Monday, July 20, 2009

Gateway LT2000: A New Netbook Appears

Not to be outdone in the current netbook craze, Gateway has announced a 10.1-inch addition to its compact notebook line: the LT2000 series. With 1GB of memory, a 160GB hard drive, three USB 2.0 ports, a built-in webcam, and the ability to connect to the internet, the LT2000 sounds just...like...every...other...netbook.

Seriously - we're at the point now where we need more differentiation between these mini-machines, not more bargain-box confusion. But, all we have to go on are the specs and a handful of images, so let's get to it.

Going by the shots, it looks similar to other budget netbooks. No , not , does not look like it would transform into an awesome robot. I have yet to lay a hand upon a review model, so let's not to be too hasty - but this is definitely not the Optimus Prime of netbooks (or the for that matter). It does seem on par spec for spec with other budget netbooks, though -- a 1.6-GHz N270 Atom CPU, 1GB RAM and a 160GB hard drive. Less impressive: A 3-cell battery that, if you're lucky, will last you three hours according to spokespeople. While we are talking about a $300 machine here, other netbooks that don't cost too much more can last over 3 times as long (like Toshiba's NB205-310).

On the software side, the LT2000 netbooks come equipped with Windows XP and pre-installed software. There's some free such as Microsoft Works. Then there's the trial bloatware (Office Home and Student 2007).

One semi-unique feature is the multi-gesture touchpad, which allows users to swirl and flick their way through web pages, music, and media. And even this is not completely unique, as it has been featured on many other models from various vendors, such as Acer's .

The LT2000 series netbooks are available now, in both Cherry Red and NightSky Black. Stay tuned for a full review once test units show up in the office.

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