Gateway CX2618 Review: OOBE
I don't know why the "OOBE" acronym comes to mind, but the "out of box experience" was pretty darn good. There isn't much in the box: (By the way, it's a pretty nice box, and one that I might expect to see some people carrying onto their international flights to take home to somewhere you can't get a Gateway....) There's the PC, battery, and power cable and brick. There is the Gateway-branded 3M microfiber cleaning cloth, "Getting Started" and "Setting Up" guides, Warranty Agreement and Registration card (directs you to the website), EULA (didn't read it), Trial license key for Microsoft Office Student&Teacher Edition (With Works 8/Money 2005/MSN Encarta Standard/Digital Image Starter Edition Trial), AOL installation CD with 50 free days, System Recovery DVD, and Microsoft Office OneNote 2003 CD and product key.
I was happy to find out that the power supply from my old Compaq 1800 will work with the Gateway! It is 19 volts/3.42 amps/65 watts, and is manufactured by LiteOn. The brick doesn't have a power light to let you know it's connected. My no-name power supply that I bought as a second one for the Compaq is rated at 50 watts, and it seems to work fine.
The initial Windows XP setup (OOBE :-) and activation was quick, and the machine found my D-Link 802.11g wi-fi router. It was using Windows to manage wireless connections by default, and I had to enable the (included and installed) Intel Pro/Set Wireless manager to enter my WPA key and get the network connected.
Then it was time to see what software was preinstalled. In addition to the software listed above, there is:
Then I removed the Office trial edition and installed Office 2003 Professional (my campus has a license). Other software I have installed: Acrobat 7.0 (full version), Cambridge Soft's ChemOffice 9.0, Google Desktop, Kensington MouseWorks (for my trackball), Mozilla Firefox 1.5, Microsoft Anti-Spyware beta, Novell Groupwise 6.5, MusicMatch Jukebox 10.0, WeatherBug , Zinio Reader, SmartSync Pro, and some Windows XP Powertoys and TabletPC Powertoys.
I was having some issued with the wireless dropping connections, and I highly recommend installing updated drivers from the Intel website (I'm using version 10.1.0.3, and it's great). Also, updated touchpad drivers from Synaptics (also recommended) allowed me to use the touchpad scrolling feature in Firefox.
Following a tip on Tablet PC Buzz, I flashed the BIOS. The Gateway support site doesn't list the CX2618 as a choice for this BIOS, so it doesn't appear on your support page if you enter your serial number, but it does say it supports the 2600 series. I installed it because it is reported to solve an issue where the fan runs much too often and too long, which might be distracting in a quiet classroom. I can't compare, as I installed it right away, but my fan rarely comes on, and when it does, it doesn't stay on long.
I also installed Notebook Hardware Control, which allows me to undervolt the CPU and gain battery life. I'm being conservative here, as I am not interested in losing data or causing crashes; my settings are, for example, 1.068 V at a 13 multiplier. If this means nothing to you, it didn't to me either until I read the documentation, and I'm using recommended settings. If you're happy with the battery life, then you can skip this. It does give you a tray icon showing the CPU temperature, which is nice to know. I'm getting 5 hours (supposedly), though I haven't run the battery down all the way to test this. Well, I did run the BIOS battery calibration, which runs down the battery to calibrate the time showing in the taskbar, but I was sleeping at the time :). If anyone undervolts more without problems, I'd be interested to hear about it.
I took the tablet to a meeting, and tried taking notes by inking in Windows Journal (I hadn't installed OneNote yet). It seemed to work fine, though I seemed to have to press awfully hard with the stylus to get ink to "flow."
Back at home, I tried InkArt in the included Experience Pack, and again, seemed to have to press really hard to get anything to draw. I installed OneNote, and it was the same. It turns out that I had some issues with the stylus--but that will have to wait for my next post! (Preview: the issues are all resolved, in case you were worried!)
I was happy to find out that the power supply from my old Compaq 1800 will work with the Gateway! It is 19 volts/3.42 amps/65 watts, and is manufactured by LiteOn. The brick doesn't have a power light to let you know it's connected. My no-name power supply that I bought as a second one for the Compaq is rated at 50 watts, and it seems to work fine.
The initial Windows XP setup (OOBE :-) and activation was quick, and the machine found my D-Link 802.11g wi-fi router. It was using Windows to manage wireless connections by default, and I had to enable the (included and installed) Intel Pro/Set Wireless manager to enter my WPA key and get the network connected.
Then it was time to see what software was preinstalled. In addition to the software listed above, there is:
- Agilix GoBinder Lite
- BigFix (notifies about and downloads Gateway updates)
- CyberLink Power DVD
- McAfee Internet Security Suite 90-day Trial
- Microsoft Education Pack for TabletPC
- Microsoft Experience Pack for TabletPC
- Napster Light 3.0
- Nero 6 Suite
Then I removed the Office trial edition and installed Office 2003 Professional (my campus has a license). Other software I have installed: Acrobat 7.0 (full version), Cambridge Soft's ChemOffice 9.0, Google Desktop, Kensington MouseWorks (for my trackball), Mozilla Firefox 1.5, Microsoft Anti-Spyware beta, Novell Groupwise 6.5, MusicMatch Jukebox 10.0, WeatherBug , Zinio Reader, SmartSync Pro, and some Windows XP Powertoys and TabletPC Powertoys.
I was having some issued with the wireless dropping connections, and I highly recommend installing updated drivers from the Intel website (I'm using version 10.1.0.3, and it's great). Also, updated touchpad drivers from Synaptics (also recommended) allowed me to use the touchpad scrolling feature in Firefox.
Following a tip on Tablet PC Buzz, I flashed the BIOS. The Gateway support site doesn't list the CX2618 as a choice for this BIOS, so it doesn't appear on your support page if you enter your serial number, but it does say it supports the 2600 series. I installed it because it is reported to solve an issue where the fan runs much too often and too long, which might be distracting in a quiet classroom. I can't compare, as I installed it right away, but my fan rarely comes on, and when it does, it doesn't stay on long.
I also installed Notebook Hardware Control, which allows me to undervolt the CPU and gain battery life. I'm being conservative here, as I am not interested in losing data or causing crashes; my settings are, for example, 1.068 V at a 13 multiplier. If this means nothing to you, it didn't to me either until I read the documentation, and I'm using recommended settings. If you're happy with the battery life, then you can skip this. It does give you a tray icon showing the CPU temperature, which is nice to know. I'm getting 5 hours (supposedly), though I haven't run the battery down all the way to test this. Well, I did run the BIOS battery calibration, which runs down the battery to calibrate the time showing in the taskbar, but I was sleeping at the time :). If anyone undervolts more without problems, I'd be interested to hear about it.
I took the tablet to a meeting, and tried taking notes by inking in Windows Journal (I hadn't installed OneNote yet). It seemed to work fine, though I seemed to have to press awfully hard with the stylus to get ink to "flow."
Back at home, I tried InkArt in the included Experience Pack, and again, seemed to have to press really hard to get anything to draw. I installed OneNote, and it was the same. It turns out that I had some issues with the stylus--but that will have to wait for my next post! (Preview: the issues are all resolved, in case you were worried!)
