Gateway 600XL vs Dell Inspiron 8200

[DigitalVyper]

I am looking to get a new laptop for gaming and college work. The 3 systems I had started off looking at were the Gateway 600XL, the Dell Inspiron 8200, and the Alienware Hive-Mindm. After reading a bunch of stuff on all three systems I quickly eliminated the Alienware due to its price and lack of features (no internal wireless 802.11b, only one 1 type II slot, etc.)

Now I have it down to the Gateway 600XL and the Dell Inspiron 8200. I online configed both systems and I found the Gateway was $500 cheaper and had a bigger screen (15.7 vs 15) but the Dell had a better screen in terms of quality (SXGA vs Dell Ultra Sharp). In addition, the Gateway has the "fixed" 1st battery and 2 extra bays while the Dell has the fixed DVD/CD-RW combo drive and two bays. Thus the Gateway is more adaptable when one has 2 batteries in at once (which I plan to do.)

In terms of weight, size, and other features the two systems are practically identical. I am leaning towards the Gateway (if not for the $500 alone) but was wondering if there was something else I should know.

Thanks,
DigitalVyper

[imac9556]

get a dell. gateways suck because they break down so easily. i have a dell laptop and my dad's friend has a gateway laptop. His laptop just keeps on breaking down for silly reasons, like hd fail, screen blurry, etc. For my dell laptop, it never had a problem since (knock,knock) thanks

[lastEvolution]

In this case, the Dell would be better.

[kieran]

i have dell8200 and i love it. could not find a flaw so far.
so my opinion is probably biased...

i think the gateway has the way better design, apart from the position of the loudspeakers, that is. i assume they will be full of dirt in no time.
the gateway seems to be even bigger and heavier than the dell, is it? my dell to me seems borderline in portability, even though i mainly use it as a desktop replacement.

and i read that it comes with the ati7500 only. i don't know how that one compares to the 9000, but if you are into gaming you will want a newer graphics card.

to have 2media bays is pretty cool, but a review i read states that you have to power down the computer if you want to swap. i wonder if this applays for inserting an additional battery as well. dells media bay is hotswapable.
and maybe i am mistaken about the media bays of the gateway, but the way i read it, it has no fixed optical drive, has it? so if you want to have a dvd or a combo drive, one of the bays is gone already, bringing it on the same level with dell.

conclusion:
on the road:
the size of the gateway is very bulky, compromising the advantage of the possibility of having a 3rd battery.
neither the 8200 nor the 600xl are meant for travelling, they are desktop replacements.
if you are going to use it a lot on travel, neither the 8200 nor the 600xl will suit you and you should get somthing entirely else.

as desktop replacement:
if you want to play games, the 7500 sucks. if not, the gateway is probably good enough to fulfill your needs.

[DigitalVyper]

The new 600xl does have a ATI 9000 Mobility and its bays are hot swappable. In terms of mobility in general, I am looking for a desktop replacement, not really a light system, so the two laptops do fit the bill.

I went to Gateway Country today and they said that the 600xl does have hot swappable bays. In addition, since the first battery is fixed, not the optical drive... I can but in 2 batteries and a 2nd HD is necessary, or 2 batts and a disk drive, or 1 batt 1 optical and 1 disk drive. So it makes the system more adaptable.

I have friends with Gateways and Dells and they are all happy with either brand, so I am still trying to find out if the Gateway suffers from the $500 price difference.

If anyone could help me on the differences between SXGA and UXGA in practical terms, that would be a great help.

Thanks,
DigitalVyper