Gateway G6-300b

Gateway G6-300b

SUMMARY

PRO: Great price and good performance CON: No DVD-ROM drive included

Gateway's budget champion, the G6-300b, stays in the number one spot for the second month in a row. The $1995 midtower is faster than all the other Windows 95 systems on the budget chart (except for the number 15 ProGen Polaris PII-350). It comes with a spacious 8.4GB hard drive, and its price falls $130 this month. Unlike its slower sibling, the $1909 GP6-266b, it doesn't have a DVD-ROM drive. But we still think the G6-300b is the better value, thanks largely to its excellent performance and high-quality components.

In our PC WorldBench 98 tests, the G6-300b scored an impressive 173--fastest in its CPU class. And because it includes a 13X­32X CD-ROM drive rather than a DVD-ROM one, you save about $200. The STB Velocity 128 graphics adapter includes a TV-out port, and the 17-inch EV700 monitor provides decent graphics at resolutions up to 1024 by 768. The monitor's on-screen display selection dial is user-friendly and tucks behind a drop-down door when not in use.

The interior of the G6-300b's curvaceous case has lots of room for upgrades: two PCI slots, an ISA slot, and a combination PCI/ISA slot. But you'll need to remove the existing hard disk temporarily if you want to add a second. There's plenty of room to maneuver if you plan to install an internal backup device, such as an Iomega Zip or CD-Recordable drive.

Gateway bundles Microsoft's Office 97 Small Business Edition, Info Highway, and Bookshelf 98 reference software with the PC. New owners also receive a free one-month subscription to the Gateway.net Internet service. Our readers rate the reliability of Gateway PCs as outstanding. In our anonymous calls, support personnel answered the 24-hour toll-free lines quickly and provided accurate and courteous help. Gateway's warranty of three years on both parts and labor is above average.