By Rachel Chalmers
Gateway Inc has become the latest PC manufacturer to offer an inexpensive, all-in-one consumer PC. Unlike Apple Computer Inc and the subjects of its recent lawsuits, Sotec, eMachines, Daewoo and Future Power, however, Gateway has chosen not to offer its Astro in five fruity colors. By making the Astro in standard PC gray, the company may hope to evade the wrath of Apple’s intellectual property lawyers. It will be interesting to see whether consumers respond to the drab Astro with the same purchasing frenzy that the colorful iMac and its imitators evoked.
The Astro is priced at $799 and priced for simplicity of setup and ease of use. Unlike the iMac, it has a floppy drive, as well as a 4.3GB hard disk drive, 400MHz Intel Celeron processor, 3D graphics, CD-ROM, 15 monitor, stereo speakers and modem. It comes with a one-year limited warranty. Four Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports should make it easy to add peripherals: printers, scanners, joysticks, digital cameras and the Intel AnyPoint Home Network are already available.
