This is my second Gateway machine, and it is replacing an older and slower HP Pavilion. I use this machine for home and personal use including digital imaging, desktop publishing, and dial-up Internet access. Gateway has in the past provided me with great technical support and good performance, so I decided to buy Gateway again.
PRICE
I paid $479 CDN (approx. $415 USD) for this system in November 2005. With a Pentium 4 processor, 2.9 Ghz clock, 80 GB SATA hard drive, built-in card reader and lots of USB ports, it is great value for the money. The price included the CPU, keyboard, and optical mouse, but not the monitor. I purchased a monitor separately as I did not want an LCD, and needed a high-quality tube (bought a Sony Tube) for the photo-editing I do. I also use a pair of Labtec speakers that I already had.
In short, this 5200S is not the lowest priced Gateway line out there, but neither is it the highest. The 5200 Series is Gateway's mid-range product line, and is marketed to the user who may be looking to tweak or upgrade their system to personal preferences.
EASE OF USE
Everything worked great, right out of the box. I have had no technical issues with this system and the set-up is user friendly. A novice user should have no difficulty getting up and running FAST. There are easy to follow prompts to create back-up and recovery disks, and Windows XP is pre-installed.
NOISE
Others have complained about loud fan noise. The 5200S has a two-stage fan. It is loud at first on start-up, but quickly quiets down as it doesn't need to run at high speed constantly. In fact, the fan is so quiet that you CANNOT hear it at all when working. I love it.
PERFORMANCE
Start-up is fairly fast, and there are no 'wait times' when multitasking. I can be running 5 applications at once, and easily flip between them without lag. Without difficulty, I can have iTunes playing, be editing multiple 5 MP photos in PhotoShop, be on the Internet, and flip between Photo Impression and MS Word when needed.
The modem creates quick performance when surfing the net, and I only use dial-up. Integrated CD-DVD burner is fast and easy to use. The 5200S includes Nero for CD-DVD duplication.
The 5200S comes standard with an Intel 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset Video Accelerator, and this delivers high quality video for most applications. There is space on the motherboard to add another video card, which is advisable if you are a gamer and a bonus if you use the computer for photo imaging applications. I will likely be upgrading to an ATI RADEON CHPSET 9550 128/DVI/TV-O or better later this year.
STYLE and DESIGN
The 5200S is silver and black, looks sleek and clean. Fan vents are at the lower sides of the tower case. Most convenient are the front located USB ports (3), firewire ports (2), mike and headphone jacks and 8-in-1 multi-card reader. The front-located ports are one of the best design features of this machine. They are easily accessible, and save you from rummaging around at the rear of the CPU.
REGRETS?...
I will be adding another hard drive as my 80 GB is filling up fast with jpeg files. I added an extra 512 mb of DDR SD RAM at time of purchase, and the system runs amazingly with almost 1 GIG of RAM. For a small investment, you will get top-notch performance.
BOTTOM LINE
The Gateway 5200S is a solid computer that is reliable and has lots of room inside for expansion. It is a great machine that will meet the needs of most people, and can easily be upgraded/tweaked to meet your personal specifications.