Gateway DT10G review

It's clearly an Acer motherboard and chassis - Gateway's parent company - but that's no bad thing. Although it's a tower chassis, a set of rubber feet on the side allow it to be laid down to suit differing desk setups. An extra button sits prominently on the front for one-touch system recovery via Acer's recovery software, and you can also make use of the installed Wave Embassy Trust Suite in conjunction with the integrated Trusted Platform Module to add to the level of security.

Legacy devices are supported by the serial port and PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors on the rear, and you get a total of ten USB ports and Gigabit Ethernet divided between front and rear panels. Both DVI and D-SUB ports mean old and new monitors will connect without the need for adapters, and an optional media card reader can be installed in the front panel.

The 300W power supply sits at the top of the case, and we were impressed to see the Gateway consuming a mere 33W when idle and 54W when benchmarking heavily. For a system with such processing power, that isn't to be sniffed at.

It comes with Vista Business 32-bit installed, along with various Gateway and Intel management suites and, strangely, a couple of CyberLink media utilities. The bundled keyboard and mouse are standard business fare - nothing spectacular, but durable and comfortable to use - and the overall feel of the PC is that it will withstand a few knocks in its lifetime.

The one stumbling block is the price. At £544, it's dearer than the A-Listed (but ageing) Lenovo ThinkCentre M58 - despite the latter's quad-core CPU, 500GB hard disk and innovative fold-out case mechanism. The one-year on-site warranty cover and two further years of replacement parts also seems a little light for a business PC.

Where the Gateway does have the clear edge, though, is in terms of longevity, as the scope for upgrading as the years pass is huge. Whether that's enough to swing the vote is down to your long-term purchasing strategy, but the DT10G is certainly good enough for serious consideration.

Author: David Bayon