Gateway NV55S05u

The arduous part about spotting a bargain desktop replacement laptop is figuring out whether its parts are worth your while. The Gateway NV55S05u ($579.99 list), a budget 15-inch laptop, gets first crack at AMD's newest Fusion APUs (codenamed "Llano"). Though it can't outperform a similar offering from Intel, this laptop can tackle almost any task thrown at it, lasted almost five hours in our battery tests, and is priced to move. Budget-conscious shoppers: This laptop should be on your radar.

Design
Although the laptop's shiny plastic enclosure is a three-year old design, it's bright white hue and flowery decorations is pleasing enough to offset the inexpensive materials. But it's no match for the luxury of the aluminum covers found in the Lenovo IdeaPad V570-1066A9U ($629.99 list, 4 stars) and Asus U56E-BBL5 ($649.99 list, 4 stars). For a desktop replacement, the NV55S05u isn't overly bulky; its 5.6-pound frame is in the same ball park as the 5.5-pound Asus U56E-BBL5 and 5.6-pound HP Pavilion dv6-6013cl ($649.99 list, 4.5 stars). If you need a lighter 15-inch system, the 5.2-pound Samsung RV520-W01 can provide that.

The 15.6-inch screen doesn't really stand out, as its brightness levels and baseline 1,366 by 768 resolution are consistent with its peers. For the ultimate screen experience, you'll have to pay a significant premium for the Dell XPS 15z ($999 direct, 4 stars), whose resolution can scale to 1,920 by 1,080. The typing experience is usually a toss-up in this price range, but Gateway didn't disappoint here. The chiclet-style keys are raised to an ideal height so that it doesn't feel like your fingers are pounding on a hard surface. The Lenovo V570-1066A9U, however, is a better keyboard with curvier keys that takes into account the shape of your fingers. Gateway added a full size numeric keypad, unlike the half-size one found in the Lenovo V570-1066A9U. The mouse buttons aren't quite as soft as those of the Lenovo V570-1066A9U and Asus U56E-BBL5, but the NV55S05u's overall navigating experience lived up to expectations.

Features
The feature set is as standard as it gets in this price range. It has three USB 2.0 ports, and no eSATA or USB 3.0 technology, which have faster transfer speeds than USB 2.0. A USB 3.0 port can be found on the Asus U56E-BBL5. The NV55S05u lacks the latest wireless technologies, such as WiMAX and Wireless Display 2 (WiDi 2.0), which can be found in the Lenovo V570-1066A9U and U56E-BBL5 (although you do get Wi-Fi and Ethernet for network connectivity). Like every other desktop replacement, the NV55S05u has HDMI and VGA video outputs, a webcam, and a multimedia card reader. Although its 640GB, 5,400rpm hard drive matches that of the Samsung RV520-W01 and Asus U56E-BBL5, it's impressive that Gateway included this much in a cheaper laptop.

Performance
Llano-based Fusion APUs are AMD's most powerful processors yet, buoyed by excellent graphics (with the on-die Radeon HD 6620G) and low-power consumption (think good battery life). This particular chip has four physical processor cores, compared with the Intel Core i5's two. It sounds impressive from a marketing perspective, but its performance scores are more in line with a dual-core Intel Core i3 processor. For instance, the NV55S05u trailed the Core i5-equipped Lenovo V570-1066A9U (2:00, 2.6) and Asus U56E-BBL5 (1:55, 2.6) in processor-intensive tasks like Handbrake (3 minutes 33 seconds) and Cinebench R11.5 (1.88). It took two minutes than the other two to finish Photoshop CS5 scripts (7:48), a multithreaded test that should have capitalized from the laptop's 6GB of memory and multicore processing. In real world speak, you won't notice these differences unless you're editing huge video files or rendering 50 photos at a time.

In terms of gaming, the A8-3500 in the NV5505u has considerable advantage over a Core i5-equipped laptop. It scored 6,038 in 3DMark 06, which is 30% better than the Lenovo V570-1066A9U (4,414) and Asus U56E-BBL5 (4,840) . The NV55S05u also tallied the highest frame rates in Crysis (36.7 fps) and Lost Planet 2 (38 fps)?two very demanding 3D games. With any integrated graphics chipset, though, you'll get better results by dialing down the settings to medium quality.

In the past, AMD-equipped laptops would always suffer miserably in battery tests compared with Intel-equipped laptops, but the story changes with the new AMD Llano APUs. The NV55S054u scored 4 hours 54 minutes in our battery test, outlasting the Lenovo V570-1066A9U (4:41) and coming within striking distance of the HP dv6-6013cl (5:17). With a bigger battery, the Asus U56E-BBL5 was the clear winner with a score of 7:34. Still, this kind of battery life is unprecedented for AMD components.

The Gateway NV5505Su is the type of desktop replacement that'll make you pause and wonder about the shortcomings that come with a low price and unfamiliar AMD parts. Well, let me reassure you that AMD's new Llano APU, the A8-3500, is every bit as capable as an Intel Core i5. Its graphics environment is superior over Intel's, and battery life, AMD's biggest concern, was more than satisfactory. It may not perform as well in hardcore tasks like video and photo editing, but its low price reflects these shortcomings. I would still recommend the Asus U56E-BBL5 because its slight premium is accompanied by a better looking design, more power, and better battery life.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS

COMPARISON TABLE
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