Gateway LT2005u Netbook

Well I have now purchased a new netbook, a Gateway LT2005u model.  Best Buy had these on sale for $229 and I just couldn’t pass it up.

I love netbooks. They are useful in so many ways, and they are so small they practically beg you to take them with you, wherever you are going. The Gateway LT2005u netbook is a very good example of this. It is small enough to go almost anywhere, yet packs decent performance into its diminutive footprint. The specifications of the unit are:

· Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz, 533MHz fsb

· 2GB DDR2-667 (easily self upgraded from the stock 1 GB)

· Hitachi 160GB 5400RPM SATA

· Intel 950 GMA integrated graphics/chipset

· 10.1” LED 1024×600 display

· Windows HP Home

· 6 cell battery

· 802.11b/g Wi-Fi

On the other hand, it is definitely not a desktop replacement.  There are things that are just about undo-able with this machine, such as video editing, and don’t even think about playing the latest, greatest games either.  Having said that, almost anything else is possible. I usually have no fewer than 5 tabs running in Firefox, iTunes, live writer and various other things running all at the same time without noticing any slowdowns or lag. When all is said and done, current netbooks are as powerful as desktop systems were just a few years ago. While I love the speed and power of my Core I7 desktop, I sure can’t take it everywhere like I can my netbook.  Another thing that I like is that it doesn’t take very long to boot the Gateway up, or to shut it down.

Windows XP Home Startup/Shut down times

17.6 shutdown plugged in

1:23.9 startup plugged in

16.1 sec shutdown unplugged

1:25.1 startup unplugged

Those times are after every thing loads and it is connected to the network.  Definitely a big improvement from my Eee PC 900.

I only have two main complaints about the Gateway and both have to do with size. First, the track pad on this thing is TINY! I understand that space is at a premium but still this thing is small. Here is a pic of it, with one of my fat fingers shown to provide scale:

Second, I wish that you could still buy netbooks with the 8.9″ screen like my ASUS Eee PC 900 has. The 10″ screen is nice, but I would prefer the slightly smaller footprint rather than the larger screen.  As the pictures below show, the Eee is quite a bit smaller than my Gateway.  It may not seem like much, but to me the Gateway feels huge.

The Gateway came with a six cell battery and I am averaging almost 6 hours to a charge.

Overall this netbook serves very well, not as a desktop replacement, but as a small, take anywhere computer in its own right.