Gateway EC Series EC1436u Cherry Red Intel Celeron SU2300(1.2GHz) 11.6" 2GB Memory 160GB HDD Netbook

Pros: This thing easily exceeds typical netbooks and strikes the right combo of speed/size/features where it could just about replace your bigger laptop, depending on your demands. Best netbook at the moment -- dual-core, good battery life, bigger screen, decent resolution, Win 7. Keyboard is comfortable to type on. Web cam. Build quality seems high. Power supply is relatively compact.

Cons: Not without some flaws that can be tolerated. Biggest gripe is that the speaker max volume ought to be louder. Having to use a function button to hit "Home" and "End" is annoying and either takes some getting used to or requires reprogramming of another key. I'm not a fan of glossy screens, though this one isn't too bad. On a few occasions I wished the screen would tilt open just a bit more.

Other Thoughts: One unusual thing -- Out of the box my battery reported that it wasn't charging. I fiddled with it for hours without success, then left it plugged in all night and it was charged in the morning and has charged fine since. Gateway support was predictably useless.

Pros: Small, reasonable fast (faster than expected), nice display that does pretty well in the car, Win7 x64, it has handled everything I've thrown at it.

Cons: Shows fingerprints on the outer red cover and doesn't fit into 10.7" bags. But, I wanted a little larger screen and that's what you get.

Other Thoughts: I happened to have an SSD sitting around that had never worked properly due to a bad controller that was still under warranty. The company made corrections and rightfully sent me a new one to replace the old. The new found it's way into this Netbook. While on one hand, the SSD costs more than the Netbook, on the other hand, I'm VERY happy with my screamin Netbook. It is now MUCH faster than the 160 GB WD Scorpion that was in there prior (not that it was bad) not to mention the increase to 256GB. I'm very happy with this setup.

I'm in sales and I use it daily. Battery life has gone up to about 6 hours. Did I say that I was happy?

Pros: Screen. Build- eh sorta pro, it creaks but not as bad as Acer's. Performance, that's where this shines! The SU2300 is a Dual Core as mentioned BUT also has Intel VT (Virtualization Technology) so you can download and run VirtualPC 2007 OR dump 7 Home and go Pro to get FREE XP Pro from MS. Also it supports SpeedStep which the Celeron M 743 does NOT which extends the battery life (also a pro) by 35%. Speedwise it's no speed demon but it's about 4.5x's faster overall than an Atom based system (Atom's are NOT real CPU's, they process In-Order items only, were designed for HandHeld MID's and specialized low heat installations - never designed for US people in the form of a PC but we used them there - cause we can and it works). Here's the performance numbers:
SU9400 Passmark score = 923
SU7300 Passmark score = 890
SU4100 Passmark score = 840
SU2300 Passmark score = 750
SU3500 Passmark score = 490
SU2700 Passmark score = 403
Athlon L110 Passmark score = 299
Atom N270 Passmark score =

Cons: Keyboard and front edge. Keyboard is nice but not as nice as the machine it's cloned from (MacBook). The front edge of the machine leaves your palms a little sore after an hour or more. Not the best palm rest design. GPU - 320mhz Clock not the 533mhz on the GS45 chipset. 10 Pipelines though - not bad. DirectX 10 and Shader 4.0. 3DMark score of 1230 which slams the GMA950's 411. nVidia 9400m is 3x's as fast with half the power. GPU is a con because the fans running to cool THAT not the CPU in most cases.

Other Thoughts: A netbook done right and for those with a laptop sporting an Intel CoreDuo or Turion X2 CPU from early 2007 or before it will be FASTER. If your laptop sports lesser CPU's and was made in 2007 or before it should be overall faster, hands down. My Turion TK-58 just edges out the CPU but the 4200HD Graphics slams my GeForce 6100.

Pros: Dual core CPU, 11.6" screen, wireless N, 1Gb LAN, 2GB RAM, Intel GS45 chipset with GMA4500MHD onboard video and Windows 7 Home Premium make this a very good performing netbook at a good price. Newegg shipped quickly as usual. This netbook will smoothly play H.264 videos at 720p and 1080p. The only VC-1 video (720p) that I have tried is the one that comes in the OS, of course it played smoothly.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: This Gateway EC1436U netbook is the best available for the price right now. The price increases rapidly for a similar size mini notebook with better performance. At this time there are 4 other identical models available depending on color and bloatware preference; Gateway EC1435U and 3 different colored Acer AS1410 models with the SU2300 CPU. The dual core 1.2Ghz CPU sounds wimpy but it performs better than the single core Atom280 at 1.66Ghz. This PC is compact and portable with good battery life (4+ hours while actually using it). This netbook is responsive and reasonably quick, but it's still a netbook. Leave the real number crunching and 3D games to a good desktop.

Pros: First off the netbook looks very nice and is very solid. Faster then what I would have expected for its size. The screen is really sharp and clear so its very easy to read. I was thinking that a 11.6 screen would be too small but its perfect for traveling. Windows 7 is already on there and it runs very nicely.

Cons: The speakers are weak but don't sound bad. If you are using the keyboard the mouse pad will not work at the same time. Not ideal when you want to play a game that needs both.

Other Thoughts: This netbook can't play new games but if its around 3+ years old it will. Also you might consider a external CD Burner if you want to backup the recovery disc since there is no builtin CD-Rom.

Pros: nice size keyboard and screen. lightweight. quick startup. battery lasted 4.75 hours full brightness. can't report on windows 7 home as upgraded to ultimate. screen very clear. windows 7 installed is 64 bit so is positive and negative. quicker but may have software issues.

Cons: touchpad mouse takes some finess or will miscue. volume very poor. upgraded to ultimate to be able to use celeron intel virtual technology (VT) to be able to use Windows XP emulation. some reason Gateway has disabled the VT so can't do what I wanted. Asked Gateway support about it and they would only talk about it if I would pay $2.95 a minute. Will attempt to return as it is advertised with VT and it doesn't work

Other Thoughts: three eggs as the laptop is very nice but Gateway support is lacking and VT disabled. Gateway is subsidiary of Acer so perhaps the comparable Acer model is better and not tarnished by Gateway touch

Pros: Looks nice, well build, keyboard is great, great price/performance ratio, comes with windows 7...

Cons: weak speakers

Other Thoughts: This is a great little laptop/netbook. It is identical to the acer 1410. I spent a lot of time thinking which of the three 11.6" acers I should buy (su2300/su4100/su7300). The most powerfull one (acer 1810 with su7300) was about $600. Then I did a little research to see what kind of desktop I can put together for that money. Wow, for that money I could buy quad-core CPU. 1TB hard drive, ati radeon with 512 Mb... Then I said to my self, if I want power I'll make my self a nice desktop. As far as these tiny laptops/netbooks go, I just need them to surf the internet well, whatch some videos (youtube), and maybe some office applications. And this little computer does everything of the above really well. It plays HD videos from youtube without any problems. The reason why I went with gateway and not acer was because I got $20 bing cashback for the gateway model. One more thing. Windows 7 makes a real difference. I had a similar model with Vista and it was slow as snail. This one is snappy.