Gateway ID49C Review

1 07 2010

I don’t feel brand loyalty to any particular company, I am a big advocate of getting the best deal you can for something that makes you happy to use it. In my case it always seems to come down to products from a couple of companies; Apple and Acer.

Apple gives me pride of ownership but it comes at a premium cost and often omits things that I, as a gadget freak, covet. Things like Blu-Ray, HDMI, the latest GPUs, and cool operating temperatures. Acer on the other hand seems to create products that appeal to my sense of value for dollar, but they are usually a little rough around the edges.

Frankly I think it is easier for Acer to become like Apple than the other way around. And the Gateway ID49C is the best evidence of this to date.

What does $749.99 CDN (regular price) get you? Read the rest of this entry »


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Review: Gateway NV5909h

6 02 2010

Every couple of years Acer drops a new computer that re-sets my price point expectations. Acer’s Aspire 5112 WLMi offered dual core and solid GPU for a great price back in 2006. Their TravelMate 2428 WXCi was selling for netbook like prices that same year. Then, in 2008 the Acer owned Gateway launched affordable gaming computers in the FX series. Now, Gateway brings us a $699 that offers the latest CPU, GPU, mobile platform and screen technology.

Whether you like Acer or not, this price pressure will drive down the cost of acquiring a similar machine from your vendor of choice, and that’s a good thing. Thank you Acer! Read the rest of this entry »


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Review: Mass Effect 2

31 01 2010

Launching a new intellectual property into the world of big budget games is risky, sequels are so much safer. But with its tantalizing blend of RPG and shooter game mechanics, Mass Effect was very close to the perfect game when it arrived in 2007. It got a lot of attention and sold plenty of copies even though it released in a storm of excellent titles. Personally, I lost track a long time ago of how many times I have completed that game on the Xbox 360 and PC – over a dozen times certainly.

What lured me back? The terrific writing and well-realized universe of Mass Effect is the main reason (although the poor quality and short staying power of triple A games that superceded it in 2008 and 2009 is another reason)

Needless to say, I was looking forward to the sequel, but could it live up to the hype?

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Dragon Age Review

15 11 2009

It took about 50 hours, but I have finally finished one play through of the game – which is not the same as fully completing the game.

Story

A cliched overarching story is reminiscent of many RPGs of the last 20 years; rise up against the return of an ancient evil. Almost every Bioware game uses this same story. That’s not a fault because the true meat is in the dozen or hundreds of smaller stories that comprise the larger tale.

To talk about these stories, particularly the origins, is to risk spoilers. Instead what I can say are two things.

First, you will never be satisfied with only one play through. Each story has multiple points that force decisions from you – irrevocable ones. These are much bigger than who lives and dies – we are talking hundred or thousands of virtual lives! Their integration into and throughout the story is masterful. You might not even know the extent to which you turned the game’s narrative until the very end of the story.

Second, the sheer volume of twists and shocking turns in this game is staggering. It is well written and you form a bond with the characters (as much as it is possible in a game). Your friends will surprise you. Read the rest of this entry »


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Review: Apple MacBook (Early 2009)

21 02 2009

When I looked at the Unibody MacBook a little while ago I liked almost everything about it. What I disliked most about the notebook was its sticker price. Spec’d like a MacBook and built like a MacBook Pro Apple decided to price it somewhere between the two.

What I was hoping for from a new MacBook was a device that would be competitive with the $500 WinTel notebooks crowding the shelves of most computer retailers. I don’t mean something priced that low, but rather something closer to the average person’s notebook budget. Most folks can live with the decent construction techniques of the iBook/MacBook design. I thought that was the whole point of having the MacBook and MacBook Pro line-ups; different strokes for different folks.

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Review: Apple MacBook (Late 2008)

19 12 2008

Apple computers are very tough to review because so much of what makes them special are features that don’t line up well against the bullet points on other vendor’s products. Things like insane attention to details, design and materials are tough to quantify or monetize.

keyboard Read the rest of this entry »


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Review: Toshiba’s Qosmio X305 (Sharks with Freaking Laser Beams)

25 10 2008

Gaming notebooks have been around for a few years now and getting a good one has been easy assuming you have heaping piles of cash. For those of us on a budget, we were stuck with mid range GPUs and big compromises in the visual settings of our games until Gateway’s FX line came out last winter. Brainwashed sheepish press will tell you that PC gaming is dead, but there must still be a few of us PC Gamers left because Gateway had a hit on its hands and soon most of its rivals followed suit by marketing gaming as a selling feature of notebooks. Today we’ll be looking at Toshiba’s Qosmio X305/300 gaming notebook.

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Review: Gateway M-6864FX

1 09 2008

Gateway has been on a roll since being acquired by Acer last year. Acer’s aggressive pricing for decent specifications combined with Gateway’s newfound sense of style makes the Gateway M-6864FX its $750 to $999 street price a notebook of interest.

Hardware Highlights:

  • Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 2 GHz CPU
  • AMD RADEON Mobility 2600 with 512 MB of RAM
  • 14.1″ WXGA High-Definition Display With 1280 x 800 Resolution
  • 200 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
  • 4 GB DDR2 System Memory
  • LabelFlash Super Multi 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support

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Review: Acer Extensa 5220-2516

3 08 2008

Every year as back to school season approaches Best Buy teases consumers into their stores with loss leader notebooks. Usually they sell out pretty fast. It probably isn’t the typical PC users that buy them, but rather tweakers who are looking for a decent kit to experiment with. What kind of experiments? Linux distributions and other hacked OSes.

I thought it would be cool to pick one up when my monthly Best Buy Credit Card statement arrived with a ‘$50 off any notebook’ coupon attached. This years Best Buy attention grabber is priced at $399 CDN ($349 after coupon).

What does $350 get you these days?

  • Celeron M550 2 GHz CPU
  • Intel Santa Rosa chipset with GMA X3100
  • 1024 of DDR2 at 667MHz
  • 120 GB Hitachi 5400 RPM HDD
  • Pioneer DL DVD Multi recorder
  • 802.11g and Gigabyte Ethernet
  • Windows Vista Home Premium
  • 6 cell 4000 mAh battery Read the rest of this entry »

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Review: Toshiba Satellite A210-04F

29 03 2008

That’s Mr. Cheap to You

Once or twice per year, a friend or family member asks me to help them pick a notebook. Most of the folks I know just need a basic computer, and the reason they enlist me is that I love finding good deals on notebooks. This week I needed to find a good little Grandma computer. Having scanned the used sections of my favorite websites for deals I quickly determined that most people were stuck in 2005, asking way too much for notebooks that are much slower than current budget units.

So I hit the stores and found a pretty good assortment of dual core models in the $500-600 range from Acer, Dell, Compaq and Toshiba. The Toshiba Satellite A210-04F caught my eye:
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