Gateway Solo 9100 S5-266XL

The 266MHz Mobile Pentium MMX, occasionally referred to as Tilamook, doesn't represent a huge leap forward over the 233MHz Pentium, but if you're after the current speed leader this is it. Because of the modular processor packaging there shouldn't be any need for a major redesign to adapt existing 233MHz and 200MHz Tilamook notebooks for the new silicon. At the moment 266MHz portables are scarce, but expect to see the numbers rise rapidly.

Since Gateway already has a 233MHz version of the Solo 9100, it's ideally positioned to be among the first wave of suppliers to adopt 266MHz CPUs. The 9100 series comes at the luxury end of the range, so you get a 14.1in XGA TFT screen, a 33.6K PC Card modem and software including Microsoft Office 97 SBE and Money 97.

The review sample was supplied with 48Mb of RAM, but this will be increased to 64Mb without affecting price by the time you read this. Since the machine uses Intel's 430TX chipset, this is fast SDRAM memory, and you also get an UltraDMA hard disk, adding to the overall performance.

In addition to the standard PC ports, the Solo has a 4Mbits/sec infrared serial interface and an IR-to-serial adaptor that can be used to provide IR file transfer capabilities on your desktop PC. The Gateway also has NTSC/PAL composite video ports, allowing video from a VCR or camcorder to be displayed on screen or the use of a TV as output, which is ideal for presentations.

At 3.8kg the Solo is on the heavy side, but in one respect at least it justifies the additional weight. Instead of the usual modular arrangement where the floppy and CD-ROM drives can't be fitted internally simultaneously, the Gateway has a combo unit which sandwiches together a floppy drive and an eight to 20-speed Toshiba CD-ROM in a single module. It's a more elegant solution than connecting the floppy drive externally - assuming you can - and, as an approach, will hopefully be more widely used with time. The drive bay can alternatively house an optional second battery pack or, to lighten your load, it can be left empty and closed with the supplied blanking plate.

Audio is provided by a 16-bit Yamaha OPL3-SAx sound chip and stereo speakers in the palmrest. These are good in terms of quality and volume, with less harshness in the upper range than many notebooks.

The Solo benefits from a sensible keyboard layout with large modifier keys, a large key and no non-standard function doubling. The action is distinct and there are tilt feet at the back of the case to improve the typing angle when the machine is on a flat surface.

Few notebook screens come much bigger than the 14.1in panel fitted to this machine. The screen can handle 1,024 x 768 resolution in 24-bit colour - an option made available by the 4Mb of RAM supplied with the Chips & Technologies 65555 graphics controller. The large diagonal screen area coupled with the extreme clarity of TFT displays make even small text readable. This is a screen delivers in all-day office use.

Although you still need to access the BIOS setup during the boot to change the power management timers, you can switch between settings using key combinations and a pop-up mini-menu. Battery life is impressive for a machine of this class, with a realistic running time of three and a half hours with minimal use of the drives and audio.

Thanks to the combination of the fast CPU, SDRAM memory, UltraDMA hard disk and the TX chipset, the Solo also delivers when it comes to system speed. It's the fastest notebook yet; an almost perfect power portable.

Author: Dominic Bucknall