Gateway FX4710 review

Although this model costs $1,150, including a mouse, a keyboard, and two tiny speakers (not pictured), you might also find the FX4710 for $1,499 with a bundled 22-inch LCD. Another variation includes more RAM (for some reason), a larger hard drive, and a Blu-ray optical drive. As of this writing, Best Buy does not list either of those higher-end models.

Gateway protects the FX4710 with a standard, one-year, parts-and-labor warranty. If you want longer protection, you'll need to arrange it with Best Buy (generally not a good idea). A toll-free, 24-7 phone line provides call center help, and you can also refer to Gateway's Web site for driver downloads, FAQs, and system-specific info. The BigFix application that comes with the system gives you some self-diagnosis and updating tools as well, in addition to facilitating remote control tech support.

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System configurations:

Apple iMac (20-inch, 2.4Ghz)
Apple OS X; 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7700; 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro graphics chip; 320GB 7,200rpm hard drive.

Gateway FX4710
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300; 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT graphics card; 640GB 7,200rpm hard drive.

Gateway FX7026
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300; 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 512MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT graphics card; (2) 320GB 7,200rpm hard drives.

Maingear Prelude
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1; 2.5GHz AMD Phenom X4 9850; 2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; (2) 1GB ATI Radeon HD 3870 graphics cards; 500GB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive.

Velocity Micro Edge E2055
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 3.2GHz (overclocked) Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450; 4GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX graphics card; 750GB 7,200rpm Hitachi hard drive.