Gateway NX860X @ [H] Consumer

Check out our latest article from program veteran Gateway, written by Allen Varney.

As a desktop replacement where weight and battery life are minor concerns, the Gateway NX860X notebook is a good choice in its price range. Although it’s not amazingly fast and really not amazing in any respect, the NX860X is sturdy, stable, quiet, and cool. It is a mid-range gaming solution that can keep you up to date with the newer games, though you should be aware that it’s not a gaming powerhouse. Our tech support experience fell in line with our previous Gateway experiences in that they got the job done. No flair, just straightforward, step-by-step troubleshooting. We’ll take that any day over a tech that tries to brush us off or one that doesn’t know a PCI slot from a RAM slot.

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Thanks for reading!

Interesting article.. but after my tech support experiance with them, I decided I would never purchase a Gateway again.. Long story short, I purchased a Gateway before Christmas, a MX6030 (IIRC).. booted fine and every thing.. but eventaully I found out that the restore disk that was included was for an entirly different model. It would install windows, but none of the correct drivers - so I had to go to the web site and manually transfer the drivers via thumb drive (thank god the USB ports worked..). The first time they even had the incorrect drivers listed for the laptop, and had to speak to a live tech via the web chat and he gave me the direct links.. (not sure if they finally fixed the links on the page..) Anyways, I tried to get them to send a new restore disk, as it was blatenly wrong and was.. their fault that it wasn't included.. Eventaully after going back and forth for 3-4 emails, they said "ok... ... that will be $35"... That pissed me off.. especially since the wrong one was included in the first place..

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I did not have a great experience either with Gateway's support. I work at a fix/build shop and a customer brought in a Gateway. A kid broke the power button from using to much force and because of the design, the front bezel had to be repaced. The computer was still under warranty.

So, I go through Gateway's online chat. Everything had been going good so far, verifying the customers warranty and them understanding that I was working on the customers computer and not the customer themself.

Then it comes to ordering the front bezel, this is where things become slow and painful. As mentioned above, they understood that I worked at a shop and that I was not the customer, that came to an end.

The first thing that I told them is that the power button was broke and that I needed a replacement front bezel. I told them the model number of the computer and the part number of the front bezel. They insisted that they go through troubleshooting charts, I told them I have already diagnosed the problem and mentioned AGAIN that I work at a repair shop. Then they insisted that it was the power supply, I told them that the power supply was opertational becuase I could go to the power switch itself and turn it on. Some how that was interpreted as ship me a power supply.

That chat was 30 minutes and in 3 days via FedEx, I had a power supply I did not need, at least they included a FedEx return label.

Then I go back to Gateway's online chat support once again. I gave them the ref number for the first chat, had to explain what went on the first chat (So then what is the point of a ref number ) and then told them what I needed. This time around they were confusing themselves between the identity of the chassis intrusion switch assembly and the power switch assembly, and I could not get them unconfused.

That chat was 45 minutes and in 7, (not a typo) 7 days via FedEx, I get a chassis intrusion switch assembly that I did not need but at least I did not have to ship back.

It was time for a third attempt with Gateway's online chat support, gave them the ref number that seemed to be utterly useless and the first thing I get is an apology on their behalf on my experience so far with this matter. I then ask again what I needed, then a web page opens with a picture of the front bezel that I needed and verified that with them.

This chat was 10 minutes and in 2 days via FedEx I have the part that I needed. WTF!!!

I have experienced similar results with the likes of Dell,HP,Toshiba, I could name quite a few more, but there seems to be a big problem with consistency in quality of support with these companies, is there training issues? Faulty hiring practices? Lack of standard(s)? I don't know, but the only way it seems to get better is when you are dealing with support from boutique companies, or bypass support and fix it yourself (I had to do that once with an Alienware laptop).

Good review [H] staffers.

I like the fact that this one bridged the gap between portable and desk top replacement. Battery life was impressive, especially during gaming. At 2 hours 25 minutes who could ask for more?

The article mentioned being able to upgrade with MXMIII FF. Did their website have any upgrades for the video card available yet?

At the time we ordered, a 256MB version of our 7600 was available in an upgraded model, the NX860XL. It's no longer available, and apparently, neither is the card.

We're going to be running an article soon on MXM slots.

Did I miss something or was there nothing in there about grilling their tech support about the older nvidia driver that caused problems in FEAR?

Hey, I'm glad to finally see a review of the system.
Do you still have the system? I have an M685 (the non-consumer version of the same system), and I'd like to see if the NX860X bios would work better. Could you make a BIOS dump of the system? (instructions: http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30777 )

Also, how do the fans behave on the system? On my system, both fans are always on whenever AC power is plugged in. In addition, I can't turn off "stretch image to panel size" in the BIOS.

Oh, and how do you avoid bumping into the touchpad? Mine bugs the hell out of me because there's no hardware disable button.

{ROW}Apocalypse said:

Did I miss something or was there nothing in there about grilling their tech support about the older nvidia driver that caused problems in FEAR?

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Here's the thing about Tier I's and these types of problems: it's the inevitable brush-off. Basically, they can't guarantee support for software packages that they don't provide themselves. The same goes for hardware that you might have put into your machine yourself. They just flat-out don't provide support, and you get the same answer every time you ask.

Now, for a boutique, we'd grill them for sure, because they tend to extend a lot more courtesy as far as making sure your computer works for whatever you want it to do. Many boutiques also offer guarantees on burn-ins, of which current driver loading is an integral part. In that case, it's a matter of a company keeping their promise on providing the consumer with an updated, optimized machine, if applicable.

DanaG said:

Hey, I'm glad to finally see a review of the system.
Do you still have the system? I have an M685 (the non-consumer version of the same system), and I'd like to see if the NX860X bios would work better. Could you make a BIOS dump of the system? (instructions: http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30777 )

Also, how do the fans behave on the system? On my system, both fans are always on whenever AC power is plugged in. In addition, I can't turn off "stretch image to panel size" in the BIOS.

Oh, and how do you avoid bumping into the touchpad? Mine bugs the hell out of me because there's no hardware disable button.

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Yes, we'll have the system for just a bit longer. I'll see what I can do about the BIOS dump.

Our fans were very polite. Almost never kicked on, and when they were on, very quiet.

Never played with the stretch image setting in the BIOS, so not sure what to tell you on that one. I'll see if Allen messed around with it at all.

Apparently, Allen didn't have much of a problem with the touchpad.

About the touchpad: I've found I have to disable tapping because otherwise the palm (thumb pad) of my hand repeatedly bumps into the touchpad.

I have an NX860XL, I could not be happier with it. I did a lot of research, and Dell's asking price was way out of line imo. They don't even offer much at the price point in which i bought the gateway. Satisfied!

I just wanted to point out that Gateway (Quanta) indeed uses a Type III MXM slot but that their cards appear to be incompatible with other MXM notebooks, including their own.

Also; if you guys want some information of cards for that article, drop me a line. I'm sure we can work something out.

NOTE: There is now (as of this week, I think) a new BIOS update on Gateway's support site.
The readme describes only "Fixes for video issues in Vista" -- not specific. It does add options for "enable wireless" -- disabled, enabled, or "restore" (same as at shutdown).
Unfortunately, I still can't turn off stretching.