The Gateway MD7826u

After opening the no-frills box and pulling the Gateway MD7826u from its foam cocoon, I got my first look at the Gateway MD7826u. As I mentioned before, the test notebook I was sent is in a burgundy color that the final version isn't available in. All I can say is that the burgundy hue is very nice looking. It's too bad that black is the only option the final product comes in. The burgundy is glossy and has a metallic base that looks very nice. I can only assume that the black final version looks as good as my test sample.

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The right side of the Gateway MD7826u is dominated by the optical drive and a pair of USB ports.

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Moving to the left side of the machine, you find the HDMI out port, memory card reader, two more USB ports, VGA out, Ethernet port, modem port and an ExpressCard slot. The power port and security lock port are also on this side.

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The rear of the Gateway MD7826u is blank except for a large right side grate to let hot air out.

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The front edge of the machine has several indicator lights, a pair of headphone jacks and a single microphone jack. The dual headphone jacks make sharing a movie with a friend easy to do in private.

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Once you open the glossy lid, you get your first glimpse at the brushed aluminum looking wrist rest area (which appears to be textured plastic), large track pad, full-size keyboard and the touch sensitive backlit controls for media functions.

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As you can see in this image, the glossy screen is prone to showing reflections in bright rooms.