This model is Gateway's "thin and light" tablet and is sold under three names: CX-120X for the home sector, S-7125C for the business sector, and E-155M for education. They are physically identical- only the pre-loaded software and prices vary. All models have:
Screen: 12.1" Wacom USB digitizer/touchscreen, 1280x800
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo U7500/7600
Memory: 2 slots of DDR2-667 (512 MB to 4.0 GB)
Chipset: Intel 945GM/82801GBM (ICH7M)
Touchpad: Synaptics
Keyboard: "104-key equivalent" model, full-size A-Z and number keys.
Power: 4, 6, or 8-cell battery
Optical drive: 24x CD-RW/DVD-ROM or 8x DVD-RW
Ports: 2x USB 2.0, VGA, IEEE 1394a, docking port, headphones, microphone
PCMCIA slot
5-in-1 card reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro/xD)
LAN: Intel 82853L (PRO/1000)
WLAN: Intel 3945 or 4965 PCIe wireless
HDD: 9.5 mm, 2.5" SATA, sold with 60-200 GB units of 5400 and 7200 rpm
Bluetooth is optional.
Weight is 4.8 to a little under 6 lbs, depending on battery
This machine was bought with the express purpose to be a lightweight, portable machine with a long battery life for taking notes in class with. The S-7125C (the model version I purchased) fills that niche quite well as the screen is about the right size for a portable machine and the keyboard still has full-size alphanumeric keys. I ordered the extended-life 8-cell battery and the slower of the two ULV chips to have maximum battery life. I ordered the machine with a single 1 GB RAM module and then added a 2 GB unit myself as that's far less expensive than ordering the memory straight from Gateway. RAM, WLAN card, and HDD access is very simple.
The machine runs fairly nicely with Fedora 7 x86_64. The CPU has independent PLLs for each core, allowing one core to run at the full 1067 MHz and the other to run at the 800 MHz idle when running a single-threaded application. F7 detected this and set up SpeedStep appropriately. The computer has Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics and needs the 915resolution video BIOS hack to run at its full 1280x800- otherwise it would be at 1024x768. F7 sets up 915resolution correctly and it works right after the first reboot. Suspending to RAM and disk both work. The 3945 wireless card works well, but the drivers on the original F7 install disk are a little flaky. Running the "pup" update tool upgrades the iwl3945 drivers and this greatly improves the stability of the driver. PCMCIA and SD card slots both have TI chips and both also work. IEEE 1394 also has a TI chip and works as well. I have not tried the fingerprint reader, but UPEK has a Linux driver for 32-bit Linux that should work.
The only things that do not work properly on this machine are the tablet screen and the sound. The sound is Intel HDA and has been flaky on many laptops, so this was expected. The tablet screen is a Wacom unit but it is a brand-new model and has a USB interface and not the standard serial input. The current Wacom Linux drivers do not work, but I e-mailed a developer and they are working on the driver.
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