Does Greta (or this line of Gateway laptops in particular) live up to the marketing hype that HSN presented on air? Well, I have the answers...
Let's try this again.... by
cpd2005, on Flickr
For the most part, yes, with a few reservations. The Gateway guy's description of the GPU was full of marketing fluff, but Greta does indeed have 1gb dedicated video memory. What he failed to mention is that NVIDIA Optimus technology...basically, whenever you aren't running a game and just browsing the web or viewing Youtube, the Intel IGP is used. But, whenever you run a game that uses GPU (be it casual games or 3D stuff), the NVIDIA GeForce takes that load off the IGP, and improves graphic performance. It also ends up saving on battery power since the GeFore GPU isn't always active.
Peformance? It's above and beyond what Wendell can do. The Geforce 610m is an entry level GPU, but it scored around a 117 benchmark in the "Video Card Stability Test" program. Wendell only had a benchmark in the 60s.

Overall speed is greater than Wendell, further proving Wendell is just a netbook disguised as a full laptop. As mentioned earlier, Webkinz runs perfectly, just as fast as Lilly. Overall Flash performance is much improved overall. And this is an entry level Intel Pentium Dual-Core here!
The build quality of the laptop is much improved too. I always thought Wendell felt a little cheaply built.The plastic case seemed thin, and whenever you would type on an uneven surface, there would be this annoying rattling sound coming from the CPU cooler whenever you typed. It was annoying to say the least.
I'm happy with Greta, and I shall now have an improved mobile computing experience because of her.
Now...let me analyze the HSN bits...
The HSN on-air presentation also had a demo of the GPU capability using the MS HTML5 Fishbowl demo. However, I was able to pick up on some inconsistencies that cause it to be marketing fluff. Yes, I do get a full 60fps with 100 fish in the bowl like on air, but IE9 by default is preset to use the IGP. :lol: Makes me wonder how much faster it will go when I do set IE9 to use the GeForce....
They compared this particular model with another Gateway model side by side, claiming that the other laptop on air is identical to the one on sale, with the slower Gateway having an IGP...but I looked closely, and I could barely make out an AMD Vision logo on the slower laptop. More marketing nonsense.
So, despite all this marketing fluff, why did I end up buying it? I researched the components myself, mainly the GeForce GPU and the Intel processor. The GeForce benchmarks were somewhat better than the RadeonHD 6310 in Wendell, and the PassMark of the Intel B960 was much much higher than the AMD E-350. The AMD E-350 only has a 727 PassMark, and the B960 has a 2090 PassMark.
Another factor that led to my decision is, of course, Wendell's slowness and inability to withstand the load of Adobe Flash. And one non-essential factor too....the white case color. :p MacBooks aren't the only laptops to come in white now.

(and new MacBooks only come in aluminum now)
So yeah, I saw beyond the typical advertising gimmicks that lead people to buy stuff like this, and made an informed decision. I didn't just buy it on impulse, but I almost did a few weeks ago.
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