Customer Reviews

Gateway EC1430U 11.6-Inch Black Laptop - Up to 7 Hours of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It took me 2 months to decide on which laptop or netbook would replace my Toshiba 17 inches Widescreen laptop which I own for more than 3 years now. I travel a lot, my Toshiba has been great and continues to work perfectly but I needed an ultra portable laptop/netbook, easy to carry, something that would fit easily in a suitcase, backpack, or even carry it with me. Battery power came to be a major factor, since I travel a lot, sometimes to find a plug at the airports, or just every where else like a coffee shop can be a challenge; so I wanted at least a battery that could last 3 hours or so.

After careful consideration and research, and based on how much I wanted to spend, Gateway beats all other brands. The quality, the specifications and beauty, Gateway is unmatched. I'm a Toshiba or Sony lover when it comes to electronics, but this time around, Gateway proved me wrong for sure.

So, this Gateway Ec1430u is brand new as of Oct 23, 2009. I ordered mine yesterday Oct 22, 2009 when it was released with Windows 7 release. I'm very happy about my choice, the battery doesn't stick out as I saw on other netbooks with 6-cell battery and it lasts up to 8 hours. I just tested it with a movie, unplugged it, showed it could run 5 hours and 25 mins on battery alone, that's amazing. And I should add that once unplugged the default brightness is 50%, but I changed it to 80%.

It's very light, I can barely feel anything in my hand when I lift it, it's been running for 3 hours now and I can't feel any heat at all, how is that possible? my Toshiba laptop heats up tremendously, the fans run on high most of the time therefore noisy. This Gateway is quiet as a turtle. Not to mention how sleek it looks, the chrome Gateway label is pretty on the outside cover.

The keyboard is full, keys are soft to touch and I have plenty of room when typing.

The most dramatic change to come with this EC series is that previous netbooks couldn't play HD movies easily, this Gateway EC1430u is HD friendly and has an HDMI port. It doesn't have a DVD/CD optical drive which I don't really miss, with the Internet today, I can watch movies online, download TV shows, etc...for other purposes I would get an external drive just in case I need it. But I barely use my DVD/CD optical drive on my Toshiba laptop.

The Touchpad is mutli-gesture, you find some features of the iphone, it is smart enough to recognize 2 fingers command, expand/contract a picture etc...

Did I also mention it comes with Windows 7? incredible improvement from Microsoft from Windows Vista. It shuts down quickly, so far it takes less than 5 seconds to shut down. Start up is quick as well. Windows 7 is easy to navigate.

So my overall opinion is extremely good. I would give this laptop a 5 star-rating.

I strongly recommend you buy it as soon as possible while it is in stock, because once more and more people find about it, it would evaporate from any store. Too bad Gateway doesn't advertise.

I am a PC power user. I build my own desktops, I game, I crave powerful hardware. My first foray into laptops was four years ago with an Alienware m7700 17" beast. Since then I've wanted to go back to desktops for the power and get me a smaller, more portable notebook. I bought my wife a 15" notebook and it suits her, but it didn't impress me that much. Likewise, netbooks were cute but near worthless for me. The Sony Lifestyle PC gave me hope that decent power in a small package was around the corner, hopefully from some other company that isn't known for premium prices.

The Acer/Gateway 11.6" series got my attention. Dual core? Three gigs of RAM? Eight hours of battery life? Sounded too good to be true. I chose the Gateway version simply because I thought it looked better. Got it a few days ago and I must say, impressed would be an understatement. I love having a full sized keyboard and an HD screen. I still might miss having an optical drive here and there, but overall I have never enjoyed using a laptop as much as I do with this little thing. My biggest gripe is the lack of carrying cases for this size.

The release of Win 7 marked a great day for PC users. Tons of new hardware and a great OS came out. This netbook/notebook hybrid literally changed how I view portable computing. A 15" laptop I now consider "semi-portable" compared to my Gateway. It beats everything in terms of mobility and power in one package. For a lot of people, this thing could be your only PC. It handles Office 2007 Pro like a champ and manages multiple tasks and programs better than some lower end full blown laptops. It runs Win 7 64 bit with aero beautifully.

Only con I have found that really was a bummer was even though this is a carbon copy of the Acer Timeline series and is priced the same, for some odd reason they didn't include bluetooth connectivity on the Gateway model. It's got the button to turn BT on and off, but it does nothing. So if you want BT, go with the slightly less attractive Acer.

Final Verdict: Buy one. You'll find it hard to go back to a 15" laptop and better still, you won't need to.

I love this little guy.

Physical elements:

Keyboard is great, excellent feedback from the keys

Trackpad is pretty responsive, buttons are a pain however

Great sizing, I don't feel claustrophobic like smaller netbooks make me feel

Super light and convenient! The fan works well, doesn't seem to overheat.

Screen is very nice, great resolution, doesn't feel cheap like most netbooks

Windows7 isn't bad, and this is coming from a Mac OSX user. Works well.

A few negatives:

The top is nice but is a MAJOR fingerprint magnet. I usually don't care but this one is so bad it makes you notice even if you didn't care before.

The trackpad buttons are really annoying placed and have bad feedback. Redesign!

Overall aesthetics could use some work, I know it's not a high end model but Gateway should try to make it look a little more sleek from the sides.

I really like this laptop because I'm buying it as a gift and didn't want to get something too cheap. It seems like for light notebooks you can either get really expensive (Macbook Air/Vaio X-series for $1500) or really cheapy (like any netbook for $300-400 bucks). This is a good balance, you get a nice processor that works well on multiple programs, is light, and has a great screen. Wifi works well too, great range and reception.

I bought this 11inch Gateway laptop as a replacement for a 15 inch Dell. Couldn't have made a better choice. This little laptop is light, easy to carry in a briefcase, has extraordinary battery life and is faster than any of my other computers, none of which are over 2 years old. This makes the 2nd Gateway laptop I own. Both my Gateways give excellent performance, are made well and have been totally trouble free.

This mini was purchased to be used when traveling and running around. My main pc is a Vaio 18.6 which is a great laptop and never given any problems, but, heavy to lug around. Worried about the ram, when I saw it was 3gb and Windows 7, I decided to try it. It is a great little pc. I love it and it will travel really well.

I've bought Gateway desktops before, mainly because Gateway is supposed to be the Cadillac of computers. I shopped for the Gateway brand when I bought this laptop but found it was a glorified Acer, made in China. I now have a dead laptop because the computer stopped charging for some unknown reason. The review that this laptop does not heat up is disingenuous. The laptop has gradually gotten hotter as it got older. I think it's about 2 years old now since it stopped charging. I ordered a new power cable but I won't be surprised if it's the battery. Functional yes, reliable, I'm not too sure. Would I purchase this type of laptop again? No. Definitely no.

This is the same netbook/laptop as the Gateway EC1430U except the color. So I thought it would be helpful to re-post the same review I wrote for the EC1430U. I'd recommend this particular netbook/laptop EC1437 CHERRY Color to mostly the female gender, it'd look perfect :)

Here is the review:

It took me 2 months to decide on which laptop or netbook would replace my Toshiba 17 inches Widescreen laptop which I own for more than 3 years now. I travel a lot, my Toshiba has been great and continues to work perfectly but I needed an ultra portable laptop/netbook, easy to carry, something that would fit easily in a suitcase, backpack, or even carry it with me. Battery power came to be a major factor, since I travel a lot, sometimes to find a plug at the airports, or just every where else like a coffee shop can be a challenge; so I wanted at least a battery that could last 3 hours or so.

After careful consideration and research, and based on how much I wanted to spend, Gateway beats all other brands. The quality, the specifications and beauty, Gateway is unmatched. I'm a Toshiba or Sony lover when it comes to electronics, but this time around, Gateway proved me wrong for sure.

So, this Gateway Ec1430u is brand new as of Oct 23, 2009. I ordered mine yesterday Oct 22, 2009 when it was released with Windows 7 release. I'm very happy about my choice, the battery doesn't stick out as I saw on other netbooks with 6-cell battery and it lasts up to 8 hours. I just tested it with a movie, unplugged it, showed it could run 5 hours and 25 mins on battery alone, that's amazing. And I should add that once unplugged the default brightness is 50%, but I changed it to 80%.

It's very light, I can barely feel anything in my hand when I lift it, it's been running for 3 hours now and I can't feel any heat at all, how is that possible? my Toshiba laptop heats up tremendously, the fans run on high most of the time therefore noisy. This Gateway is quiet as a turtle. Not to mention how sleek it looks, the chrome Gateway label is pretty on the outside cover.

The keyboard is full, keys are soft to touch and I have plenty of room when typing.

The most dramatic change to come with this EC series is that previous netbooks couldn't play HD movies easily, this Gateway EC1430u is HD friendly and has an HDMI port. It doesn't have a DVD/CD optical drive which I don't really miss, with the Internet today, I can watch movies online, download TV shows, etc...for other purposes I would get an external drive just in case I need it. But I barely use my DVD/CD optical drive on my Toshiba laptop.

The Touchpad is mutli-gesture, you find some features of the iphone, it is smart enough to recognize 2 fingers command, expand/contract a picture etc...

Did I also mention it comes with Windows 7? incredible improvement from Microsoft from Windows Vista. It shuts down quickly, so far it takes less than 5 seconds to shut down. Start up is quick as well. Windows 7 is easy to navigate.

So my overall opinion is extremely good. I would give this laptop a 5 star-rating.

I strongly recommend you buy it as soon as possible while it is in stock, because once more and more people find about it, it would evaporate from any store. Too bad Gateway doesn't advertise.

I held off on the Netbooks because they were too limited. When I found this little dual core Gateway, I bought it and have been happy ever since.

I bought mine for work in December 2009. I keep records, documents, videos and presentations on it. It has no problem with projectors or videos, and is steady as a rock. Upgrading the memory to 4gb helped speed it up a little, but the performance at 3gb was more than adequate. I'd recommend waiting until the price of memory drops before upgrading.

Although it has a full size keyboard, the touch pad is super sensitive, but can be shut off when typing.

I do miss the conveinence of a dvd drive, but I got the external drive, so that's not really a problem.

The 11.6 inch display seemed a bit cramped at first, but I have gotten used to it to the point where I prefer it over my 15.6 inch Dell. The screen is sharp and clear that it's easy to read. But if you need to, enlarging the font just a bit is simple.

The only real issue I've had is when my display went crazy on me. It turned a greenish color and was unreadable. I called Gateway and they fixed it with no cost to me. They even re-started my warranty from the date of repair.

Battery life varies depending on usage, but I can usually go all day on the battery. The only time I plug it in is when I'm hooked to a projector.

Overall, I absolutely love this thing. It's portable, powerful, and pretty.

Sweet little laptop (not netbook) boots very fast, runs several apps with no problem, awesome battery life +8hr, all at a very low price. Has a free pci-e slot which is super easy to get to. Plays HD youtube and hule at full screen with no problem and overall has a nice solid feel to it. Great buy!

Have been looking for a new Laptop for 3 months. Read the Gateway adverising on Amazon. I trust Amazon more than a store. I could read exactly what I needed or wanted on Amazon. I am very impressed with the shipping und efficency of Amazon. I purchase most items I need from Amazon.

Love the Laptop, so light can keep it in my totebag or large purse, love the red color. I have never had a computer, like it. you do not have have to hit the keys, just touch it. Love also the Windows 7, I still have my PC, for normal use. But love this laptop. I hope my friends buy this laptop, has so many extras, like camera, etc. I am very impressed with the quality, I looked at some which were cheaper but you get what you pay for. And this is the Cadillac of Laptaps. Light weight und looks terrific. Would recommend it to anyone. Ingeborg Coffman