Gateway DX4710-UB002A Desktop PC (Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor, 6 GB RAM, 640 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium)
Building on the superb technology of the DX4200-UB001A, the Gateway DX4710-UB002A Desktop adds the Intel® brand of quad core. Powered by the 64-bit SP1 edition of Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium, the DX4710-UB002A also ups the graphics to ATI Radeon HD 3650 with 512MB discrete video memory and adds 802.11b/g wireless and a digital ready ATSC TV tuner - for those multithreaded multitasking multimedia mavens who want to connect and tune in. Optical Drive 18X DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti Drive featuring Labelflash Technology Modern System Design with Black Chrome Branding Strip Gateway 15-in-1 media card reader with copy button Gateway 2.0 USB Speakers Application Software Microsoft Works 9.0, Microsoft Money Essentials & Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 (60-day complimentary trial period) Up to 8-Channel (7.1) High Definition Audio Backup Media Cyberlink Power2Go Dimensions (System) 16.34 (H) x 7.09 (W) x 17.32 (D) or 415mm (H) x 180mm (W) x 440mm (D) Expansion Slots Available - 0 - PCI-E x16, 1 - PCI-E x1 & 0 - PCI External Ports (6) USB 2.0 ports (2 Front, 4 Rear), IEEE 1394 Ports (Rear), HDMI Port, VGA, (2) PS/2 Ports Cyberlink Label Printer for Windows Vista Integrated Network 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 Port) Gateway 104+ Elite Keyboard Modem 56K PCI Data/Fax Modem Motherboard Systemboard with Intel G33 Chipset USB Optical 2-Button Wheel Mouse Transfer video and photos from your digital camera with a high-performance 15-in-1 media card reader. A smart copy button lets you instantly download and file your images 400-Watt Power Supply Norton 360 All-in-One Security 2008 (60-day trial with live updates) NTSC Analog + ATSC Digital TV Tuner with 3D Comb TV Remote Control Hardware has 1 Year Parts and Labor Limited Warranty Weight 24.25 lbs. (11 kg) system unit only Monitor is not included
Gateway DX4710-UB002A Desktop PC (Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor, 6 GB RAM, 640 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) Accessories
Gateway DX4710-UB002A Desktop PC (Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor, 6 GB RAM, 640 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) Reviews
To make it short this computer is great and very fast and has lots of memory and 64bit windows Vista Intel Core 2 Quad the best stuff.
Other than Norton 360, which you can uninstall, the bloatware factor seems pretty low compared to previous purchases I've made from Dell (and Gateway in the old dayts). Not a big deal but definitely not absolutely silent. First, would like more USB ports on the front panel. All in all, I think this is the best mid to upper workhorse out there - and I did shop the Dells (more expensive for less) and the HP (also good, but tend to be a bit larded up with multimedia stuff that is only useful if you watch TV on your pc, which is not something I do or intend to). This is a fast computer - I use it for the typical stuff - Office, email, photos, videos - and it is quick and agile.
I'd put the firewire port on the front rather than the rear, but that's more minor. Second, would put the DVD player above the USB ports to get the cables out of the way of the drawer when it is open. My two (minor) complaints.
Unit seems solidly built. I'm using my old dell monitor and wireless keyboard/mouse and all worked right off the bat without configuration. Vista feels as good on this machine as OS X on a recent Mac laptop I bought (for three times as much).
Picking up on the other post, the fan sounds pretty comparable to me to my old Dell.
We called 1-800-GATEWAY for support. They charged me $20 for a $1 CD-R. If you buy a Gateway anywhere but their website you must call a separate toll number. Save yourself a lot of trouble and get a Mac. Then we needed to restore it but the restore partition was bad. WTF. Then it wouldn't work, and they wanted to charge me to tell me how to use it. These people are horrible.
Again WTF. Guess what. We bought a Gateway desktop and Windows got hosed for some reason. Anything but Gateway. Had to get the recovery disk.
Norton 360 trial is a major pain constantly popping up all kind of noises. I have seen some issues with the ATI GPU which have me a bit worried (1-second black screen flash), I am still troubleshooting this phenomena. Only one Firewire port - on the back. Longevity: I expect this computer with Vista 64, 4 cores and 6GB RAM to be a valid and relevant work-station for a relatively long time. Vista 64 not as big a compatibility issue as I feared, so far I have most of my previous environment working.
I have not really tested GPU speed yet. The same 19-inch Dell LCD connected to this computer was previously connected to a Dell with built-in Intel graphics and that provided a noticably inferior picture quality. This is becoming more and more rare these days (a bad thing). Box contains a DVD with Vista-64 SP1.
Pros:. Not as quiet as I expected, GPU fan is quite audible in a quiet setting. Very powerful computer, the 4 cores with the huge memory quickly chew up whatever you throw at them. 400 Watt power supply - more than the standard pre-built box, hopefully leaves some room for expansion. The video quality of the ATI GPU is superior to any built-in graphics.
Summary:. For the price, which is what you would pay for a middling laptop, you get a lot of bang for your buck. Wireless (a must these days) works well, so does the Gigabit wired Ethernet card. Seems solidly built, esthetically pleasing. Cons:.
Note that I am talking about clarity and quality of the picture here (not speed). To me this is very important in case of disk-crash, I don't want to start downloading huge amounts of SW from Microsoft if and when the disk decides to quit. Not too much bloatware.
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