When Gateway announced the end of its online and phone sales, many people (including some PC Magazine staffers) proclaimed it the end of an era. Well, Gateway is kicking off a new era with its first retail-only PC, the P-7811FX ($1,399 list), available, right now, only at Best Buy. This hulking laptop offers a home-theater-quality 17-inch widescreen along with decent gaming capabilities at a competitive price. In addition, the notebook debuts with the latest Centrino 2 processor, making it an all-around solid system.

The first thing I noticed when I sat down in front of the P-7811FX was its impressive 17-inch screen. The laptop offers a 1,920-by-1,200-resolution picture, which, in home-theater terms, means it can display 1080p content. Few systems are able to match that at this price point (the ASUS M70Sa-X2 is a notable exception). For a laptop of this size and with such a gorgeous display, it seems a shame not to offer a Blu-ray drive. I know: Adding Blu-ray would drive up the price, but I was left wanting more than the included dual-layer DVD burner.

Outwardly, the P-7811 is identical to its gaming predecessor in the FX line, the P-171XL. Both systems feature the same understated aesthetic, complete with copper-colored trimmings around the keyboard, polished black exterior, and large FX logo. While this may seem a bit demure for a system like the P-171XL FX (whereas the norm for other high-powered gaming systems is flashy effects, like coordinated LED lighting), it seems to be a better fit for this mainstream laptop. The P-7811 FX takes advantage of its size and incorporates a numeric keypad, as well as one-touch multimedia buttons between the speakers. Unfortunately, it has also inherited the P-171XL FX's springy keyboard and loud mouse buttons.

Because the P-7811FX is a desktop replacement with a 17-inch screen, one would expect a heavy notebook, yet its solid 8.8-pound weight is still surprising. Competitors like our Editors' Choice–winning Acer Aspire 6920G-6071 and the Toshiba Satellite P305-S8825 both weigh less than 8 pounds. Others, like the aforementioned ASUS M70Sa-X2, are comparable in weight but include two hard drives. Needless to say, this isn't a system you'd want to lug far.

In addition to the HDMI port, the P-7811FX includes three USB ports, an eSATA port, a five-in-one card reader (MMC, MS, MS Pro, SD, xD), a 1.3-megapixel webcam, and a fingerprint reader. The feature set doesn't look particularly impressive when compared with the less-expensive Toshiba P305-S8825, which comes with four USB ports, plus FireWire and S-Video-out ports. However, Gateway did focus on performance by choosing a 200GB hard drive that spins at 7,200 rpm, as opposed to Toshiba's larger drive, which spins at only 5,400 rpm.

The P-7811FX's 64-bit Vista operating system could be an issue for some, particularly if you're hoping to load older programs and legacy devices that may have compatibility issues. In general, we recommend doing some research before you pick up a 64-bit system to make sure that your old programs and hardware are compatible. (With hardware, check the manufacturer's site for a 64-bit driver if your Vista 64-bit OS is not recognizing the device. It will be more of a crapshoot with software, but often vendor Web sites will note compatibility problems.) Frequently updated programs like iTunes will probably run without a problem. As 64-bit technology becomes more common, compatibility will be less of an dilemma.

For now, though, the 64-bit OS was an issue in our testing. Neither SYSmark nor MobileMark tests would run, and even though, according to Microsoft, World in Conflict is 64-bit-ready, the game experienced color shifts severe enough that you couldn't read anything on the screen. That may be due to a graphics driver that needs updating. Crysis did run, but we still weren't able to generate performance scores.

At 35 seconds, the P-7811FX's Photoshop score was second only to the 32 seconds that the Acer Aspire 8920G clocked in at. You won't see the benefits of the system's extra memory in the Photoshop scores, but its 64-bit OS means that you can fully utilize all 4GB of DDR3 RAM (and beyond, with an upgrade, given Centrino 2's support of up to 8GB of memory). The P-7811FX was impressive on 3Dmark06, thanks to its top-of-the-line nVidia GeForce 9800M GTS graphics card.

Gateway had to make some tough choices to get the P-7811FX's price down to $1,399, but it made the right ones. The Centrino 2 processor, HDMI port, 4GB DDR3 RAM, and the 17-inch display come together nicely to create a solid notebook package. If you can suffer through the heavy weight and 64-bit incompatibilities, the price point makes this a compelling system to consider.

Check out the Gateway P-7811FX's test scores.

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