A couple of days ago there was this awesome deal on the Gateway M-6827 laptop. It was sold for $549 instead of the regular price of $699 (at Office Depot).  If you haven’t seen the pattern in most of the things I reviewed, it’s the fact that I like good deals. So what makes this laptop awesome? Let’s start with the spec (I promise you, it gets way more interesting):

• 15.4″-diagonal widescreen WXGA (1280 x 800) UltraBright™ LCD screen
• Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5750 operating at 2.0GHz 2MB L2 cach
• 3GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory (2GB + 1GB)
• 160GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive
• Multiformat DVD drive with Double Layer support (reads/writes DVD±R/RW, DVD-RAM, DVD±R Double Layer, CD-R/RW); supports disc labeling on Labelflash media
• Intel Pro/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g) wireless LAN
• Integrated 1.3-megapixel webcam, for live video chat and still photos
• 5-in-1 memory card reader: reads SD, MMC, xD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 with up to 384MB shared memory

And on top of that, it has a pretty slick and new design. Which leads me to wonder why it was so cheap.

The Design and functionality.

The design of the laptop is composed of glossy plastic, normal plastic and some brushed metal around the keyboard. Like you all know the glossiness will attract fingerprint. But beside that, I love the design. On top of the keyboard there is a power button, a quick launch button (to launch media center) an array of media button and a volume slider. All of them are tactile except for the volume slider. And on both of side of the buttons are speakers. Which are pretty good and loud for a laptop.

The quick launch button and 2 of the media button (a music player and a dvd player symbol) can also be used to turn on the computer. The difference with it is that it automatically launches the respective media player after launching windows. On another note, I think it’s pretty weird that there are 3 buttons which basically takes you to the same place. Beside these buttons are your usual play, stop, rewind and fast forward button. The technical design of these buttons are pretty cool. There is a little slit in the shape of a zig zag between the buttons which allows you to press the button down. But like I said, the build is sturdy enough and it won’t feel like you’re going to break it. It basically feels like the buttons on a razr. Not very complicated but it’s unique none the less.

To the right of the media buttons are the volume slider. Which as I mention are touch sensitive. Although it’s not very sensitive. I had to really push it down to use it. And it’s also weird because the only indication of your changes are at the end in the + and - signs. So although the touch is a slider, sometimes it feels like it’s not working. And you have to slide it pretty slow to make sure it captures your movements.

The keyboard feels pretty comfortable. It doesn’t feel cramped at all. Not as good as a real keyboard but it should be fine.  Like every laptop keyboard it has an array of “fn” buttons. they’re all pretty useful such as a shortcut to turn off some of the led lighting on the laptop (no, the keyboard does not have a led backlight, but the power, wireless, caps lock, activity indicators and etc. does),  one to turn of wireless (although there’s also a physical slider on the side of the laptop), a sleep button and another button which I haven’t figured out what it does. There is also a bluetooth button, which does nothing apparently. There is also a button to switch the laptops brightness from 2 setting (bright and dark) and another array of media button along with the usual brightness, volume and etc. controller.

The touchpad is your basic one with 2 buttons, a “Y axis” scroller and optionally a fingerprint reader which I do not have. And it works like any other touchpad as well.

For connectivity you have an Ethernet port, 2 usb port, a 5 in 1 memory card reader, an ExpressCard slot and a wireless slider on the left. On the right you have another usb port and a DVD RW with Label Flash (an alternative to light scribe). On the back you have a vga port, a modem port, and a Kensington lock slot. On the front you have a headphone, microphone jack and 2 indicator lights. One which indicates whether the laptop is on or not, which also pulsates when it’s in sleep mode. The other which indicates whether the computer is charged or not. Which also turns pink when it is charging. So depending on your preference, this may rock or not.

Did I mention there is a 1.3 Megapixel camera on the screen?  The only other thing on the screen are a blue light that indicated whether the camera is active or not and a pinhole microphone.

On the technical end, the laptop seems nice and sturdy with no cheap feeling in it. All the button seems nice and sturdy and it doesn’t wiggle. Thumbs up for their construction.

The Cons

So far I haven’t found anything really faulty yet. The only really weird thing I notice is that when I unplugged the AC adapter there was a tiny but unusual sound coming out. It’s not really noticeable unless you’re in a pretty quiet enviroment. But it turns out it came from the fan. So I’m guessing it’s the fan working harder to keep the batter from overheating and burning your lap. Or even worse, blowing up!

The other thing I didn’t like was the ExpressCard and memory card reader slot cover. Both of them are completely detached from the laptop which means you can lose it easily. And it was a pretty tight fit which means it’s not very easy to put back in. On the other hand this will make sure it doesn’t fall out or let dirt get in. Of course, it’s not a deal breaker or anything. So if you’re clumsy, you might want to be careful.

The Conclusion

The Gateway M-6827 Notebook is a good overall notebook which I would reccomend. I give it an 8/10. You could see more pictures at my flickr set

Did you buy this laptop? What do you think.

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