Summary: 8 months hard use... still keeps on tickin'!
Comment: I bought mine in January 2010 when it first came out. It was the only i5 with 4GB RAM and 17" screen under $700.00. I am a student (Web Design/Graphic Design) and need a large screen (though since then, I bought a 23" Viewsonic to suplement it).
I work daily with photoshop, illustrator, and dreamweaver taking a lot of cpu power, screen real estate and RAM. With everything loaded, it still runs snappy. I don't do a lot of 3D, though the little I did bogged down the intel graphics chip pretty quickly. If you do 3D or games, get a model with a faster GPU. If you are mostly 2D graphics design and multi-tasking, this model works great.
I see some other reviewers looking for the esata port. I never saw it listed as a feature, and my model does not have one.
I have to say I haven't had a full crash. Every once in a while an application will crash, but not to any point that I've been put out of production or severly inconvenienced.
The styling is very nice. I always use external keyboard and mouse, so no comment on the built in touchpad and keyboard - they are ok for occasional use, but when using applications to accomplish some work, I find them too limiting. My personal experience.
I rate it 5 stars for what it's worth. Of course people will knock it for not having this or that, but if you need this or that, then buy the laptop that has those features, and don't knock this because something is left off. I'm happy because it has everything I need, and nothing extra I had to pay extra for.
Customer Rating:
Summary: best buy
Comment: The gateway nv7923u was the best buy for the money.I searched the internet for 2 months and decided on this one. My son repairs computers professionaly and says the most trouble free of all laptops is definately the Gateway. I've had mine for 3 months and am satisfied in every way. It's too bad that this model is discontinued. Anything with the same specs costs a thousand dollars or more now and that is considering all brands. I recomend the whole nv79 series.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Greatway Laptop
Comment: After our E-Machine desktop motherboard burned up, we had to replace our home computer. We decided that the power and portability of a laptop would add function and freedom to our home-computing capability. So, the search began.
With our most recent Gateway experience (the E-Machine), we were looking at every other notebook manufacturer except Gateway. The exhaustive search led us back to this NV7922, and it's a real joy to use.
It's a great value at less than $1k, runs circles around my ThinkPad, is lightweight, fastest I've ever seen, nice to look at and has not had a single issue yet. I would make the same decision if I was looking to buy a new laptop today...ABSOLUTELY!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Best deal for the money. Very fast processor.
Comment: This is the best laptop i have owned or seen so far. It is instantly fast and the processor runs very cool. Will not overheat like other laptops i have had. Great product. Will buy again from Gateway.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gateway NV7923u Laptop
Comment: This is an outstanding buy for the price. Then you get it and it's so much faster than anything you've ever had. You think you've died and gone to heaven, it's so fast.
Nice looking laptop also. I'm so impressed that I bought one for my son through Amazon at the same price.
