Gateway P-7807u FX Gaming Laptop

Gateway proves that you don’t have to spend upwards of two grand (or more) for a quality gaming notebook. The Gateway P-7807u FX, a $1,399 rig that packs a speedy 2.4-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTS graphics (with a full gig of dedicated video memory) lets budget fraggers mix it up with their rivals in even the highest-end titles. Although the industrial design remains the same as the Gateway FX models that have come before it, this system is a more than worthy purchase.

Familiar Design

The large 15.7 x 11.7 x 1.7-inch P-7807u FX has a glossy black shell with the same Halloween-esque orange, silver, and carbon fiber accents that we’re familiar with from earlier models, such as the P-7811 FX. Gateway packs this reasonably portable 9-pound system with a full-size, copper-bordered keyboard and number pad. The keyboard exhibited very little flex and was comfortable to type on as we crafted documents and e-mail. The layout was spacious enough even with the full 10-key numeric keypad, although the right Shift key is shrunken. We also liked the large touchpad and mouse buttons that made navigating the desktop a breeze. The mouse buttons were rather noisy when clicked and felt a bit flimsy, but it’s hardly a deal breaker.

Multimedia keys (including DVD, Windows Media Center, and music controls) sit just above the keyboard. Each is flush with the surface and glows orange, making for a clean-looking package. A touch-sensitive volume control strip sat to the left of those and was handy for raising or lowering the volume of the twin speakers that flank the multimedia keys.

Ports and Webcam

Three USB ports are onboard, but for a system this size, four or more is preferable. We can’t complain too much, because on the right side HDMI, FireWire, and eSATA ports for hooking up your notebook to a large HD display or external storage. Other ports include VGA, headphone and microphone jacks, Ethernet, modem, ExpressCard/54 slot, and 5-in-1 memory card reader.

Above the display is a 1.3-megapixel webcam that lacked the sharpness and color vibrancy we’ve seen in systems such as the MSI GT627 when we chatted with friends in Skype. Skin tones were washed out, and tinkering with the various camera settings didn’t do much to help.

Display and Audio

The P-7807u FX has a large 17-inch widescreen display with a 1440 x 900-pixel native resolution. This pixel count is way below the 1920 x 1200 offered by the Gateway P-7811 FX, which may turn off some gamers. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the deep blacks and bright colors that we saw when watching episodes of Family Guy and Heroes on Hulu. The glossy screen is large enough for two or three people to share, but anyone sitting anywhere other than directly in front of it will be hit with heavy reflections.

The stereo speakers offered plenty of volume but dropped the ball in terms of quality. When we played The Posies “I Guess You’re Right” MP3, the audio was loud enough to fill a small room, but it lacked the robust sound of systems like the Acer Aspire 8930. Bass was a bit stronger than what you’d find with standard notebook speakers, but when we fired up Kool & The Gang’s “Hollwood Swinging” on Slacker, the classic bassline lacked its familiar liveliness.