Writing for News.com, Joe Wilcox said that Windows PC manufacturer Gateway has lined up Apple in its sights with a new line of all-in-one PCs it will begin to sell next week.
Gateway’s new Profile 4 series PCs feature an integrated architecture with 15- or 17-inch LCD screens, similar to Apple’s line of flat-panel iMacs. Wilcox said that Gateway has appeared to mimic Apple’s prices, too, with the range spread from US$999 to $1,999.
The difference, of course, is that Gateway’s Profile 4 systems run Windows XP variants, not Mac OS X. They’re equipped with Celeron or Pentium 4 CPUs running at clock speeds up to 2.8GHz. They’re the latest generation of a series of all-in-one PCs that Gateway started to manufacture after Apple struck gold with the original iMac in 1998.
Apple still has key advantages, however, besides Mac OS X itself and Apple’s ever-increasing bevy of iApps and other bundled software. The iMac lines sport superior graphics hardware — featuring GeForce2 MX and GeForce4 MX graphics processing units, while the Profile 4 systems depend on integrated graphics. And none of the Profile 4 systems have any kind of DVD-R drive, unlike Apple’s high-end 15-inch and 17-inch iMac.
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