Review Date September 10, 2007

Gateway M-150X

  • Pros

    Portable HD media center. HD DVD-ROM installed. HDMI-out port. Discrete graphics to handle both gaming and HD playback. Fast processing parts.

  • Cons No FireWire port. 58-Wh battery not enough. Its ATI graphics are not as desirable as an nVidia chipset.
  • Bottom Line

    The M-150X, Gateway's luggable high-definition media center laptop, has the looks and the processing power to spice up the competition.

By Cisco Cheng

A few tweaks in configuration can make a world of difference to a laptop. Take, for instance, the Gateway T-140X, which was an $899 laptop that didn't have the best components but accomplished basic tasks. The Gateway M-150X is basically a larger version of the T-140X, except it's configured to meet the demands of hard-core media enthusiasts. It sports the same imprint finish, but it adds faster Intel components, an HD DVD-ROM drive, and a slightly bigger (but just as bright) 15.4-inch widescreen. All these enhancements, not to mention an increase in price ($1,926 direct), mean that the M-150X and the T-140X are two different beasts sharing the same stable.

Compare Similar Products

Compare Selected

It's hard not to draw comparisons when two systems share the same skin. By "skin" I'm referring to the technique that both the T-140X and the M-150X use to laminate designs onto the lid and palm rests. It's a process called in-mold decoration, which was first made popular by HP but is now being used by many top-tier manufacturers. The polka-dot pattern is subtle and doesn't overwhelm the piano-black finish on the M-150X.

You couldn't tell the M-150X apart from the T-140X if it weren't for the size differences. The 15 in the M-150X stands for the screen width—15.4 inches, as opposed to the 14-inch screen on the T-140X. Oddly, they both have the same 1,280-by-800 resolution. Since Gateway is advertising the M-150X as an HD enthusiast's machine, I suggest opting for a higher resolution. According to Gateway, it will have a 1,920-by-1,200 option by October 4 for an as-yet-undetermined price. Regardless, the screen is a pleasure to work with, whether you're importing photos or watching an HD DVD title. For actual 1080p resolutions, both the Sony VAIO VGN-AR590E and the Dell Inspiron 1720 offer 1,920-by-1,200 resolutions and options for a Blu-ray drive.

At 6.3 pounds, the Gateway M-150X isn't as heavy as the 6.9-pound Acer Aspire 5920G, which is equipped with an HD DVD-ROM drive. It's relatively light for a 15.4-inch media center and can be used for leisure excursions or business trips. Its keyboard is identical to the T-140X's; it is comfortable and responsive. The noisy mouse buttons are less appealing than the quiet ones on the HP Pavilion dv9500t, but they aren't as loud as the ones on the Sony AR590E. You have a mix of customizable media buttons above the keyboard, along with touch-sensitive volume keys.

Generally speaking, there are prerequisites for laptops that are pitched as traveling media centers. The M-150X has most of them. These include an HD DVD-ROM, which can be downgraded to a DVD burner; an HDMI-out port for "Hey, I'm at a hotel and I want to watch my HD DVD titles on that 42-inch plasma in my room"; and of course, fast processing components, which I'll go into later. In addition, it comes with a 1.3-megapixel webcam for video chats and a 5-in-1 media card reader (SD, MS, MS Pro, MMC, xD). Surprisingly, this media station doesn't come with a FireWire port. Gateway's explanation is that its core customers (government and education) aren't asking for one, but the fact that practically every current laptop has a FireWire connection should tell it otherwise.

Gateway did a fairly decent job of tweaking this laptop for a variety of media tasks. It uses the same processor as the Aspire 5920G and the AR590E. The Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0 GHz) isn't the fastest processor available, but it's more than enough to handle a serious workload. Gateway did the right thing by putting in 2GB of RAM to offset the requirements of Vista and a 7,200-rpm hard drive to speed up disk-access time. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2400XT graphics card helps improve HD playback and the ability to handle some of the new 3D games, but it's not as powerful as the nVidia chip found on the Acer 5920G. On SYSmark 2007 Preview tests, the M-150X fared well against some of the bigger media centers, in part because of the faster hard drive. Systems such as the HP Pavilion dv9500t and Dell 1720 use 5,400-rpm hard drives and had slightly lower overall scores, while the Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch (Core 2 Duo T7700) outperformed the Gateway M-150X in every respect, thanks to a faster 2.4-GHz Core 2 Duo processor and a similar 7,200-rpm hard drive.

With speedy, power-consuming components, the M-150X's 58-Wh battery lasted only 2 hours 19 minutes on MobileMark 2007 tests. This is almost an hour less than the Acer 5920G's. Gateway offers a higher-capacity, 9-cell battery for an extra $39.

The Gateway M-150X shares the same design elements as the T-140X's, but inside, it's a different laptop altogether. It has a larger, 15.4-inch screen for a better view of all your HD content, and its speedy components are a great improvement over those found on the T-140X. It costs slightly less than the HP Pavilion dv9500t, but the HP has a bigger screen and a faster processor. In the end, it all comes down to how badly you want high definition on the road. If you want to take your HD viewing experience with you, you should put the M-150X on your short list.

Benchmark Test Results
Check out the Gateway M-150X's test scores.

More Laptop Reviews:
•   Dell Chromebook 11
•   HP Chromebook 11 (Verizon LTE)
•   Toshiba Satellite NB15t-A1304
•   Dell Venue 11 Pro
•   Origin EON17-SLX (2014)
•  more

Cisco Cheng
By Cisco Cheng Lead Analyst, Laptops and Tablet PCs

Cisco Cheng is the Lead Analyst of the laptop team at PCMag.com. He’s a one-man wrecking crew who tests and writes about anything considered a laptop (yes, even netbooks). He’s been with PC Mag for...

Follow Cisco Cheng Twitter: @CiscoC
blog comments powered by Disqus