The new Gateway Solo 3300 is a high performance ultra thin notebook. Some of the standard features that are incorporated into this notebook include a Pentium III 500MHz processor, 64MB of RAM (upgradable to 256MB) and a 6GB hard disk drive.
This is one of the thinnest and lightest Gateway portables (1.7kg light and 25.7mm thin) we have seen. The Solo 3300 saves on space and weight by having an external DVD and 1.44MB floppy disk drive. Having to plug in an external drive may be a deterent for some. For the most part the Solo 3300 is the kind of notebook you will take with you when you really don't want to be carrying any extra weight and you won't be making any use out of the DVD or floppy drive.
The Solo 3300 definitely stands out from the crowd. It is finished in a metallic blue colour, and even the keyboard's dark-grey keys had a subdued sparkle about them. The Solo 3300 has a robust feel, yet pressing the keyboard surround near the middle of the chassis made the base flex only a little. The tactile feedback of the keyboard and key travel were both excellent and there was a reasonable area provided for your palms to rest on.
The Solo 3300 comes with a 12.1in LCD panel that has a maximum LCD resolution of 800 x 600. Support behind the display was also very good, with only minimal rippling noticeable when pressure was exerted behind the panel. You will find all the standard ports as well as a docking port and an external drive connector. A single mono speaker is also located on the left side of the notebook. The Solo 3300 also features an integrated 3Com 10/100 network adaptor andActionTech 56K V.90 modem. The 2.5MB NeoMagic graphics accelerator provided a modest result in WinBench Business Graphics (124). In Winstone the Solo 3300 reached 20.4, in WinBench (CPUMark), the Solo scored 46.6, and in (FPUMark), 2660.
The Solo 3300 comes standard with either MS Windows 98 SE or Windows 2000 as well as Microsoft WorksSuite 2000. Gateway Solo 3300
Price: AU$4499
Company: Gateway
Ph: 1800 500 916; Fax: 02 9966 1754
Rating: 4 Star
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