Gateway EC1430U 11.6-Inch Black Laptop
October 24th, 2009
Gateway EC1430u Notebook comes with these specs: Intel Pentium Processor SU4100, Windows 7 Home Premium, 11.6″ HD Widescreen LED-backlit Display, Mobile Intel GS45 Express Chipset, 3072MB DDR2 667MHz Memory, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD, 320 GB SATA Hard Drive, Integrated Webcam, Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader, Dolby Sound Room Audio Enhancement, Intel WiFi Link 1000 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N, 3 - USB 2.0 Ports, 1 - HDMI Port, Multi-gesture Touchpad, 6-cell Li-ion Battery (5600 mAh), up to 7-hours of battery life, 3.08 lbs. | 1.4 kg (system unit only), AC Power Adapter, AC Power Cord, Wireless Setup Card, Registration/ Limited Warranty Card, Norton Internet Security 2009 Trial (60-day insert)
It took me 2 months to decide on which laptop or netbook would replace my Toshiba 17 inches Widescreen laptop which I own for more than 3 years now. I travel a lot, my Toshiba has been great and continue to work perfectly but I needed an ultra portable laptop/netbook, easy to carry, something that would fit easily in a suitcase, backpack, or even carry it with me.
Battery power came to be a major factor, since I travel a lot, sometimes to find a plug at the airports, or just every where else like a coffee shop can be a challenge; so I wanted at least a battery that could last 3 hours or so.
After careful consideration and research, and based on how much I wanted to spend, Gateway beats all other brands. The quality, the specifications and beauty, Gateway is unmatched. I’m a Toshiba or Sony lover when it comes to electronics, but this time around, Gateway proved me wrong for sure.
So, this Gateway Ec1430u is brand new as of Oct 23, 2009. I ordered mine yesterday Oct 22, 2009 when it was released with Windows 7 release. I’m very happy about my choice, the battery doesn’t stick out as I saw on other netbooks with 6-cell battery and it lasts up to 8 hours. I just tested it with a movie, unplugged it, showed it could run 5 hours and 25 mins on battery alone, that’s amazing. And I should add that once unplugged the default brightness is 50%, but I changed it to 80%.
Gateway EC1430U’s very light, I can barely feel anything in my hand when I lift it, it’s been running for 3 hours now and I can’t feel any heat at all, how is that possible? my Toshiba laptop heats up tremendously, the fans run on high most of the time therefore noisy. This Gateway is quiet as a turtle. Not to mention how sleek it looks, the chrome Gateway label is pretty on the outside cover.
The Gateway EC1430U keyboard is full, keys are soft to touch and I have plenty of room when typing.
The most dramatic change to come with this EC series is that previous netbooks couldn’t play HD movies easily, this Gateway EC1430u is HD friendly and has an HDMI port. It doesn’t have a DVD/DC optical drive which I don’t really miss, with the Internet today, I can watch movies online, download TV shows, etc…for other purposes I would get an external drive just in case I need it. But I barely use my DVD/CD optical drive on my Toshiba laptop.
The Gateway EC1430U Touchpad is mutli-gesture, you find some features of the iphone, it is smart enough to recognize 2 fingers command, expand/contract a picture etc…
Did I also mention it comes with Windows 7? incredible improvement from Microsoft from Windows Vista. It shuts down quickly, so far it takes less than 5 seconds to shut down. Start up is quick as well. Windows 7 is easy to navigate.
So my overall opinion is extremely good. I would give this laptop a 5 star-rating.
I strongly recommend you buy it as soon as possible while it is in stock, because once more and more people find about it, it would evaporate from any store. Too bad Gateway doesn’t advertise.
Click to See the Gateway EC1430U Special Price!
Categories: Electronics
