The Gateway Solo 9300XL is one good looking notebook. It looks impressive when it's closed and even more impressive when open. The Solo ships with Windows 2000, Norton Anti-Virus, LANDesk Client Manager Software and that's it! For $3,745 you'd think they could have toss in a copy of Office 2000 professional but like the 10/100 NIC, it's an extra cost option. You're looking at well over $4,000 before the Solo is ready to do serious road work.
The Solo 9300XL comes with a 12 cell Lithium Ion battery. That's twice the size as the one from the Acer 341TV. To do the battery test, I use the notebook non stop, surfing web pages, updating the web site, chatting on ICQ, etc.. Battery life was very good as I was able to go nearly four hours before the system shut down. If you want even more battery life, you can add a second battery into the DVD slot and run the unit from 9 till 5.
As you may guess, the most attractive feature of the Solo 9300XL is the 15.7" screen. There is currently no notebook on the market that offers a bigger viewing area. With a natural resolution of 1280x1024, you won't run into the "I need more res!" yell anytime soon. And if you do need more than 1280x1024, the 8 meg ATI Mobility video card will allow you to run 1600x1200 in a virtual desktop. While the ATI video card that comes with the Solo 9300 can do 3D, it's really not meant to run 3D games. You can run Quake 3 on it, but performance is so bad; I wouldn't recommend it.
At $3,745, the Solo 9300XL is one expensive notebook. While you don't get a lot in terms of software, you do get a lot in hardware. The question is does anyone need this kind of hardware for a notebook? Do you really need a notebook with a viewable screen area as big as most 17" monitors? Gateway seems to think so and so far they're right as these solos are flying off the production line. Also, by the time you read this Gateway will be introducing a 9300XL with a P3-850 CPU. It never ends does it?
If the price and size doesn't put you off, then by all means get the Gateway 9300XL if you're looking for a take no prisoner notebook. This is more than a notebook. This is a statement! It tell the world you settle for nothing but the best. It tells them you don't cut corner on performance no mater what the price. It tells them to go big or go home!
The Goods
Great performance
15.7" screen!
Long battery life
Pegs to tilt notebook for better typing angle
Gets amazing stares
The Bads
I can't afford one!!! :(
Rating: 9/10