Gateway MC7801u Refurbished Notebook PC

Backlit keyboard is the best feature and makes using this laptop far more versatile. Unfortunately, the keyboard itself is not as effective for everyday use. The center area of the keyboard is not as well supported so you have to punch the keys a lot harder to get them to register on the display. A large HDD (320GB) and 4gigs of user memory, along with Intel Centrino 2.0GHz CPU, make this 64bit Vista PC performance's better than most laptops in the under $600 price range. The WEI is only 3.7 because the integrated graphics support, although "accelerated", is not as good as most full size Desktops with dedicated plug-in video card. The 16" LCD is a true 16x9 widescreen display and looks absolutely stunning. Also built-in to this laptop is 1.3MP webcam, microphone and two speakers. HDMI output connector is a nice bonus. Only thing missing is Bluetooth support and a BluRay DVD player, but at a significantly higher cost. Internet WiFi access is very fast and makes for a seemingly much more reliable connection than my even my two year old high end desktop PC. All in all a very good value and one of the few Notebook PC available at any price with a backlit keyboard.

...Never had a single problem with it. It was finally stolen while I was on vacation or I'm sure I would still be using it. It's a workhorse.

I'm not a gamer, so I can't speak to that, but it ran every application I threw at it.

Drawbacks: It's heavy.

I never replaced the battery in all that time and it was starting to go bad on me.

And, the power connector was a weak spot. I had to reinforce it to keep the cord from disengaging.

Still, a great laptop. I don't think it locked up once in three years.

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I bought this laptop when it was still in stores. Keyboard is the worst part, you have to hit every key in the center an firmly, the keys started popping off mine in a couple months. The touch controls work when they want and will sometimes flicker on and off.

This computer cannot play 1080p or 720p files, it struggled to use itune's visualizer. Games don't run well if ever. WoW gets about 18-22fps on the lowest settings. The battery has a life of about 1 1/2 hours and will stop working after 6 months (I've had 2) whether or not you use it.

Max is 4gb of ram

Does not have a dedicated video card like it says on the box (shared 1024mb)

Not a full sized keyboard

Don't let the gloss screen pull you in you won't be watching anything hi-res on this computer.

The backlit keyboard has never had a problem and the 4 usb ports and hdmi port and the fact that it had an expansion card slot are the only reason I'm giving it 2 stars. IMO this laptop was not worth the 800 I bought it for and is defiantly not worth more than 200-300 in-box much less used. Gateway was once a trusted brand but they've really gone down hill in recent years.

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