The Gateway DX4710-UB002A ($899.99 list, $1,220 with 22-inch widescreen monitor) is a multimedia-oriented PC available at a big-box store near you. Gateway's new retail-only strategy may prove helpful in reaching the "I want it now" consumer: You can buy a DX4710 PC in the afternoon at your local big-box store, then be downloading music and converting home videos to YouTube or Facebook that night, instead of waiting for a system to be built and shipped. Overall, it's a decent multimedia system for the price, and one that will make any budding multimedia maven happy.The built-in IR blaster port is good for people who need to control a set-top box such as a satellite or cable TV tuner. You can trash the modem if you're not on dial-up and you want the PCI slot for expansion. There is space for a couple of extra SATA hard drives, but that's about it. Since the system is so chock-full of goodies, the fact that you can't shoehorn anything else into the case isn't really a drawback.
The DX4710 sits in a new chassis for Gateway, which is a relief, as the older DX minitower case was looking a bit tired. The new one is not a lot different, but its chiseled façade conveys a more powerful feel than the older curvy faceplate. Inside, you'll find a tidy interior housing a Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor, 6GB of DDR2 SDRAM, 640GB hard drive, and ATI Radeon HD 3650 graphics card. There's also an ATSC/HDTV tuner, a wireless 802.11g network card, and a 56K modem.
Omitted is the Gateway multimedia hard drive bay—which I consider a good thing. I voiced my dislike for this bay in an earlier review of the GT5662. (I don't like the proprietary cable.) What you do get is an eSATA port in back. eSATA is a much faster interface than FireWire or USB 2.0, so hooking up an eSATA external hard drive to the DX4710 will allow you to back up the 640GB internal hard drive quickly, and with eSATA you won't have to crack the system's case to install a hard drive. The system also has one FireWire and six USB ports. Adding storage is as simple as plugging in to one of the three types of external ports.
The DX4710 is a quick multimedia performance PC. Its quad-core processor and 6GB of memory helped the system return a speedy 46 seconds on the Windows Media Encoder test, and 30 seconds on the Photoshop CS3 test. The system's WME score is excellent, particularly considering that video transcoding is a primary task for camcorder- and phonecam-addicted youth. Also, it's an improvement over older quad-core systems like the Gateway DX442XP, which took around a minute to complete the WME test, so it's on a par with other systems.
On 32-bit tests like Photoshop CS3 and WME, the Gateway with its 6GB of RAM, running under 64-bit Vista Home Premium, showed no advantage over comparable systems with a more standard 2GB. It remains to be seen whether 6GB will help performance when Adobe updates Photoshop to (64-bit optimized) CS4. (Find out more about 64-bit technology, and the apps it's compatible with in this ExtremeTech story.)
Crysis was basically unplayable on this system (20 frames per second at 1,280 by 1,024 and 2 fps at 1,920 by 1,200), and World in Conflict was barely playable at 28 fps at 1,280 by 1,024. This isn't a gaming box, so this isn't much of a burden. The system is certainly powerful enough for casual games (Minesweeper, Solitaire, Diner Dash). Until more games or programs are written to take advantage of 64-bit Vista, the 6GB in the DX4710 is really useful only for those people who open a lot of windows and programs, then never close them until they shut the PC down.
A drawback to the system is that it's loaded with crapware. You get the usual suspects: WildTangent's "Gateway Games," an Office 2007 60-day trial, and a miserly 60-day trial subscription to the Norton 360 Internet protection suite (including antivirus, antispam, and so on). There are also ads for eBay, Napster, and NetZero on the desktop and in the Welcome Center (one of the first screens you see after setting up your new PC). It's not as bad as, say, on the recent Sony VAIO VGC-LT29U, but you still end up with a bunch of ads cluttering your system urging you to buy more unasked-for stuff.
The DX4710 is moderately priced, with solid features and performance. It's a good fit for anyone who wants to move from a "rip and burn" PC to one that can do more in the way of multimedia.
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