Gateway Bows New Notebooks

Gateway today introduced the new Solo 5300 and the Solo 1150 notebooks. The Gateway Solo 5300 notebook is a thin and lightweight portable featuring a range of high-performance technologies and configuration options. The Gateway Solo 1150 incorporates all the essential features necessary to work effectively on the road or in the home. With a wide range of price points and technologies, both systems are flexible enough to meet the requirements of business, government, education and consumer clients.
With a variety of configuration options and prices ranging from $1,499 to $2,499, the Solo 5300 is a perfect solution for mobile professionals, IT managers, first-time notebook buyers, and everyone in between. Gateway Solo 1150, starting at $1,199, is designed to meet the needs of the individual, home-office, student, or family looking for a basic computing system with traditional Gateway value.

"As people require more powerful and flexible portable computing options, Gateway meets their needs with solutions that combine technology with functionality and style," said Mike Stinson, director of Gateway product marketing. "Gateway has extended the flexibility and bandwidth of the Solo line of notebooks giving clients additional options for business and consumer uses."


Solo 5300 -- Highly Configurable to Meet a Variety of Business and Consumer Applications
The Solo 5300 is designed to support a variety of user applications at the office, at home or on the road. Weighing just 4.9 pounds with the weight saver and measuring less than 1.4-inches thin, the Solo 5300 is the perfect companion for field service and sales representatives who require a small, lightweight notebook. Its compact and rugged design also is ideal for high school and college students who lead a highly mobile academic lifestyle.

Offering a range of price and configuration options, small businesses can easily custom design a cost-effective general purpose system for handling basic word processing, graphic design, spreadsheet and multimedia applications. Medium to large businesses will appreciate the systems' enterprise-class features, including leading manageability software and platform stability through the use of common components.

A variety of high-performance options, including technologies most important for supporting high-speed Internet use and demanding multimedia applications such as games, digital imaging and streaming video and audio make the Solo 5300 ideal for power-hungry consumers. It's also a perfect solution for managing home finances and e-mail as well as word processing and educational software.

Delivering desktop performance in a cost-efficient modular portable design, the Solo 5300 offers a choice of 12.1-inch or 14-inch displays and a variety of Intel processors, including the Intel Celeron 550MHz and 600MHz and the Intel Pentium III 650MHz, 700MHz and 750MHz with battery-saving SpeedStep technology. The Solo 5300 can be configured with 6GB, 10GB or 20GB Ultra ATA hard drives, and comes standard with 32MB of SDRAM, is expandable to 512MB (256K memory module available in Q4). The Solo 5300's modular two-spindle bay design supports a wide range of options including a CD-ROM, a floppy disk drive, a DVD player, an LS-120 drive, a second battery, a second hard disk, or a CD-RW drive (CD-RW available in Q4).

The Solo 5300 provides a powerful combination of technologies ideal for multimedia applications. Featuring state-of-the-art graphics performance, the notebook includes 2X AGP graphics with integrated 8MB SGRAM to support high-performance graphics- and computing-intensive applications commonly used by technical professionals and gaming enthusiasts. Additional support for multimedia applications includes an audio chipset that supports SoundBlaster Pro, MIDI and Windows Sound System. The system also features an intervideo DVD/MPEG-2 software decoder with a NTSC/PAL video out port for advanced video applications such as Internet streaming video and movies on DVD.

Engineered for investment protection and to lower the total cost of ownership, the Solo 5300 uses common motherboard and chipset components, ensuring compatibility across the line so that IT managers need only qualify one model for all current and future configurations. This platform stability enables corporate clients to standardize on the notebook, reducing qualification time and ongoing support expenses.

The Solo 5300 offers business users advanced system monitoring and management capabilities. Its Wake-on-LAN technology enables systems administrators to remotely perform routine maintenance procedures on the 5300 during non-working hours. The 5300 also features enhanced system manageability including SM BIOS support for asset tagging and Intel LANDesk Client Manager for remote and local system monitoring, updating and maintenance.

The 5300 features a single software download and a software service pack strategy which freezes software upgrades and patches for 90 days, beginning on October 1. Business users will be sent software upgrades in a single pack, enabling system administrators to better manage their company's notebook systems.


Solo 1150 -- The Ultimate balance between affordability and performance
The Solo 1150 incorporates all the essential features necessary to work effectively on the road or in the home. An Intel Celeron 550MHz processor provides plenty of power for small businesses, students or home applications, such as educational titles, e-mail and Internet access. The Solo 1150CL's convenient all-in-one design includes a V.90 modem and integrated CD-ROM and floppy drive, minimizing the need for extra peripheral components. The Solo 1150 has a unique case design, with numerous curves and rubber texture at key touch points.

Setting a new standard in the industry for ease-of-use legacy free mobile computing, the Solo 1150 notebook PC makes adding USB peripheral devices easy, by replacing serial and parallel port connectors with one standardized plug and port combination. The Solo 1150's input/output port consists of two USB ports, VGA Port and microphone and headphone jack. One PCMCIA Type II/III slot is included for external expansion needs.

Available in two configurations and starting at $1,199, the Solo 1150CS features a 500MHz Intel Celeron processor, 32 MB of SDRAM, 5GB hard drive CD-ROM, and a DSTN 12.1-inch display. The Solo 1150CL features an Intel Celeron 550MHz processor, 64MB SDRAM, 6GB hard drive, CD-ROM and a 12.1-inch TFT display for $1,399.

Service and Support
In addition to award-winning tech support, Gateway also supports its mobile customers with an optional, fee-based Mobile Access service, the industry's only comprehensive nationwide mobile computing support package integrating phone, Internet, and local support through service centers located in most of the 297 Gateway Country stores. The program's unique, multifaceted portable loaner program sets new standards in mobile support, offering quick access to a mobile computer in the event theirs needs repairs. In addition, the program features data backup via the Internet from any PC with an Internet connection, data retrieval via the Internet, priority technical support, 24/7 application support, national depot express service and LCD replacement coverage.

About Gateway's Award-Winning Line of Solo Notebooks
The Solo 5300 and Solo 1150 enhance the award-winning Solo line of notebooks, that meet the diverse needs of Gateway's clients. The Solo 9300 features the industry's largest display at 15.7-inches, the latest Intel Pentium III SpeedStep processors, and is the ultimate desktop-replacement notebook for clients who want it all in their portable PC. Just one-inch thin and weighing approximately 3.5 pounds, The Solo 3300 combines industry-leading expansion with powerful features, bringing outstanding value and functionality to business customers.

Pricing and Availability
The Gateway Solo 5300 and Solo 1150 are available immediately. For more information about Gateway computers call 1-800-846-2106, visit the company's Web site at www.gateway.com, or visit one of the 297 Gateway Country stores.

Source: Gateway