Gateway delivers a sleek 11.6 inch netbook with the introduction of the Gateway LT3120u netbook.  The netbook is fashionably designed with a glossy finish and engraved stainless steel logo on the lid.  The Gateway LT3120u weights in at 3.04 pounds and measures 7.99 inches, 11.26 inches, 1.03 inches.  Despite packing a 11.6 inch screen, the netbook still manages to maintain a slim and light profile that you will appreciate when you have to travel with it.

Gateway LT3120u Review

The Gateway LT3120u comes equipped with a peppy AMD Athlon 64 X2 L310 dual-core processor running at 1.2 hertz and a whopping 2 GB of SDRAM.  The incorporation of 2 GB of RAM (not upgradable) no doubt greatly improved the performance of the netbook and saves the user the time, money, and hassle of performing the upgrade themselves.

ATI's enhanced  ATI Radeon X1270 integrated GPU picks up the slack for video processing intensive tasks.  Although this GPU is growing old in the tooth, at almost four years old, it is powerful enough to smoothly play 720P high definition video, but is rather energy inefficient.  Nonetheless, the netbook still offers adequate battery life for just about any user. You can expect to play less demanding games at lower graphics settings on the Gateway LT3120u, but game play tends to slow down with more demanding graphical settings.

The processing power of the Gateway LT3120u is more than enough to handle everyday tasks, such as writing emails, surfing the web, video conferencing, playing simple games, and even streaming high definition 720P video.

The Gateway LT3120u's 11.6 inch (1366 X 768 resolution) Ultrabright LED-backlit display is a joy to use.  It displays very bright and vivid images and is capable of displaying full HD images.  The added resolution also improves internet browsing.  Pages require less scrolling, thanks to the high resolution increasing the viewing area.

Netbook Review

The Gateway LT3120u comes equipped with a large 6-cell battery, which provides most users with four to five hours of battery life.  The 6-cell battery is a welcome addition, as most netbooks come equipped with less capacious 3-cell batteries.

Users will be treated with a full size keyboard, which makes typing on the Gateway LT3119u a breeze.  Getting used to a smaller keyboard can be a slow process.  Thankfully, users won't be forced to relearn to touch type on the Gateway LT3120u.

Other thoughtful features on the Gateway LT3120u include, 3 USB 2.0 ports, a VGA connector for using an external display, a microphone input port, headphone out port, a multi-card reader, and a 250 GB 5400 RPM hard drive.

Sadly, the netbook only comes equipped with 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi.  So users will miss the extra bandwidth that 802/11 N provides.  A 10/100 fast Ethernet LAN is also included and allows wired connections to the internet.

The icing on the cake of this well rounded netbook is the incorporation of Windows 7 Home Premium.  Windows 7 Home Premium comes equipped with all of the functions of Windows 7, unlike Windows 7 Starter.

On the balance, the Gateway LT3120u offers excellent value.  We love the Gateway LT3120u's spacious 11.6 inch screen, 2 GB of SDRAM, and Windows 7 Home Premium.  However, we aren't thrilled by the performance of the netbook's X1270 GPU.  However, this shouldn't be an issue for any user short of a hard core gamer.  The Gateway LT3120u offers great bang for the buck for a buyer interested in a netbook with a larger screen or keyboard.

Gateway LT3120u Review