Gateway E155C

Until now, Gateway's Tablets have had all of the multimedia trimmings and massive glossy displays, but they've hardly been portable. So we were pleased to see the company venture into the almost ultra-light category with the 12.1-inch, sub-five-pound E155C. This is a credible convertible that comes with both an optical drive and a versatile screen that can be operated by touch or a digital pen.
 
At just less than five pounds, the E155C has a sleek look and a solid feel, thanks to the magnesium casing and brushed aluminum finish surrounding the keyboard. The center spindle that converts the LCD between modes is sturdy and keeps the screen from bouncing and jiggling in laptop mode. We also like that the screen swivels both ways-something you won't find in every convertible. The display flips and secures firmly over the keyboard to enter slate mode.
 
Ergonomically, the E155C is a mixed bag in notebook mode. The keyboard layout is a bit cramped--despite the fact that there's about a half inch of unused space--and the keys themselves felt a little too mushy. On the plus side, we like the relatively large touchpad, and the mouse buttons have a satisfying click. We also like the comfortable soft-touch surface below the keyboard.
 
A basic set of Tablet launch buttons for the task manager, screen rotation, Windows Mobility Center, and Wi-Fi on/off sits on the lower left side of the bezel (in notebook mode). The labels on each are too small and dim to be obvious, however, and we accidentally turned our Wi-Fi connection off more than once.  
 
The E155C comes with a number of convenient features. It includes a fingerprint sensor that we found very easy to use and that doubles as a vertical scroll (especially nice in Tablet mode). And unlike some convertibles in its weight class, this one includes an optical drive-an 8X dual-layer DVD burner. Other amenities include a 6-in-1 memory card reader and a PC Card slot.
 
Images produced by the 12.1-inch LCD (1280 x 800-pixel resolution) are pretty sharp. If text the text and icons are too small for your tastes, you can move down from the native resolution without losing much detail. At 200 nits, this panel is brighter than what you'll find on the X60 Tablet (185 nits), but it didn't exhibit the best contrast, which may be a function of the ambitious hybrid input technology.
 
The sensitivity of the LCD to finger pressure was a bit too light. We found ourselves resorting to fingernails to get a response. And because it's small and the resolution is high, basic navigation items like Minimize and Close buttons are hard to hit squarely. Although we like the convenience of moving windows around quickly without having to pop the stylus, in practice, touch navigation on the E155C is better suited to broad and basic input.
 
Pen input was quite good. The stylus is ergonomically comfortable, and we were very impressed by the digitizer's sensitivity. There is a very good hover zone here, which helps Tablet gestures register with the OS. The display responds well to stylus presses and double taps.
 
This convertible's low-voltage 1.06-GHz Core 2 Duo processor delivered a PCMark05 score of 2,406, which is about what we'd expect form this CPU. Vista performance was generally good, and there's more than enough graphics horsepower here to run Aero, but the E155C took its time loading some programs and even showed a tiny lag when digitizing stylus strokes. This isn't a deal breaker, but power users will want to upgrade to 2GB of RAM ($160).
 
Battery life could be better. The E155C lasted one hour and 48 minutes on a DVD rundown with the standard four-cell battery, which means you should expect three hours of endurance. We highly recommend the $40 upgrade to the six-cell battery at the time of purchase, which should supply six hours of runtime. Wireless performance with the included 802.11a/b/g radio was fast overall, with an average throughput of 17.3 Mbps and 12.4 Mbps at 15 and 50 feet, respectively. However, the data rates we recorded from the longer distance were inconsistent.
 
We were pleased to see Windows Vista Ultimate on this system, but it's overkill on such a small machine. We say save yourself some cash by going with either Home Premium ($160 less), especially if you're a student, or Vista Business ($60 less). The one-year warranty is standard fare, as is the 24/7 phone and online tech support.
 
The Gateway E155C has a lot going for it and is one of the stronger lightweight convertibles you can buy with an integrated optical drive. The hybrid screen is also a plus. We wish it had a better keyboard and lasted a bit longer on a charge with its standard battery, but this system is a good option for those looking for a full-featured Tablet notebook.

 

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