Why is this notebook so cheap?

Well, I guess "cheap" is a relative term here. This is on sale for $1249 and is a Gateway (sold by Best Buy) AMD Ahtlon 64. It says 1MB L2 cache which I assume is not shared video...please let me know if I am wrong. I wish I could figure out what is wrong with this system!

That machine and price has been about that number for about 6 or so months. It's on my list of possible replacement models.

The all format DVD recorder and the memory card (camera type memory cards) slots are a nice touch. It booted XP in 42 seconds.

Bob

Actually you have found an interesting notebook. I was only aware of Athlon 64 notebooks on mainstream companies on HP/Compaq (1 model each -- see hpshopping.com or at retail) or e-machines (at best buy).

The price you are stating is about right for retail.
You should go to hpshopping, at least, and do a custom build of the specifications you want and see how the pricing compares (and any HP/Compaq has has a $100 custom order rebate (found at mail in rebates link on lower left of homepage -- not the $50 HP or $30 Compaq rebate posted on the order screen) and other discounts.

The HP/Compaq can be ordered with up to 64mb dedicated video and this is a good amount if you may not play many games but still want to have the best ability to play games and/or higher end video programs in the future.

The 1mb L2 cache you refered to is the built in memory on the AMD 64 itself which allows high speed access to programs. The AMD 64 is a 64 bit chip so you will be prepared for the release of Windows Longhorn 64 bit in 2006-2007 (or Linux, etc now).

Gateways are having to be competitive right now as they closed all their retail stores and thus right now they are only internet based and selling retail through Best Buy (who picked up a lot of the Gateway store merchandise) and a few others.

See if the Gateway has dedicated video memory or not (if it is Intel Extreme graphics it is shared video memory or integrated). You should see an ATI or Nvidia video card and it should mention how much dedicated video memory (32mb or 64mb dedicated) if it has it.

The Pentium M chips have 2mb L2 system cache for comparison and they have longer battery life and they can be made thinner and lighter (as they generate less heat).

However, if you like the Gateway or HP/Compaq or E-machines AMD 64 notebooks it is a good buy for the future 64bit changes.

You can choose exactly what options you want by ordering custom that you can't do on a prebuilt -- how much RAM (2 slots in notebook -- order less memory in 1 slot and you can add your own for later for less $), hard drive speed (5400 rpm 50% faster seek time than standard 4200rpm, LCD resolution (XGA is standard, options are SXGA or UXGA), CD-RW/DVD ROM drive or DVD burner/CD burner drive (DVD burner is about $200 more), etc.

Also, keep in mind that Gateway and E-machines have merged just as HP/Compaq have merged.

This is a good thing actually for Gateway as E-machines has been very efficient on building and selling lower end destops with good quality -- I have had 2 E-machines notebooks with no problems (I shouldn't have gotten a Celeron on one but that is another story-- the 2nd one was an AMD chip).