Big Picture Big Sound

Gateway Launches One PC to Rule Them All

By Chris Boylan

Kicking off the Digital Life show in New York this year, Gateway held a press conference to announce their stylish new "One" - an integrated PC with 19-inch widescreen LCD TV. The One is intended to simplify the look and operation of a computer and hopefully go where PCs don't normally go, such as in a kitchen or bedroom.

The unit uses NXT SoundVu technology to turn the entire flat surface below the screen into radiant flat panel speakers, for full sound without visible grilles or separate boxes. The One certainly looks different from most PCs, comprised of aluminum, glass, acrylic and black plastic with just a single cable coming out the back. This cable runs to a "smart" power supply, which includes an ethernet port, USB ports as well as digital audio outputs for use with a separate audio receiver or amplifier. Gateway thinks it's unlikely the ethernet port will be needed, as the One included built-in Wi-Fi support for 802.11a, b, g and n protocols, with three integrated antennas to ensure a solid high-speed connection to virtually any in-home wireless network.

gateway-one.jpg
The One from Gateway gives PCs a whole new look.

The main unit also includes an integrated 5-slot memory card reader, USB ports, microphone and headphone jacks discretely on the side as well as one USB port at the top for attachment of the (included) 1.3 megapixel webcam. The One comes in three configurations from $1299 (available at Best Buy only) for the basic version to $1799 for the fully loaded version with step-up video card and graphics processor, as well as NTSC/ATSC television tuner.

All models feature a Intel 2 Core Duo processor with GM965 chip set, at least 2 GB of RAM (user-upgradeable to 4 GB), minimum of 320 GB HDD (two slots, user-upradeable), a slot-loading Super-Multi DVDRW drive (reads writes most CD and DVD formats). The unit also comes standard with wireless keyboard, mouse and compact Windows Media Center IR remote. All One models come with Windows Vista Home Premium Edition as the standard operating system.

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Although the One won't be shipping until November, Gateway had plenty of pretty boxes on display at the press event to launch the new PC platform.



gateway-one-kitchen.jpg
A computer in a kitchen? Well, maybe just ONE.

In addition to the obvious visual comparisons to the iMac, the One's overall design is meant to be extremely user-friendly, with tool-less upgradeability. Need more hard drive space? Simply pop open the back and slide in a 3.5-inch hard drive in the available second port. Want to replace the DVD drive with Blu-ray Disc or HD-DVD? Simply slide out the DVD drive and slide in the new drive, wait for Vista to recognize the new drive and you're done.

The One is expected to be in stores and online in November of this year.

Available Configurations

Gateway One Models

ZX190

(direct)

GZ7108

(retail)

GZ7220

(retail)

Price

$1,499.99

$1,299.99

$1,799.99

Operating System

Windows Vista™ Home Premium

Windows Vista™ Home Premium

Windows Vista™ Home Premium

Processor

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5250 (1.50GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 667MHz FSB)

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5250 (1.50GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 667MHz FSB)

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 667MHz FSB)

Chipset

Intel GM965

Intel GM965

Intel GM965

Memory

2048MB DDR2 667MHz (user upgradeable to total of 4GB on SO-DIMM)

2048MB DDR2 667MHz (1024 x 2)

3072MB DDR2 (2048x1 + 1024x1)

Hard drive

400GB Serial ATA II (8MB Cache); (user upgradeable to total of two HDDs)

320GB SATA II (8MB Cache)

500GB SATA II (16 MB Cache)

Audio

NXT SoundVu technology. Built-in stereo audio. Internal digital amplifier. Headphone/ mic via 3.5-mm jacks; digital/optical SPDIF jacks in power module

NXT SoundVu technology. Built-in stereo audio. Internal digital amplifier. Headphone/ mic via 3.5-mm jacks; digital/optical SPDIF jacks in power module

NXT SoundVu technology. Built-in stereo audio. Internal digital amplifier. Headphone/ mic via 3.5-mm jacks; digital/optical SPDIF jacks in power module

Speakers

Integrated with front acrylic panel

Integrated into front acrylic panel

Integrated into front acrylic panel

Media reader

5 in 1 memory card reader: SD, MMC, Memorystick™, Memorystick Pro™ and xD Picture Card™

5 in 1 memory card reader: SD, MMC, Memorystick™, Memorystick Pro™ and xD Picture Card™

5 in 1 memory card reader: SD, MMC, Memorystick™, Memorystick Pro™ and xD Picture Card™

Optical drive

Slot-loading super-multi ODD (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW)

Slot-loading super-multi ODD (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW)

Slot-loading super-multi ODD (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW)

Expansion slots

(7) USB 2.0

(1) 1394a FireWire

(1) Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 LAN

(7) USB 2.0

(1) 1394a FireWire

(1) Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 LAN

(7) USB 2.0

(1) 1394a FireWire

(1) Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 LAN

Display

Built-in 19-inch widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD. 1440 x 900, 16.2 million colors; 850: contrast radio; <8ms response time

Built-in 19-inch widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD. 1440 x 900, 16.2 million colors; 850: contrast radio; <8ms response time

Built-in 19-inch widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD. 1440 x 900, 16.2 million colors; 850: contrast radio; <8ms response time

Graphics & video

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT (256MB)

Intel GMA X3100

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT (256MB)

Communi-cations

Gigabit wired Ethernet.

Built-in Dual Band 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless LAN (draft-n)

Gigabit wired Ethernet.

Built-in Dual Band 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless LAN (draft-n)

Gigabit wired Ethernet.

Built-in Dual Band 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless LAN (draft-n)

Other

1.3 Megapixels WebCam

1.3 Megapixels WebCam

1.3 Megapixels WebCam & USB NTSC/ATSC TV tuner

What did you think?

View all articles by Chris Boylan
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