I am in the market for a new notebook.  One of my consulting clients has agreed to buy it for me in trade for some PR services.  The reason I am looking seriously at this notebook is what it offers for the price, and I can find no other namebrand machine that can offer comparable features for the same money.

Gateway is currently offering this notebook for $799 with no rebates to get to that price.  Here are the specs:

Processor:   Mobile Intel® Celeron® Processor 2.2GHz with 256K cache  

Memory:   256MB DDR SDRAM  

Hard Drive:   30GB 4200rpm Ultra ATA hard drive  

Floppy Drive:   Integrated 6 in 1 memory card reader  

Optical Drive:   Integrated 24x/10x/24x CD-RW / 8x DVD combo  

Limited Warranty Program:   Value Service Plan-3Yr Parts/Labor/No Onsite/3 Yr Technical Support  

Expansion Slots:   One type II, or one type III PC Card Slot  

External Ports:   (2) USB 2.0, VGA and Parallel  

Operating System:   Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition  

Application Software:   Microsoft® Works Suite 2003 - Including Microsoft® Word and Encarta  

AntiVirus Software:   Norton AntiVirus 90 day Introductory Offer  

Screen:   15" XGA TFT Active Matrix  

Video:   Integrated Intel® graphics with dynamic video memory technology  

Keyboard and Mouse:   Full-Sized Keyboard and EZ Pad® Pointing Device  

Multimedia Package:   Integrated sound and stereo speakers, headphone/speaker jack, and mic jacks  

Speakers:   Speakers not selected  

Battery:   Lithium ion battery with AC pack and 1 yr. limited battery warranty  

Modem:   Integrated V.92 56K Modem  

Network Adapter:   Integrated 10/100 Ethernet  

Internet Service Provider:   One year America Online® Internet Access  

High-Speed Internet Service:   Not Selected  

Carrying Case:   Casual Carrying Case  

Gateway Music VaultSM:   Gateway Music Vault  
________________________________________________

Now this seems like a lot of machine for the money.  I went to the Gateway Country store and it is a well designed notebook with a pretty amazing screen.  They popped Lord of the Rings into the DVD player and the video was smooth and amazingly clear.  Hard to believe how nice notebook screens have gotten.  Also has the nice benefit of having the multimedia suite that can read all the various flash type memory cards.  Since I have a lot of Sony video equipment for my job, its great that I can just plop my memory sticks into it.

Now it does not have a floppy drive, but then again I can't remember the last time I used the floppy drive on my current notebook.  Plus it can burn CDs and I have flash memory USB drives and most computers these days have a USB port and/or a CDROM, so I'm guessing the floppy is not a biggie.

Now, would you recommend buying the three year warranty?  That costs an extra $139 plus tax.  Would I be basically pissing the cash down th drain?  I do know if the screen shits out, that is almost $900 to replace, so at that point the motebook is disposable.  Comes with a one year warranty, so I'm thinking maybe I just take my chance and if it dies after a year I sell the thing for parts and buy a new one... prices only seem to be dropping and the value of the notebook itself will drop to $600 within a year anyhow.

Would love any feedback anybody can give.  Please keep in mind, my budget is ot very flexible.  My client will owe me between $700-$800 for the job I'm taking on and I am not in a position to dig deep into my own pockets right now.

Hmmmmmm wireless... an extra monthly expense.  Think I would just stick with a cellular modem and my million monthly minutes.  Thanks for the insight on Gateway.