ForbesOnTech

Touch Computing Steam Roller Approaches--Microsoft says Touch Drivers to be in Windows 7

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer unveiled the iPhone-like touch-screen feature at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference, calling it "just the smallest snippet" of the Windows 7 operating system slated for release in late 2009.more  here

 

When it comes to not quite nascent interface technologies, touch is something that’s overdue in mainstream computing. So far it’s been limited to convertible notebooks like those made by Acer\Gateway, Fujutsu, HP/Compaq, Lenovo, Toshiba and others. And on Palm handelds and those that run the Windows mobile operating system as well as all-in-one desktop computers ;like the HP TouchSmart IQ line.

 

Incorporating touch drivers in Windows could create hockey stick like growth in convertible notebooks and desktop computers alike. With current screen pricing, the price delta associated with digitizer screens could make touch-computing a mainstay feature. Touch computing interface technology could also drive innovation among software developers, making complex or feature-laden applications like image editing software much easier to use and perhaps cutting down on expensive customer service calls from users anxious to master such programs.

 

Touch computing (along with voice interface) is a technology that’s been percolating at Microsoft since the late Eighties. It’s about time that it came out of the shadows of research and development and was exposed to the bright light of mainstream personal computing. —Jim Forbes 05/28/2008.

 

 

Touch Computing Ready to Be Mainstreamed

    For the last 16 months, I've been deeply immersed and influenced by the concept of touch computing as a big part of my everyday computing experience.

I made "touch computing" part of my life in a big way when I began using a ThinkPad X41 Convertible portable and then stayed with it when I upgraded to a ThinkPad X60 -- which is among the finest portables ever made.

    A big part of my experience with touch computing has to do with the fact that in mid-life I became handicapped and lost fine motor control in my dominant left hand. In other words, at the age of 52 a stroke kicked my ass and ended a great career in journalism. That damn stroke closed one door but opened another. After moping around for more months than I care remember, I found my interest in touch interface technology and pen-computing was heightened.This happened because I was using a Palm Treo as a cellphone. I distinctly remember the day when the light bulb turned on. I had pulled over to the side of the road to take a phone call and needed to note a phone number. I my pulled out my pen stylus and wrote the number down on my Treo's notes screen. I then cut and pasted the information into my appointments file and continued on to a local college where I was going to speak to some fourth-year marketing students.

     That was my Aha! moment. I realized that although it was difficult to read my writing, I could use touch computing to enter data on my screen and then cu about t and paste that information into an appropriate program. And the company that enabled initial he discovery was Palm, the grandfather of touch/stylus-based computing.

     Portable computing technology and my interest in touch-based computing merged at roughly the same time. Lenovo let me review an X41 tablet computer and I was soon completely immersed in tablet computing, relying more and more on entering manipulating data using a stylus or even my finger and touching my notebook's digitizer screen.

     All that of that is to be expected from touch interfaces but I soon discovered another advantage that dovetailed with my life but more importantly helped me improve a skill lost to a stroke --but which as a reporter/writer I view as a defining skill that defines me-- the physical act of writing. Every morning for the first three years post stroke. I would practice writing on notepads designed for elementary school children. So, when I unpacked my first convertible notebook and booted it up, I found myself in a well designed application that helped train my notebook to recognize my hand writing.

     Voila! The bond between me and my pen-based, touch interface notebook  became cement strong. And, like good cement,this bond has become stronger over the last year and a half.

     My handwriting still sucks, and I've come to accept that I'll have this disability for the remainder of my life. but touch computing has become so important to me, that I think it should be a part of desktop computing as well. Enter the HP Touch Smart IQ all-in-one desktop. Paired with a fully functional all-in-one Touch computing is so compelling that my 90 year old mother, now a resident of my household is playing solitaire, after avoiding computers for the last 20 years.

     Touch computing is about to go mainstream, a leap that's long overdue. So far, this key interface technology has been limited to Apple, Compaq, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard, Lenovo and Palm and Toshiba.  I suspect that is about to change in the immediate future as Microsoft supercharges its R&D efforts into mainstream computing and other PC makers increase the bond between consumers and their brands with touch computing.

     And all of this comes at a time when computing technology is increasing rapidly and the price of such technology (including digitizer screens and memory) is plummeting. It's the beginning of a new era in personal computing and I'm glad I made it to the point where personal computing is indeed "personal"-- Jim Forbes 05/21/2008.

 

New Trim Gateway T1628, Great Functionality at an Affordable Price

My idea of a good basic notebook computer is one that’s small enough to be carried like a textbook, has at least 2.5 hours of battery life, a fast hard disk with sufficient space for my music and video files, and most of all a screen that puts out enough light to be used in dimly settings like dorm rooms, libraries and even outdoors.  Gateway’s new T-1628, which uses Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system nails my qualifications and doesn’t cost and arm and a leg.

            This trim 5.5-pound notebook is only 1.3 inches at its tallest point and is 2.95 inches wide by 9.75 inches deep. I like the appearance of its silvery finish on its display case as well as its overall fit and finish. I can use this keyboard tirelessly for hours. I also like the track pad controller used on this system, which supports rapid vertical scrolling.

The performance of the Gateway T-1628 notebook is based on a solid configuration: A 2.0 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile processor, and an ATI Radeon x 1270 video controller (with 256MB of memory) drives a WXGA14.1-inch TFT screen that delivers very crisp displays. The 250GB hard disk drive turns at 5400 rpm and is fast enough to enhance this system’s performance. Also, this system comes with 3GB of memory (but is expandable to 4GB).

There’s no scrimping on expansion ports on this notebook. It has three USB 2,9 ports, a 5-in-1 card reader, an external VGA port, an RJ45 Ethernet connector and audio jacks. The wireless connectivity on the T1628 supports 802.11 g (which is downwardly compatible with older versions of 802.11 wireless standard. I really like it that Gateway has included an integrated modem on this notebook (which is goes against the trend by many portable manufacturers to drop self contained modems).

The built in DVD/RW player has LightFlash disk labeling, allowing users to create unique labels for disks they create themselves.

Because I still occasionally rely on dialup Internet access when I travel I believe that it’s still too early for modems to join external hard disk drives on the dust heap of computer history.

I was impressed with this notebook’s built-in speakers, which worked very well with my iTunes play lists—which I play rather loudly. Although the screen on this notebook measures only 14.1 inches diagonally, its audio and video subsystems combine to make this a good entertainment-oriented system. TheT-1628 like most portables in this category also includes a 1.3 MPixel camera mounted in the bezel above the screen.

I have only one small complaint about this system: Like most AMD processor-based notebooks I’ve tested, battery life is short of comparable systems that use Intel mobile processors and chipsets. The average battery life for the system I tested (which had a six-cell power pack) was slightly more than 2.5 hours. The second item on my “I wish they had included this” list is support 802.11 n wireless ( which is offered on other comparably priced systems). Both of these small criticisms, however do not take away from this system’s functionality and its extreme utility.

I’ve used this notebook for the last several weeks, toting it in my backpack on trips to San Francisco, Los Angeles and around several college campuses. I’ve found it to be a powerful, rock solid, performer that met and exceeded my expectations and requirements.  Most of all, it’s inexpensive (well under $800 at some retail outlets) and worth serious consideration by anyone who needs a fully functional notebook that’s as easy to carry from classroom to classroom as a college text book or science lab book.

Because of its feature set, performance and value, I think members of the military should consider packing this machine in their kit before deploying. I also think this would be an excellent notebook to send away with college-bound kids.

There’s been a very positive change at Gateway over the last several years, due I believe in a large part to the number of first-rate marketing, engineering and design personnel who joined this company from Toshiba. The proof of their competence can be seen in systems such as the T-1628 and the Gateway One, a remarkable all-in one desktop that’s every bit as stylish and functional as an Apple iMac.—Jim Forbes 05/13/2008

 

HP's TouchSmart All in One-- Upping the Ante for a Category

Building a great all-in-one computer is a much more difficult process than simply repackaging a notebook hull with a large screen and then stuffing every “wouldn’t it be nice” feature into the resulting desktop box.  The really good news is this: the all in one form factor is undergoing a renaissance now and hardware makers are paying close attention to what people want to and can do with new technologies.

            Apple has had the lead in this desktop category since it launched its new line of iMacs several years ago. But more recently the high flying iMac (which is available with screens as large as 24 inches) faces stiff competition from companies like Gateway and Dell, which are launching new all-in-ones which offer equivalent functionality but which also support integrated Personal Video Recording (PVR), a feature that an expensive option on Apple’s iMac line.

            But the latest entrant in this field, Hewlett Packard’s IQ775 TouchSmart PC fires a shot across Apple’s bow, while raising the table stakes needed to stay competitive in the all in one category.

            The “all-in” feature that wins the pot for IQ775 TouchSmart PC is its unique “touch interface” that lets you control programs and perform most features using your finger or the stylus that rests conveniently in its holder on top of the machine’s 19-inch screen.

            HP’s IQ775 come to the gaming table with a very robust configuration:  an AMD Turion 64 X2 dual core processor zipping along at a respectable 1.90 GHz, 2Gb of PC2-4200 of memory (but expandable to 4 GB of memory), a fast 7200 RPM 500GB hard disk drive, and a Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 graphics card to that drives a crisp 19-inch display.

            A 1.3Mpixel camera and array stereo microphones are built into the screen’s bezel. The audio on the IQ775 is first rate and this system comes with two 12-watt speakers but it will support six-speaker configurations such as those used in high end home theater applications.

            I really like how uniquely useable this system is. Setting it up and attaching to my home wireless network and cable TV took under five minutes. Once unpacked and plugged in I set about adjusting everything –including the viewing angle of this system’s 19-inch screen--so that it fits its my requirements precisely. The ability to position the components—system case, display and stowage tray for the keyboard enhances the IQ 775 TouchSmart’s functionality and ability to fit easily into any home, college dorm, or office.

            The use of a touch interface makes this one of the easiest to use systems I’ve ever seen. It’s so simple that I let my 90-year-old mother lose on the systems and grinned as she began playing solitaire. Eventually I got the system away from her long enough to finish testing it.  But not before I heard her asking me from her new quarters in the MaForbes addition to my house, “how do I record Gone With the Wind on this computer.”

            There are two approaches to PVR technology in desktop computers: it’s either built-in or the tuner can be added through the use of a separate controller. Of the two approaches, I prefer the one HP uses on it’s IQ775 TouchSmart PC—it’s built into the system.

            Although Apple gets the lion’s share of attention for gesture (read touch-based interfaces) it’s actually a relative newcomer to this interface technology, since HP has offered it since the days of its Touch monitors. Furthermore, gesture-based computing is sat the base of the Palm computing platform.

If you decide to buy this Windows Vista-based all in one, there is one addition I strongly recommend; the adding enough memory to bring the system up to at least 3GB (which improves both the performance of the operating system and the system’s overall performance.  Other than that, I can almost guarantee that if you buy n HP TouchSmart IQ 775, you’ll have a first tier computing experience.

            Now if I could just get this machine away from my Solitaire 90 year old mother.  –Jim Forbes m04/23/2008

MacBook Air and A Rising Tide-- Waiting for a Flood of New Features

Reports last week of higher than expected demand for Apple’s MacBook Air thin and light portable here could be great news for all notebook makers with products based on similar form factors.

            The reports, which originated in a New York regional business magazine, indicate that Apple retailers are struggling to stay abreast of the demand curve (which has also had an impact on systems purchased through Apple.com,, which now carry a waittime of up to seven days).

            So far there’s been no break down in sales figures detailing which configurations are Apple’s top sellers.

            Apple’s success with the MacBook Air could become a tale of a rising tide raising all boats in the remerging thin and light notebook market. Thus far, only two other mainstream notebook makers—Toshiba and Lenovo, have joined Apple, but most of the major players in the portable market will launch “competitive” products by year’s end, I believe.

            Thin and light notebook makers won’t be the only companies benefiting by sales of this class of machine. Some of the other technologies that will be boosted by the MacBook Air include:

The 802.11 n wireless specification. The MacBook Air’s use and reliance of the “n” specification is likely to make it “official” in less time than its taken the IEEE standards committee to sanctify it.

Wireless router makers haven’t wasted much time in getting 802.11 n products  to market and there are enough on the shelves now to make 802.11 n technology price sensitive. 

Keyboard and screen back lighting two of the technologies in the MacBook Air technologies I like a lot and which go a long ways to make any portable computer more useable in low light situations like conference rooms and classrooms. Portable computing component technologies have come a long way since the first thin and light notebooks were introduced about ten years ago. Plagued by short battery life, backlighting doesn’t significantly take away from the amount of time a notebook can be used on its batteries.

But one of the greatest technologies found in the MacBook Air is it’s use of gesture-based controls. Apple isn’t the only company to support gestures,  HP also supports rudimentary gesture based computing does it on its IQ755 Touch Screen all in one desktop. Palm Inc. is another company with a long history of using gestures as part of its interface technologies and there’s no reason not to believe that it isn’t enhancing its technologies for release with a new version of its operating system, which is expected this Fall. The 900-pound lurking gorilla of this technological segment is Microsoft, which has privately shown advances it has made in gesture-based technologies such as facial recognition, since the late 1990’s.

            Whether or not Microsoft will release gesture-based enhancements to forthcoming versions of its Windows operating systems isn’t clear.

            If Notebook makers hope to stay in synch with Post MacBook Air and Lenovo ThinkPad X800 they’ll need to lengthen their mooring lines to stay afloat in a portable market where the tide of features and user expectations are neck and neck on a flooding tide.—Jim Forbes 03/10/2008

Lenovo's ThinkPad X300--Setting a New Standard with World Class Features

Santa came early this year, dropping off a Lenovo ThinkPad X300 with a dual core processor, smd a 64GB SSD integrated drive. A

Right off the top, I’m impressed and will go out on a limb and predict that the X 300 could become the standard against which future generations portable computers aimed at executive and other “power users“, will be judged.

I like the X300’s size: 12.5” x 9.1” x 0.92” (at its thickest point). Equipped with a three cell battery and an integrated DVD burner drive, the X300 weighs a feathery 3.13 pounds. The size and weight of this new ThinkPad combine to make it one of the least intrusive notebooks I’ve ever tested. In fact for the first several days I carried the X300, I had to remind myself occasionally that it was nestled safely in my backpack. It’s that unobtrusive. Furthermore, it’s form factor lends itself to the notion that it’s a great replacement for the ubiquitous and notepads you see executives bring to meetings. It’s capabilities enhance this notion.

In order to write what I think is a comprehensive review of the X300, I’ve used it exclusively for the last four days under a variety of conditions, including a short flight and outside amidst the clutter of an extensive remodel/addition project at my home. Over four days I’ve run through numerous battery charge/discharge cycles, used the X 300 on a variety of wireless networks, and schlepped this stylish machine in my very ugly, but utilitarian, backpack all over two major college campuses.

I like the fit and finish of the X300 a great deal. It’s a very rugged portable and it incorporated new roll cage that helps to protect your investment in this $3,000-plus notebook and the data stored in its Solid State and hard disk drives. The X300 supports both a track stick pointer and a track pad cursor controller.

The X300’s full-size keyboard is a dream to use for extended periods. Despite my oafishly large hands and fingers, I can pound away on the X300’s keyboard for hours on end with no discomfort or cramping. Furthermore. The finish of the keys on the X300 has been enhanced to help the lettering on the keys last 3 to four times longer than previous ThinkPad keyboards. Lenovo’s use of a new textured (rubber) paint on the X300’s palm rest is the sort of touch you come to expect from the ThinkPad design team.

The overall user experience with the X300 is first rate. One of the first things I noticed was that it booted up much faster than the X40 and X60 family subcompacts I’ve used for the last year. Moreover, the 64 GB Solid State Drive (SSD) lets you run multiple applications without incurring the penalty associated with electro-mechanical hard disk drives.

One of the real improvements found in the X300 is a backlit LCD, which reduces eye strain when you use the system in low light settings like class rooms., conference and other settings. The X300’s 13.3-inch LCD drives a WXGA 1440 by 900 pixel display with 128 dots per inch saturation. It’s the best display I’ve ever seen in any of the approximately 80 small form factor notebooks I’ve reviewed since 1992. There are two other attributes on this machine which set it apart from the other thin and light now on the market (the MacBook Air): the first is it’s built in optical disk (which lets you watch and burn DVDs; the second is the availability of an optional second battery that its in the same slot as the optical disk. With its scond battery in place and a six cell power pack in its battery well. The X300 should deliver a first rate coast to coast computing experience with enough power to spare to listen te your music or watch your favorite DVD.

I really appreciate the new entertainment features on the X300. So did the fellow baby boomer sitting beside me in the economy seat on a recent flight. He said “Hey man, I saw the Doobies perform that tune at the Farewell Concert in Berkley years ago.”

I slid my x300 to his tray and offered him my headphones. “Yup that ‘s how I remember their sound,” he said

Amen, brother.

One of my personal dreams over the last six years has been a concept called “pervasive computing.” (persistent wireless connectivity via WiFi, WWAN or other untethered media). The X300 delivers on this dream in spades, extending it to peripherals through its use of wireless USB. Although wireless peripherals are just now becoming available, you can expect to see this capability as a standard capability in most new peripherals in the coming year.

What the X300 doesn’t do is deliver persistent connectivity in a small highly functional package that drains batteries in minutes. I was amazed to note that the six-cell primary battery pack consistently delivered about 5.3 hours of power without umy reverting to extreme power management.

Lenovo isn’t the first notebook company to deliver a thin lightweight portable. In fact this is the second run for this form factor. In the late 1990’s I reviewed a number of thin and lights from manufacturers such as Mitsubishi, Hewlett Packard and Sharp. Unfortunately, those machines lacked sufficient battery life and most ended up classed dismissively as “executive jewelry.” before they were discontinued.

The X300 is one of the first 21^st Century notebooks I’ve seen that has a feature set that will stay in step with most users’ needs for a long time to come. The X300 can put a hard lock on your data and has such a strong set of communications capabilities that’s it’s almost impossible to imagine ever being anywhere where you couldn’t connect to the Internet (even if that means you had to use an optional USB modem for dial-up.

ThinkPad X300 also comes standard with a 1.3 Mpixel camera in the bezel above its screen and an integrated digital microphone. The combination really enhances video conferencing on Skype and other VOIP/integrated messaging services. Th X300 has three USB ports, gigabyte Ethernet, external microphone and audio jacks and an external video port.

In summary, Lenovo’s X300 has the technology to set a new portable computing standard and the capabilities and power to make short shrift of any computing task, whether it’s performed in a conference room, an airplane cabin flying from Tedium to Apathy, or on a cluttered job site like the addition I’m building here at my home in rural northern San Diego County. It’s not just a safe decision, it’s a technologically savvy and very secure investment.--Jim Forbes 02/25/2008.

{Mandatory disclosure: in the 1990’s I was a member Of IBM’s mobile advisory council.}

Palm-Still Able to Come Back With Combination Punches

The deep thudding sounds veteran technology watchers are now hearing as they zoom past Sunnyvale, CA, is the sound of everyone piling on Palm Inc.

With flat revenues, a recent 10 percent lay off and the withdrawal of its new Folio platform, Valley insiders have quickly decided that the once bright and shiny enterprise called Palm Computing is winking out.

            Contrarian, that I am, I think Palm can survive. To make my point, let’s take a quick look at Palm’s considerable pluses:

            Palm has always been a somewhat lean organization and has done its best when it brings it considerable talents to bear on its core business.

            Palm continues to attract great technologists who understand that a product can be made or broken by pioneering and delivering a first-rate user experience.

            Palm’s core business has changed over the years and this company has expanded almost very technological beachhead it’s established. The Palm 600 and 700 Smart phone families have entrenched user bases that are intellectually invested in the products (which makes the Palm installed base very similar to that of Apple Inc’s).

            Palm’s new Centro smart phone is selling well through one of the largest national carriers, Sprint, and is likely to appear on other networks later next year. Centro is one of the best examples of how Palm excels by giving users access to core tasks in quickly and simply. Furthermore, Centro is rugged enough to stand up to hard use, which is a core feature for cellular carriers like Sprint who has large numbers of entities with field operations.

            Palm’s technologies set industry standards by which other products are compared. Moreover, Palm has remained nimble enough to respond to changing user requirements with stable technology. At its core, Palm is also a design leader and as the company pulls more talent from companies like Apple, its industrial designs could become industry standards.

            Elevation Partners investment in Palm may be one of the best things that ever happened to this pioneering company. New managers are more likely to focus on what the company does best and less likely to go flying after untried niches. Palm has had a succession of owners over the years and its best performance has been in periods when the company is hunkered down and focused on core businesses.

           The downside for Palm is that it’s very late in delivering a new version of the Palm OS, no matter what form it may take. The Palm OS can make or break this company and marketing this architecture is a task where Palm excels.

            I think it’s a huge mistake for anyone to think Palm is going down for a short count. Of all the technology companies I have covered, Palm is the one entity I’ve drop to a knee, grab a breath and come up swinging with powerful combination punches.

            One year from now I look for Palm to be back as a contender with products that sell through their channels and which have become industry standards, again.  Jim Forbes 12/20/2007.

{Mandatory disclosure: I was a member of Palm’s advisory council for a number of years in the last century.}

Why the Gateway One Really Shines-- Suitability

Last week I wrote and posted a first look here on a new all-in-one computer called the Gateway One. I wrote much more about it’s technological attributes than I did what I believe to be it’s most important feature – suitability and why its overall features set s new bar for an important class of computers—ubiquitous machines that bundle screen and system boards in a single case that’s designed to sit on your desktop, workspace or stashed away somewhere where it’s easily accessible.

            In this post I want to focus on what I believe the most important element in the success of s modern personal computer, suitability.  Overall, I’ve almost never tested another computer that excels as handily at suitability and usability  the Gateway One. The only comparison I can accurately make is to the Apple iMac with a 20-inch screen. The screen on the Gateway One is 19 inches and as good if not better than anything used by Apple in its iMac line.

Gateway’s new all in one does things. However, that a stock iMac doesn’t. First off, it has an integrated personal video recorder and big hard drives, which fit nicely with my use of my desktop computer to record episodes of PBS shows like Nova, Secrets of the Dead and Frontline and watch them after they’ve been broadcast.

Apple offers this optional feature for its hardware, but it’s a separate box that adds $200 to the overall cost of a system, bringing it to about par pricing with the Gateway One,which I believe to be much better at media intensive applications.

The audio subsystem of the Gateway One is flat out amazing. It has some of the best audio fidelity I’ve ever heard in a desktop or portable and the controls let you adjust the sound to your personal preferences.  One of my all time favorite audio test routines for any of today’s new computers I examine is to play a somewhat unique version of the Doobie Brother’s classic “Takin’ It to the Streets” that’s only available on the band’s Live at Wolf Trap DVD recording. While this may seem eclectic to many people, this version is such a complex work that it really takes a good system to do it justice.

Audio and Video playback on the Gateway One is so stunning that I honestly felt like I was front row center at the concert, very near the stage monitors. The only slight criticism I have of the Gateway One is: I wish it had a tad more volume—that way my neighbors could enjoy it too.

Expansion has always been a disruptive factor for all-in-one computers like those that came before the Gateway One, including the Apple Macintosh line. However the ability to expand the Gateway One is high on the list of features that enhance it’s suitability and overall value. There’s plenty of room inside the case for additional hard disk drives and it has USB and other expansion ports on its side and on it’s power brick—an idea I like since I run most of my USB cables out of site, behind my computer. Furthermore, it has the (XD) card reader slots I need for my camera, a feature that’s missing on my current desktop.

One of the eye opening features of the Gateway One, is that it’s the first computer that’s made me appreciate Microsoft Vista (its native operating system). Equipped with or upgraded to 3GB of system memory, this shiny black computer makes Vista shine bright enough for me to rule out buying a new iMac and going to Apple’s OSX leopard. Vista running on Gateway’s One desktop equipped with the high speed memory and a fast hard disk drives up the suitability grades for this machine.  I believe it also makes it a more responsive platform than a comparably equipped iMac.

While I don’t believe in operating systems as a religious issue I do think Apple is near the top of the heap in this technology and slips by Microsoft have really helped Apple. Having said that, my experience with Gateway One equipped with a wicked fast hard disk drive and 3GB of system memory has led me to believe that Vista has long strong legs underneath it, providing PC manufacturers who dare to challenge consumer price sensitivity by building more robust and fleet PCs. the Gateway One is proof of this.

This third generation all-in-one bundles a lot of features that make it one of the most suitable and usable PC’s I’ve ever tested in the last 20 years. It comes bundled with games and Microsoft Works as well as a trial version of Office. The system throughput on this box is fast enough to make me want to play with video editing, an application category I believe that is still better suited for iMac.

Within seven minutes of unpacking the machine Gateway provided me,  I had it up and running and was working on a project using Google Docs and Spreadsheets. It’s sleek enough to compliment just about any workspace and a visually striking enough to become a conversation piece.  And anyone who sits down in front of it is in for a big surprise; Gateway has set a very high bar that challenges all PC makers, including Apple..

So, the cow-covered boxes are being herded in South Dakota and ready to begin the trail drive to their new homes. And one of the places a member of that first herd is headed is right here on my little mountaintop in rural northern San Diego County—Jim Forbes 11/03/2008, waiting for UPS to drop off my cow decorated box at my local Best Buy in less than three days.

Gateway One Resets Bar for All-in-One Form Factor Computers-- Great Value and Outstanding Features

When it comes to new computers, it takes a lot to rock my boat or make me think about ditching my dusty Pentium 4 desktop,  carefully optimized for my home wireless networks and digital viewing experience and chock full of recorded PBS episodes of Nova and Frontline as well as gigabytes of “musica de los hermanos” (mostly Allman Brothers and Doobie Brothers). But I’ve found a new desktop that meets and exceeds my abnormally high barrier for personal computer satisfaction.

That computer is the new Gateway One, an all-in-one design the company just introduced All-in-one designs are my favorite desktop computer form factor. They eliminate computational clutter, allowing me to reclaim desktop real estate that’s been buried for years by monitors, computer cases and other technological detritus. Good all-in-one designs need to be powerful enough to handle the demands of contemporary computing, and shouldn’t be hindered by yesterday’s technological limitations.

Gateway One surpasses this requirement with plenty of breathing room.

The version I reviewed is the Model GZ7220. The configuration basics for this model include: an Intel Core2 Duo 2.0 GHZ processor with 2MB of L2 cache, and a whopping 3GB of dual channel DDR memory (user expandable to 4GB). This sleek all-in-one’s integrated 19-inch screen is driven by ATI’s HD 2600XT video logic, which has 256 MB of memory.  The high-speed 500GB hard disk drive makes it unlikely many users of this machine will run out of hard disk storage any time soon. The operating system used on the Gateway One is Microsoft’s Vista Home Premium.

The ultimate test of a good all-in-one computer is how little time it takes to unpack it, set it up and put it to work. Within five minutes of opening the shipping box, I was seated in front of the Gateway One, working and listening to music.

The Gateway One user experience is superlative. The integrated audio uses this machine’s glass front to provide an incredible audio experience that compliments movie watching. Images displayed on the 19-inch integrated screen are crisp, making it easy to tweak digital photos, and providing a theater-like viewing experience for DVD and other video applications. A self contained, cable-ready, TV tuner helpd make the Gateway One a good choice for student dorms, apartment dwellers or the home office.

I was very impressed by how easily it is to expand the Gateway One.  The interior is easily accessed (something that’s new to this form factor)to add memory or a second hard disk drive.

Speaking of expansion, it’s unlikely you’ll ever worry about running out of connectors or bays with the Gateway One. It has 7 USB ports (250 percent more than the 20-inch iMac), a high speed IEEE 1394 connector, slots for two minicards, two internal hard disk bays, and two DDR2 SO-DIMM memory slots.  Integrated 802.11a,b, g and n wireless is built in, as is a 10/100 Ethernet adapter. A 1.3 MPixel video camera is standard with this system. Another little feature I like is that Gateway has not overlooked the need many users have for occasional dial-up connectivity. Unlike some Apple Macintoshes, this computer comes standard with an integrated 56K data/fax modem.A five-in-one card reader is built into the system case.

I very much liked the wireless mouse and keyboard that comes standard with the Gateway One.  Both are easy to use, ergonomical and reliable.

At $1,799.99 I believe the Gateway One is a great buy. The fit and finish on this new desktop is nothing short of stunning. The sum of its parts and the design philosophy behind this machine should serve as a warning to Apple that Gateway is alive, well, innovating and delivering a new machine that is not only competitive with iMac but also has a better feature set, delivering more bang for consumers’ bucks.

I was very impressed with the overall performance of the Gateway One and it’s out of box experience, which was as good if not better than anything I’ve had with the numerous Apple all-in-one Macintoshes s I’ve owned and used since 1984.  I love Gateway One’s design and its feature set. My one remaining task with the machine before I pack it up and send it home to Gateway, is to transfer last week’s episode of Nova from my old machine to this beautiful computer, watch the episode and then very reluctantly pack the system up for its return to Gateway’s factory in South Dakota.

Oh and one more thing, Seriously.   I was toying with the idea of buying a 20-inch iMac this winter. I’ve put that idea aside and decided to buy a Gateway One in time for the holidays.  I can hardly wait for it to arrive—Jim Forbes on 10/19/2007.