This photo should give you an ideal of just how small this notebook is, and that's what really attracts me to the Gateway 3350. This notebook is so light yet it packs more power than most desktop. It's also one of the most attractive looking notebooks I've ever seen. The cow box logo at the center just gives it that finishing touch. To top it all off; you also get a nice carrying case that looks like the case use in the Acer 341TV, except it has a Gateway logo. So, you too can go around looking like you're carrying a day planner between your arms
Battery life is what you would expect from such a small notebook, which is to say not very long. Using the little Solo without the DVD or floppy connected, I was barely able to get two hours of use before the unit went into sleep mode. If you think you'll be using this notebook for more than 2 hours at a time without a power cord nearby, better get a second battery.
The screen of the Solo 3350 is a thing of beauty. Very bright and super sharp plus its natural resolution is 1024x768. One of my biggest complaints about the Acer 341TV was its 12.1" screen can not go higher than 800x600 unless you use a virtual desktop. The Solo 3350 fixes this complaint. Should you want resolution higher than 1024x768, the 4 Meg ATA Mobility video card will allow you to go as high as 1600x1200 as long as you're willing to work in a virtual desktop, which I'm not.
The ATI video card runs at AGP 2X and will run 3D games like Quake 3. It just won't run it very well. The dreams of a gaming notebook to take to your next LAN party is still just a dream for now. However, less video card intensive games like Sim City 3000 work just fine on the Solo 3350.
With a selling price of $2,199 the Gateway Solo 3350 is $400 more than the street price of the Acer 341TV. For the extra money, you get a CPU that's 100Mhz faster, a screen that runs at higher resolution and a notebook that weighs .36 pounds lighter. Are those extra worth a $400 premium? Personally, I think so and the only reason is because of the higher resolution screen. I find 1024x768 to be ideal for a 12.1" screen. You, however, may not.
There is very little to dislike about the Solo. The main one is the separate DVD and floppy drive. It's just a hassle to have to switch from one to the next. It's too bad Gateway couldn't have given it a DVD/floppy drive in one unit like the Acer 341TV.
Overall, I can highly recommend the Gateway Solo 3350 to anyone looking for an ultra light sub notebook. Great performance and great looks and very few bad points.
The Goods
Ultra light
Very sharp 12.1" screen with a natural resolution of 1024x768
Look really good with its silver metallic paint
Great hard disk performance for a notebook
Built in 10/100 NIC
The Bads
Separate DVD/floppy drive should be one unit, not two
Rating: 8.5/10