One of the nicest MCE PCs out there
Pros: - Design (It has everything you could want - every flash card reader made is integrated into the monitor - every audio/video or other I/O connect that you'll need is there - 17 inch flat pannel monitor is beautiful, bright and has a wide viewing angle) -
Cons: - Microsoft's Media Center Software can be difficult to setup and use - it's just not intuitive at all in some areas. - Microsoft's Media Center Software is still relatively young and a lot is still left to be desired with regard to features/functionality
User Rating: 6/10
Great Product. Poor Delivery and Serv
Pros: The product is great. Read the specs.
Cons: Delivery Slow. Left product on the porch in the Snow with no signature. Support Team for setup were horrible. Poor information and did not know product. The customer should not pay until one week prior to delivery. Hope the 15 % restocking fee does not ho
User Rating: 8/10
Really Cool System
Pros: We love having our DirecTV hooked right into our PC! The "TiVo" feature is the best! Also love how it stores our music, video, and photos. The multi-card reader is perfect since we have two different digital cameras at home and two other kinds we use for
Cons: The wireless mouse and keyboard have limited range. (the remote works well at greater distances.) Movies take up 7 to 8 GB of hard drive space, but DVD's only have enough space for 4.7 GB. You can save movies and TV shows at a lower quality so that the
User Rating: 9/10
Great stylish family computer
Pros: Computer looks good. No tower to hide. Wireless. Lots of memory. Great features. Arrived in timely manner (10 business days). Good support.
Cons: None.
User Rating: 6/10
former destination owner upgrades
Pros: slide show resolution from my 6 megapixel camera images make this a great moving picture frame. Love the sound, remote, footprint, wireless nic. sits in the kitchen and is used for family calendar, Tivo, slideshows, napster, internet, radio, email, insta
Cons: wireless keyboard distance is week, no component video in, TV quality is fair,
User Rating: 10/10
Why Not
Pros: Everything you would ever want from a pc, customer support is good, and it shipped within 5 days, worth the extra money for the convenience and portability
Cons: only one disc drive, hard to upgrade, 20" screen would be ideal, but the screen is amazing
User Rating: 8/10
Great multimedia device for the kitchen
Pros: The small footprint and all-in-one design make this Media PC well suited for cramped spaces. The 17" widescreen TV alone would set you back $700 but you also get a full-featured PC, FM radio, PVR, DVD, CD, and full-screen slideshow viewer all in a single
Cons: One of the most exciting prospects of MCE 2K4 was on-screen Caller-ID notification but after chatting with Gateway they concluded the 610X internal v.92 modem does not support this feature. Hence, an external USB modem must be used which defeats the purpo
User Rating: 6/10
Sorry guys I don't get it
Pros: Neat Idea , only one piece!
Cons: Well who can justify A media center like this one for a home theater System? Okay okay maybe for a bedroom right ... What ? 2000$ for a 17" tv / pvr in your room come on! Guys I live in Canada and I have media center selling for 1399$ where I work ... CAN
User Rating: 9/10
great!!!
Pros: Easy all in one machine. The remote control with media center rocks. Very functional computer, you really don;t need anthing else. The sound is great!!
Cons: nothing comes to mind
User Rating: 9/10
Great Product/Horrible Customer Service
Pros: Product Design is perfect for a bedroom or place where you dont need a 50" TV. Less wires then a normal desktop. Plenty of connections. Modern technology. I connected my cable directly from the wall to the PC via Coaxle connection and the picture is fine.
Cons: I would compare Customer Service to Sonic Blue before they were taken over by Denin. They are completely worthless. Their computer fullfillment process is not connected properly to their own warehouse...so don't believe what they tell you about the status
User Rating: 5/10
Gateway has no idea what they are doing.
Pros: Looks sweet. Great idea.
Cons: Be prepared to wait. I ordered the 610 XL Media Center in early November and just received it last week. I was pretty excited when it finally arrived... that is until I took it out of the box. The first thing I noticed when I set it up on my desk was that
User Rating: 10/10
Best looking and Performing Media Center PC
Pros: The best feature is the monitor, 17 inch widescreen, very good quality. Very fast, and the price was not bad for the features
Cons: Took forever to get. Ordered mine about 2 months and just got it last webnesday. Better get your order in soon because they had a parts delay which has resulted in backorders. I am so glad i did it 2 months ago. Customer service was helpful in many cases
User Rating: 10/10
Tech has never been so sexy..
Pros: Gateway did it right, this thing get extra cool points for style. Great sounding speakers, a perfect display and every conection you could ask for.
Cons: None yet
User Rating: 10/10
Best PC Out there
Pros: Everything is great about this product. It is great for everything that you want in a pc, plus it is a media center. It is priced spectacularly. Plus you get gateways's famonal teck support. I love gateway and I buy all of my computer products from them.
Cons: NONE
User Rating: 7/10
Good 1st step in the right direction
Pros: Great all in one device that makes it behave more like a consumer electronic device than a computer.
Cons: Hard to upgrade and the design (plastic molding) is still reminiscent of the PC. Would have liked a "crisper" design (brushed metal, glass, etc...) a bit more like Sony's new LCD displays or similar to what you would find in a plasma TV.
