The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
The CX200X comes preloaded with Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. Its software bundle includes the Microsoft Works 8 mini suite, Microsoft Office OneNote for note-taking, InterVideo WinDVD 6 for watching movies, and Nero Express 6 for disc-burning tasks. You also get two bundles of Microsoft apps that take advantage of the tablet interface.
Our $1,964 Gateway CX200X test configuration featured some pretty high-end components for a tablet, including a fast, 2.13GHz Pentium M processor, 1GB of swift 533MHz memory, an 80GB hard drive spinning at 5,400rpm, and a high-performance ATI Mobility Radeon X600 graphics accelerator with 64MB of its own memory. On CNET Labs' mobile benchmarks, the CX200X scored about even with an Acer TravelMate C314XMi with a 2GHz processor, and the Gateway came out 27 percent ahead of the Toshiba Satellite R15--not surprising, given the Toshiba's slower, 1.6GHz processor.
Unfortunately, power comes at the expense of battery life: the Gateway's eight-cell battery drained after 2 hours, 55 minutes--well behind the Acer's 3 hours, 22 minutes and the Toshiba's 4 hours, 42 minutes. Still, if you're looking for a notebook with power and tablet functionality, the CX200X is at the top of the list; if you're looking for a tablet that's more practical for mobile use, we recommend the ThinkPad X41 Tablet or the HP Compaq tc4200.
Every Gateway CX200X comes with an industry-standard one-year ship-in warranty; the rotating hinge--the most fragile part on the machine--is covered for three years. You can upgrade the whole warranty to three years for only $169; onsite service for three years costs another $70. During the warranty period, technicians are available 24/7 via a toll-free phone number; the company also 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, but users are currently discussing only upgrades; the site lacks the option for a live chat with a technician. For more detailed information about warranties and service plans, check out Computer Shopper's overview of 37 major computer vendors.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 |
BAPCo MobileMark 2002 performance rating |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
BAPCo MobileMark 2002 battery life in minutes |
Find out more about how we test Windows notebooks.
System configurations:
Acer TravelMate C310
Windows XP Tablet 2005; 2GHz Intel Pentium M 760; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM PC4300 533MHz; Nvidia GeForce Go 6600 6200 128MB; Seagate ST9100822A 100GB 4,200rpm
Gateway CX200X
Windows XP Tablet 2005; 2.13GHz Intel Pentium M 770; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM PC4300 533MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon X600 SE 128MB; Fujitsu MHT2080BH 80GB 4,200rpm
Toshiba Satellite R15-S822
Windows XP Tablet 2005; 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M 725; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM PC2700 333MHz; Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME 64MB; Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 60GN 60GB 5,400rpm
What You'll Pay
- Set Price Alert
