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The Gateway EC1430u notebook; ultimate power combined with ultimate portability
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Gasteway.com
Are you looking for a great black friday or cyber monday laptop deal ? Look no further. The age of the powerful and fully featured notebook computer is here, and its creator is Acer. The EC1430u Notebook comes in a small package. Do not underestimate it. To look at it you might mistake it as a late comer to the "Netbook" craze. Well you will be extremely surprised once you power it on.
First of all, out of the box, the impression is of a very sleek machine. After charging it for about 2 hours, it was ready to go. As an added bonus, the battery boasts a 7 hour charged life. As tested, it proved 7.5 actually which is almost a whole day of battery power. How cool is that ?
So you open it up and hit the power button. Don't blink or you will miss the startup screen, because it is just that fast. With a true Intel Pentium, this is not going to slow you or any of your applications down. All drivers are all pre-installed and there do not appear to be any incompatibilities. It comes standard with Intel® WiFi Link 1000 802.11a/b/g/ so again, out of the box, you are ready to turn it on and log on right after
It is bundled with the newly released Windows 7. And why not have the newest from Microsoft in the newest from Gateway ? It just makes sense. The startup was flawless as was the setting up of the essentials, which includes built in wireless capability. The speed of Windows 7 combined with the speed of the EC1430u compliment each other in such a way that it took less than 1 minute from the push of the power button to hitting the "start" button.
This is only called a notebook due to its size. It has the power (if not more than) of many larger laptops. The same power will blow away the Netbook market. This Notebook has what is needed for all users, whether at the desk office workers, to the seasoned business traveler or the road warrior. No matter who the user is, or where the user is, there is a WiFi spot near you. You can check www.wififreespot.com for a list in your area.
Another great positive feature is that even though the setup is easy, you may have some questions, and will be able to get a LIVE person on the phone with Gateway support. Questions were answered politely and knowledgably w/I 5 minutes on each call.
Windows 7, is just the start of the full featured set of this Notebook. The basic line up is;
· Intel® Pentium® Processor SU4100
· (1.3GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
· With Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit Packaging and Documentation
· 11.6" HD Widescreen Ultrabright™ LED-backlit Display
· Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
· 3072MB DDR2 667MHz Memory 6-Cell Li-Ion (5600mAh) Battery
· 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive AC Power Adapter
· Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader AC Power Cord
· Intel® WiFi Link 1000 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™
· 3 - USB 2.0 Ports
· 1 - HDMI™ Port
· Integrated Webcam
· Dolby Sound Room® Audio Enhancement 3
· Two Built-in Stereo Speakers
· Multi-Gesture Touchpad Norton Internet Security™ 2009 Trial
· Full-Size Keyboard
· 6-Cell Li-Ion (5600mAh) Battery; up to 7-hour battery life
· 3.08 pounds
· NightSky Black chassis
As you can see, between the memory, hard drive space, and available ports, the power and expandability are almost limitless.
This was tested over a 72 hour period, including using a direct Ethernet hookup, WiFi through a home network and several WiFi hot spots around the area. There was additional software installed to test speed and compatibility. USB ports were tested via the addition of two different USB flash drives, as well as an MP3 player. Sound was tested via MP3 files with Windows Media Player as well as watching several music videos on youtube.com spanning several genres. Findings were simple; Great and more great, nothing less.
There was not a really noticeable speed difference between Wireless and Wired access. In fact, the speed of the wireless connection was tested several times as software was installed over the wireless network with a hardwired desktop acting as the server.
There appears to be NO compatibility issues as far as older software made for either VISTA or XP. Everything installed without a problem and ran flawlessly.
Two types of USB flash drives were tested; the Sandisk Cruzr 4gig as well as the Lexar JumpDrive S3000 FIPS ultra secure drive. Both were recognized instantly and had their respective programs up and running within seconds. A third USB product (Sandisk Sansa Fuze) was also tested and performed just as well, immediately allowing drag and drop processing.
The sound quality mimics that of a larger laptop or even a desktop with separate speakers. This was one of the more impressive qualities. The expectation was “little notebook, little sound.” WRONG ! It was tested with one song each from the following Genres;
· Country (Trace Adkins – “Chrome”)
· Rock(David Bowie & Queen – “Under Pressure”)
· Rap/Hip Hop (Young MC “Bust a Move”)
· Pop (Britney Spears “Womanizer”)
· Soft/Gospel (Amy Grant “El Shadai”)
The testing was two fold, including listening to the MP3 versions of the song as well as watching the actual music video on Youtube. The results were incredible; Clear and crisp sound came from this little powerhouse. On the Youtube side, incredible also describes the color and clarity of the 11.6” monitor.
At a great price point of $549 MSRP, this is a Notebook that will impress your mind and your wallet. This, once word gets out will not last on the shelves of any store, whether online or in a retail setting. This will make a perfect gift for or purchase by those that need ultimate power combined with ultimate portability.
You can learn about the full EC lineHERE, and can purchase them through your local retailer.
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