Gateway NE56R16U Review

This is a pretty good laptop, especially for the price it is sold at now. It would definitely be a little expensive for the list price of 599 dollars, but I believe it’s more than affordable enough for this price of 499 dollars (it’s 17% cheaper at the time of this review).

One of the many items that make Gateway NE56R16U so great, especially for this low price, is its hardware. One would never expect to find a laptop equipped with a Second Generation Intel i5 processor for a mere 499 dollars. Hell, with such a processor, one doesn’t even require a video card as the HD 3000 provided by the processor will be more than sufficient enough as to run just about any program and just about most games.

Sadly, I have failed to find out what frequency the RAM of this laptop has. After searching through several reliable sources, the only good thing I’ve been able to find out about the RAM of this device is that it is upgradable from 4 GB up to 8 GB. However, the only bad thing here is the fact that I have no idea about the RAM, other than the fact that it is DDR3 RAM.

UPDATE (18 November 2012): Based on my own personal research online, I’ve found on crucial.com’s website two sticks of 4GB of DDR3 each that are guaranteed-compatible with the Gateway NE56R16u. Since this laptop already has one stick of 4GB DDR3 installed as default, I’ve searched on Amazon.com for one module of 4GB DDR3 RAM, (PC3-12800) Notebook Module, Unbuffered and non-ECC.

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One thought on “Gateway NE56R16U Review”

Your review was clear and concise, and answered all the questions I was wondering about. Thanks for the info, and for helping me make a (hopefully) wise decision about my next laptop purchase. BTW, it’s on sale at Fry’s for $399.99 today.

Who is it for? discussing who would benefit most from this laptop...

Student
From a student's perspective, I can honestly say that if you truly want to be one of the best and work at the same time, little time will remain for any other activities. It is close to a miracle if you find a few free hours in the evening between work and school. Most of the times, those hours will be used for some rest, rather than other less-than-relaxing activities. However, should you actually find the time to run the occasional game and enjoy the occasional movie, it never hurts to have a strong PC you can rely on. That is why Gateway NE56R16U suits that category perfectly.
Casual User
From all the casual users I know of, I can honestly say that I have yet to meet one that knows or is willing to use the laptop at its full potential. The best laptop for a casual user would be one that is under 400 dollars, not this one. Sure, it may not seem a big difference now, I mean what's 400 compared to 500. However, some people may actually feel that difference quite badly and it would be unkind of me to recommend Gateway NE56R16U to casual users. Sure, this laptop is strong, but a casual user isn't looking for something powerful, as they do not run things that demand a lot of resources. Therefore, I believe Gateway NE56R16U is not the solution if you are a Casual user, and you should buy something cheaper for under 400 dollars.
Business User
The way I see it, I find the best laptop for a Business user to be the Ultrabook as I believe a businessman is most of times on the move. Therefore, the said businessman will not have a whole lot of free room in the briefcase. Since an Ultrabook is usually as thin as a tablet, one would assume it would be the best of answers. However, for such a low price, something with equal performance is definitely out of the question. Therefore, I dare say that Gateway NE56R16U should fit a business user quite nicely. If one is willing to sacrifice a bit of mobility for performance, all the better.
Power User
As far as I see it, a power user PC is one of the most powerful devices out there. I believe that close to all components, all save the graphics card, should be the most powerful out there if as a power user you desire to have a bit of performance. Gateway NE56R16U is pretty usable by power users on a budget. As long as you don't try to over-do it and upgrade the RAM first, you should have no problem with handling a bit of multitasking on this device.
Gaming
The definition of a gaming laptop is pretty much the same one as the power user laptop, but you also need to add a strong video card to the equation. Gateway NE56R16U is usable in quite a lot of games. Provided you also know how to set your details and don't try to use it in some of the newer games and expect a lot of performance with the game Maxed out, it should suit your needs perfectly.

PROs Vs. CONs

One of the good things about the NE56R16U laptop is the fact that it has Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium on 64 bits. If you purchase any device with Microsoft Windows 7 on it you can upgrade to Microsoft Windows 8 for free or get Windows 8 Pro for a mere 15 dollars. Also, the fact that you can upgrade the RAM from 4 GB to 8 is a big plus that allows you to turn this laptop int a technological beast.

The lack of a dedicated video card isn't altogether that bad as the video card provided by the processor is strong enough to withstand, but I have to note absolutely all faults of the device. Also, if it has any pre-installed software on it you may not be satisfied with that. Most of those software pieces are just trials that do nothing besides beg you to purchase the full version of the program.

User Reviews: what others think?

Unfortunately, there are no user reviews for the Gateway NE56R16U laptop at the moment. However, if you hurry up and purchase it, you could be the first one to post a user review and state your opinion about it to the world via the internet.

Gateway NE56R16U RAM Upgrade to 8GB DDR3 1600 MHz

Summary

In conclusion, this laptop (Gateway NE56R16U) will suite all categories. While it's perfect for a student with a bit of free time, it wouldn't be so perfect for a casual user. A business user will only find it great if he / she is willing to sacrifice mobility for the sake of performance. It will suit any power user and gamer as well, but only as long as they know how to limit themselves and not force the laptop to do anything that it cannot (know your limits and don't try to overcome them). Please let us know if you enjoyed reading the Gateway NE56R16U Review. Thank you!

LauraN says:

07/12/2012 at 5:56 AM

Your review was clear and concise, and answered all the questions I was wondering about. Thanks for the info, and for helping me make a (hopefully) wise decision about my next laptop purchase. BTW, it’s on sale at Fry’s for $399.99 today.

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