Gateway Profile 2

Computers just keep getting smaller. Back in the early days of the business, you'd have needed a machine the size of a house to perform the same tasks our desktop PCs do today. And as with all things technological, miniaturisation is an ongoing process. Gateway's latest PC, the Profile 2, makes even the average desktop computer look bulky.

The Profile 2, which measures approximately 455 x 390 x 240mm, achieves such a svelte stature by dispensing with both a standard monitor and a tower case. Instead, all the workings of the computer are housed in the stand of its 15in flat-panel display. This means it takes up about a quarter of the space of a conventional PC, in fact, the keyboard covers more desk space than the whole computer.

Despite its diminutive nature, the Profile 2, with a 466 MHz Celeron processor and 64Mb of memory, is powerful enough to run any application a home or small business user might need. A 13Gb hard disk drive also ensures that there's ample storage capacity available for all your data.

The built-in graphics card isn't ideal for the dedicated gamer, as it's not up to the 3D graphics required by most modern titles, but its 2D performance is perfectly sufficient for all other applications and less demanding games.

It has a quad-speed DVD-ROM drive, so you will be able to use the supplied software to watch movies and run the latest software as it begins to come out in this format. But we wouldn't recommend a flat-panel display as the ideal way to watch a DVD movie, and although the Profile does have built-in speakers, these sound tinny, with virtually no bass. If you want to keep your music to yourself, there's also a socket for headphones.

That said, the 15in display is good quality and a pleasure to work on, not least because it provides you with so much more desk space to play with. The keyboard and mouse are the usual full-size models that come with all of Gateway's PCs. Both plug into the computer via a USB connector, which makes setting the whole thing up child's play.

There are a further three free USB ports available to plug in external devices, but this is the only way in which you can upgrade the Profile. This computer is designed to be a 'sealed box'. In other words, you cannot add any extras inside the PC yourself - even after our labs technicians undid all the screws they could see, they couldn't find any way to get at the inner workings of the Profile.

While this approach may not appeal to the more technically minded user who wants to keep their PC stuffed full of the latest technology, the Profile is powerful enough as it comes to meet the needs of all but the most demanding users for some time to come - so there's really no need to get your hands dirty whipping open the case and adding extras.

The real advantage of a sealed box is that many PC problems are caused by inexperienced users poking around inside their computers - this way there's no danger of that.

Another benefit of this approach is that by using onboard components, built into the motherboard, rather than cards that have to be slotted into it, Gateway has been able to build a fully featured PC into the stand of the flat-panel display. This would have been impossible to achieve in any other way.

The Profile comes with all the software you need to get started, including the Microsoft Works office suite. Plus, it has everything that you need to get yourself online using the installed modem.

Contact: Gateway, 0800 552000 Features:

- 466MHz Celeron processor

- 64Mb of memory

- 13Gb hard disk drive

- Onboard 4Mb Intel 810 graphics card

- Quad-speed DVD-ROM drive

- Onboard SoundMAX sound card

- 56Kbps modem

- 15in TFT flat-panel display

- Software includes Windows 98, Microsoft Works, Encarta World Atlas, Gateway DVD software, plus five further titles.