Gateway unveiled a whole new product line that includes two Gateway-branded netbooks and a pair of redesigned mainstream laptops, the EC and ID58.
Along with Acer's product announcements last night, Gateway unveiled a whole new product line that includes two Gateway-branded netbooks and a pair of redesigned mainstream laptops. Acer acquired Gateway in 2008, and this is the first time that the two are unveiling an arsenal of products at the same time. As you will see, their product lines are more closely aligned with each other than ever before.
The Acer Aspire One (10-inch) claims to be the best-selling netbook in the United States, so it was only a matter of time before Gateway jumped on board. The LT series is Gateway's first entry into the netbook space. The LT20 is a 10.1-inch netbook, which is basically a rebadged version of the One (10-inch). The LT series is available in red or black, and the automotive-inspired top bears a strong resemblance to the one on the Gateway MD7801u. It suffers from similar setbacks, though, such as a small 89 percent keyboard and an overly resistant touchpad. Otherwise, it runs Intel Atom parts and will be competitively priced like the Acer Aspire One.
Another new product in the LT series is the LT30, an 11.6-inch netbook, which, interestingly enough, is similar to the 11.6-inch Aspire One netbook Acer launched on the same night. The LT30 features industry firsts: an 11.6-inch widescreen and a full-size keyboard. Other notable features include a multitouch touchpad, Wi-Fi, optional Bluetooth, optional 3G, and VGA-Out.
The Gateway EC, a new mainstream laptop, is very much alike the Aspire Timeline series. It, too, boasts that it can achieve up to 8 hours of battery life through the combined use of a low voltage processor and an LED screen. Instead of using an SSD drive, though, the EC series is the first Gateway-branded laptop to use switchable graphics. As a result, it can switch to an integrated chipset and power down the faster, ATI graphics chipset when it's not in use, for better battery life. The EC laptop measures just an inch thick and claims to be over a pound lighter than its competitors. Its features include a 500GB hard drive and HDMI-Out, but no internal optical drive.
The Gateway ID58 has an LED-backlit, 15.6-inch widescreen. In design, the glossy cover and matte interior are a departure from its current generation mainstream laptops. It comes in either "midnight blue" or "night-sky black,", and offers a metallic touchpad and keyboard. Adjacent to the keyboard is a numeric keypad. Other features include a 320GB hard drive, HDMI-Out, and a slot-loading DVD burner. For parts, the ID58 runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 and 4GB of memory.
If Gateway's current line of mainstream laptops is any indication, none of these new laptops will cost more than $1,000; the two netbooks should easily dip below $500.
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