Gateway E-3110 300

Gateway E-3110 300

With a stunning $241 price drop, the Gateway E-3110 300 captures a place in the Best Buy ranks. Powered by a Pentium II-300 CPU, this corporate midtower cranked out a PC WorldBench 98 score of 170, making it the fastest Best Buy this month. The E-3110 also comes with such corporate perks as an SMC EtherPower II 10/100 network interface card for an easy high-speed network connection, and DMI-2 client management software that lets LAN administrators access the machine without leaving their own desks.

At $2748, the E-3110 300 comes well configured, from its 64MB of SGRAM and 512K of secondary cache to its roomy 19-inch monitor. The Gateway EV900 monitor is more screen than you'll ever need for your average office tasks, but it's great for high-end graphics work. Gateway also throws in some tidbits that many corporate systems lack, such as an Ensoniq AudioPCI sound card and reasonably good-sounding Altec Lansing ACS41 speakers. The system doesn't come with a modem, but with its ethernet capabilities, you probably won't miss that feature much at all.

As with other Gateway computers, color-coded cables and ports make attaching peripherals easy. You don't need a screwdriver to remove the cover. Just twist off two large screws with your fingers and slide back the side panel to reveal the orderly interior. Gateway's support quality is above average, and its support policies are among the best; they include a three-year parts and labor warranty and tech support around the clock.

SUMMARY

PRO: Very fast, easy-to-remove chassis, bundled LAN adapter and client management software CON: Midtower case's curved top makes stacking external components difficult, slow CD-ROM drive for a Best Buy system