Hello everyone! I'm glad that I found this forum.
I've had my M505XL since December 2003 and am very pleased with it. Originally I bought the 450 notebook, but it just didn't have enough capacity for me. So after a day, I returned it to the Gateway Country store and got the 505.
First off, I have had no problems with my computer (knock on wood). I have the souped up version which has a 1.5Ghz Centrino chip, 60GB, XP Pro, and 512MB SDRAM (2x256 memory).
I have a doo-hickey that lets me hook it up to my DirecTV and watch TV on the 505 while I'm playing online. Its pretty good, though the image appears "soft" and muted.
For a notebook, the speakers sound really good. It has a pseudo-subwoofer speaker on the bottom of the unit. Most of the time I listen to music either through external speakers or headphones.
I like the one-touch buttons along the left and right side. The left side buttons are media control. There is a scrolling "thing" which I assume is for fast-fwd or rewind, but I've never had it work for me. No big whoop, but I'd like to know if it actually serves a purpose!
The wireless works extremely well in my 3 story townhome. I use a Microsoft router (802.11B), and used to use a Microsoft Wireless card. I get better reception with the internal wireless in the 505 than I did with the external wireless card.
I haven't had any problems with the slot-loading DVD-R. Its a cool, sexy thing to have.
Overall I am very satisfied with my 505. Here are some nit-picky things and wishlist:
1. the headphone jack is in the BACK of the unit! That was pretty dumb engineering. I didn't realize it until after the fact. I've had an HP, IBM Thinkpad, and a Compaq, and they have all had headphone jacks on the side of the unit.
2. Max harddisk space is 60GB. You can't get any higher than that. The comparable HP, Compaq, and Toshiba notebooks (15.4") can max out at 80GB. Wish Gateway would let it max to a higher capacity
3. Standard memory for 505 is 512MB. The others have the option of shipping with 1GB SDRAM. I wound up just upgrading my ram. Its not clear through the instructions/manuals if you can max it out at 2GB. I think you can, but I'm not sure.
4. The 505 feels a tad heavier than the HP, but that may be me. I carry this thing around everyday as my work/personal laptop.
5. Wish it had higher resolution, like 1680x1050 or 1920x1200
I am very happy with the 505 bc it does meet all of my needs. I think the deciding factor was that I qualified for Gateway credit
But I have also had good experience with Gateway support and service.
I tend to go through laptops every 1.5-2 yrs. This should last me that long til the next best thing comes along.
I'd like to hear from other owners out there.