Introduction
Few middle-of-the-road priced laptops on the market today sit so squarely in the mid-range of features, function, and form quite like the Gateway NV55S05U. If you plotted the performance and quality of the 15-inch Macbook Pro and the Toshiba Satellite on opposite points of a graph then the performance and quality of the NV55 would be at the midpoint. Relative to the Gateway legacy that’s saying a lot. Relative to the competition that isn’t saying very much. But relative to the $629.99 MSRP, is it worth it?
Specifications
- 1.5GHz AMD Quad-Core A8-3500M Accelerated CPU
- 6GB DDR3-type RAM
- 640GB SATA-type Hard Drive
- Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
- AMD Radeon HD 6620G Video Graphics
- 15.6 inch 1366×768 Native Resolution
- HDMI
- 5.6 lbs. 1.3 inches
Outside
The plastic lid of the NV55 is at first-glance a sterilizing white, then upon closer inspection one notices a slightly darker geometric pattern spread across the otherwise crystal clean top of the laptop. It’s certainly an original style relative to recent models and especially the NV55′s mostly dark-colored competitors, but as such it isn’t for everyone. The design just about disqualifies the NV55 for businesspeople or those who like to avoid flare when it comes to the look of their electronics. With that said I doubt Gateway was marketing the NV55 to these groups anyway.The outer body of the laptop is coal-black hardened plastic that feels a bit sturdier than the chassis of most laptops in the NV55′s weight range. That’s pretty good considering this beast weighs a whopping 5.6 lbs. The left side is where you’ll find the NV55′s HDMI plug-in, headphone jack, VGA slot, Ethernet jack, extra USB port and charger connector. The right features the other two USB 2.0 ports, lock-slot, and DVD player/burner. The 4-1 card reader is located at the front of the body.
The approaching-six pounds of hardware should mean that the 1.3 inches of closed-width comes as no surprise. The outside quality and styling of the NV55 is appropriate for its cost, however it would have been nice to see some options for the lid design. I feel the pattern and color, however cool, probably just doesn’t fly with enough tastes. Maybe Gateway was marketing towards a particular individual, but eliminating other markets in the process doesn’t make much sense.
Inside
The bleach-bright white of the exterior lid carries on into the upper portion of the interior chassis, only it no longer includes the signature geometric pattern. The opened NV55 is therefore quite an experience on the eyes when in a brightly-lit room. Without a Macbook side-by-side it was tough to judge, but the NV55 seems a few shades brighter white than Apple’s signature hue.The white is little too popping when it comes to the matte keyboard. Anyone who has to hunt-and-peck – and because the function keys have changed around a little on the NV55 everyone will at least once – is going to have to squint. Otherwise the keys are big and sturdy; when typed they firmly depress downward into the island case without any grinding against the edges.
The white color comes to a halt a little more than a centimeter south of the keyboard, turning into a metallic gray palm rest with geometric shapes similar to those on the lid. Within the gray pattern lies the touchpad, on which the pattern carries on without interruption.
The NV55′s Elan touchpad is comically dinky. That’s because it’s small to begin with, but only looks smaller when compared to the awesome amount of real estate located to the right of it on the rest of palm rest. The maneuverability of the cursor almost makes up for the 3.4×1.8-sized touchpad if it weren’t for the fact that your right palm gets easily tired hanging over the edge of the laptop when using it. You probably want to use a mouse as much as possible with the NV55 unless you’re a south paw.
Performance
The Gateway NV55S05U stores a surprising amount of strength in areas you wouldn’t normally expect such a moderately priced laptop to function ideally. Despite the inclusion of a consumer-base AMD CPU when an Intel core i3 would have been better, the 6GB of RAM (8 max) and 640GB of memory in the NV55 makes task management a far quicker ordeal than in competing models. Running a word CPU with music in the background and multiple tabs going at once is no problem. Video rendering and 3D MMO gaming simultaneously will probably freeze the system. That’s about what you should expect from the NV55.The biggest surprise comes in the form of super-grade AMD HD Radeon video graphics. The step up from Intel is a little shocking considering that the NV55 is otherwise not the occasional gamer’s dream laptop. The resulting display is phenomenal especially when watching streaming HD television with a good Internet connection. It even enables the user to play high-end 3D graphic games with minimal loss in picture quality. With that said, viewing range is weak, limited to probably only two individuals pressing their inner shoulders against each other.
The audio, which is brought by-way of a standard line speaker near the hinges, is nothing to write home about. When watching late night talk show television the host’s voice couldn’t be heard unless the volume was brought to a level where the audience reactions were obnoxiously loud and prickly on the ears. The need for headphones combined with the minimal viewing area means the NV55 video watching experience is certainly meant to only be a one-person affair.
The price you pay for all the power that comes with the NV55S05U is that it barely sucks 4 1/2 hours of life from the battery at best. That’s with a moderate dose of video play and relentless web browsing. DVD rips and gaming will bring the life down to under four hours. There are similarly priced laptops with worse battery life and not many that perform as well for longer, so if you dig the punch in this otherwise unassuming laptop four hours isn’t so bad.
Recommendation
Ideal for no one in particular, the Gateway NV55S05U would have benefited from a variety of styles instead of a love-it-or-hate-it white-and-tan lid pattern. With that said those who appreciate the power of the NV55 relative to the price probably won’t care about the way the lid looks. They’ll be happy to see advanced 3D games perform surprisingly well on a seemingly sub-par gaming system. They’ll enjoy the massive amount of storage space and the fast speeds between one task and the next. There might be disappointment in the inability to show off the high-end Radeon displays to more than one person at a time, but people can wait their turn.The Gateway NV55S05U suits those who are interested in netting the video capabilities of superior laptop models without the need for long-lasting battery life. The style is specific yet attractive to even your more conservative laptop shopper. It’s a solid pick for those who want basic portable computing primed with visual perks.
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