Indecisive notebook shoppers, let go of your mouse and look no further.
The new Solo 5300xl Deluxe from Gateway delivers the perfect compromise
between easy-on-the-shoulders portability and muscular desktop-replacement
power.
For an almost-reasonable AU$4,999, Gateway packs a lot of machine into a sleek package that weighs only 2.49 kgs. This 750MHz Pentium III powerhouse delivers nimble performance and maximum functionality, thanks to its large hard drive, hot-swappable drive bay, and gorgeous display. Together, these top-notch components should please all but the most demanding users.
Trimmed in black and finished off with the unmistakable Gateway cow-cube logo, the Solo 5300xl Deluxe is a no-nonsense, elegantly designed unit. Look under the hood, and you'll find a potent SpeedStep-enabled engine with 128MB of system RAM and 8MB of graphics memory, enough to crunch all the software apps you're apt to use. Got a lot of data to store? The 20GB hard drive should prove spacious enough.
The 5300xl Deluxe is nothing if not versatile. It's built around a multifunction bay that accepts both the included modular floppy and 8x DVD drives; the bay also can accommodate an additional hard drive or optional second battery for those really long hauls. This modularity is one of the Solo's winning features. In fact, almost every internal device -- including the modem, storage and multimedia drives, RAM, and battery -- can be replaced or upgraded.
Opening the 5300xl Deluxe reveals a vivid 14.1-inch TFT display and a comfortable keyboard, encased in a jet-black interior. The beautiful display supports a crisp 1,024 x 768 XGA resolution, which is bright enough to prompt passersby to steal a quick second look. A DVD title we played using the preinstalled WinDVD software on the 8x DVD drive showed crystal-clear.
The full-size keyboard won't disappoint even the fastest of typists: Its deep-set keys are well-positioned and comfortable. The touch-pad pointing device is similarly responsive and well-designed.
The 5300xl Deluxe's built-in speakers, as with most notebooks', lacked the oomph of real bass. If you travel with your tunes, you might want to use the headphone input instead.
The Solo 5300xl Deluxe stood up quite well to a rigorous bout of testing. Both its Business Winstone 99 score of 24.9 and its 3D WinMark 2000 result of 45.2 at 640 x 480 resolution were on par with similarly configured systems we've seen. You may be disappointed if you want to use this machine for hard-core gaming, however. Informal testing with a Quake III demo produced, at best, a frame rate of 22 frames per second. The game was a bit choppy, although still playable.
But the system's surprisingly lengthy battery life helped overcome its 3D-graphics anemia. We were able to squeeze 3 hours and 39 minutes of juice out of the 5300xl Deluxe's lithium-ion battery during BatteryMark 4.0 test runs.
To connect to the outside world, the notebook is outfitted with the usual array of standard ports. In addition to the dual PC Card slots, you'll find USB, serial, parallel, S-Video-out, monitor, and PS/2 connectors (one of each). Two USB ports, which we've seen lately on some new notebooks, would have been nice. Internet access is within reach, thanks to the internal 56Kbps modem.
If you need more connectivity than that, Gateway sells an add-on port replicator. This AU$189 option adds serial, parallel, joystick, monitor, TV-in, TV-out, S-Video-out, two USB, and two PS/2 connections, providing a convenient way to connect the Solo to a desktop monitor, a keyboard, and printers.
Another mark in Gateway's favour is the bundled software package. Microsoft's Windows Me operating system comes preinstalled, along with the Microsoft Works productivity suite of applications, including Word, Money, and Excel 2000. You'll also find Norton AntiVirus software.
Gateway offers a one-year parts and return to base warranty, which is a bit brief. (An upgrade to three years parts and three years collect and return will cost you an additional AU$400.).
The Gateway Solo 5300xl Deluxe proves that the term "lightweight desktop replacement" isn't an oxymoron. Though AU$4,999 certainly isn't cheap, this notebook delivers adequate performance for its class, a great display, long battery life, and convenient swappable drives.
Gateway Solo 5300xl Deluxe
Company: Gateway
Ph: 1300 301 594; Fax: 1300 300 388
Price: AU$4,999.
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