First Look at Gateway's Sleek New PCs
Silver-and-black industrial designs highlight 500 Series of desktops and notebooks.Tom Mainelli and Joel Strauch, PCWorld.com
Gateway hopes to shed its beige-box image by launching this week its new
silver-and-black 500 series desktop PCs, ranging in price from $999 to $2799.
PC World's exclusive first look at a 500S PC
finds the system's changes are more than skin deep.
Following in the footsteps of companies such as Dell and Compaq, which have also launched flashier cases, Gateway plans to spread its new look throughout its desktop line. The company is also unveiling Monday three notebooks sporting similar designs. More than just a new coat of paint, the look is accompanied by greater durability as well as ease of access for desktop users, according to Gateway representatives.
The plastic and metal casing on the 500 series is more than double the thickness of standard PC designs, according to the company.
PC World tests found accessing the interior of the new chassis is a breeze. You just grip the latch at the top of the sturdy side panel and pull it off. You don't need tools to add components, and as with Gateway's earlier case design, there's an outside thumbscrew for releasing each of the PCI slot covers. Push-tabs lock and unlock the drive bays' guide rails.
Looks Good, Runs Well
In addition to the classy new midsize tower chassis, the 500C we tested includes Gateway's 15-inch FPD 1530 color-matched LCD, which makes the whole setup a more elegant desktop package. The monitor offers crisp, legible text and vivid colors and flesh tones, although it seemed to have a small viewable angle.
The 500C isn't all about looks: It's got power, too. Priced at $1249, the 500S is essentially a midlevel value system--even though it contains one of Intel's newer 2-GHz Pentium 4s. With 256MB of DDR memory, this Windows XP Professional system earned a respectable 108 on PC WorldBench 4--only three points below the average for 2.2-GHz systems.
The system also includes a 40GB hard drive, a 16X-48X DVD-ROM drive, a 24X/10X/40X CD-RW drive, a GeForce2 MX200 graphics card with 32MB of SDRAM, integrated sound, Boston Acoustics BA745 speakers, and Microsoft Works Suite 2002.
PC World evaluated a mid-priced system, but if you're looking for a Gateway for more--or less--money, there's likely a 500 series in your price range. Those on a tighter budget can examine the 500SE, which includes a 15-inch flat panel LCD, 1.6-GHz P4, 128MB DDR SDRAM, a 20GB hard drive, and a CD-RW drive for $999. On the pricier side is the 500XL, which includes an 18-inch flat panel LCD, a 2.4-GHz P4, 512MB of DDR SDRAM, a 120GB hard drive, and a DVD-ROM and CD-RW drive for $2799.
Notebooks Debut, Too
Gateway is also rolling out three new slick-looking series of notebooks: the 200, 450, and 600.
The Gateway 200 is an ultra-portable three-pound notebook that includes integrated WiFi. The base price is $1999 and includes a 933-MHz PIII M processor, 256MB of SDRAM, a 20GB hard drive, a 12.1-inch display, Windows XP (Home or Pro), plus a separate docking station that includes support for DVD, CD-RW, or DVD/CD-RW combo drives (total weight with the dock is just over 5 pounds).
Gateway is offering two new, more configurable notebooks, too. The Gateway 450 weighs in at 5.5 pounds and starts at $1499. Gateway offers the 450 in a variety of configurations, each featuring an Intel P4 processor and a host of hard drives, memory configurations, operating systems, and optical drives.
The Gateway 600 is a desktop replacement system that offers a wide range of configurations, including one with a huge 15.7-inch display. The base price is $1799, and configurations include P4 M chips, up to 512MB of DDR SDRAM, various hard drive sizes, and dual modular bays that can house two optical drives or two additional hard drives.