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Gateway Updates All-in-One PC

Profile 2 comes with 15-inch LCD display and a price tag that starts at $1799.

By Stan Miastkowski, PCWorld   

In fact, it has arrived twice, at least at Gateway, whose second-generation Profile 2 ships next Monday.

Unlike competitors such as the Compaq iPaq that target beginning users, Gateway is aiming the Profile 2 at fairly sophisticated home and small office users with substantial computing needs. With prices starting at $1799, the Profile 2 is looking for buyers with bigger budgets--and perhaps a weakness for snob appeal. The Profile 2 "walks the thin line between technology and style," declares a company spokesperson.

The Profile 2 definitely isn't your parents' desktop PC. The compact all-in-one design features a small-footprint (12 inch by 9.5 inch) triangular base topped by a 15-inch diagonal flat-panel LCD screen that displays 1024 by 768 pixels. The entire unit weighs 22 pounds.

There are no parallel, serial, keyboard, or mouse ports on the Profile 2, and no expansion slots for PCI or ISA add-in boards. All standard connections are made using four Universal Serial Bus ports.

But the system does provide three other external connectors: An RJ-45 for the unit's built-in 10MB-per-second network; an RJ-11 jack for the built-in 56K modem; and a second RJ-11 HPNA jack for use with the built-in Intel AnyPoint Home Networking, which allows PCs to share files, printers, and a single Internet connection using a home or office's existing telephone wiring.

A floppy disk drive is standard, and speakers are built into the Profile 2 base.

The Profile 2 will be initially available in two configurations. The $1799 Profile 2cs includes an Intel Celeron 433, 64MB of memory, a 6.8GB hard drive, and a 24X CD-ROM. The $1999 Profile 2cx sports a Celeron 500, 64MB of memory, a 20GB hard drive, and a 6X DVD-ROM drive.

All models come with Windows 98 and Microsoft Works Suite 99. A model with Windows 2000 will be available when that operating system ships, according to the company. Just like those boring old-fashioned PCs, the Profile 2 comes with a one-year warranty for parts and labor, and free software support for 90 days.