Mobile Roundup: A Trio of Midrange Laptops

Gateway M-152XL - Features and Specifications

The specifications of the M-152XL are pure run-of-the-mill midrange options for current notebooks. The most noteworthy feature is probably the inclusion of an HDMI port (along with the HD 2600 GPU and slot-load DVDR mentioned already). Not only are there very few standout features on the M-152XL, but there are also several areas where Gateway is clearly taking cost-cutting measures. For example, they only include a 10/100 Ethernet connection, and as we will see later the LCD panel is one of the worst laptop displays we've ever tested. Despite the lackluster features, the M-152XL does have one thing going for it: price.

We already mentioned that the M-152XL is no longer in production, but current prices on the replacement M-153XL start at just over $1000, or $1100 if you want to go with a well-known supplier like TigerDirect.com. As mentioned in the above table, the M-153XL upgrades the memory, hard drive, and battery relative to the M-152XL. With 4GB of memory, we're a little disappointed that Gateway didn't upgrade the operating system to a 64-bit OS, but we appreciate the other upgrades. The battery in particular is an important upgrade, boasting 50% more battery life than the default M-152XL battery.

If you like the design of the M-152XL but don't need as much performance, Gateway offers a large number of similar notebooks with Intel and AMD processors priced as low as $600. What's really great about budget notebooks these days is that most companies now recognize that having enough memory to run Windows Vista properly is extremely important. All of the current Gateway notebooks we looked at come with at least 2GB of memory, and more often 3GB or 4GB. Some of the other M-series models also ship with Vista 64-bit. If you don't demand maximum performance, battery life, or quality (the LCD is really quite poor), and more importantly if you don't want to break the bank, the M-152XL/M-153XL or other M-series notebooks might be exactly what you need. Just don't be surprised when you discover that the lower price comes with some drawbacks.