Gateway 800 series GM Media Center review: Gateway 800 series GM Media Center

Gateway 832GM
Buying your computer from a retail store often means you can't configure it with all the perfect options, but in the case of the $1,300 fixed-configuration Gateway 832GM, you can find yourself with quite a deal. A Media Center PC, the 832GM makes an excellent, affordable choice for those who want a home-entertainment PC. If you were to configure a 9310-series system on Gateway's Web site with the exact same components and display (you can purchase the 832GM only in stores), you'd spend close to $300 more.

The 832GM comes in Gateway's new BTX case, which we recently saw in the high-end 9310XL. A BTX chassis provides cool, whisper-quiet operation, which particularly benefits Media Center PCs such as the 832GM (who wants to watch a TV or a movie over the hum of a PC?). Gateway also employs its traditional black-and-silver color scheme in the 832GM, extending it across all of the included peripherals as well, which is always appreciated. On the front side of the case, you'll find a double-layer DVD burner, a fast CD-ROM drive, and an 8-in-1 flash reader, along with a single USB 2.0 jack and dual FireWire ports. Around back sit plenty of connectors, including five more USB 2.0 inputs and five surround-sound jacks linked to the motherboard's integrated Intel audio chip.

Inside, you'll find the new 64-bit 3.0GHz Intel Pentium 4 630 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, and a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR TV tuner card. There's also enough room for an upgrade or three, thanks to a pair of free memory slots, two free hard drive slots, and empty PCI-Express x16 and standard PCI slots.

Because the Gateway 832GM features Microsoft's Windows XP Media Center Edition OS, you get channel-guide and TV-recording functionality. Setting up the signal for the first time and creating a schedule of recordings is very easy to do, although the 832GM can't decipher an encrypted cable television signal (an issue common to all current media PCs). So for many of you, the channel guide and the DVR features will be largely useless. With a DirecTV satellite signal pumped in, the TV picture also looked grainy and unfocused, as is common to virtually all Media Center PCs. Conversely, DVD playback, which has nothing to do with the tuner card, looked smooth and sharp. The same went for the included 17-inch Gateway FPD1760 LCD in general. The screen looked great during all other tasks (and also comes with easy-to-use side-mounted picture controls).

The Gateway 832GM's performance on our benchmark tests was solid for a Media Center PC. With the help of its 3.0GHz Pentium 4 630 CPU and 512MB of system memory, the 832GM finished second out of five media PCs in our SysMark 2004 Internet-content-creation test, coming behind only the Sony VAIO RB38G and its 3.4GHz P4 550. General media tasks such as watching TV and movies and listening to music aren't that demanding, but it's helpful to know that the 832GM can work well as a day-to-day computer when called upon to do so.

The 832GM is a lackluster gaming machine, unfortunately, but it's not beyond saving. Relying on integrated Intel Graphic Accelerator 900 graphics, the 832GM's Unreal Tournament 2003 scores are playable at 52.9 frames per second (fps) on CNET Labs' 1,024x768 resolution test, but it wouldn't finish even our low-end Half-Life 2 test. Thankfully, you can always slap a dedicated graphics card into the free PCI-Express x16 slot if you've got gaming in mind.

If you want booming audio, you'll need to integrate the Gateway 832GM into your home-theater setup because its bundled stereo speakers are unremarkable in every way. Inside the box, you'll also find an Internet keyboard (with a slightly funky layout to accommodate all those extra Web and audio buttons) and a two-button scroll mouse. Neither input device is wireless, but fortunately Gateway didn't forget to throw in a standard Windows Media Center remote control and an IR blaster, the latter handy for using the Media Center remote to change channels if you have to integrate a cable box. On top of the Media Center OS, the bundled software includes Microsoft Money 2004 and the Microsoft Works 8.0 budget productivity suite, among other software titles.

The Gateway 832GM's refreshingly robust printed and electronic documentation provides the means to understand setup and the system's more advanced functions. While the 832GM comes with a single year of warranty coverage and Gateway's toll-call phone support 8 a.m. to 3 a.m. ET, you must purchase any extended service and support through your retailer, which generally means fewer options and less robust telephone support. Fortunately, Gateway's Web site provides plenty of system-specific info as well.

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System configurations
Alienware DHS-2 Media Center
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 3.0GHz Intel P4 530; Intel 915P chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB ATI Radeon X300 (PCIe); Seagate ST3160023AS 160GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Gateway 832GM
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 3.0GHz Intel P4 630; Intel 915G chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB integrated Intel 915G (shared memory); WDC WD2500JD-22HBB0 250GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Polywell MiniBox 939AX
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 2.0GHz AMD Athlon 64 3200+; ATI Radeon Xpress 200 chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 64MB (shared) integrated ATI Radeon X200; Seagate ST3200822AS 200GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
Sony VAIO VGC-RB38G
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 3.4GHz Intel P4 550; Intel 915G chipset; 1,024MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 128MB ATI Radeon X300 (PCIe); Maxtor 7Y250M0 250GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA
WinBook PowerSpec MCE 410
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005; 3.0GHz Intel P4 530; Intel 915G chipset; 512MB DDR SDRAM 400MHz; 64MB ATI Radeon X300 (PCIe); Samsung SP1614C 160GB 7,200rpm Serial ATA