The Gateway NV5214u is the perfect laptop for those who are on a budget but don’t want to sacrifice performance.
Specifications
It’s loaded with a 2.1GHz dual core processor, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, and tops it all off with a dedicated graphics card (ATI Radeon HD 3200).
Gateway didn’t skimp out on the screen either – at a base price of $499.99, it sports a 15.6” LED LCD with a resolution of 1366×768, which is superior to the 1280×800 resolution other laptops in its price range and specifications class offer.
To upgrade, try the
Gateway NV5814u
Performance
The laptop is a strong performer. General multitasking such as surfing the web, listening to music, and typing up an article didn’t produce a single hiccup. Though I was unable to test its gaming capabilities, its dedicated graphics card supports older generation games.
Battery life isn’t too shabby either. I was able to get about 2 ½ hours of battery life with the screen on full brightness and Windows running in “balanced” mode. Getting even more battery life by messing with power settings and lowering screen brightness is possible.
It has a sturdy and full keyboard (number pad included) that doesn’t sacrifice any of the other major keys. Also, for those who aren’t big fans of Windows Vista, there is no reason to worry. If you buy the laptop now, you’ll get a voucher for a free upgrade to Windows 7.
Bottom Line
Anyone in the market for a laptop should give this one a look. It’s without a doubt one of the best laptops you can get for the money, and you’ll be getting a computer that is solidly built and can cope with just about anything you throw at it.
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12 Comments... join the discussion!
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Hey Carlo – You can check out these 4 travel laptops – http://matadorgoods.com/4-best-travel-laptops/
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Hey Carlo, the article that Lola posted in the comments has some good selections. I’d also suggest the Acer Aspire One (AO751h) and the Samsung Go N310-13GB.
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This is rather minor, but I noticed a typographical error. In the final paragraph, the second use of the word ‘laptop’ should be ‘laptops.’
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Thanks Gary. The change has been made.
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Thanks for the tips guys! After more thought I might stick with my little 10.6″ Averatec and upgrade our other (full size) laptop. We might go Mac! So excited…
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Hello. I would like to buy this laptop from BestBuy. Is it really worht 500$? I am worried about ATI 3200 HD GPU. The other specs seems to look good. I am going to use this computer for games and web surfing mostly and run this under Windows 7 or XP Professional…
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Yes, it’s completely worth $500. The graphics card is a bit weak, but if you wanted a true gaming laptop you’d easily spend $1,000+. It should be able to play a lot of older games, and even some recent ones with lowered settings.
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this is a monster….useful for homes, offices and every other purpose that computers are meant for…
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$500 comes with graphic cards. I guess there is nothing I should be complaining about anymore.
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Hello,
I like the review of Gateway NV5214u Laptop. It is nice Laptop. Thanks for the sharing this type of review…↵ -
I have this laptop and love it! I work from it and plan to use it for school.
The only thing is my right speaker stopped working, which seems to be a common problem and a simple fix. I just have not had the time to do it.
Other than that, I’d say it is worth the money.
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