Sunday, September 28, 2008

Well, we got it. Gateway P-7811FX : On sale for $1249.99. Along with it I got the Kensington wireless keyboard and mouse combo, which SUCKED. I mean, truly unusable. The keyboard was adequate, but the mouse...

Let's just say it was impossible to move the mouse in a straight line under any circumstances, it danced and randomly zigzagged like a drunken ant. Lose.

So I returned it and got the Logitech Wave Wireless keyboard & Mouse at TCP - so far they are awesome! One hint, install the software on the CD, and let it update itself and the wireless fob. It made it WAY more powerful and accurate.

I also got a Cooler for it, the CoolerMaster NotePal for widescreen laptops, but it is too short to hold the whole thing, so the laptop is poorly balanced - it will tip over backwards with very little help. Not good. The specs for the notepal claim it is 300mm deep, which is 11.8", should be perfect. Except they include a 2" lip at the front that goes in front of the laptop. Wasted space & poor design, resulting in my laptop hanging off the back by over 2 inches.

I'll either end up modifying it to have a longer support deck or buying a new cooler.