Product Reviews

Gateway's 2500 series Solo notebooks are solidly mainstream in price, but the features they incorporate are still fairly fresh from the high-end of the market. The sample featured here is based on a 233MHz Pentium II mobile processor, an SVGA resolution active-matrix screen, 32Mb of SDRAM memory and a 3.2Gb UltraDMA hard disk. Throw in the mobile 440BX motherboard chipset, and £1,699 seems very reasonable, all things considered.

The new Solo differs from its predecessors by rejecting a multipurpose drive bay in favour of permanently mounting a slimline 20-speed CD-ROM and a floppy drive unit within the case, saving you from carrying the spare drive around with you. You can order the machine with an LS-120 120Mb superfloppy option in place of the floppy drive or plump for a DVD-ROM instead of a CD-ROM. The 3.2Gb hard disk, which is fully encased to prevent static damage can be removed by taking out a single small screw in the base. This kind of design often increases the machine's thickness and weight but, although the Solo is 2in thick, it only weighs 3.3kg, which is lighter than many modular notebooks. This isn't a result of unduly thin major mouldings having been used in the construction. The build was up to Gateway's usual standards and the machine ought to survive if looked after properly.

Now we're in the age of Windows 98, the Solo's pair of USB ports will be better supported, and even the 4Mbits/sec infrared port on the back panel might see some use. If you want to give presentations you can use the composite video-out port to link up to a TV and you can get video in via the lower of the two PC Card slots which supports Zoomed Video. Both slots also support the PC Card 32 standard formerly known as CardBus, which is good news if you fancy a Fast Ethernet connection via a PC Card

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Users wanting a more formal and convenient interface with office peripherals can choose between a full docking station option with ISA and PCI expansion and drive bays, or a cheaper port replicator which gives you a couple of extra PC Card slots as well as a one-shot connection with the wider world.

The Solo is kitted out with what looks like the usual two-button mouse pad, but this turned out to be an updated version with a few new tricks. My favourite was its ability to interpret a two-fingered tap as a right-mouse click, but it can also mimic the IntelliMouse-style scroll wheel if you run your fingertip up and down the right edge and, if you drag your finger to the edge of the pad, motion continues until you lift your fingertip.

The keyboard is fairly typical, with wide, flat keys, a quiet, light action and a modest pop of tactile feedback as the keys trigger. The keytops wobble a bit, but the reasonably large Enter key and spacebar are a plus and overall this is a pleasant keyboard to use. The one flaw is the function-doubling of the Home and End keys with PgUp and PgDn.

Sound quality from the stereo speakers in the handrest was fair but not exceptional. Music playback came through with adequate body and volume but no excessive harshness.

The NeoMagic MagicGraph 128XD graphics controller has 2Mb of memory, and this version of the machine has a 12.1in SVGA TFT screen which can run in 24-bit colour. The screen is fine, assuming that you don't insist on XGA resolution, and it's clearly cheaper than a big XGA panel.

You can turn power management on and off, check on battery charge and trigger standby and suspend modes using on-screen pop-ups or keyboard combinations. If you want to change the way the machine uses power, however, you need to access the BIOS setup during the boot process. The lithium ion battery should last for up to three hours if you don't push the machine too hard.

The performance of the Solo 2500 belies its price and a specification that almost seems modest in comparison to some notebooks currently hitting the market. While the speed won't satisfy serious power addicts, it's more than enough for general office applications. As a whole, there's a lot to recommend. Some might prefer a lower specification in order to get an XGA screen at a similar price but, as a solid all-rounder, the Solo 2500 is a good bet.