Gateway E-100M Ultraportable.
MS Windows XP Professional; Intel® Coreâ„¢ Solo Processor U1400 (1.20GHz, 533MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache); 512MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1-512MB module); 40GB 5400rpm Serial ATA hard drive;12.1″ widescreen XGA TFT Active Matrix (1280 x 800 max. resolution); Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950; Optical Drive: External; Wireless: 802.11a/g; Weight: 3.2 lb; Dimensions: 11.41″ (W) X 8.93″ (D) X 0.9″ � 0.99″ (H)

Competitors from other manufacturers:

Fujitsu LifeBook P7120
Windows XP Professional; 1.2GHz Intel Pentium M ULV 753; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; Intel 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express 128MB; Toshiba MK6006GAH 60GB 4,200rpm

Sony VAIO VGN-TX670P
Windows XP Professional; 1.2GHz Intel Pentium M ULV 753; 512MB DDR SDRAM PC3200 400MHz; Intel 915GM/GMS, 910GML Express 128MB; Toshiba MK6006GAH 60GB 4,200rpm

Lenovo ThinkPad X60s
Windows XP Professional; 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo T2400; 512MB PC5300 DDR2 SDRAM 666MHz; Intel Mobile i945GM Express 128MB (8MB shared); Toshiba MK8032GSX 80GB 5,400rpm

PC Magazine reviewed the Gateway E-100M and writes:”Unfortunately, the Gateway E-100’s ultrathin chasis and low price tag come with some drawbacks. Perhaps the greatest—at least to some—is its lack of an internal optical drive. An external optical drive is available for an extra $199.99. By comparison, the Sony VAIO TX has a built-in DVD+R dual-layer burner—but that system costs $2,300.

Also, the Gateway E100M’s performance is much slower than other recent laptops. It uses an Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) Intel Core Solo U1400 (1.2 GHz). According to my SYSmark SE results, the notebook’s performance is equivalent to that of a year-old Portégé R200, which carries an LV Pentium M 753 (1.2 GHz). And the Gateway E100M has just 512MB RAM, which means that almost anything you do in Adobe Photoshop will bring the system to a crawl (as it did on my tests).

Using an ULV processor does have its benefits. Aside from helping the system keep cool, you do gain some battery life—sort of. The 3 hours 8 minutes I measured on MobileMark 2005 isn’t earth-shatteringly long, but considering that the Gateway E-100M’s tiny three-cell battery is rated at only 29 Wh, expecting much over 3 hours would be extremely optimistic. Gateway does offer extended six-cell ($69.99) and nine-cell battery ($79.99) options, which will likely take battery life to well beyond 7 hours, much like the Lenovo ThinkPad X60s.

Despite these complaints, the Gateway E-100M gets high marks because of the rarity of finding an affordable ultraportable that’s beautifully designed. It doesn’t try to impress you by overloading on bells and whistles or by giving you more performance than you likely need. So if you can live without an internal optical drive (and DVD flicks while flying), this should be a great machine for the frequent traveler whose focus is on productivity, aesthetics, and affordability.” - pcmag.com

This entry was posted on August 26, 2006 and is filed under Gateway.