Gateway Solo 2300
In the late 1990’s Gateway was going strong with its Solo models, introducing the Solo 2300 in early 1998. At the time, the components were considered top-notch, and the battery life was superb, as well. The only major problem was the cost, which was a bit high for that time period.

It had a 12.1 inch active matrix screen, which was very bright, sharp, and easier to see than most other LCD panels on laptops that year. It also had 2 megabytes of video memory which now seems laughable, but at the time it was considered a lot for a notebook computer, giving the user the option of 24 bit color on the desktop.

One thing that made the Solo 2300 stand out was the build quality. Sturdiness is important to laptops, in that the whole reason to buy one rather than a more powerful desktop computer is so that you can take it with you on your travels. If it can’t handle being knocked around occasionally, it doesn’t stand much of a chance of surviving most laptop owners’ busy, on-the-go lives. The Gateway Solo 2300 didn’t have a problem in this event, as the case was solidly built and the screen had a dense plastic covering, protecting it from bumps and bruises. I wouldn’t go throwing one off the desk, but as a whole, it was a pretty solid laptop.

It had a modular bay at the front of the computer that can accommodate either a floppy drive or a cd-rom drive, but both can be connected when using an optional serial cable. It also had a video out port for connecting the laptop to an external monitor, which was pretty standard on laptops during that time period. But one nice thing was the pair of USB sockets which were just starting to become mainstream back then. During that time period, most components had to be connected to serial or PS/2 ports, and configuring them was often a real pain. USB changed things, making data transfer among peripherals much faster, and made plug-and-play setup actually live up to its name. So having these ports was a real bonus to Gateway Solo 2300 buyers.

Overall, the Solo 2300 was a very solid computer that was a bit on the heavy and slow side, but a good entrant into the laptop market during that time period. It was kind of expensive, but laptops generally were back then, as it was a relatively new technology.