Customer Reviews

Gateway LT2113u 10.1-Inch Red Netbook - Over 10 Hours of Battery Life

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pros:
-Keyboard is easy to type on. Much better than the previous model.
-Screen at full brightness is one of the brightest I've ever seen.
-Outrageous battery life.
-Well balanced netbook (will not tip over in your lap)- 6 cell battery model.
-Windows XP Home - easy to use and compatible with all my apps.
-Connectivity is superb (USB, SD card reader, Bluetooth, etc...)
-Speakers are very good - listened to some music on youtube and it sounded nice.
-Atom N450 shows up as "dual core" processor in task manager. I've noticed that its is much faster than N200 series atom processors.
-Microsoft Works: You get the full suite with the laptop. You can still get Office 2003 or download Open Office but its nice to know you can start working on this laptop without adding any software.

Cons:
-Some flex on the keyboard on the upper left corner moving towards the center. Not a big con and you will only notice it if you are "hammering" down on the keys.
-It will get hot on the bottom and you will hear the fan turn on and off after a short period of use.
-Fingerprint MAGNET.
-Multi - Touchpad is a good idea in concept but when I tried web browsing the mouse was "finnicky" and "jittery".
-Directional keys are very small, as in tiny - almost defeat the purpose of having them. You will get use to them but it will take time.

Recommendations:
Case Logic netbook sleeve
2gb memory upgrade
Logitech wireless nano mouse

Software (free):
Open office
7z
Winamp
Mozilla Firefox

Overall one of the best netbooks on the market today.

Note: This review is for what I believe is the newer model of this computer, the LT2104u.

This is a very solid netbook. I tried out many different models before deciding on this, and I am completely satisfied. Some reasons I chose this over others (since performance-wise, Netbooks are all pretty simlilar)

-Keyboard.
This model has a very quality feeling keyboard. The tactile response feels just right; several other models felt 'cheap' to me. I use this computer mostly for writing, and I love it.

-Trackpad.
I don't like trackpads, even nice ones, but they are just part of using a laptop unless you want to carry a mouse around. The trackpad on this model is larger then most, but not in the way when typing. It also supports various special movements and two finger gestures for scrolling and such, so as far as trackpads go, it is good.

Size.
Again, most netbooks are about the same size. However, this model is a little thinner then most of the others, and the battery does not protrude out in an unsightly manner. The battery does add a small rounded ridge to the bottom, but barely increases the overall dimensions. This is among the best netbook battery configurations I have seen.

-Functional Layout
This netbook has, in my opinion, well placed connections. There are USB ports on both the left and right sides (3 total), so you can use a mouse without having to have the cable running around the computer. There is also a multi-card reader and a VGA out, in addition to headphone out and mic in connections. There are no connectors on the front or back, only the sides.

Aesthetically, I also find this netbook very pleasing. I have the black version, though white and red are also offered. The top half is a gloss finish, so fingerprints will show up very easily, especially on the black model. The lower casing is made of a slightly textured highly qualitative feeling plastic, which I appreciated over the cheaper plastic used on some other brands.

Performance speaking, it has actually exceeded my expectations. As I said, I use it primarily for writing. The keyboard is 90% the size of a normal keyboard, and even though I have probably larger then average hands, I find it very comfortable to use even after several hours. The screen is also nicer then I had expected. The viewing angle I would say is on par if not better then most laptop screens, and the colors are very even all the way across from reasonable vantage angles.
I installed Photoshop 9 (CS2) on it just to see how it would work, and was very surprised. It runs quite well, I was able to open very large files with many layers and edit them without lag issues. I connected a wacom tablet and was able to digitally paint without any performance hiccups. Obviously, this is not an ideal setup, but it really does work and I would not feel out of place working on it for little sketches and such.
So, knowing that, unsurprisingly, less memory intensive programs work fine; word apps and internet and all the more basic things run great.
This computer has 1gb of RAM, and can be upgraded to 2gb. I am satisfied with the stock performance, but if you do upgrade, note that this is (so I hear) one of the few netbook models that is user friendly to swap the RAM in. There are small covers on the bottom held on with screws, so I imagine it is very easy to get to the RAM, unlike many laptops that require a more difficult procedure.

The model I have also comes with Windows 7 Starter. Many people complain about this "starter" edition, but it does everything I need just fine. The missing features are not an issue in my opinion. You will need to install programs from a source other then a disc though, as Win 7 Starter DOES NOT support external disc drives unless you pay to upgrade. So, either download software for it, or install off of a file. Again, I am using this computer above what it was really intended for, and don't find Win 7 Starter to be an issue at all. The reason they give you a basic version is to keep the price down, and I find that a more then fair trade.

Random other notes-

I connected this netbook to a HD projector using the VGA out. A simple Windows key + P lets you set it up in seconds, and it works great. The resolution did not fill the screen (the projector was native 720p, so the netbook output was displayed slightly inset at 600x1024).

All in all, for the price, this is an amazing device. Despite being a 'weak' computer, it is more then functional. Simple computing tasks are no issue at all, and even Photoshop CS2 runs just fine. The screen is just high enough resolution that it is not bothersome at all to me, and the convenience is great. This is truly small and light enough that you can just toss it in a bag and take it anywhere, and no one will be able to tell you are carrying a laptop. The battery also really does last a very long time, at least 7 hours.

Highly recommended based on what I have experienced so far.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the LT2114u, but there are a few flaws. Here are the pros and cons after about 4 weeks of use. This is my first netbook by the way so these are my impressions with only having used regular notebooks previously.

Pros
1. battery power is great. It's advertised at 10 hrs and I've gotten about 6 with light use and the power meter still showed about 30% left.

2. It's very light
3. quiet
4. boots very fast with XP. I would guess in under 20 seconds. Shutdown seems equally fast.
5. Application performance is decent and I would consider it on par with a 4 year old athlon CPU laptop I have. Basically fine, no issues in general (see cons)
6. able to connect to wifi N network. Seems able to stream video fine

Cons
1. Bluetooth radio. Had problems from day 1. I think it's a problem, but the system documentation doesn't indicate if that's normal or not. I think it's a bug hardware or software. Basically, the bluetooth radio does not stay enabled after a shutdown and startup. It only stays powered on after sleep or hibernate.

2. the bluetooth radio also seems to lose connection every few minutes and I have to toggle off/on the radio to get it to reconnect with my bluetooth mouse (MS bluetooth notebook 5000 mouse)

3. I normally use these applications, Quicken, MS Word MS Excel, Chrome browser. All apps perform fine except I notice Excel spreadsheets with lots of formulas will run noticeably slower than on my other notebook. This is the only performance issue I've found.

4. Note the screen resolution, and this is something you should consider with any netbook. The applications you have may have windows that don't fit on the screen. E.g. Quick has some popups that don't fit and can't be resized. When I run with dual monitors, this is fine. Otherwise if using only the netbook monitor, I have to use like alt-C to close the window.

5. The wifi radio always defaults to on after reboot. This may be related to the bluetooth radio problem, but I would prefer it if it stayed in the mode I set it to (on or off) after reboot.

6. The glossy screen has a lot of glare, but this is a problem I see with most notebooks and netbooks.

7. the touchpad works well, except that for the scroll bar. It frequently doesn't seem to detect when I try to make a web page scroll. This is minor for me personally since I use it mostly with a mouse, but some users may have problems with this.

Overall, it's great for what I use it for and I can live with its flaws. I carry this light machine around everywhere, use it through out the day, and have not needed to carry a power supply with me yet. I've submitted an inquiry with Gateway about the bluetooth problems and have not heard back yet.

This is a review of Gateway LT2114u with Windows XP.
At home I have two desktops, one laptop and a FreeNAS server I built out of an old Pavilion HP. I'm not that crazy computer geek who buys "cool" stuff just for the sake of it. However, I've been working in the computer industry for 18 years, and I know my way around computers. It happens I write a lot and I need a machine which I can access anytime without bothering with cables or AC adapters or short-life batteries. This netbook seems to fit exactly those needs.
I needed a nice looking machine running XP, build by a reputable company, with a 6-cell battery, under $300.
Why XP? I can go on and on, but to make it short: Windows 7, IMO, is just an improved version of Vista. If you want to do yourself harm, then go ahead and buy Win7, then pay for upgrading it to the Home Premium, then pay for another 1GB of RAM. With XP you get everything that Win7 has plus much better battery life, faster processing power and a lot of applications.
Anyway, I went to a B&M store and looked at several netbooks. There aren't that many that runs XP: Toshiba Mini NB305-310, Acer AO532h-2382 and Gateway LT2114u were among the ones I like. Asus's sea-shell form was kind of awkward: too `bulgie" at the back. Mini NB305-310 has very tiny speakers and a lot of owners complained about them. The price was also a factor. Acer looks nice, but I can't (alas!) stand a huge "Acer" logo displayed on the lid of the display. I don't want to be a walking advertisement for any corporation. Gateway LT2114u was perfect: all black, very nice keyboard with flat keys, Bluetooth and a very tiny silver logo on the side of the lid. I got it from Amazon for $290 a month ago.

MEMORY
First of all, the way I use the netbook, I don't need 2GB of RAM. I don't fall for the strange ideas of watching HD movies or playing 3D games on 10 inch screen. Let me assure you that this netbook runs excellent without adding a second GB of RAM. I was able to have several Google Chrome tabs opened - no problem, watching videos on youtube using wireless (G mode) - no problem.

STORAGE
160 GB is everything I need and more. First I removed trial version of Office, and MS Works. Works has a task panel on the right that covers one-fourth of the screen with obnoxious advertisements. Clicking on "use without ads" takes you to the M$ site where you can upgrade your version of Works. Nope, not for me. I also removed Norton and a couple of other little things. Not that much of bloatware.

INSTALL
Next I installed:
1. OpenOffice (spreadsheet and word processor)
2. Avira Antivirus Personal (see av-comparatives dot org for reviews)
3. Google Chrome (for me, it was the fastest browser). Use F11 for a full display.
4. Desktop v1.02 from sysinternals. This little program (60KB) will let you have 4(!) different desktops at the same time (just like in Linux). So if you have a spreadsheet open and then want to switch to your word processor, you don't have to close the former to open the latter: just press Alt+1 (or 2,3.4 for other desktops).

RECOVERY DISKS
I didn't want to buy an external DVD drive just to be able to make Recovery Disks. There are several ways to do this or you can buy ones from Gateway for $20. I bought a USB-to-IDE adapter similar to the one sold by Amazon and used a DVD drive from my old desktop with Gateway Recovery Management program to burn DVDs. It took 15 min to write per disk and 1:20 to verify. Total was 3 DVDs.

RESTORING
I successfully tested Hard Disk recovery (D2D) to reinstall OS from the hidden partition.

BATTERY
Amazing! The very first thing I did was to fully charge the battery. I've been using it for about a month. The battery runs on average 13 hours. One more very important thing: the 6-cell battery is hardly sticking out at the bottom: no bulge, no extra 1.5 inch of size as in some other brands.

Overall, I am very pleased with the netbook. I don't have anything negative to say about it, probably because I knew what to expect from a netbook. It happened to be the exactly size/color/specs I needed. Hope you like it too.

I've had this netbook for about 5 days. So far I am very pleased with it. It feels sturdier than most netbooks I've looked at. I upgraded the stock 160G (5500rpm) hard drive to a Westen Digital 250G Scorpio Black Sata 7200rpm. The 16mb cache on the new drive helped. I also upgraded Windows XP to Windows 7 Ultimate (32 bit) and bumped up the memory to 2G. The memory upgrade is a must! I'm using a Crucial SODIMM model number CT25664AC667. Ok I went over board with the upgrades but this little thing has handled it so far! It really doesn't run too hot either. I'm getting about 7 hours on the battery with 'power saver' turned on. I expected that due to the new hard drive.

Anyhow, you won't go wrong with this baby. The LCD (1024 X 600) monitor is pretty nice. Note I had to down load a video driver from Gateway for Windows 7 in order to utilize (1024 X 600).

I didn't rate this a 5 star for one reason, my double-click button under the keypad has been flakey. Thanks!

So I just received this computer today. I commented on an earlier review by "College Kid" and now wish to address some of his concerns. I will update and edit this review as I discover more about the system. As far as the battery goes, you MUST go into the battery settings and change it to the BEST POWER-SAVING option to have over 10 hours. My battery is listed at 90% with 10.18 hours left. As far as the HDD goes, I noticed that it is listed as 138 gb. 11 gbs are used already, which puts me at about 127. I know there is a recovery partition, but this being XP, I have a hard time believing the partition is really 22 gbs. I'll have to look into this. Otherwise, so far computer is snappy. I don't have wireless-N in my apt so I'll have to check that tomorrow, too. Hope this helps.

I waited a while to get this computer because I thought it had everything that I wanted in a Netbook. Wireless N, windows XP, 10 hours of battery life, 160 GB hard drive. It doesn't have half of these. It will ONLY connect to WIRELESS G NOT wireless N as advertised. It only has about 8 hours of battery, it even said so right on a sticker that came on the device, but on AMAZON.com and Gatwaydotcom it says over 10 hours. It doesn't have a 160gb hard drive. I understand that some of the hard drive will be used for the operating system and programs but the computer says the maximum capacity of this hard drive is only 138, that is not 160. Maybe I misunderstand how windows works but I'm pretty sure for all my other computers under capacity it said whatever the actual capacity of the hard drive was and then how much of that capacity was available. I feel lied to. I waited about a month for this computer to be released. I'm so disappointed.

UPDATE 3/09/2010
It connects to wireless N but not on a DUALBAND, which is what I have at home and the highest it will connect is 130Mps, my other wireless N cards connect over 200Mps!

The battery lasts a while depending on what you are doing. When I take notes in class and only use Microsoft word all day it will last about 14 hours? Give or take. When I web browse it reduces the battery a lot, you'll get about 8-10 maybe less hours if you are web browsing and running multiple programs.

The screen is really shiny and ANNOYING. I should have got a matte finished screen but that wasn't an option with this specific model that I wanted (windows XP Wireless N over 10 hours of battery life).

The red backing of the computer gets really smudged easily, but it is really pretty when it's clean.

I love the key board. It is flat like my friend mac keyboard so the keys have a bigger surface area than my big lap tops keyboard. I don't have a hard time typing.

The multi touch pad is really great. You can shrink or enlarge webpages with just a touch. It is very sensitive though and I hit it on accident from time to time.

Due to all the extra programs and them adding a 10GB or more backup you only get about 120GB. I'm still really mad about that.

Overall I am happy with my purchase. I would buy a netbook again and I might buy a Gateway again, not sure. If they made it a better wireless N card and let you choose matte screen I would recommend it to a friend, until then I will not.

I guess if you're looking for a netbook with real wireless N don't buy this. If you want a lot of battery life do. If you can't stand shiny screens don't.

Perfect for flying and trips where all I want to do is mostly check mail or chat. Camera works extremely well and provides clear crisp images. I did add an extra 1GB of ram and would highly recommend doing this.

This is our 1st netbook, so I have nothing to compare against, but I'll tell you what I know.
I selected the Gateway because it had Windows XP. I have 7 on my desktop and like it a lot (Gates finally got it right after 3 decades), but 7only comes in a stripped down version on the netbooks. I was skeptical of a stripped down 7, and had XP on my previous machine and was fairly satisfied with that.
My wife and I both found the touch pad a bit tedious, so I got a wireless mouse and am pretty happy with that. I got one that had a very short dongle in the USB port, so I can always leave it plugged in w/o worrying about it getting broken off, a real plus.
The wireless seems to have a pretty good range, and we have an external USB antenna for low signal areas.
Otherwise, it's pretty much what you see is what you get. Battery life is good, and the keyboard is easy to work with. My only complaint is that the screen is not bright enough and in sunlight, even turned away from the sun, the screen cannot be seen.
If you look hard enough, you can find that this machine is made by Acer, so going directly to the source may be a better option. Don't know.
Before this we had a Dell notebook running Windows 2000, that ran down after maybe 1 hour, so this is a huge step up for us and we are very happy with it.

I'm not sure if it's a fluke for my particular machine, but when I activated the Norton software that came with the notebook, the cursor died. After I brought it to the local computer store, the tech discovered the driver to the mouse was disabled. He deleted the Norton software, and the driver returned. So, if your notebook is like mine, be aware of this problem with Norton and the cursor.

Other than that, I'm enjoying the notebook. The lack of a CD/disk drive isn't a problem for me since I already own a USB external drive. I'm also happy I own a four-port USB hub for all the items I need to plug into the notebook.