Gateway Laptop NV55S04u AMD A6-Series A6-3400M (1.4GHz) 4GB Memory 500GB HDD AMD Radeon HD 6520G 15.6" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Pros: - Was initially apprehensive about the A6-3400M APU since most of the gamers said it was junk; not true. With the ability to clock up to 2.3ghz games and apps run effortlessly and without any hiccups or problems. This processor is also very powerful for multitasking purposes such as listening to music, while editing videos, while having a large photo opened to be edited, while playing Dragon Age in the background, etc... - As for the GPU, I am able to run SC2 and modern games with very decent settings and it looks beautiful. Of course you will not max out all options, but it looks great enough to give you substantial eye candy. I also run computational chemistry software such as Chimera with ease. - The 4gb ram is also substantial enough to multitask and play games. Ram CAN be expandable and there are videos on youtube if you need a reference - The keyboard is clicky and responsive. I definitely love the numpad on a 15'' laptop. The F1-F12 keys are by default utility keys

Cons: - Not really a con, but because of the numpad, the keyboard is shifted to the left and takes a little while to get used to. - There is a little quirk where the mouse disables for a second after pressing a keyboard key. This is most likely remedied by removing the multitouch driver. - The speakers don't produce a quality sound. Its kind of hollow and tinny. I use this as a desktop replacement as well, so I can just plug in a good set of 2.1 speakers. - The webcam captures great image quality but the FPS on it is not as fast as I would like, even when dropping the resolution. Images captured can be fairly big though (1.3MP). - Attracts fingerprints (meh) - not a big deal especially if you have good lint free wipes (kimwipes).

Overall Review: I bought this computer as a companion through grad school and can run scientific computational software such as Matlab, SAS, or R. *Don't be fooled by the "integrated" Radeon HD 6520G. It performs light years better than integrated Intel graphics. While you won't max out settings, you will definitely be able to play newer games.

Pros: Look no further; this notebook is excellent! I was skeptical at first because of the Gateway name but was I wrong. This thing flies like a rocket! For the price of a dual core you can have the quad core. The system works great for gaming, everyday computing, music, multitasking, and more. The display is very brilliant, sharp and video card is decent. Cooling is vented on the side which works nicely. Keyboard is different but you will get used to it quickly. Very cool mouse pad and features work great with Windows 7 x64. Does everything I wanted it to and keeps up nicely. For the price you really cant beat it. Battery life is just as advertised 3 1/2 to 4 hours. The notebook is very light as in not heavy. There is some bloatware but nothing you cant take care quickly. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for high performance at a very reasonable price!

Cons: None!

Overall Review: I opted for maxing out the RAM to 8GB shortly after I recieved it, I plan on keeping it for awhile. The notebook ran fine on 4GB RAM. I just did it to do it. Some complained about the speakers but they are fine. Just buy it! What are you waiting for?

Pros: For the price, it's tough to beat. The performance is solid, stock hits 5.2 on the Windows 7 Experience Index and breaks down as follows: 6.6 - Processor 5.9 - Memory 5.2 - Graphics 6.3 - Gaming 5.7 - Drive I find it to be very responsive, quiet and efficient. Battery life is roughly 4 hours, enough to watch a couple of movies.

Cons: The keyboard has a numpad, which is very nice. The keys overall will take getting used to - they use something called "Chiclet" keys that initially feel rigid and awkward. The F1-F12 keys are mapped to custom applications, and while useful, getting your old Fkeys back requires adjusting BIOS settings. The display is crisp, clear and bright. The pad supports pinch/zoom functions and takes getting used to, it can be very sensitive. The usual bloat is packed on and once reformatted, should be a solid overall performer.

Overall Review: Lacks Bluetooth, this should be standard. DVD/Multi Drive is sub-par but they had to cut corners somewhere. Final: Don't expect a super computer but for the price range, it's as good as any laptop out there.

Pros: Let's start with the price, for less than $500 this laptop has all the power and performance that any average user will ever need. Straight out of the box, this laptop feels really durable yet light weight. Initial set up was super fast and pretty painless. The computer itself runs really smoothly, I was worried at first with the 1.4GHz but it really runs much closer to 2GHz. The 4gb of memory is nice for the price of the computer (although it is not upgradable). The 15.6" display is really crisp and clear with excellent resolution and it even has an HDMI slot if you wish to use it. 3 USB slots come in handy if you use a lot of devices at once as I do (iPod, iPhone, iPad, External HDD, Thumb drives, etc). DVD/CD drive is great and I've had no problems playing any of my movies or games. I've never been a huge fan of gateway PC's but this laptop has everything I need and beat out every other laptop in the same price range (I searched the entire site) so good job on this laptop gateway!

Cons: There aren't many. However the few complaints I have are as follows; When first using the computer you have a few applications that come with it that you may not want, such as Skype, New York Times Reader, E-bay, and a few more. They aren't too hard to delete however it is a bit annoying that they are there in the first place. Another thing I found pretty useless is the social networking button on the keyboard which launches a program for social networking. It isn't too big a deal unless you accidentally bump the button for the useless application. However, you may like the application, I did not. Lastly, as I expected, the advertised "500GB" HDD is actually reduced to 450GB, due to the everything that is pre-installed. I just wish they would advertise the size of the hard drive after everything factory was installed on it, sure its 500GB completely cleared, but it should never be completely cleared. All of these are just minor things and I actually struggled a bit to think of them!

Overall Review: While it has a few insignificant cons, the pros outweigh them by a landslide. If you are looking for a reliable, fantastic laptop with tons of speed and plenty of features on a budget, look no further because this is the perfect laptop for you.

Pros: Keyboard feels nice to the touch. Having actual dedicated volume buttons is a big plus in my book. The screen looks amazing. The quad core is nice. Battery life lasts around 4 hours with wifi on and brightness at a medium volume. I manage to get around 5 and a half hours at school with wifi off and brightness turned down for normal note taking. Even with the brightness turned all the way down, the screen is still completely visible in a classroom environment.

Cons: Came with bloatware (as usual). The touchpad driver was out of date and would not activate scrolling or finger gestures on startup. A simple update to the touchpad driver fixed the problem. Front casing and screen have a glossy finish (so buy a laptop sleeve so that the outside casing does not get scratched or dirty when transporting). The keyboard has a mat finish, so fingerprints on the keyboard will not be a problem at all.

Overall Review: If your price range is around $500, this IS the laptop to grab hands down. Runs fast and is extremely quiet. Doesn't get too hot either. Don't expect to max out Crysis or anything, but it will run games mostly on medium settings very well. The quad core runs fast and is very noticeable in programs like Photoshop. Overall amazing, I am definitely happy with the purchase of this laptop. If I could sum up this review in two words, they would be BUY IT!

Pros: - The processor is far and away faster than what you're going to get for even $100 more (maybe higher, I didn't look past $600). Just check on Passmark. Comes coupled with decent Radeon graphics and 1080p movies look SICK, especially on the... - LED screen - obviously it's kind of standard by now, but it's my first LED and it is AMAZING. - This laptop has everything I ever wanted in a new laptop, plus extra features like a webcam and bluetooth, which may or may not come in handy. They're there though.

Cons: The only legitimate con I could come up with is that the speakers are weak/borderline useless, compared to my previous laptop or anything really. But plug in headphones are a stereo and the sound quality is excellent.

Overall Review: A really, really sweet deal. I'd been trolling Newegg for a few months and researching CPUs on passmark a lot. It's 5 times faster than my 5 year old laptop! It took a few days to completely customize it and get rid of the extra nonesense that came preinstalled, but it is a polished, shining gem now (literally).

Pros: I've always known Gateway products are top-notch, and this is no exception. I've been playing The Sims 3 with all expansions, Dead Island, FFXIV and TES: Skyrim, all at medium high settings with no lag at all. I couldn't ask for more.

Cons: I wish it didn't have a dedicated "social network" key above the dash on the num pad. It confuses me whilst playing FFXIV. The speakers suck. Even at max volume, you can barely hear anything.

Overall Review: Buy it. It's more than worth the price. It might not be designed for gaming, but it can play every single game on the market.

Pros: -Prcessor -HD 6520G Graphics with 512MB -LED LCD looks good -Function keys are pre configured to work as simple and useful hotkeys -Can any older games great and some newer ones with decent settings -Doesn't generate excessive heat

Cons: No USB 3.0 - Kinda bummed about the lack of No eSATA - Not a huge deal unless large amounts of data are transferred often.

Overall Review: Battery life is decent and runs at about advertised. I am hoping to upgrade with an ssd sometime :) I have always been satisfied with Gateway products and am always pleased to see their price to performance (hardware wise) ratio compared to other brands. Keyboard works fine. So far I am satisfied with my purchase. I got it for 425.00!