Putting a 1GHz Mobile Pentium III chip in a notebook isn't overkill--it's the key to creating a portable that you never have to wait for. Gateway's Solo 9500 excels in almost every performance category.
Sporting not only a blazingly fast CPU but also 133MHz RAM, a speedy hard disk, and dazzling 3D graphics. Its huge 15.7-inch LCD is great for showing off this portable powerhouse, so performance fanatics will probably forgive the mediocre sound volume and pedestrian case design.
You might ask why anyone would want a gigahertz chip in a notebook computer. Gateway's Solo 9500 is the first to answer: Imagine a notebook that boots from power up to the Windows desktop in less than 20 seconds--faster than many notebooks return from suspend mode. Equipped with top-notch components across the board, the Solo 9500 lets you hit the road with more power than many desktop PCs.
At the heart of the Solo 9500 is Intel's speedy 1GHz Mobile Pentium III processor. An additional speed boost comes from the notebook's use of the i815 chip set and 133MHz memory. This combination results in unprecedented responsiveness. Even when throttled down in power-saving SpeedStep mode, the CPU still runs at a perky 700Mhz. Despite this bleeding-edge performance, road life is still good, with a single battery providing over 3 hours of power. For long flights or trips into the field, you can add an additional battery in the drive bay.
Along with the fastest notebook CPU we've yet tested, the Solo 9500 also sports the biggest screen. Although the 15.7-inch TFT display adds just over a half inch over earlier large screens, the extra real estate pays off in readability when running at the LCD's maximum 1,280 x 1,024 resolution. It's also great for showing off the power of the notebook's ATI Mobility M4 graphics processor. Although it's not as fast as nVidia's GeForce2 Go chip, it's still speedy enough to play today's most demanding games without compromise. For more serious uses, a composite output lets you send presentations to a television or other video device.
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