Customer Reviews

Gateway EC1440U 11.6-Inch Black Laptop (Windows 7 Home Premium)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I admit to being a Gateway fan and have bought only Gateway computers since 1986. But, when I ordered this computer, I was having second thoughts because I was thinking the chip wouldn't be fast enough and 2 Gigs of DDR2 memory wouldn't be sufficient to run multi-media software. But the computer arrived quickly and after initial setup I discovered that everything works smoothly and effectively on this little gem. However, I find the flat keyboard keys a little disconserting. This will take some time getting used to.

I am delighted and intend to use this little (but not too little) laptop extensively, especially when I travel.

This Gateway model had everything I was looking for at an acceptable price and I think this is perfect for university students in many ways and is an absolute great value:
1) I wanted a netbook for some time for its portability and longer battery life. This one is only 3 lbs (fits into your backpack like a thin book) and battery usually lasts 6 or 7 hours but less if I watch videos. I have always liked the Cherry Red laptops of Gateway but I'm glad I waited for this one. So it looks great too. Originally this was to be a secondary laptop for on the go but it actually replaced my older laptop because it does everything and much more. The only thing it does not have is a CD/DVD drive which these days is not a necessity. (You can buy it separately if needed).
2) The screen is 11.6" which is bigger than most regular netbooks, those would be too small for me. I don't notice a big difference at all compared to my older 15.6" laptop, obviously it is a bit smaller but works fine for me.
3) New Windows 7 Home Premium preinstalled. The setup for the laptop was very easy, matter of minutes. It did not come preloaded with too much useless programs, so setup was easy.
4) built-in 1.3MP webcam and microphone is pretty much standard these days (my older laptop did not have the webcam integrated), so this is a nice convenient feature.
5) 250GB HDD is bigger than my old laptop and you can never have enough hard disk space
6) 2GB memory, expandable to 4GB
7) the processor is Intel Celeron 743 which is fast enough to handle multiple programs open (word processor, browser, video cutting)
8) Nice extra is the HDMI output, not using it yet but might be useful someday.

The sound could be better though, it comes with Dolby Sound Room effect, takes some getting used to but with speakers it is fine.

All in all, I am very happy with my purchase, researched this one for a long time and I think I got great value for my money. What it basically came down to for me was the screen size, battery life, hard disk space, attractive design. I hope this little companion will last long.

This is really a combination of Netbook & Notebook. I had one of the first really good netbooks for about a year before this model came out and I couldn't wait to switch. In addition to all the pluses mentioned by Adam, biggest improvement for me was the FULL-SIZED keyboard, with the right SHIFT key in the right place! Second biggest draw was the 11.6 widescreen high resolution screen which makes both web browsing and video viewing on airplanes a dream. Great battery life, good processor, Windows 7, 2GB memory, larger hard drive and low weight all combine to make this the travel/study laptop to get.

Bought this for my wife as a Christmas present. Naturally I needed to make sure it worked and install Adobe reader, Shockwave, Flash player etc.
This is my first look at Windows 7. After being a long time WinXP user it took me
a while to feel comfortable navigating a new OS, but not as long as I'd expected!
Windows 7 immediately grabbed a weak wireless network signal that had me browsing the net in no time.
Love the deep jewel-toned red finish of the case. This unit is super light yet
the build doesn't feel flimsy. My rather large hands fit comfortably on the full sized responsive keyboard.
Played a few YouTube videos to test the sound and was pleasantly surprised at the
rich sound (well rich for small laptop speakers)emanating from the speakers.
I understand the lack of optical drive to save on weight and space. So far I don't miss it, but being an IT professional I know I'll need to purchase an external optical device to make restore DVDs in the event of a crash.
One star subtracted for that.
In the meantime I plan on signing up for one of those online backup services.
The system comes with Norton Online backup trial software, Microsoft Office 2007 trial, and Norton Antivirus trial.
The 1.3Ghz 800Mhz FSB with 2GB of RAM with enhanced graphics capabilities delivered a smooth mulitmedia experience even over a weak wireless connection.
Love the razor-sharp 11" screen! Images have a richness not often seen on the laptops I've previously owned.
I haven't tested the battery life.

Overall I'm pleased with the purchase. This is my first Gateway product.
If all goes well, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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Five months later:

The little Gateway continues to be a wife pleaser. No complaints about battery life and the wireless
adapter nicely pulls in weak signals from 'dead spots' around the house.

Thanks to JB and Erik for your comments about booting from a USB flash drive. I finally made a backup
of the hard drive to my terabyte USB drive. But booting from USB does require some work.
There's a Microsoft utility that will prepare a USB Flash drive for booting but it will only accept an ISO file that requires a purchase and it's asking for the Windows 7 media which I don't have.
Ok I've been a bit lazy with following through purchasing the ISO file.

Any other comments about easing the restore process would be appreciated!
Seems like I could make a Windows system disk and use Nero to create an ISO?

This is my second Gateway laptop and once again I'm impressed with their ability to deliver a smart balance of perks and tradeoffs at a very low cost.

If you're intentionally shopping in the very-small ultraportable category rather than for a higher-end netbook this laptop is probably what you're looking for. You can get lighter and longer-battery-life netbooks but if 3 lbs and 7 hours seems more than sufficient to you, the upgrade in power and user experience are considerable.

Unlike a netbook, it's a full-blown laptop capable of running Windows 7 (not starter) with a keyboard that is actually more comfortable than the one on my 17" Gateway (which squeezes in a numeric keypad). It can have RAM upgraded to 4GB (this model has 2), which might be something you'll want to be prepared to do as it does slow down a bit on the multitasking but more than sufficient to run multiple lightweight apps.

The screen is beautiful. Better than I'd hoped for. Perfectly acceptable for front end web development which is what will likely pay for the second one of these I buy (my wife has basically adopted this one).

I was very pleased with the 3 USB, standard monitor, and HDMI jacks.

There is no optical drive. I actually prefer this as I think optical drives are the chief contributors to creating a flimsier chassis in most laptops and the build quality of this one seems surprisingly sturdy and well-engineered. I just don't use optical very often nowadays and externals are affordable. I actually wish more 15+" laptops came without them.

Cooling seems great so far. There are vents on the bottom but the bulk of the air seems to vent from the sides and the chassis is smartly shaped to keep the lower vents off the ground. It's also rounded on the edges to make it comfortable to spread your legs a touch when the laptop is actually on your lap.

It's a beauty. Really good-looking laptop and it feels sturdy and well-constructed. Every now and then I pick up a new gadget that really reminds me that we're moving into a higher level of technology. That this laptop can do what it does at such a low weight and with 7 hours of battery life really impressed me for what it costs.

Only real negatives I can think of:

The sound is noticeably 'meh.' Not horrible, just below par compared to your average 15" laptop but not enough to reduce my appreciation of the EC which already exceeds my expectations in many other areas. At 11.6" it's not exactly a big screen multimedia center for the whole family anyway, but sound snobs will definitely want to consider the fact that they'll need headphones to be happy.

The trackpad is noticeably small but I got used to it quickly. The buttons are very nice though and and seem designed to encourage a light touch.

The bloat and nagware installed on the factory build is obnoxious. After about an hour of checking it out I finally killed about a dozen apps several of which kept nagging at me to do things I didn't want or need to do, most of them Gateway or Norton, which is a big giant mega-virus as far as I'm concerned. Even after that I've still got about 653 megs of RAM going to background stuff with no standard apps running. Maybe that's the norm for Win 7, which is new to me, but that seems excessive.

You might find yourself wanting more RAM if you plan on using multiple office and/or adobe apps at the same time. Or you could just lose the MS bloat and install Ubuntu with open source alternatives that are typically much less of a drain on resources (not to mention free). Also, at 250 Gigs (500 on higher end versions) there's plenty of room to dual boot.

I am no "power" PC user, but since starting my business on Thanksgiving Day, 2009, this has been my complete office-in-one. Running a Social Media Marketing business from my laptop has been the most fun I've ever had, and when I went shopping (A full day of visiting computer and electronics stores) for my one-stop office solution, this little red computer really jumped out at me. It was one of the first laptops I looked at, probably because of its striking red color, and it was the basis for all the other computers I looked at that day. If you knew me, you'd know I am not impressed by flashy gizmos or blinking lights. I drive a white Toyota and live in an apartment, so looks were not when captured my attention. It was the expanded 250 GB HHD. It's not fast, but I don't need that. I'm not a webmaster, I'm an entrepreneur and I leave all the tech stuff to the tech guys. I just need to get my email, be mobile and (since I have a 2-year old) I really don't need the weight of a full sized laptop. So even though most Power Users would probably give this little guy a 4-star rating, I give it a 5-star with enthusiasm. It's the big boy laptop in a very light and portable body. Great Job Gateway!
Joey McGirr
President, [...].

very nice product from Gateway/Acer. Started out with a 10 inch netbook with the atom processor and 1 gb ram and sent it back.
So glad I did, after comparing the two and the $100 difference in price it was a no brainer. To me the speed difference, the full windows 7 premium versus the starter edition, 2 gb ram make the extra money well spent. Also the six cell battery seems to go and go. Very happy.

Everything so far as advertised. Great to use. Compact, long lasting battery, seems to have good power saving features, more than adequate speed and memory to handle excel spreadsheets. Lives up to all I've read and seen about this machine. Very lightweight.

not much larger than any netbook that i have seen and alot more performance. you can upgrade the RAM and HD just like more expensive laptops. i am very happy with it!

This Laptop is everything I wanted. There is not one thing I have negative to say about it, it runs fast, Windows 7 is great and I love the size. I just purchased an external dvd/cd player for it and now is nice to be able to watch dvd's and burn music.