Gateway ID49C07u

Gateway's ID series is proof that a company can make a budget notebook that looks and performs above its price. The ID49C07u, the 14-inch model in this line, costs $679, but has innovative styling, including a unique glowing touchpad. It Dell GD761 Battery also has enough muscle to satisfy its target audience. While it's not perfect, dell battery this laptop has the features and performance shoppers are looking for plus a little panache.

Design

Both the lid and the deck of the ID49C07u is an aluminum alloy that not only gives the system a premium look, but will better protect it from occasional bumps. The bezel is a matte black, and, like the rest of the exterior, does not show fingerprints. The ID is a relatively sleek 13.5 x 9.6 x 0.9-1 inches, and at 4.8 pounds, Toshiba PA3534U-1BRS is slightly lighter than the Dell Inspiron 14R (5 pounds) and the Toshiba Satellite E205 (5.2 pounds).

Keyboard

The ID's keyboard uses the same FineTip design that's now ubiquitous on all HP Compaq 6715B Battery Acer and Gateway notebooks. Like the deck, it's also a silver color. The letters and numbers are black, but the font is very thin, making it a little difficult to see; we'd prefer something a little bolder. While we'd prefer a little more travel in the keys, they were nice and large, and easy to press. However, there was a bit of flex in the deck.

To the right of the keyboard are volume controls; above them is Gateway's new social networking button, which, when pressed, opens an app that provides quick access to Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr. We'd be more impressed if we could add links to other social networking sites, such as Twitter.

Above and to the left of the keyboard Sony VGP-BPS9/S Battery are two buttons, one, a customizable quick-launch button for your favorite app; the other activates the notebook's Wi-Fi. On the right are touch buttons for media controls, and for opening the DVD drive.

Glowing Touchpad

The ID's Alps-powered touchpad is the most visually distinctive aspect of the notebook. It's set slightly lower than the rest of the deck, and is trimmed in chrome. When you put more than two fingers on the pad, it glows bluish-white, which is a neat effect, but may prove distracting to touch typists who are focusing on the screen. You can Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery deactivate this feature, too, but we wish that you could customize when it activates.

Similar to Apple laptops and some HP systems, the Gateway's Sony VGP-BPS10 mouse buttons are built into the 3.4 x 2.3-inch touchpad itself, and are designated by two small horizontal lines. While the look is nice, the buttons require you to push them down much further than Apple's or HP's, and the action felt floppy, for lack of a better word. The ID49C07u's touchpad kind of reminds us of the SurePress screen on the first-generation BlackBerry Storm--a little too much give.

In an effort to avoid the multitouch issues that have been plaguing Dell and HP touchpads with integrated buttons, you can't initiate Sony VGP-BPL9 gestures in the button areas on the ID's touchpad. However, this means the good battery effective area for gestures is much smaller, making it more difficult to actually perform them.