Gateway Launches Series of Affordable Laptops
Gateway has announced a new NV series of affordable laptops based on AMD’s Athlon 64 and Intel’s Core 2 Duo CPUs.
Gateway’s NV series comes at two separate price points, a $499 model and a $599 model and while the latter is a little more appealing, the cheaper version is still a great machine at a near-netbook price.
For $499 you’re looking at AMD’s 2.1 GHz Athlon 64 CPU along with an AMD RS780MN chipset, ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics, a 15.6-inch 1366x768 HD display (16:9), 4 GB of DDR2, a 320 GB HDD, 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N WiFi certified, multi-card reader, HDMI, 4 x USB 2.0, VGA, Ethernet, microphone jack, audio-out jack, and a six cell Li-ion battery. The whole lot ships Windows Vista Home Premium SP1. Not bad for just under $500.
The more expensive $599 version packs Intel’s Core 2 Duo T6500, Mobile Intel GM459 Express chipset and Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD, a 15.6-inch 1366x768 HD display, 4 GB of DDR2, 320 GB HDD, DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive, HDMI, 4 x USB 2.0, VGA, Ethernet, microphone jack, audio-out jack, 6 cell Li-ion battery and Windows Vista Home Premium.
Those of you looking for color choices have the option of NightSky Black, Midnight Blue, Cherry Red, or Coffee Brown.

Hehe Gateway... Good times... Good times
Most overburns within 1 year normal of usage....
Craptops might be a more appropriate term... most emachines, dell are too..
Sadly i repair computers and you usually have to change the laptop motherboards (witch cost an arm and a leg)
Asus build better laptops
The GMA 4500 is much better than, say, a G31. But it's still nowhere near as good as the Radeon HD 3200 graphics chip in the AMD notebook. The 780G chips just can't be equaled by Intel's graphics division, at least in the desktop space. Not quite as sure about their mobile versions.
Also, I'm seeing this reported elsewhere as an Athlon X2, a dual-core CPU, and Jane only listed the Super-multi DVD drive for the Intel machine for some reason. The only differences between the two are that the Intel version has the Intel CPU+graphics chipset and specifically an Intel wifi module, the wifi in the AMD notebook seems unbranded.
Better CPU in the Intel, slightly better graphics chip in the AMD, basically.
The only thing I could find for $400 was a laptop with following specs:
Gateway® LT3103u (11.6" display)
Web Address: http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668268.php
Processor AMD Athlon™ 64 L110 Single-Core Processor (1.2GHz, 800MHz FSB, 512KB L2 Cache)1
Operating System Genuine Microsoft® Windows Vista® Home Basic (32-bit) with SP1
Memory 2048MB DDR2 533MHz SDRAM Single Channel Memory
Hard Drive 250GB SATA hard drive2
Color Classic and Elegant Design with Nightsky Black finish
Wireless Network 802.11b/g Wi-Fi CERTIFIED®3
Adapter AC Adapter
Application Software Microsoft® Works, Microsoft® Money Essentials, Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 (60-day complimentary trial period)4
Battery 6-Cell Lithium Ion (5200mAh)
Chassis Chassis with ATI Radeon® X1270 Graphics and AMD RS690E Chipset5
Dimensions (Box) 3.1" (H) x 14.8" (W) x 10.1" (D) or 80mm (H) x 376mm (W) x 256mm (D)
Dimensions (System) 1.03" (H) x 11.26" (W) x 7.99" (D) or 26.4mm (H) x 286mm (W) x 203mm (D)
Display 11.6" HD WXGA Ultrabright™ LED-backlit Display (1366 x 768 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio)6
External Ports (3) USB 2.0, VGA Connector
Keyboard and Mouse Keyboard with Multi-Gesture Touchpad
Media Card Reader Multi-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader (Memory Stick®, Memory Stick Pro™, MultiMediaCard, Secure Digital™, xD-Picture Card™)
Network 10/100 Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 port)
Security Software Norton Internet Security™ 2009 (60-day trial) & Gateway Recovery Management7
Sound High-Definition Audio Support, Built-In speakers, Microphone, Headphone (with Dolby® Headphone Technology)/Speaker/Line-Out Jack8
Warranty 1 Year Parts and Labor9
Web Camera 0.3 Megapixel Integrated Webcam
Weight 3.04 lbs. (1.38 kg) system unit only / 3.93 lbs. (1.78 kg.) box
The X4500HD for desktop isn't bad. My main (non-gaming) desktop has one. It's decent enough. I can't comment on the 4500MHD though.
The only issue with an older laptop I think is the battery. My mothers 5 year old laptop lasts 15 minutes on a charge now...
That's because they're not available yet. Other pages, however, are also reporting the announced NV series.