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Size matters - but in the world of computers, big is no longer beautiful. The smaller you can make a computer, the more attractive it becomes.
Lately we've seen quite a few smaller form factor PCs come onto the market, though most of them make you pay extra for all the space you will save on your desk.
The Profile 2 is Gateway's response to the demand for compact, sleek computers. Unlike many of its competitors it has eschewed a shiny or colourful design, sticking with conventional ivory/beige, but the most striking difference between this and other compact computers is that there is no case whatsoever. Instead, the entire PC is housed inside the stand of the 15in flatpanel display.
You might think that in order to fit a computer into such a small space, Gateway would have made compromises when it came to components. But the Profile is powered by a 466MHz Celeron processor and has 64Mb of RAM which, although not a cutting-edge specification, is all you will need to run all but the most demanding applications. You also get a 13Gb hard disk drive (which will increase to 20Gb in the production model) - ample storage room for all your documents and data.
Graphics and sound are provided by onboard chips, to keep the size of computer down. This means you can forget 3D games, because the 4Mb Intel 810 graphics card simply isn't up to them. However, its 2D performance is fine, so all your other applications and non-3D games will look great on the machine's excellent TFT display.
Sound is another matter, though. The built-in speakers sound tinny and the onboard sound card is a budget model, so this isn't the ideal choice if you're looking for top-quality audio.
Instead of a CD-ROM, we're glad to see that you get a quad-speed DVD-ROM which comes with all the software you need to play DVD movies. While this is a welcome addition, and means you'll be able to use any of the new software that comes out in this format, a 15in flatpanel display isn't the best medium on which to watch movies.
However, this is a top-quality TFT display with a wide viewing angle and a bright, clear picture, so while 15in may not accommodate the latest widescreen movies, it's a good choice for other applications. The slimline screen, too, is part of the reason why this PC is so small.
Unlike the main part of the PC, the keyboard and mouse are full size and take up more room on your desk than the rest of the computer. Setting up this PC is simple because both these components plug in via USB sockets and there are a further three USB ports available to add on external devices. This is handy, because there is no way to upgrade internally; even our over-zealous Labs tester was unable to open up this PC despite undoing all the screws.
Performance, while not groundbreaking, was up to what we would expect from this level of specification, scoring 160 in our Sysmark test. Graphics were trickier to measure because we couldn't run our usual 3D test, but when we checked them out with Quake II, it managed 25.5fps at a resolution of 1024x768.
The processor has now been upgraded to a 500MHz Celeron, while the hard drive has been increased to a whopping 20Gb. This won't have a huge effect on the Profile's performance, but we would expect a hike of 10 to 15 points in the Sysmark score.
Please note that the system we reviewed was a prototype model.
Contact Gateway 0800 552000
See also:
All Desktops
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