E-Tech

Gateway ID49C08u – Automatic switching graphics

Gateway ID49C08u is an incredibly thin and light notebook with a really slim design. The screen is 14 inches big with resolution of 1,366×768 pixels. This resolution is now ubiquitous in 11-16 inch laptops. But you get better in more expensive laptops like HP Envy 14. The sharpness and brightness are average and at maximum brightness, the images looked a bit washed. The quality of images fades at wide viewing angles. I have seen better laptop screens in this price range.

The speakers are located above the keyboard. The volume level and audio quality is quite good for watching movies but it is nothing spectacular. It has a Dolby Home Theater sticker on the notebook’s exterior but you won’t get much audio effects from these tiny speakers. The Webcam’s light sensitivity is below average and contrast too could have been better. My faced looked grainy and washed out on this Web cam.

There is not a lot of space for ports on the Gateway ID49C08U but you do get four USB jacks on the sides. I expected just three here since it is a slim and light notebook. HDMI port too is there which lets you connect this laptop to a large HDTV. I was disappointed to see that there was no Bluetooth for this price.

On the bright side, the Gateway ID49C08u has a good CPU/GPU combination. You get plenty of processing power and the gaming performance too is quite good. This laptop is powered by Intel Core i5 M450 processor; it is the same as many mainstream notebooks out there. The speed in single and multitasking applications is significantly more as compared to Core i3 chip.

Gateway ID49C08u has Nvidia GeForce GT 330M chip which gave me really good gaming performance. I played few rounds of Unreal Tournament III at 1,280×960 pixels resolution and got 80.4 frames per second. I also played Transformers: War for Cybertron and the results were much better than other laptops having the step down GeForce 310M GPU. The graphic card is equipped with Nvidia Optimus technology which switches off the graphic card automatically when not needed for saving power. The best about this technology is that the switching is automatic and hence you don’t need to do anything.

In my battery tests, the Gateway ID49C08u lasted for two hours and fifteen minutes. I mostly played videos during this period. I previously tested the Gateway ID49C07U with integrated graphics and Core i3 chip; it lasted a little less than three hours. I won’t recommend this laptop if you travel a lot. But if you are buying it anyways, keep the power adapter close.

Gateway ID49C07U comes with a one year warranty. You can get in touch with the tech representatives through e-mail or chat. There is also a 24-7 phone line but the Website doesn’t mention the number. It is 800-846-2301. On the bright side, you can easily find driver downloads and online knowledge base on the website.

To sum it up, I would say that the Gateway ID49C07U gives speedy performance through the Core i5 processor and the discrete graphics card with automatic switching makes it a good choice for gamers.