GATEWAY P-171XL FX EDITION REVIEW

The first proper gaming-oriented laptop by Gateway, this one speaks good design and definitely, a good performance + features for a decent gaming laptop. We put the product through our tests, and the results are more than satisfactory.

Design
The design and feel of the notebook is something which a gamer desires. The laptop is covered in black clothes, with sinister orange,silver and carbon fiber hinting along the cloak. The screen is a 17” widescreen, and a 1.3 MP web-cam sits right above it. A microphone, and a LED are present on the top of the screen, and the LED indicates web-cam usage. The web-cam deserves a special mention for the crisp quality of image that it provides. The keyboard is bordered by copper styling, and the keyboard and numpad both are large enough to satisfy gamers. Multimedia hotkeys for DVD, Media Center, music, quick launch are lined up just above the keyboard. A volume controller can be utilized for adjusting the volume anytime.

3 USB ports, HDMI, eSATA ports are provided along with the regular VGA, headphone/microphone, Ethernet, Express card slot, memory card reader slot. Thus, ample connectivity options have been provided.

Performance
The lappy performed well in the gaming department, achieving above average results in the recent games at med-high settings. It was able to get 17fps average in Crysis at medium, and 26 for COD4 at high, both of the scores being quite good for the laptop category. Equipped with Intel Core-2 duo extreme X7900 2.8 GHz processor, , 3GB RAM, 400GB 7,200 rpm hard disk, the laptop was able to extract 4,110 in 3DMark 06. The laptop comes with a HD-DVD drive , but the screen does not do justice to it. The picture quality was not good, and issues like clarity, reflectivity, and viewing angle problems marred a good viewing experience.

Conclusion
A good system, with ample connectivity options, huge storage space, commendable gaming performance, and a good price, this one is meant for gamers who would not like to empty their pockets on a machine. Competitively priced, the lappy only suffers in screen quality, and battery life, which is plain average at 2.5 hours.

Pros
+ Good performance-price ratio
+ Great looks

Cons
- Poor screen quality
- Average battery life.

Value For Money

Our Rating