Hands-on with the Gateway One

Gateway is making a splash here at DigitalLife with its latest all-in-one PC, and after taking a closer look, it's easy to see why. The One clearly takes a page from the iMac's book with its sleek, glossy design and nearly featureless front panel, which is only a few inches wide at its thickest point. But I also admired its clever, "one-cord" approach, which should (hopefully) get copied throughout the desktop industry.

Let's get the specs out of the way first: you get an Intel Core Duo 2 Processor, a 19-inch dispay, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 graphics card (for the higher-end models), a total of seven USB ports, and hard drives ranging from 320GB (for the $1,300 model) to 500GB (for the $1,800 version). The pricier units also come with built-in analog and digital TV tuners, good for those who want to watch their shows through Windows Media Center.

Not bad, but the One's claim to fame is its design. The all-in-one flat panel doesn’t have a glass front like the iMac—it has a glossy plastic finish instead—but it still manages to look pretty slick, especially with the lone, backlit Gateway logo sitting along the bottom right. You get USB and FireWire ports on the left edge of the panel, along with a slot-loading DVD player on the right.

Gateway's also gone to great length to eliminate as many wires from the One as it can: both the mouse and keyboard are wireless, and a pair of "exciters" that vibrate behind the main panel's plastic surface supply the stereo sound (pretty decent, if shy of jaw-dropping). That said, the coolest element of the design is—strangely enough—the power brick, which come with its own Ethernet and USB ports, meaning that the One only has a single (albeit thick) cable coming out the back. Nice.

Expect the One to start shipping sometime in November.

Related:
Press release [Gateway]